Sermon 99: 1 Samuel 28:7-14

7. And Saul said to his servants: Seek me a woman having a python, and I will go to her, and inquire by her. And his servants said to him: There is a woman having a python at Endor. 8. He therefore changed his dress, and was clothed in other garments, and he himself went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said to her: Divine for me by the python, and raise up for me whom I shall name to you. 9. And the woman said to him: Behold, you know how much Saul has done, and how he has wiped out the magicians and soothsayers from the land; why then do you set a snare for my soul, that I may be killed? 10. And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord lives, no evil shall happen to you on account of this matter. 11. And the woman said: Whom shall I raise up for you? He said: Raise up Samuel for me. 12. But when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice and said to Saul: Why have you imposed upon me? For you are Saul. 13. And the king said to her: Do not fear; what did you see? And the woman said to Saul: I saw gods ascending from the earth. 14. And he said to her: What is his form? She said: An old man ascends, and he is wrapped in a cloak. And Saul understood that it was Samuel, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth and worshiped.

In yesterday's sermon we began to teach how Saul, despairing of God's grace, fled to a woman pythoness and sorceress who would foretell future things to him. Indeed God had not answered him when he consulted; yet not at all therefore was God deaf or mute. But because, as we said before, Saul had rendered himself unworthy of God's grace -- for God never changes his nature, and that is firm which the prophet afterwards sang, that God is always present to those who call upon him in true faith and truth, and helps with timely aid. Why then did he not answer Saul? Because of the iniquities by which he was so separated from God that he was unworthy to find grace with God. And indeed, as often as impure men approach God with feigned and pretended heart, intending to importune him with prayers, it is just as if someone, about to address another, were to withdraw a mile or two and then address him from that place. Which clearly would seem most ridiculous. The same is the case with all unbelievers who, driven by some necessity, cast themselves down before God and with the deepest humility implore God's mercy and seek his help in straitened affairs, while yet they turn their backs on God and flee his sight as much as is in them, just as Saul appears to have done. I confess indeed that even the most just of men do not rise toward God with the zeal and earnestness that is fitting, unless they are forestalled by his mercy. For what else are we but stinking mud and worms creeping on the earth, in short, mere corruption? For even those who appear most perfect among men are still held by many vices, so that if God should deal with them according to the strictest right, he could deservedly reject them as unworthy. Yet if we ourselves, examining ourselves and confessing without disguise that we have offended God, hate the evil that is in us, and flee to his mercy without hypocrisy and pretense, it is certain that we shall then find God, and the door of his grace will be open to us, and he will succor all our cares and difficulties.

Far otherwise was Saul disposed, who continued in his malice and grew hardened. For if he had with sincere mind been wearied of the crimes he had committed in pursuing David, and had repented...

...and had shuddered at that horrible slaughter of the priests which he had done, and groaned heavily before God, against whose truth -- namely, the promise made to David -- he had resisted, and had humbled himself before God upon hearing the certain sentence pronounced against him through Samuel, because he had not yielded to God's will, it is certain that God would have answered him and that he would not have come into such great desperation. We must observe a useful example, and learn from it that those fleeing to God in straitened affairs ought to inquire into themselves, and to examine accurately each of their sins -- although no one can sufficiently comprehend them, of which the number is infinite -- but yet so to inspect them that we may be cast down with true humility, and that there may be generated in us that sadness and sickness of heart which impels us to render glory to God, and brings us to recognize that eternal death which we have merited by our sins, yet so that we do not despair of his mercy. If this is done by us, it is certain that God himself will come to meet us, and will fulfill in fact what he said through the prophet Isaiah: namely, that before we had open mouth to call upon him, he would extend his hand for our aid. But if on the contrary we shall imitate those wretched and detestable men who invoke both the devil and God, and say of themselves that, unless they are received by God, they will be received by the devil -- to whom unless God responds at the very first time according to the wish of their soul, they at once despair, and no longer expect aid from him, since indeed only expectation made them rise toward God -- we shall surely find ourselves worse than that detestable Saul. Therefore let us learn from his example to be wise, so that if God is sometimes angry with us on account of our sins, we may be the more incited to explore and examine ourselves, so that having recognized our sins we may so groan before God that we obtain grace and mercy from him: for we know what the prophet teaches us when he says: 'I will wait for the Lord, even though he hide his face from me and seem to have forgotten me.' Therefore when God gives signs of his anger and turns from us and seems, in human opinion, to have forgotten us, let us frankly acknowledge that we have indeed deserved this, but nevertheless let us patiently await his grace and with unceasing vows implore his grace and resist all temptations bravely.

