CALL TO CONFESSION

Isaiah 51:7, 12-13a

“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,

    the people in whose heart is my law;

fear not the reproach of man,

    nor be dismayed at their revilings.

12 “I, I am he who comforts you;

    who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,

    of the son of man who is made like grass,

13 and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,

    who stretched out the heavens

    and laid the foundations of the earth,

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Ransoming Lord, we confess that we fail to listen to you and forget who you are. You spoke the heavens and earth into existence, creating all things, and you alone are God from everlasting to everlasting. You judge all people in righteousness and truth.

Because we forget this, we fear and worship human approval instead of you. Instead of rejoicing in your verdict of "not guilty," we are crushed by the criticism of others. When people condemn us, we focus on their harsh words instead of your comforting gospel. Even when we desire your righteousness, we forget your grace. Forgive us, Lord.

Thank you for Jesus, who loved your law perfectly in our place. He never feared human criticism, but fearlessly served others and spoke the truth in love. On the cross, he paid the price for our idolatry of human approval. He bore your wrath, suffered physical agony, and endured mocking ridicule so that we would never have to pay for our own sin.

Father, help us love your law while remembering your grace. Show us the glory of your Son, and remind us daily of the cross so our hearts overflow with gratitude. Break our addiction to human praise by persuading us of the truth that you delight in us every moment. Because we are united to Jesus, you love us as much as you love him. Let this truth fill us with deep, abiding joy. Amen. 

“Take a few moments to personally confess your sins to the Lord.”

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

“Hear these words of comfort and assurance.” 

Micah 7:18-19

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity

    and passing over transgression

    for the remnant of his inheritance?

He does not retain his anger forever,

    because he delights in steadfast love.

19 He will again have compassion on us;

    he will tread our iniquities underfoot.

You will cast all our sins

    into the depths of the sea.

• In 1725 a boy was born to a devout mother in England, who then died when he was young. At age 11, he went to sea as a sailor, and grew into a harsh, foul mouthed man who worked in the slave trade.
• At age 20 he was marooned off the coast of West Africa, reduced to a slave himself, after becoming at odds with the captain of the ship.
• Eventually he was rescued and he went on to become a captain himself, transporting slaves across the ocean.
• However difficult the loss of his mother had been, and the intense difficulty of the enslavement, he finally reached the lowest point of his life as a storm hit his ship in 1748, and as he was taking on water in dire circumstances, he cried out to the Lord, and turned to him, surrendering himself to the grace of God and admitting his own spiritual brokenness.
• Many of you might recognize this story and know that this man was John Newton, who would go on to write a song about the grace the Lord showed him: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me!”
• The grace of God to rescue those who are at their lowest, and bring them out and bless them and use them for his good purposes is indeed amazing!
• And just as John Newton turned to the Lord at this lowest of points, today we’ll see David likewise, as things go from bad to better to worse, he turns to the Lord and the Lord does an amazing thing.
• Saul, however, having persisted in rebellion and in disobedience to the Lord, does not turn to the Lord in repentance and we see the Lord finally brings his reign to an end.

Aphek

• Last week we left off with Saul receiving the most devastating news that the next day would be his last as his reign would come to an end as he and his sons would die in battle against the Philistines.
• And we left David ready to leave Aphek, having been ousted by the Philistine Lords who overruled Achish and didn’t want David and his fighting men behind them when they attacked Saul’s army.
• And so when we pick up our passage for today, Aphek is once again the launching point for the Philistines as they prepare to do battle with Israel.
• Now, when did we last see the Philistines gathering at Aphek? It was all the way back in 1 Samuel chapter 4 when the Philistines attacked and defeated the Israelites and captured the Ark.
• It was a great defeat of Israel, and practically prompted several chapters later the clamor of the people for a king like all the other nations.
• And now we see David providentially being removed from this battle and sent away, while the king that ended up being like the kings of the other nations, King Saul, was heading towards the Jezreel valley.
• The Philistines would now also head towards the valley, and soon another great defeat of Israel would occur which would be the tragic end for the king that showed so much promise. 
• David would not be around to take part in the plan of the Lord for this king, who had chosen rebellion and evil instead of obeying the voice of the Lord as he had been commanded to.

1 Samuel 30:1-3

1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 

2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 

3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

Vs 1-3 Siege

• The hike from Aphek to Ziklag is about 60 miles so to cover that in under 3 days means that David and his men were really moving.
• Maybe they were eager to get back to their families, or to get as far from the Philistine battle as possible, or it might have been that they had heard rumors of what they were to find when they arrived in Ziklag.
• Ziklag had been attacked in their absence! It had been burned with fire and destroyed.
• Unlike when David had utterly destroyed the cities of the Amalekites and left none to live to tell the tale, in this case the men find their wives and children had been taken captive, presumably to be used or sold as slaves.
• And so following what had been a great moment of deliverance, having providentially been sent away from the battle against their fellow Israelites, David and his men now find themselves in the situation where they were out of the frying pan, and now into the fire.
• You can imagine how David would have felt in this moment.
• In chapter 26 David was being hunted by King Saul, hiding out in the wilderness of Ziph, and the people there betrayed his hiding spot. 
• It's a low moment, but Saul relents when David spares his life, and David, not willing to be deceived again by the threat of Saul, then makes the unwise decision to go hide with Israel’s enemies the Philistines and is given the city of Ziklag to dwell in.
• Then he’s told he’s to accompany the Philistines into battle against his Israelite brothers.
• But then he’s released, sent back home, commanded to leave the battle altogether!
• But now, it's like the bottom has fallen out of things. Their families have been taken, their homes burned with fire, they literally have nothing left except what they carried to and from Aphek with them.

