When God Is Silent

# 372 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 28:1-3a “Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, "You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men." 2 And David said to Achish, "Surely you know what your servant can do." And Achish said to David, "Therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever." 3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. ( 1 Sam 28:1-3a) Here's that phrase, “now it happened” again. Whenever you see that phrase, know that God is about to move. Something important is about to take place and the Sovereign God is about to set some things in motion. God's Day Planner has set this time in history to carry out his final judgment against Saul and put David in place as His anointed King. The Holy Spirit sets the stage for us in these first three verses. David has been given the responsibility of protecting Achish as Achish and the Philistines amass their armies for an assault on Israel. In these circumstances, David is about as far removed as one could be from assuming the leadership of Israel, yet God is about to pull it off, and we are going to have a ringside seat to see how these events will unfold. The first thing we need to be reminded of as the story unfolds is that Samuel is dead. The absence of Samuel, has left Israel and Saul without a prophetic voice, and with the Philistines amassing their armies against Saul, he was greatly afraid and was desperate for some kind of guidance. But the Lord did not give Saul an answer. He did not speak to Saul in dreams, through prophets, even the Urim was silent to Saul. (v6) This is a bad place to be. Perhaps you are there right now. Fear has gripped you due to circumstances in your life. You pray and pray and ask God for guidance and you do not hear one syllable. What to do? I wish I could give you a simple answer, but I can't. All I can recommend is that you continue to persevere in searching the Scriptures. Resolve not to seek answers through other means that God does not approve of. Father, I pray for those who are yearning for guidance. Grant them a word spoken from the Holy Spirit through your Holy Word, the Bible.