Moreover, we taught that the law concerning removing the magicians, sorcerers, and diviners had not been observed by Saul's ministers, since indeed a pythoness woman was found in that region to whom Saul himself is sent by the counsel of his ministers, who knew her to be in that place and to give responses through her familiar spirits to those approaching. And in that place we said that this is what divine laws ought to have force to do: that no one should be allowed to sin with impunity, lest one be punished and another remain unpunished, which is the highest abomination before God. This will be conspicuous in Saul if we look at him approaching that sorceress. There follows accordingly that he, with his dress changed and other garments put on, went by night to that woman, as some one of the common people, and asked her to divine for him by the python and to raise up whom he should name. Indeed we see here two things very contrary to each other: for previously Saul had killed all the sorceresses and the region had been purged of these corruptions, and he had performed his duty in carrying out the divine law; but now he himself contrary to the command of the divine law comes to a woman to ask her what would be the outcome of those difficulties into which he had fallen -- truly a horrible crime, especially since God had by name forbidden any of his people to deal with devils, with diviners, and with sorcerers, and to inquire from them the things which God did not wish them to know. And so God by his law not simply condemned those men to death, but forbade familiarity to be had with them, and to share in their pollutions and idolatries. But now Saul, whose singular zeal had previously appeared to be in fulfilling the law of God, subjects himself to the devil and shows him honor in the person of this pythoness. Truly an example worthy of consideration, from which we may learn always to walk in the right way which is prescribed to us in God's word, and never to deviate from it either to the right or to the left. For if we have once or twice done some excellent work, and afterwards are carried in the contrary direction, so far is it from being the case that our former good deeds bring us to God and make us pleasing and acceptable to him, that on the contrary they call down a greater condemnation upon us. Let Jehu be an example, who with a certain zeal put to death all those of the family of Ahab who had survived, since indeed he had been commanded through the prophet to take this divine vengeance upon the house of Ahab; for since the house of Ahab had corrupted itself with horrible idolatry, and had cast off the worship of God, God by his just judgment willed it to be brought to death, and committed this vengeance to Jehu. And so Jehu, with a certain fervor of mind, indeed fulfilled the Lord's command, but he himself afterwards fell back to base superstitions, which previously he had so severely punished, and mixed idolatrous worship with the worship of the living God, and permitted religion to be corrupted and adulterated. But God threatened him with the same punishments which he had threatened to others. How great a wickedness it appears, then, how great an injustice, if any judge today should punish one convicted of crimes and tomorrow let another go unpunished? Is it not a vast contempt of God himself and of the divine laws? For surely if these men were led by serious zeal and fervor for the honor of God, what they once well began they would daily perfect better. Let judges therefore beware by these examples lest they punish a similar crime in this man, but in that other leave it unpunished... ...let them beware lest they pronounce sentence against the wretched men of the lowest rank of the people, while leaving others, who hold some authority and influence, unpunished, and cover up their wickednesses with their favor and favoritism. And accordingly let them fear lest they pronounce sentence against themselves before God, and call down upon themselves the death which they have inflicted upon others. For although they themselves may not be fastened to a cross, or afflicted by men with some other punishment of this kind, yet they will never be able to escape God's vengeance, but, condemned before his throne, will end their life miserably on this earth, or at last sustain the final condemnation. Many such men today you may see not unlike Saul, although they do not change their garments as he did, consenting to those vices which previously they had condemned by their own sentence, in whom there is no integrity, and whose hypocrisy and perfidy toward God are evident -- to whom they think they have made full satisfaction if in some deed they exercise justice, and in many other matters are openly unjust. Truly such men are not unlike a debtor who, bound by many obligations and overwhelmed with debt, thinks he has satisfied his creditors if he has paid himself off in some part. But not so does God will to be worshiped by men, whose worship ought to be sincere and pure on every side, so that we may recognize that we have received all our things from God, and may give him fitting thanks, and may always persevere in his worship. Therefore let us weigh this example of Saul the more diligently, which God willed to be committed to writing, so that when we see Saul having punished evildoers, as God had commanded, and then fleeing to the sorceress and subjecting himself to the devil, we may learn to flee evil and condemn it both in ourselves and in others without any prosopolepsia (partiality), and never to deviate from the right rule of the divine word. For it is not enough to have begun well, unless we persevere to the end. But truly, I beseech you, how great everywhere today in many places is the corruption of justice, when some cover up their own or their kinsmen's wickednesses, while others by hidden counsels suggest a way of escape, so that if anyone today with some zeal inquires into some crime, tomorrow conversely, corrupted by gift, or by friends' favor and influence, he absolves the guilty of the crime -- this cannot be called justice, but rather mere robbery, of which one day account must be rendered to God. The same is the reckoning of all those who outwardly profess God's worship and display certain signs of it, but yet inwardly conceal some kind of poison, and cover it with mere pretense and hypocrisy, of all whom there is no doubt that they will feel God's severe hand, since God cannot endure such contempt. Let us therefore so condemn vice, and so explore ourselves, that, led by repentance for vices, we may persevere in the right path of divine worship, never inclining to this or that side -- because God approves a right conscience, but condemns the feigned and the hypocrites; since indeed he judges not from the outward face but from the hidden recesses of the heart. Let us not therefore think that we can impose on God; for if the fear of God has driven deep roots in our hearts, it is certain that we shall be as sincere in his worship at one time as at another; and that hypocrites are like a tree on which some excellent fruits have been hung, of which it is said that that tree produces beautiful fruits, when yet they have been hung from elsewhere. Let us, on the contrary, as good trees produce good fruit, rooted in the goodness, fear, and obedience of our God, and let us daily make progress in his school, until we have run our course.

There follows next that the woman refused to answer, first because she was afraid for herself -- which is the custom of all wicked men, that they pretend not to dare what they most desire, in order to sell their wares more dearly, and to impose more upon men. Thus, for example, if anyone solicits some woman for fornication, she will at once object the rigor of justice, and therefore the punishment threatening her. But to what purpose, I ask? Except that, intending to consent to his lust, she objects fear so as to sell herself more dearly. So also if anyone asks another to bear false witness, he will at once object that it is a capital matter, not indeed because he flees the evil, but in order to receive a double reward. In short, the same is the reckoning of all wicked men who object either ruin, or infamy, or peril of life, in order to receive greater favor and compensation. An example of this thing appears in this sorceress, who first indeed feared and refused to consent to what Saul demanded; but afterwards, having heard Saul's oath that she would be unpunished, consented to the wickedness. But let us learn, when solicited to some wickedness, not to fear the penalties which threaten from the laws of men, but rather to dread the very nature of the evil, since sin draws down upon us divine condemnation and shuts off access to him. Thus it will come to pass that we constantly resist all temptations and the fans of Satan with which he tries to lead us from the right, and at last triumph over Satan himself, which will happen when, resting in God, we hate evil and abstain from it.

