16 And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day.
—1 Samuel 28:16–18
Two dark chapters are set side by side, the two darkest we’ve seen in the life of Saul and David up to this point. Two dark chapters, but the darkness is different. Child of God, take heart, the darkest chapters of the saints are so very different from those of sinners. Better the dark days of David than the bright days of Saul so certainly then better the dark days of David than the darks days of Saul.
But there is not only contrast; there is irony. David doesn’t appear to seek Yahweh. Saul explicitly does. “Yahweh” doesn’t appear on David’s lips. Saul swears by Yahweh. David is with the Philistines. Saul is against them. And yet, by the end of these two chapters, there is hope for David and none for Saul. There is a light at the end of the chapter that appears “God-less” and despair at the end of this chapter that appears “God-full.” That is both a resolute grace and an irrevocable judgment. David can’t mess up the grace. Saul cannot work around the judgment. God will do what He said He will do. He does not lie. Saul will be brought down. David will be raised up. This is God’s inescapable and immutable word.
When Samuel first spoke these words to Saul after he failed to devote the Amalekites to destruction, Samuel explained, “the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret” (1 Samuel 15:29). Saul is seeing to make a liar out of the eternal God of truth.
When Balak asked Balaam to curse Israel, the pagan prophet received this word from Yahweh, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them” (Numbers 23:19–21).
Balak refuses this word, and seeks another. Still, Balaam declares, “…his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows. He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you” (Numbers 24:7–9).
Balak is furious, still Balaam declares, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!” (Numbers 24:17–19).
Do you hear this? God has always had this singular, inescapable, and immutable Word, the Word become flesh, the crucified flesh risen in glory, raised to the right hand of the Father, King of kings and Lord of Lords. You cannot make a liar out of God.; Jesus is King. This Word cannot be unspoken: Jesus is Lord. Stop rebelling against this Word. Stop seeking other words. Stop trying to out shout God.
God is doing what He said He would do. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. All evil doers will be cast into the lake of fire. This is His inescapable and immutable word.
God is doing what He said He would do. Christ lived to be the righteousness of sinners. He died bearing judgment in their stead. He rose conquering sin, death, and Satan. All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. This is His inescapable and immutable word.
No Other Boast 