1 Samuel 28:1

1 Samuel 28:1 says, And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armiestogether for warfare, to fight with Israel.  And Achish said to David,  Know thou assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.   After some time, the Philistines gathered to go to war with Israel, and Achish asked David if he was not surely going to fight on the side of the Philistines and him against Israel.  If we are pretending to be on the side of the world today, we should not be surprised if they expect us to fight on their side against God.  Verse two adds, And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.  David didn't really tell Achish that he would fight against Israel, but simply said Achish was aware 0of what he could do.  Achish took David’s answer as a yes, and told David he would put him in charge of a lot of his troops.  Matthew Henry said Achish was going to make David like a prime minister.  Though I don't believe that God expects us to lie about our intentions of whether or not we as followers of Christ support someone or some action that goes against God and His law, at times we might be okay in allowing them to draw their own conclusions.  Of course, this should never include allowing them to think that we are not a follower of Christ.  Verse three states, Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.  We are reminded that Samuel was dead and buried, and Saul had driven all those who practiced witchcraft out of Israel.  Matthew Henry says this could have been early in Saul’s reign when he was still listening to Samuel and following God, but that it seemed to be a more recent event, possibly brought about by Saul fearing that he was under the influence of evil spirits himself.  It is possible for those who do not believe in God to do good things, even if they are done for the wrong reason.  Verse four adds, And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.  The two armies gathered their forces.  Matthew Henry also points out that Saul would not have been having this problem had he been obedient to God.  The Philistines would have already been destroyed, but Saul had spent most of his time chasing David.  We may be forced to fight battles today that we never would have had if we had only been obedient to God instead of chasing our own desires or being driven by our own fears.  Verse five continues, And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.  When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was very afraid.  This was because the Spirit of God had left him because of his disobedience to God.  As long aswe are following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have no reason to be afraid, no matter how big the enemy may seem.  Verse six concludes, And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.  When Saul inquired of God, God didn't answer him.  Of course, part of the problem may have been that Saul had killed so many priests that there was no one near him to go to God for him.  If God is not answering our prayers today because we have strayed away from Him, we need to hope that we have our fellow Christians interceding for us.  Of course, I also believe that if we repent and ask God's forgiveness, He will always hear our prayers, no matter how far away we have strayed. I believe this was still possible for Saul, but he never did.  God had not just arbitrarily rejected Saul, but Saul had rejoiced God and was still thinking only about himself.