Now as concerns that oath of Saul, it is true that it was indeed observed by him, but not without profanation of the divine name. For, I ask, to whom did Saul swear? To a sorceress. And what did he swear? That he would not do what God had commanded him to do, but, like a pander, would carry through that whoredom of divination so strictly forbidden by God; which is just as if some husband were to swear that he would be a fornicator and adulterer; if some father were to swear that he would seek his son's throat with the sword; if some subject were to swear that he would rebel against his king and pursue him with all his might -- such was Saul's oath. But let us on the contrary learn so... ...to revere God, that we never take his name in vain or hold it in contempt. Indeed every oath is offered to the honor of God, from where it happens that sorcerers and enchanting magicians and other men of this kind take from this an occasion of congratulating themselves, since with God's name invoked they give responses to men, as if God being called upon answered, when yet they wholly depend upon the devil, and God's name is falsely assumed by them. And so those who swear ought to be certainly persuaded that they, with God's name invoked, acknowledge that it is God's office and power to judge not only deeds but also thoughts; which highest honor is shown to God when we so place ourselves before his judgment and throne that we profess that an account of all deeds and words and thoughts must be rendered to him. And besides, an oath is a public profession of divine power, that he alone knows all things and discerns falsehood from truth. But if an oath is employed for some evil end, it is the highest profanation of the divine name; so that, since it is a sacred matter to swear with God's name invoked, the greatest care must be taken not to take his name in vain led by any depraved affections and hold it in mockery; but when necessity demands, let us assume the name of the living God, that we may be more and more confirmed in zeal for the right and the good, and have testimony of our good conscience. And these things are to be retained from this oath of Saul. He swears moreover in these words: 'God lives.' Now the life of God is said to be not only that by which we live, namely by which we are moved, feel, see, will, and think, but especially that by which he rules the world, by which he holds all things subject to himself, by which he is supreme judge, and to which every knee must bow, by which he imposes the law upon us and discerns evil from good, by which finally he punishes the transgressions of men and fosters justice and equity. This, I say, is the life of God by which Saul, swearing as a fanatic, swears against himself, and forgets himself. Let us therefore learn to be sober in taking up the name of God, lest we take it in vain and tear it apart, but, recognizing God as he is, let us call upon him as witness and judge in lawful matters.

There follows next that the woman asked Saul whom he wished to be raised up for him from the dead. From which words it appears that this woman exercised the necromantic art, that is, divination through the dead called up in God's name; for thus the devil's ministers are accustomed to abuse God's name and to call themselves prophets having the spirit of revelation, when yet their whole art is mere devilish trickery and iniquity. Meanwhile we see that this woman was accustomed to call the dead from their graves, so that whether from the prophets or from the ancients there should be called up whoever anyone wished to address. And these have always been the devil's tricks by which he has deluded men, with impious curiosity desiring conversation with the dead. For often many bear hard the death of their own people or of their parents or friends and are very anxious about their condition, and by these foolish affections of nature deluded men are brought to inquire too curiously about their condition, so that, if they understand them to be well, they may be refreshed — which occasion Satan seizes to draw them into his nets and gives them power of conversing with the dead. There is added to the previous affections some kind of foolish zeal toward the dead, when most people, hearing of their life, greatly admire it and wish that they could have been their disciples while they were living, and therefore vehemently desire conversation with the dead, as if from it they would obtain some highest good. But the devil, fostering this corruption of men, pretends that he is best consulting our affairs if he sets some kind of familiarity with the dead, so that he may persuade us that the dead can judge their condition to the living, and communicate with them about their affairs. But the more we are by nature inclined to this vice, the greater caution must be employed by us, that we flee these devotions and worships, and restraining our appetites with bridles, abstain always from every illicit thing forbidden by God's word. And since we are commanded to flee to the law and the prophets, let us pray to God that, taught by his word, we may so rest in him as not to desire to know anything else than what is lawful. Indeed not only by this example, but also by common usage we ought to be wise, since indeed in every age we see the heathen deluded in this way by the devil, that they applied their mind to conversations and conjurings of the dead. But to omit them, from where, I ask, in the papacy did that part of idolatrous worship take its rise but from this fountain? For if you ask the papists from where so many ridiculous things have crept into their worship, they say that they have it from the revelation of the spirit. Hence those ridiculous voices of men: that this spirit revealed itself to be in great straits in hell, that it could be refreshed by the duty of so many masses, and helped by a pilgrimage to some saint. Hence it has come to pass that one has vowed a chapel to some saint, another has built an altar — and this is the holiness of the papists and the system of divine worship; hence the origin of masses and the rest of the ceremonies, namely from the revelation of the dead. But let us, on the contrary, learn to rest in God alone, both the living and the dead, and so to depend upon him alone and his word, that he alone may be our wisdom; and let us so fight against the vice of curiosity that we cast far from us all those diabolical illusions with which he deludes men.

There follows that this woman raised up Samuel, and on seeing him cried out vehemently, and complained why he had imposed upon her. From which it appears that the apparition of the devil was to this woman as a mirror, from which she might judge of hidden things; for previously she had not known Saul by his face, since he had come in other garments... ...clothed in [garments], and seemed to be one of the common people or a country man, so that the woman could not suspect who he was; but by her art, having invoked the demon, she at last saw and recognized him by a certain spirit of divination, which her own senses could not perceive. Here many questions arise, and especially whether the devil has such knowledge of future things that he can reveal them. For we shall see hereafter that this one called up was an imaginary Samuel*, that is, a specter that represented Samuel, so that he could answer about the things asked. Therefore many think that devils cannot know the things which are hidden from us. To which question we have already at other times responded, and we have taught that it is foolish to attribute to devils knowledge of future things, which are contained in the secret counsel of God. But if we inquire about the diabolic nature, it is certain that they, taught by long experience of things, have many tricks by which, impelling us to evil, since they are airy spirits, they can know many things which we cannot know; and besides, what is chief in this question, that God sometimes gives the devil power to reveal to us hidden things which they have learned from the Lord, so much so that they not only lead us into error, but also so bewitch us with their illusions that they snatch away the whole mind. For so Paul teaches that men are punished by God in such a way that he sends upon them a spirit of error and an efficacy upon those who have despised the Lord's word. Hence so great a corruption has been brought into the church, that those who hear the gospel are nevertheless blinded; the reason for which Paul teaches: because God's truth indeed shines in the gospel and illuminates the blind, but he allows those who reject the gospel to remain in blindness, since the devil has blinded them. Indeed many of their own accord shut their eyes lest they distinguish good from evil, when God calls them back to his worship and obedience; and therefore they are most worthy of such a recompense, that God grants the devil an efficacy of error. Furthermore, when the apostle uses these expressions, 'efficacy,' 'error,' he comprehends two things, namely that God gives the devil power to deceive us, and permits him to reveal unknown things and in this way so to stupefy our senses that we have no longer any discrimination of good and evil, and like wretched beasts we are dragged by the nostrils to his lust. Such was that knowledge of the woman when she saw that pseudo-Samuel, the devil. Let us therefore learn from this not to seek anything except what is good and lawful, and to seek no reasons except those which God has given and approved by his word. For, as we said before, that desire of knowing forbidden things has driven such deep roots in men, that they would willingly mount up to the very clouds, to investigate what is going on in heaven and in another

