Looking For Answers In The Wrong Places

Some years ago I saw a sign out front of a church. The sign read: “There are Some Questions that Can’t Be Answered By Google.” It’s a good point. Because where do you turn for answers to your questions? Many turn almost automatically to Google. If we want information, or directions, or inspiration, that’s the place to turn.

What about different kinds of answers? What if you’re trying to find out what you should study after school? Or trying to decide on a new path? Or you’re wondering about your real purpose and why you’re here? We get anxious to have clear answers.

It’s something everyone has in common, wanting guidance. And perhaps the hunger for direction is stronger today than it’s even been. Apparently one of the most common questions asked of Google is, ‘What is the meaning of life?’ And among the 1.5 billion results, you can probably find an answer that you like. For almost everyone wants to hear a voice of authority in their life. We wait to hear a good word from somewhere, a word that will be decisive.

Maybe you leave it up to your parents, and what they say—they’re the final authority: “If my Mom says so, it must be right.” Maybe we follow the lead of the culture around us: “If it’s popular, it must be OK.” Or perhaps we assume that science is always correct.

For a lot of us, it’s probably our feelings that carry a real authority. We say: “If I feel this way, then it must be right. If my heart is telling me ‘yes,’ then I’ll say ‘yes.’” This is what happens whenever people reject God’s Word. When we start turning from the truth, we’re far more likely to accept falsehood, to listen to the wrong voices.

We see it also in 1 Samuel 28, the chapter when Saul visits the witch of Endor. First, some context: for the last number of chapters in 1 Samuel, David has been running from King Saul. Saul is insanely jealous of this newly anointed future king, and he’ll do anything to destroy David. And in the previous chapter, David decided to flee to Philistine territory. He knows that Saul won’t dare pursue him here. Once he arrives, David links up with Achish, the king. David gains his trust by making raids on other nations.

Thinking that David is now firmly on his side, Achish concludes that the time is right for another attack on Israel. He thinks David has now turned his back on his homeland: “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men will” (28:1).

And so the Philistines gather their forces to invade Israel. In response to the threat, King Saul assembles his own army. We don’t know how big each army was, and whether this was a fair match-up or not. But Saul’s confidence is very low. When he “saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly” (v 5). Saul knows that he has lost the people’s favour, that they’ve come to look to David. But David of course, is nowhere to be found.

Saul is so frightened at this moment because he knows, deep down, that he doesn’t have God’s blessing. He’s rejected God’s will for the kingship. Now, in a crisis, Saul is terrified. He realizes again how hopeless it is to try anything without the Lord’s favour.

Still, Saul is going to try. He will face the Philistine threat. But at this moment, he really needs guidance. What should he do about these enemies? Attack them before they attack him? Call for a truce? Make a strategic retreat? On his own, he feels utterly lost. In times past he would’ve asked Samuel, the LORD’s prophet, for some direction. Samuel would know what to do. But Samuel is dead, and he has been for a couple years. So in verse 6 we read, “Saul inquired of the LORD…by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.”

A few different ways of seeking the Lord’s will, finding the voice of authority, are mentioned here. First is by dreams. God had said in Numbers 12:6, “When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams.” So Saul asks God for a dream. But no dreams come. There was probably a false prophet or two hanging around, but none had a message to share.

Besides asking a prophet, Saul could consult a priest. We know that, because verse 6 mentions how he tried to use the Urim. The Urim and Thummim are the special stones that the LORD had given to confirm messages from God. We see them being used in the Old Testament for exactly this kind of situation, when a king wanted to know whether to go out to battle. These special stones were kept in the breastplate of the priest.