SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 28
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. [1 Samuel 28:5-6] Saul’s heart was closed to God, yet he is frustrated that God’s heart is closed to him. God does not reject Saul first; rather, Saul rejects God – at least God on God’s terms. He wanted God when things got scary, but for the rest he was content to do things his own way. This is very common, even normal in this sin-messed world. For much of our lives, we ignore or disregard God, doing what we want, when we want, how we want. But then when things get scary…

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. [Matthew 27:3-5] I see parallels between Saul and Judas. Judas rejects Jesus as Lord; and when he realizes what he has done, he has nothing left but despair. It seems to me that he repents here. Like Peter, he is broken with shame and remorse for his actions [Matthew 26:75]. But it seems that whereas Peter comes back to Jesus, Judas does not.

I will not pass judgment on Judas’ eternal condition, not even Saul’s. I know that the Lord will do what is just and merciful and right. But I do glean from both stories that when you turn your back on God, you’ve got little left to cling to when things go wrong. First, things eventually unravel because you’ve turned your back on God; second, as things go wrong, where do you turn? To horoscopes? To friends (how often we feel they let us down, but how can they take God’s place)? To positive thinking? To your investments?

There’s a saying: ‘If God seems far away, who moved?’ Often, though not always, its because we have kept God at a distance; then when hardship hits, we can’t find Him. Yes, there are times when believers who are open to God experience His absence (read the Psalms), but there are also times when His perceived absence is because they have kept Him at a distance. In these stories, both Saul and Judas experience the horror of life without God… and they despair. The time may come when the Lord allows us to experience for a season what life is like without Him. May those times draw us closer, not drive us farther away. That way leads to despair and death.

PRAYER:
Lord, help me to seek You now, so that when the storms come, I’ve got something to hang on to.