*Note: The text, miserably corrupt, must be emended thus: 'that this Samuel was imaginary, that is, a specter which represented Samuel.'

world. This curiosity must be restrained, and all our zeal must be applied to things good and useful for us, as Paul admonishes and exhorts us. We know moreover that whatever is useful for salvation and for the spiritual government of souls is contained in the law, the prophets and the gospel. Therefore we must rest in these things, and God must be earnestly invoked that he may illumine us by his Holy Spirit, under whose guidance we may come to the knowledge of his will, which he has sufficiently disclosed in his sacred word, and so order our life that we may know whatever is useful and necessary both for body and soul to consist in him alone, and that we may pray God that each may discharge his office in his own calling and rest in him alone. This therefore is the chief point of all human wisdom, to wish to know nothing except what God grants, and what he has disclosed by his word to be good for the spiritual government of souls and for the present life. The means of ordering life are not to be sought through long roundabout ways, as Moses speaks when he says: Do not ask, who shall ascend above the clouds, who shall cross the sea? The word of God is in your heart. Therefore when God has revealed his will, we must take the greatest care lest we be carried beyond it; but all our appetites must be restrained, lest we turn aside to this side or that, but be held in the study and obedience of the divine will; and consequently, when agitated by various straits and difficulties, let us not cast ourselves into those straits from which there is no exit. But someone may say: Is not the knowledge of things something beautiful? Indeed it is; but we also know what happened to that woman, with whom it would have gone better if she had either kept to her distaff at home, or done some work in the fields, than by the art of the devil, under the pretext nevertheless of the name of God, to know those things which the most expert of men could not know. But how did she come to know? By the revelation of the devil. How so? Can the devil reveal such hidden things? Indeed, as we said before, those who submit themselves to him deserve this recompense, that by his sleights and illusions their eyes are so held that they see what cannot be.

There follows that Saul had as yet seen nothing, but asked what the form was of him who had ascended. From which it appears that the devil had so stupefied Saul's senses that he gave greater faith to this sorcery and incantation. Here certain ones wish to seem keen and subtle, and ask how this could have happened, since they cannot be persuaded by any reasonings, and are wise only in their own eyes, and think they see more than others, believing nothing except what their own reason has dictated. Indeed, unless Scripture said so, we should think it could not have come about that Samuel should be called up from the tomb, and that she should recognize him whom, when Saul was present, she did not recognize. But these are the wonderful judgments of God, in which we see God blinding on the one hand the eyes of men who depart from him, and on the other hand at the same moment illuminating: which is conspicuous in the example of this woman, whom we see so bewitched by Satan's sleights that what she saw and could naturally know, she did not see, and meanwhile she recognized what is not. From this therefore let us learn to be cast down more and more before God, and to pray him with ardent vows that he may turn so great an error away from us, and not allow us to fall into Satan's snare and to be cast headlong into those darknesses in which we discern nothing further; but rather that he may always protect and rule us, and illuminate us with his Spirit, that we may truly be able to see what is useful and necessary for us, and so walk in the light of his word that we never deviate from his path. For by this example we are sufficiently taught that by our own nature we are nothing, and knowing things we know nothing, and that it is a special gift of God when we desire nothing nor wish to know anything except what he himself has willed us to know. For what happened to this woman would happen also to us, unless God should preserve us from Satan's sleights. Let us therefore acknowledge ourselves to be plainly blind by nature, and that even the natural intelligence which God himself has given us would be nothing, unless God should preserve the same. Often indeed it happens that God, about to punish our sins, takes from us our sense and snatches our mind away, so that we are utterly stupefied; then afterwards, when the severity of his hand is mitigated, we feel the highest gentleness in him. From this let us learn to pray the Lord earnestly that he illumine us with the true light of his will, that he may direct us in the right way and rule us through our whole life; and grant us that grace by which we may be contained within the bars of his word, and may recognize the vanity of that knowledge or science which prefers to have the devil rather as teacher than him who is truthful. For it is knowledge without knowledge, and cognition without cognition. That woman recognized as Samuel one who was not Samuel, and did not recognize Saul who was Saul, deluded by Satan's sleights. Let us know that the condition of those who despise God today is the same as that of this sorceress and others like her, who, although they are very crafty and often deceive many unwary by their frauds and bring their counsels to the desired end, nevertheless draw down confusion upon their own head, so that it would have been far more useful for them never to have applied their mind to those frauds, which God nevertheless uses for our correction and benefit.

And let these few things suffice for us about this question. And let us pray God to preserve us kindly in the purity and obedience of his worship, and grant that we may not too curiously seek to know those things which he willed to be unknown to us, and instructed by Saul's example may be wise; so that, resting in the one God and the truth of his word, we may never depart from him by even a finger's breadth. For the good intentions of men, as they are called, are an immense abyss, into which once plunged we can never emerge. Then let us acknowledge God's name as so sacrosanct that we never take it in vain, but hold it in honor and esteem; and since he has bestowed this privilege on us, that he has taken us up as his peculiar people, let us testify in deed that we also acknowledge and have him as God, leading our life in integrity and candor; and let us detest and abominate all those confusions in which we see the world today taking delight. Finally, let us not in extreme difficulties imitate the counsel of Saul, who fled to magicians, desiring to know what God did not wish; nor in desperate situations let us ever cast down our spirit, nor consult the devil when God does not immediately answer our prayers; but rather, even if he does not answer, let us pray him incessantly, and beg pardon for our sins, fully persuaded that his anger will not be lasting, of which he shows no doubtful signs, nor that we shall, like the wicked and reprobate, be consumed by it. Finally, if God delays, let us nonetheless patiently await the outcome, which can only be good and salutary, since God has willed to profess himself our defender and protector. Let us therefore detest our sins from the heart, that we may more easily obtain pardon from the Lord and feel the effects of his mercy, who has stretched forth his arm against Satan's power, and has remembered his mercies to lift us up. Furthermore, let us beware lest anything be done by us in pretense, if we wish God to be propitious to us; and let us hold for certain that all the threats of enemies will be vain, even though God may seem to have deserted us in the opinion of men; and that we may seem about to be torn and devoured by enemies, since God is going to give us a happy outcome, and to send the highest confusion upon the enemies. Therefore the greater the fury with which the conspired enemies make their assault on us, the more vehemently let us apply ourselves to the worship of God, and contain ourselves in his obedience, earnestly invoking him to disclose to us his will, insofar as it is expedient for our salvation, and not to allow us to be overcome in our own affections, but to feed us with his word, that we may rest in him alone, persuaded that it will go far better with us if we feel a spark of his goodness than if we are full of the devil's sleights and illusions, as those wretched sorcerers and the highest enchanters are accustomed to delight in such things and place their blessedness in them, as if they had touched the summit of all sciences. But let us, on the contrary, learn so soberly to dwell among men, that, esteeming as much as is fitting the goodness and mercy of our God, we may know all wisdom and knowledge to be reposed in him, which we shall not cease to scrutinize incessantly so long as life remains.

