Heartbreaking Cost of Sin: A Wake-up Call for All People

Shared on March 26, 2025

Introduction

Throughout this series of studies, we have seen that sinful living is a choice.  As we have seen, God will warn us when our choices will cause us to stray from the path of righteousness.  If we stray from the path of righteousness, God will offer us correction, and once again, we can either choose to accept His correction or not.  There is no such thing as running out of chances with God unless we choose not to be with Him.

The thing about making choices is that every choice you make has an end result.  Think about it:  What you choose to eat plays a role in your health, whether good or bad.  What road you choose to take can determine how quickly you reach your destination, right?  When you choose to live sinfully, you should understand that such a choice has a definite consequence.  

Our study series on King Saul will be coming to a close this week as we’ll see Saul learn that there is a price to pay for living sinfully.  I truly believe that the story of Saul should serve as a wake-up call for both the believer and non-believer!  So, let’s pour over today’s scripture, primarily focused on 1 Samuel 28 and 1 Samuel 31:1-6.

Saul’s Mounting Trouble

After David spared Saul’s life in the cave, things began to go further downhill for Saul.  In 1 Samuel 26, there was a second occasion when David spared Saul’s life as he was encamped in the hill of Hachilah, still pursuing after David.  

1 Samuel 27 covers David allying with the Philistines because Saul didn’t relent in his pursuit of David, even after David had spared his life on multiple occasions.  David had never moved against Saul and his army of 3,000, even though he had multiple chances to do so.  David didn’t have nearly as many men as Saul had, but David’s men were certainly very capable.

With sin comes great trouble.  Now, you may not see that trouble immediately, but trouble is certainly over the horizon.  For Saul, life was OK, but then David rose up and he was troubled.  Saul was king but he was so troubled because he could sense himself losing his kingdom.  The sinner always lives with a distressing spirit because they live out of fellowship with the Lord.  This is part of the cost of sinful living.

For Saul, such an alliance could’ve posed a serious threat.  However, the Philistines, as they prepared to do battle against Israel, chose not to let David fight with them.  Some in the Philistine army didn’t trust that David would fight against his own people, so they didn’t trust David fighting alongside them.  Before they moved against Saul and his army, the Philistines had David and his army go their own way.

Saul’s Fear Comes to Light

Now, with these mounting troubles, the cost of sin was growing apparent to Saul.  When Saul saw the Philistine army camped nearby, 1 Samuel 28:5 tells us that Saul was so afraid that his heart trembled.  This is one of the few times in scripture where we Saul is described as trembling in fear, especially on the battlefied.  On the battlefield, Saul often tried to project strength, as a king would typically do.

Now, these fearful moments for Saul share one particular thing in common with why he was fearful.  For example, when Saul failed to kill David the first time, 1 Samuel 18:12 tells us that Saul was afraid of David.  Why was he afraid of David at that moment of time?  Because he saw that God was with David and had departed from him.  You see, when you choose sinful living, God will not abide with you.

When Goliath defiantly stood before the army of Israel and challenged them, Saul and the army of Israel were greatly afraid (1 Sam. 17:10-11).  David, on the other hand, didn’t fear Goliath.  Why didn’t David fear Goliath?  As he told Saul at that time, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine (1 Sam. 17:37).”

For David, God was his confidence because he chose to walk by faith!  Saul could have enjoyed that same level of confidence but he chose to live in disobedience.  The choice of living sinfully comes with a loss of confidence in knowing God is with you and will deliver you from all trouble.  

As Paul said, God does not give His children a spirit of fear!  God gives us a spirit of power – a spirit of confidence!  For those who don’t choose to abide with God, their confidence has to come from elsewhere and who or what can provide better confidence than God?  Earthyly and worldly devices will eventually fail and after they fail, who or what will you turn to?

No Redemption in Sin

We are told in 1 Samuel 28:6 that Saul, in his fear, tried to inquire of the Lord but God didn’t answer him.  God didn’t answer Saul by dreams, “by Urim” (through the Priest), or by the prophets.  Why didn’t God respond to Saul’s inquiry?  Is there ever a time when God won’t respond to us?

Saul had made his choice and his choice wasn’t God!  What Saul did in that moment was like trying to go back to someone you abandoned a long time ago, expecting them to take you back in.  Now, you may think to yourself – “Well, isn’t God supposed to forgive us and welcome us back?”

