1 Samuel 28 shows King Saul in crisis: the Philistine army is gathering, Samuel is dead, and Saul, who has banned mediums from his land, seeks one out at Endor to summon the prophet. The chapter answers a hard question, what happens when God stops answering, and these questions are built for a small group, a Sunday class, or a quiet personal study. Each set moves from what the text says to what it means and then to how it shapes daily faith.
1 Samuel 28 at a Glance
The chapter opens with war on the horizon and David placed in an awkward position as Achish’s bodyguard. Saul, afraid and receiving no answer from the LORD by any lawful means, disguises himself and visits a woman at Endor who consults the dead. What follows is the appearance of Samuel, a sharp rebuke and a sentence of defeat, and then a strangely tender meal where a frightened king is fed by the people he has failed.
Read the chapter as a sequence of silences and voices: Samuel’s silence in death, God’s silence toward Saul, the woman’s voice, Samuel’s voice from beyond the grave, and finally the quiet persuasion of Saul’s servants. Keeping that movement in view helps a group see why the story hangs together.
Observation Questions
Use these first to make sure everyone has the same facts on the table before anyone offers an interpretation. Ask the group to point to the verse for each answer, and let quieter members find the details before the louder ones do.
1 Samuel 28:6
When Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD didn’t answer him by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets.
(WEB)
Read this verse early to set the scene of Saul’s unanswered inquiry. Pause on the list of channels he tries, since it frames the entire chapter around his failure to hear God.
1 Samuel 28:15
Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me, to bring me up?” Saul answered, “I am very distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me, and answers me no more, by prophets, or by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I shall do.”
(WEB)
Saul’s own words here show how distressed he is and how little he expects from God beyond useful information. Reading it aloud lets the group hear the ache in his admission that God has departed.
1 Samuel 28:17-19
17 The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your neighbor, even to David. 18 Because you didn’t obey the LORD’s voice, and didn’t execute his fierce wrath on Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you today. 19 Moreover the LORD will deliver Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will deliver the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”
(WEB)
This is Samuel’s direct word of judgment, grounded in God’s earlier command. Reading it together helps the group see that the verdict was rooted in a settled pattern of disobedience.
1 Samuel 28:22
Now therefore, please listen also to the voice of your servant, and let me set a morsel of bread before you. Eat, that you may have strength, when you go on your way.”
(WEB)
The woman’s plea for Saul to eat provides a moment of tenderness in a heavy chapter. Read it to draw attention to the quiet kindness that surrounds a broken king.
1 Samuel 28:25
She brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they ate. Then they rose up, and went away that night.
(WEB)
Ending on this verse leaves the group with the image of a meal shared in the night before a dangerous day. It invites reflection on how ordinary acts of care carry weight in hard seasons.
Memory Verse for 1 Samuel 28
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as people who sometimes feel the silence of heaven and are tempted to reach for something other than you. Thank you that Saul’s story shows the cost of turning away, and that you still call us back. Help us to listen for your voice in your Word, to resist the easy shortcuts that promise quick answers, and to care for one another when someone stumbles. Teach us to wait with honesty and trust, and make us people who are ready for your word when it comes. Amen.