Now then, come, etc.

## HOMILIA C.

7. Saul said to his servants: Find me a woman who is a medium, and I will go to her and inquire through her. His servants said to him: There is a woman who is a medium at Endor. 8. So he disguised himself by putting on other clothes, and he went — he and two men with him — and they came to the woman at night. He said to her: Consult a spirit for me and bring up for me the one I name to you. 9. The woman said to him: Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why are you then setting a trap for my life to bring about my death? 10. Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this. 11. The woman said: Whom shall I bring up for you? He said: Bring up Samuel for me. 12. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. She said to Saul: Why have you deceived me? You are Saul! 13. The king said to her: Do not be afraid. What do you see? The woman said to Saul: I see a spirit coming up out of the earth. 14. He said to her: What is his appearance? She said: An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe. Saul recognized that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage.

In yesterday's sermon we began to see how Saul, despairing of God's grace, fled to a woman medium and sorceress to learn what the future held for him. God had not answered him when he sought counsel — yet God was not deaf or mute. As we said before, Saul had made himself unworthy of God's grace. God never changes His nature — as the prophet later declared, God is always near to those who call on Him in true faith, and He helps them at the right time. Why then did He not answer Saul? Because Saul's sins had separated him so completely from God that he was unworthy to find favor with Him. Whenever corrupt people approach God with a false and pretended heart, trying to press Him with their prayers, it is like someone who steps back two miles and then tries to speak with another person from that distance — obviously ridiculous. This is exactly the situation of all unbelievers who, driven by some crisis, throw themselves before God and plead for His mercy and help with the deepest apparent humility — while at the same time turning their backs on God and fleeing His presence as much as they can. This is what Saul did. I admit that even the most righteous people cannot rise toward God with the zeal and earnestness that is fitting unless God's mercy goes before them. What are we, after all, but dust and corruption — worms crawling on the earth? Even those who appear most virtuous are still held by many faults. If God dealt with them according to strict justice, He could rightly reject them as unworthy. Yet if we examine ourselves honestly, confessing without disguise that we have offended God, hating the evil in us, and flee to His mercy without hypocrisy, then we will certainly find God. The door of His grace will be open to us, and He will take care of all our troubles and difficulties.

Saul's condition was entirely different — he persisted in his wickedness and grew harder. If he had been genuinely weary of the sins he had committed in pursuing David, and had repented...

...and had been horrified at the terrible slaughter of the priests he had carried out, and had cried out deeply before God — against whose promise to David he had resisted — and had humbled himself before God upon hearing the certain verdict pronounced against him through Samuel, because he had not yielded to God's will — then God would certainly have answered him and he would never have fallen into such desperate despair. This is a lesson we must take to heart. Those who flee to God in times of difficulty should examine themselves and carefully review their sins — no one can fully grasp them, since their number is beyond counting — but examine themselves enough to be brought low in true humility. From this examination should come that grief and brokenness of heart that moves us to give glory to God, to acknowledge the eternal death we have deserved through our sins, yet without despairing of His mercy. If we do this, God Himself will come to meet us. He will fulfill in practice what He said through the prophet Isaiah: that before we even opened our mouths to call on Him, He would stretch out His hand to help us. But if instead we act like those wretched and detestable people who invoke both the devil and God — who say they will turn to the devil if God does not receive them — and who give up the moment God does not answer them exactly as they wish, then we will end up worse than even the detestable Saul. So let us learn from his example to be wise. If God is at times angry with us because of our sins, let that be all the more reason to search ourselves and examine our hearts, so that having recognized our sins we may cry out to God and obtain His grace and mercy. We know what the prophet teaches: 'I will wait for the Lord, even if He hides His face from me and seems to have forgotten me.' Therefore, when God shows signs of His anger, turns away from us, and seems in human eyes to have forgotten us — let us honestly acknowledge that we have deserved this, and yet patiently wait for His grace, seeking it with unceasing prayer and standing firm against every temptation.