You are right, that is absolutely what God will do when one sincerely comes to him in repentance!  As John wrote in 1 John 1:9, when one acknowledges and confesses their sin, God is faithful and just to cleanse us from all sin.  Yes, when you heed God’s rebuke, when you make correction, or at least strive to make corrections, God will show you mercy.

Here was Saul’s problem:  Saul never acknowledged his wrongdoing and he never attempted to make corrections.  As I’ve said recently, time after time, Saul chose to disregard God’s rebuke.  Saul’s heart was not for God and when God judged that Saul’s heart wasn’t from Him, the relationship was over.

Hebrews 6:4-6 touches on the notion of one falling away and being “renewed” again.  The scripture states, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened … if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put HIm to an open shame.”

“Falling away” in this case speaks to one departing from faith in the gospel of Christ.  To be clear, “falling away” isn’t speaking merely to falling into sin and temptation!  This speaks to one committing themselves to living sinfully in apostasy.  Sin and transgressions will be forgiven, but to commit yourself to sin, after supposedly walking with Christ, will be punished.  Such a sin mocks what Christ did by giving His life as our atonement offering.

Saul lived well before Christ, yet he had tasted the Spirit of God as it had rested upon him at one point.  As David would often remind his men, Saul was one of God’s anointed ones.  Saul also had Samuel as a prophet!   I say these things because Saul knew better than to commit himself to sin, but he chose sin anyway.  

God ignored Saul’s inquiry because Saul had spent his days being committed to ignoring the Lord.  Simply put:  there was no coming back for Saul and his sin.  Saul ran himself out of chances and opportunities by being committed to sin.  In other words, Saul had waited too late to be trying to inquire of the Lord.  So, another cost of sin is God closing His ears to you and there being no more redemption for you.

The Final Judgment of Sin

Once he realized God wasn’t speaking to him, Saul consulted a medium (1 Sam. 28:8).  This, I want to point out to you again, shows us the sinful nature of Saul.  No, God was not going to speak to Him at that moment.  However, this moment reiterates for us how impatience truly doomed Saul.  

It was his impatience that caused him to offer an unlawful sacrifice because he couldn’t wait on Samuel (1 Sam. 13:1-15).  Remember, his unlawful sacrifice was the beginning of what led him down the sinful path.

In his impatience, consulting a medium, Saul did something forbidden by the law.  In Deuteronomy 18:10, the Lord forbade the children of Israel from allowing to be among them who practiced witchcraft, sorcery, interpreted omens, or were a soothsayer.  I know that many today love to read their horoscopes and get their readings, but such actions do not please the Lord.  I feel that too many take lightly the spiritual realm as they have no idea what they are messing with.

In this instance, Saul had no idea what he was messing with consulting this medium.  Saul desired to hear from Samuel, who had passed away by this point in scripture (1 Sam. 25:1).  Why did he want to speak to Samuel?  Because he was afraid of the Philistine army and sought comfort going into battle.  The earthly and worldly stopped working for Saul, and now he’s ready to “turn back to God”.

Saul used to seek such comfort in his early days as king, so this more so comes off as trying to use Samuel as a good luck charm. There are many who choose to live sinfully, but as soon as trouble comes, they want to use God as a crutch or a good luck charm. Do you think that is proper?

Now, the scene that takes place from 1 Samuel 28:12-19 is one that is debated.  The medium supposedly saw Samuel and spoke with him.  The problem here is that this medium had not consulted the Lord.  She certainly didn’t have the power to move past God and speak directly to Samuel.

Now, some believe that the woman did speak to Samuel but I am one who doubts it.  Could it have been a fraud, a scam?  I do believe she spoke to a spiritual entity, but I don’t believe it was Samuel. The reason why I don’t believe she spoke with Samuel’s spirit was because God wasn’t speaking with Saul. God would not have permitted Sameul to speak with Saul and it’s not like Samuel could override God’s authority on the matter. Saul had made his bed and he was going to have to lay in it.  

If you pay close attention to what the spiritual entity supposedly said to Saul, it didn’t tell him anything he had not already heard from Samuel.  You see, before Samuel passed away, he told Saul what would become of him and his kingdom (1 Sam. 13:11-14; 15:16-27).  Saul’s kingdom was to be torn from him and his household and there was nothing he could do to stop that from happening.

