Saul went to Gilboa where his army was preparing to fight.  When Saul saw the vast armies of the Philistines he was frantic with fear and didn't know what to do.  He asked God, but got no answer.  God had rejected Saul in favor of David.

When God did not answer Saul, he did something that he had previously banned in Israel.  Witchcraft.  There was a woman, awitch--or a medium--who lived in Endor.  And Saul decided to go ask her what he should do about the Philistines.  So Saul took off his king's regalia and put on humble clothes and went to see the witch.  He disguised himself so that the witch wouldn't know it was him.

"I've got to talk to a dead man," he told the witch.  She answered, "Are you trying to get me killed?"  And added, "Don't you know that king Saul has all the mediums and fortune tellers executed.  You are spying on me.  You are trying to get me killed."

But Saul promised he wouldn't betray her.  So she asked him what dead man he wanted to talk to. "Bring me Samuel," Saul told her.  At that point the witch said, "You have deceived me.  You are the king himself."  So Saul begged her to bring Samuel so that he could talk to him.

When Samuel appeared, he told Saul that God had taken the kingdom away from him and that it was now David's.  He told him that the Israeli army would be destroyed by the Philistines the next day and that Saul and his sons would die."  Saul fell, paralyzed with fear.

The witch said, "I obeyed you at the risk of my life.  Now let me give you something to eat so that you can regain your strength.  She fed him and his men and they left.  And died in battle the next day.  She must have been a nice witch.  A rather unusual story of forbidden sorcery and witchcraft.

Sometimes we forget that there are evil forces on earth.  We need to take seriously the part of the Lord's prayer that says, "Deliver us from evil."  It's out there.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour."  1 Peter 5:8