We also saw that the law requiring the removal of magicians, sorcerers, and diviners had not been enforced by Saul's ministers — for a medium was still found in the region, and Saul's own servants directed him to her, knowing where she lived and that she gave responses through familiar spirits to those who came to her. There we said that this is what divine laws must accomplish: no one should be allowed to sin without consequence. Punishing one person while leaving another unpunished is the highest abomination before God. This becomes plain when we watch Saul approach that sorceress. He disguised himself, put on different clothing, and went to the woman at night like an ordinary person, asking her to consult a spirit for him and bring up the one he would name. We see two things here that could not be more contradictory. Previously Saul had executed all the sorceresses and cleansed the land of these corruptions, carrying out the divine law as he should. But now he goes himself — in direct violation of that same divine law — to ask a woman what the outcome of his troubles will be. This is a horrifying crime, especially since God had expressly forbidden His people to deal with demons, diviners, or sorcerers, or to inquire through them about things He did not intend them to know. God's law did not merely condemn those practitioners to death — it forbade any contact with them or any sharing in their pollutions and idolatries. Yet now Saul, whose exceptional zeal for fulfilling God's law had once been visible to all, submits himself to the devil and honors him through this medium. This is a sobering example from which we must learn always to walk the right path marked out for us in God's Word — never veering to the right or to the left. If we have once or twice done something excellent and then turn in the opposite direction, our former good deeds will not bring us to God or make us acceptable to Him. On the contrary, they will draw down a greater condemnation. Take Jehu as an example. With considerable zeal he put to death everyone remaining from Ahab's household, as God had commanded through the prophet. Because Ahab's house had corrupted itself with horrible idolatry and cast off the worship of God, God in His just judgment willed it to be destroyed — and He committed that task of vengeance to Jehu. So Jehu, with real intensity, carried out the Lord's command. But afterward he fell back into the very base superstitions he had so severely punished in others, mixing idolatrous worship with the worship of the living God and allowing true religion to be corrupted and diluted. God threatened Jehu with the same punishments He had threatened against others. Consider how outrageous it would be if a judge today convicted one criminal and then let another guilty person go free the next day. Is that not a deep contempt both for God and for His laws? If these men were genuinely motivated by zeal for God's honor, they would daily build on what they began well. Let judges therefore take warning from these examples: do not punish the same crime in one person while leaving another unpunished... ...do not pronounce sentence against poor people of low rank while leaving those with power and influence unpunished, covering up their wickedness with favoritism. And let them fear that in doing so they pronounce sentence against themselves before God and call down on their own heads the same judgment they inflicted on others. They may not be nailed to a cross or suffer human punishment for it — but they will never escape God's vengeance. They will be condemned before His throne and either end their lives miserably on this earth or face the final judgment. Today you can see many people not unlike Saul — not changing their clothes as he did, but going along with the very vices they once condemned by their own verdict. There is no integrity in them, and their hypocrisy and faithlessness toward God are plain for all to see. They think they have satisfied God if they act justly in some matters while being openly unjust in many others. Such people are like a debtor, buried under obligations and overwhelmed with debt, who thinks he has satisfied his creditors by paying off only a small part. But this is not how God wills to be worshiped. His worship must be sincere and pure in every respect. We must recognize that we have received everything from God, give Him fitting thanks, and always persevere in His worship. Therefore let us weigh this example of Saul with great care — God willed it to be written down for our benefit. When we see Saul punishing evildoers as God commanded, and then running to the sorceress and submitting himself to the devil, we must learn to flee and condemn evil — both in ourselves and in others — without partiality, and never to stray from the right rule of God's Word. It is not enough to have begun well; we must persevere to the end. And consider how widespread today is the corruption of justice: some cover up the wickedness of their relatives while others provide behind-the-scenes advice on how to escape punishment. A man may pursue some crime with zeal today and tomorrow, bribed by a gift or swayed by the influence of friends, acquit the guilty. This is not justice — it is open robbery, for which account must one day be rendered to God. The same holds for all who publicly profess God's worship and display outward signs of it, yet inwardly harbor some kind of poison covered by pretense and hypocrisy. There is no doubt they will feel God's severe hand — God cannot endure such contempt. So let us condemn vice and search ourselves diligently, so that, led by genuine repentance, we may persevere on the right path of divine worship, never leaning to one side or the other. God approves an upright conscience but condemns the false and the hypocrite — He does not judge by the outward appearance but by what is hidden in the depths of the heart. Do not think you can deceive God. If the fear of God has taken deep root in our hearts, we will be just as sincere in His worship at one time as at another. Hypocrites are like a tree on which someone has hung artificial fruit and then declared it a fruit-bearing tree — when the fruit came from somewhere else entirely. Let us instead be like good trees, producing genuine fruit, rooted in the goodness, fear, and obedience of our God — and let us make daily progress in His school until we have finished our course.

Next we see that the woman refused to answer at first — claiming to fear for her own safety. This is the typical behavior of wicked people: they pretend not to dare to do what they most want to do, so they can sell their services at a higher price and take greater advantage of others. For example, if someone solicits a woman for immorality, she will immediately object that the law is strict and the punishment severe. But what is the real purpose of that objection? Simply to consent to the act while driving up her price. Likewise, if someone is asked to bear false witness, he will immediately say it is a capital offense — not because he genuinely recoils from the evil, but because he wants a larger reward. This is how all wicked people operate: they raise the danger, the disgrace, or the risk to their lives in order to receive greater payment and favor. This medium is a perfect example. She first refused and claimed to fear what Saul demanded — but once she heard Saul's oath that she would go unpunished, she went along with the wickedness. Let us learn from this that when we are tempted toward some wrongdoing, we should not be held back merely by fear of human penalties. We should dread the very nature of sin itself — because sin draws down God's condemnation and cuts off our access to Him. When this is our mindset, we will steadily resist all temptations and all the tricks Satan uses to lead us from the right path — and we will ultimately triumph over Satan himself, which happens when we rest in God, hate evil, and turn away from it.

Now regarding Saul's oath: it is true that he kept it — but not without profaning God's name. To whom did Saul swear? To a sorceress. And what did he swear? That he would not do what God had commanded — that he would, like an accomplice, carry through a divination practice that God had strictly forbidden. This is equivalent to a husband swearing to commit adultery; a father swearing to kill his own son with a sword; a citizen swearing to rebel against his king and fight against him with everything he has — that was the nature of Saul's oath. But let us learn the opposite lesson: to revere God so deeply... ...that we never take His name in vain or hold it in contempt. Every oath is offered in honor of God. Sorcerers and enchanters and people of that kind seize on this to congratulate themselves, since they invoke God's name when giving responses — as if God Himself were answering — when in reality they depend entirely on the devil and use God's name falsely. Those who take an oath should be fully persuaded that by invoking God's name they are acknowledging that it is God's role and power to judge not only actions but also thoughts. The highest honor is shown to God when we place ourselves before His judgment seat and declare that we must give account to Him for all our deeds, words, and thoughts. Beyond this, an oath is a public declaration of God's power — that He alone knows all things and distinguishes falsehood from truth. But if an oath is used for an evil purpose, it is the deepest profanation of God's name. Since taking an oath in God's name is a sacred act, we must take the utmost care not to invoke it carelessly out of corrupt desires, turning it into mockery. When genuine necessity demands it, let us invoke the name of the living God — to be strengthened in our devotion to what is right and good, and to bear witness to our clear conscience. These are the lessons to take from Saul's oath. He swore in these words: 'As the Lord lives.' Now the life of God means not only that by which we live — by which we move, feel, see, will, and think — but above all that by which He governs the world, holds all things subject to Himself, serves as supreme judge to whom every knee must bow, lays down the law for us, distinguishes evil from good, punishes human wrongdoing, and upholds justice and equity. This — the very life of God — is what Saul, swearing recklessly, swore against himself, forgetting who he was before. Let us therefore be careful when we take up God's name — never using it in vain or carelessly — but, knowing God for who He is, let us call on Him as witness and judge only in lawful matters.