When the Philistines fought against Saul and his army, it was not a pretty battle for Israel (1 Sam. 31:1-6).  The men of Israel fled and were slain.  The scripture tells us that Saul’s sons were all killed by the Philistines, including Jonathan.  Saul was severely wounded by archers on the battlefield and ended up taking his own life.  I suppose Saul didn’t want to be paraded around by the Philistines the same as he had done to other kings.

The end of Saul’s life, honestly, was a sad and tragic ending. Why do I say that? Because Saul knew better. Saul knew the Lord! Saul also had ample opportunities to turn his life around, but he chose not to do so!

Do you think the Lord took pleasure in Saul’s life coming to such a tragic ending? Absolutely not. The sinner’s spiritual end, being cast away from God for everlasting life, will not be celebrated. As Jesus often said, their will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 13:41-42). Why will it be that way? Because like Saul, the sinner will have had ample opportunity to repent but chose to disregard the call of God.

The cost of sin is high and there is no running away from paying its price.  No amount of power you may feel you have in this world is going to save you from paying its price.  No amount of wealth you may have in this world is going to save you from paying its price.  

No amount of “good deeds” you believe you have is going to save you from choosing not to abide with the Lord.  This thought for many is such a controversial thought.  Why so?  The thought is that God, if He is a loving God, shouldn’t hurt someone just because they didn’t believe in Him.  Yes, the thought is that God, if He is a merciful God, shouldn’t punish a good person just because they don’t believe in Him.

You see, even those who don’t believe in the Lord, they do believe that the wicked and evil should be punished.  However, I feel I must make it clear that God doesn’t take pleasure in punishing anybody.  What we must come to understand is that God will not abide with those who don’t abide, or have no interest in abiding with Him.  

So, in the end, God’s judgment will be to give everybody what they want.  If you desire to dwell with the Lord and you’ve lived in obedience, He will permit you to dwell with Him.  If you desire not to dwell with the Lord and want to be far away from “religion”, God is going to give you what you want!  God will cast you away from His presence for everlasting life.

Wake-up Call for Sinners

I feel like in his last days, Saul experienced the realization of the choice he had made to disregard the Lord.  Do I think that if he had to do it all over again he would do anything differently?  I’m not sure.  I would certainly hope so, but it had become too late for Saul. Saul had made the choice not to turn back. I believe that some of us believe that we’ve gotten too deep into the well of sin to turn around but I want you to understand that is not true!  

Isaiah 59:1-2, “Behold, the Lord’s hands is not shortened, that it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”  

Sin puts a barrier between God and mankind.  Now, Jesus tore down that barrier when He gave His life and reconciled all things to Himself.  However, when one chooses to ignore God’s rebuke that came from His only begotten Son.  The one who ignores will start to build that barrier of sin again by choosing to live sinfully.  

You build that wall so high and God will give you over to your way and let you have it!  So, one cannot be upset when they stand before the great white throne and the Lord does not permit them to dwell with Him for eternity.  We should take stories like Saul’s story and learn from them so that we don’t share in the same end as him.  What I mean by that is that Saul’s fate was sealed because he chose sin – this same thing holds true for sinners.

What Saul’s Story Means for Believers

So, what does Saul’s story mean for us believers who have chosen to live in obedience?  Part of the reason why I shared this series of studies is because we are surrounded by many people who move like Saul.  It can be easy for us to feel hopeless in such an environment, yet victory is promised to us.

As often as Saul attempted to move against David, how much success did he enjoy?  Saul was never successful in moving against David, as David always had a way of escape.  Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, once warned the religious about going after the apostles.  Gamaliel told those leaders, “If it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God (Acts 5:39).”

Nothing can overcome God’s protection of you – Satan found that lesson out when he tried to overcome Job.  Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me.”

What Saul’s story shows the believer is that wicked and evil people may move against you, but they will never succeed in overcoming you.  Saul’s story shows us that their fall and defeat is inevitable.  

Ultimately, what the believer must do with such people is remain faithful.  As David did, there are times when you will need to flee from danger.  Yet, again, as with day, you are shielded and protected by God at all times.  So, let the Spirit lead and guide you while you heed His voice and live in obedience.

Alright, so this concludes my series of studies on Saul.  Typically, this would be about the stopping point for my seasons of doing studies.  However, what I plan on doing this year is continuing to share studies.  However, I won’t be sharing studies weekly, but likely once every two weeks, or maybe once a month until we get to October.  So, be sure to remain watchful for future studies!