Next the woman asked Saul whom he wanted to be raised up from the dead for him. From this it is clear that she practiced the art of necromancy — that is, divination through the dead, supposedly called up in God's name. This is the typical method of the devil's servants: they abuse God's name, calling themselves prophets who possess a spirit of revelation, while their entire art is nothing but diabolical fraud and wickedness. We can see that this woman was accustomed to calling the dead from their graves — supposedly able to summon any ancient figure or prophet that someone wished to consult. These have always been the devil's tricks for deceiving those who, driven by sinful curiosity, desire to communicate with the dead. Often people grieve deeply over the loss of loved ones — parents, relatives, close friends — and feel great anxiety about their condition in the next life. These natural emotions, when left unchecked, lead miserable people to inquire too obsessively about the state of the departed, hoping to find relief in learning they are well. Satan seizes on this opportunity to draw them into his trap, pretending to give them access to the dead. On top of this, there is a misguided admiration for the dead: many people, hearing of a great person's life, are deeply impressed and wish they could have been that person's disciple while he was alive. They crave conversation with the dead, as if from it they might obtain some great benefit. The devil exploits this corruption by pretending that he is doing us a great service by arranging a kind of familiarity with the dead — persuading us that the dead can evaluate the condition of the living and give them guidance about their affairs. But the more we are by nature drawn toward this vice, the more careful we must be to flee these practices and superstitions, putting a bridle on our appetites and keeping ourselves from everything God's Word has forbidden. Since we are commanded to turn to the law and the prophets, let us pray that God, through His Word, would teach us to rest in Him so fully that we desire to know nothing beyond what is lawful. We should learn not only from this example but from the common pattern throughout history — in every age we see pagan peoples deceived by the devil in this very way, captivated by conversations with and conjurings of the dead. But setting them aside — where did that branch of idolatrous worship in the papacy come from, if not from this same source? If you ask Roman Catholics where all these strange practices in their worship originated, they say it came from the revelation of a spirit. From this comes those absurd stories: that a spirit revealed it was in great torment in purgatory and could be relieved by a certain number of masses, or helped by a pilgrimage to some saint. From this come the vows — one person vowing a chapel to some saint, another building an altar. This is the Roman Catholic system of divine worship, and it has its root in supposed revelations from the dead. In contrast, let us learn to rest in God alone — both in life and in death — to depend entirely on Him and His Word, so that He alone is our wisdom. And let us fight against the vice of curiosity, casting far from us all those diabolical illusions by which the devil deceives humanity.

Next we read that the woman raised up Samuel, and on seeing him cried out loudly, complaining that Saul had deceived her. This tells us that the devil's apparition served as a kind of mirror for this woman, through which she could perceive hidden things. She had not previously recognized Saul by sight, since he had come in disguise wearing different clothes and appeared to be an ordinary man or a farmer, giving her no reason to suspect who he was. But through her art — by invoking a demon — she finally saw and recognized him by means of a spirit of divination that her own senses could not have perceived. This raises many questions, and especially: does the devil have such knowledge of future things that he can reveal them? We will see later that this Samuel who appeared was a counterfeit Samuel — a specter that represented Samuel, able to answer questions put to it. Many therefore conclude that demons cannot know things hidden from us. We have addressed this question before. It is foolish to attribute to demons knowledge of future things, which are contained in God's secret counsel. But regarding the nature of demons: it is certain that, taught by long experience, they have many tricks by which to drive us toward evil. As spiritual beings, they can know many things we cannot. More importantly — and this is the heart of the matter — God sometimes grants the devil power to reveal hidden things he has learned from the Lord, to such a degree that he not only leads us into error but so bewilders us with his illusions that he captures the whole mind. Paul teaches that God punishes people by sending on them a spirit of error and a strong delusion — particularly on those who have despised His Word. This is how such great corruption has entered the church: people who hear the Gospel are nevertheless blinded. Paul explains the reason: God's truth shines in the Gospel and illuminates the blind, but He allows those who reject the Gospel to remain in their blindness, because the devil has blinded them. Many people deliberately close their own eyes so they cannot tell good from evil, even when God is calling them back to His worship and obedience. They are therefore entirely deserving of this consequence: God grants the devil an effective power of delusion over them. When the apostle uses the words 'effective power' and 'delusion,' he brings together two things: God gives the devil power to deceive us and permits him to reveal unknown things, numbing our senses so completely that we lose all ability to tell good from evil and are dragged along like wretched animals. Such was the knowledge this woman gained when she saw that counterfeit Samuel — the devil in disguise. From this we must learn to seek only what is good and lawful, and to pursue only those sources of knowledge that God has given and confirmed by His Word. For, as we said before, the desire to know forbidden things has taken such deep root in people that they would gladly climb to the very clouds to investigate what is happening in heaven and in another

Note: The text here is poorly preserved and must be understood as follows: that this Samuel was a counterfeit, a specter representing Samuel.

world. This curiosity must be restrained, and all our energy directed toward things that are good and useful for us, as Paul urges and exhorts. We know that everything useful for salvation and the spiritual guidance of souls is contained in the law, the prophets, and the Gospel. We must therefore rest in these, and earnestly ask God to illuminate us by His Holy Spirit — under whose guidance we may come to know His will, which He has sufficiently disclosed in His holy Word. We must order our lives so that we recognize that everything needful for body and soul consists in God alone, and pray that each of us may fulfill our calling and rest in Him alone. This is the central point of all human wisdom: to desire to know nothing except what God grants and what He has declared in His Word to be good for the spiritual life and for this present life. The means of ordering life are not to be sought by going far afield, as Moses says: 'Do not ask, who shall ascend above the clouds, who shall cross the sea?' The word of God is in your heart. Therefore when God has revealed His will, we must take the greatest care not to go beyond it. All our desires must be kept in check, so that we do not turn aside in one direction or another, but remain committed to the study and obedience of God's will. When we are pressed by various crises and difficulties, let us not throw ourselves into straits from which there is no way out. But someone may ask: Is not the pursuit of knowledge a beautiful thing? Indeed it is. But we also know what happened to this woman. She would have been far better off staying at her spinning at home, or doing fieldwork, than using the devil's art — cloaked under the name of God — to know things that the most learned people could never have known. But how did she come to know? By the devil's revelation. How so? Can the devil reveal such hidden things? Yes — as we said before, those who submit to him get exactly what they deserve: his tricks and illusions grip their eyes so tightly that they think they see what cannot be.

We read next that Saul himself had seen nothing, and asked what the form was of the one who had come up. From this it appears that the devil had so dulled Saul's senses that he placed even greater confidence in this sorcery and incantation. At this point, some want to appear clever and sophisticated, asking how any of this could have happened. They trust only their own reasoning, consider themselves wiser than everyone else, and believe nothing their own minds have not first approved. Granted — were it not for Scripture's testimony, we would think it impossible for Samuel to be called up from the grave, or for this woman to recognize someone she had not recognized when Saul was standing right in front of her. But these are the wonderful judgments of God. On one hand He blinds the eyes of those who depart from Him; on the other, at that same moment, He illuminates. We see this clearly in this woman: bewitched by Satan's tricks, she failed to perceive what she could naturally have seen, while at the same moment recognizing what she could not have known. From this, then, let us learn to bow lower before God and to pray with earnest devotion that He would turn such great blindness away from us — that He would not allow us to fall into Satan's snare and be plunged headlong into a darkness where we can see nothing at all. Rather, let Him always protect and govern us, and illuminate us by His Spirit, so that we may truly perceive what is useful and necessary for us, walking in the light of His Word and never straying from His path. This example makes it sufficiently clear that by our own nature we are nothing — knowing facts while understanding nothing — and that it is a special gift of God when we desire and seek to know only what He has willed us to know. What happened to this woman would happen to us as well, if God did not protect us from Satan's tricks. Let us therefore acknowledge that we are plainly blind by nature, and that even the natural intelligence God has given us would amount to nothing unless He maintained and preserved it. It often happens that God, in preparing to punish our sins, removes our judgment and seizes our mind, leaving us completely stupefied. Then afterward, when the severity of His hand is relaxed, we experience His great gentleness. From this let us learn to ask the Lord earnestly to illuminate us with the true light of His will, to direct us in the right way and govern us throughout our entire life — granting us the grace to remain within the boundaries of His Word, and to recognize the emptiness of that so-called knowledge which prefers to have the devil as its teacher rather than the One who is truth itself. For it is knowledge without knowledge, and understanding without understanding. That woman recognized as Samuel someone who was not Samuel, and failed to recognize Saul who was Saul — all deceived by Satan's tricks. Let us understand that the condition of those who despise God today is the same as that of this sorceress and others like her. Though they may be very clever and often successfully deceive many unsuspecting people, carrying their schemes to the end they desire, they ultimately bring confusion down on their own heads. It would have been far better for them never to have given their minds over to those deceits — though God in His sovereignty uses even those for our correction and benefit.

Let these points be enough on this question. Let us pray that God would mercifully preserve us in the purity and obedience of His worship, and grant that we would not too curiously pursue knowledge of things He has willed to remain unknown to us. Taught by Saul's example, let us be wise — resting in the one God and the truth of His Word, never departing from Him even by the smallest degree. For so-called good intentions are an immense pit — once we plunge in, we can never get out. Let us hold God's name as so sacred that we never take it in vain, but honor and esteem it. And since He has bestowed this privilege on us — taking us as His own people — let us demonstrate in action that we acknowledge and have Him as our God, living with integrity and honesty, and detesting and rejecting all the corruptions in which the world today takes delight. Finally, in the most extreme difficulties, let us never follow Saul's example — fleeing to practitioners of magic, trying to know what God has not chosen to reveal. And in desperate situations, let us never lose heart or consult the devil when God does not immediately answer our prayers. Rather, even if He does not answer, let us keep praying without stopping and ask pardon for our sins, fully persuaded that His anger will not last, as He Himself makes clear through unmistakable signs — and that we, unlike the wicked and reprobate, will not be consumed by it. If God delays, let us nonetheless patiently await the outcome, which can only be good and beneficial — since God has declared Himself to be our defender and protector. Let us therefore detest our sins from the heart, so that we may more easily obtain pardon from the Lord and experience the effects of His mercy — He who has stretched out His arm against Satan's power and remembered His mercies to lift us up. Moreover, let us take care that nothing we do is done in pretense, if we want God's favor. Let us hold firmly to this: all the threats of enemies will come to nothing, even if God seems in human eyes to have abandoned us, and even if it looks as though enemies are about to tear us apart. God will bring a good outcome and send utter confusion on our enemies. Therefore, the more fiercely our conspiring enemies attack us, the more wholeheartedly let us give ourselves to the worship of God and keep ourselves in His obedience — earnestly asking Him to reveal His will to us, as far as our salvation requires, and not to let us be overcome by our own passions. Let Him feed us with His Word so that we rest in Him alone, persuaded that a single spark of His goodness is worth more than all of the devil's tricks and illusions combined — the very things in which those miserable sorcerers and practitioners of dark arts delight, as if they had reached the summit of all knowledge. But let us instead learn to live soberly among people — esteeming the goodness and mercy of our God as much as it deserves — knowing that all wisdom and knowledge rest in Him, and that we will never cease to seek and study Him as long as life remains.

Now then, come, etc.

## HOMILIA C.