Vs 4-6a Sorrow

1 Samuel 30:4-6

4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 

5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 

6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

• David’s response is one we have felt at times. Sorrow. Deep sorrow. What little strength they have left after a brutal march back is now expended in weeping and lamenting the loss and devastation they are now experiencing. It says they raised their voice and wept until they had no more strength to weep.
• Some of us have been in that place. Tragic loss in our lives. Devastation. Situations where all you can do is weep until there is nothing left. And it's not that David, the anointed of the Lord, was exempted from this. David and his men both wept.
• David’s two wives Ahinoam and Abigail were both captured and carried off.
• Some people think that by following the Lord, life is going to go by with ease, but that's not the case. In fact, it's the opposite, as we see in Scripture the Christian is called to a life of sacrifice and suffering.
• And in this moment, we notice that David’s situation is made even worse as his men look for someone to blame.
• And so it says David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters.
• In 1st Samuel chapter 22, we were told that David after fleeing the presence of Saul, hid in the cave of Adullam, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him.
• These men had been bitter in their souls before, but now their situation was worse off than before.
• They had come to David with their wives and children and now, even that has been taken away from them. And David was the cause, he had led them down this road, and it's been getting worse and worse at each turn. And this is piling distress upon sorrow for David.
• And as we consider this, we shouldn’t forget that about this same time, up in En-dor, while David is experiencing this deeply low moment of his life, Saul to the north is also experiencing a deeply low moment of his life
• Last week we read that as Saul spoke with Samuel through the medium, he told Samuel “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more.”
• Saul the anointed king was experiencing great distress and deep affliction, just as David, the anointed one who will be king was experiencing great distress and deep affliction.
• And as we saw last week, Saul in his great distress turned to sorcery and doubled down in his disobedience to the laws of God, failing to repent and turn to the Lord.

Vs 6b Strengthened

• We see David however at this moment take another course of action. Starkly contrasted to the current king, we read, “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”
• David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. We might read this and think “Wait, we’re not supposed to strengthen ourselves, are we? Definitely not rely on our own strength which we know to be weakness.”
• Think back to 1st Samuel chapter 23, when Saul was pursuing David into the Wilderness of Ziph, and his dear friend Jonathan came to him at Horesh, and we were told that he “Strenthend David’s hand in God.”
• Jonathan came to David in that moment and spoke truth to him, encouraged him, pointed him to the Lord, and reminded him of the truth of God’s word. He told him “do not fear, the Lord will protect you. He is a mighty and strong God, David, a refuge, a fortress. You shall be king, because God promised that to you, and God is faithful, he doesn’t lie, he’s working things together for your good!”
• Jonathan strengthened David’s hand in God at that time, but Jonathan is not here.
• But we see David, in his distress, he doesn’t try to console himself, he doesn’t try to control the situation or lash out in anger or bitterness towards the Lord.
• But instead we see he strengthened himself in the Lord his God. He reminded himself of who the Lord his God was! A good God who is mighty to save, faithful and good and true! A God who rescues the broken and needy, sets the captive free, brings justice to the wicked and shows mercy to those he loves!
• David set his sights on the Lord and the truth of the God he served strengthened him! Those truths reminded him that not all was lost, that his life, the lives of his wives, the families of his men, they were in the Lord's hands. God was sovereign over all and his plans were not thwarted by the evil of man, but that his governance and sovereign control extended even over the dire situation he was now experiencing!
• How often we forget that in times of hardship. And how often we should be turning to the Lord and strengthening ourselves with turning our thoughts to the one who is in control, who is mighty to save, and who cares for us and has good in mind for our lives.
• It’s all too easy to fall into self pity, to lash out, or to blame God or blame someone around us for the distress we are experiencing. 
• We need to be strengthened by turning our thoughts to the Lord our God, the One who reigns and rules supreme over the chaos and sorrow and distress of any and every situation in our lives, and then by reminding ourselves of this, we trust him. We cry out to him. We bring our situation to him in dependent prayer and cast ourselves upon his mercy and in need of his direction.

Vs 7-8 Priest

• And that’s exactly what we see David do next, having strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Vs 7:

1 Samuel 30:7-8

7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 

8 And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”

• David this time, having been strengthened by the truth of the Lord his God, now seeks his guidance and direction. He goes to Abiathar the priest, and he brings out the Ephod and David inquires of the Lord:
• "Shall I pursue those who’ve taken our families? Can I catch up to them?"
• Isn’t that the right thing to ask? Notice he can ask this because he first strengthened himself in the Lord. Having been strengthened by reminders of who his God is, he now comes to that mighty God seeking direction.
• When we strengthen ourselves in the Lord, we then need to turn to him in dependent prayer and seek his direction and guidance.
• David went through the priest Abiathar to come with humble dependance on the Lord his God. And we have a much better Priest, one who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, and through whom we have access to the Father!
• He’s the one we can trust and be strengthened by! He’s the one that can work beyond what we can imagine!
• In fact, the seeking of the Lord is a part of David’s strengthening! He's not taking this into his own hands, he’s placing it in the Lord’s hands.
• Prior to this, when David was full of fear and mistrust of Saul, we saw he didn’t go to the Lord for guidance and strength. He instead took matters into his own hands and headed down a path he thought was prudent, hiding out among the enemies of Israel. In that moment, he didn’t seek the Lord from what we’re told.
• But in this moment, he strengthens himself in the Lord, and he strengthens himself by seeking the Lord and his direction.
• Sometimes we skip strengthening ourselves in the Lord, we don’t remind ourselves of his sovereign grace over our lives, and then we give a quick obligatory prayer to the Lord, and then we’re going to go down our own path. We’re still going to do what we think is best.
• We’re not being strengthened by turning to him in prayer. The prayer is to acknowledge the Lord with our lips, but instead we’re going to follow our hearts. And our hearts will deceive us.
• But David doesn’t do that. He strengthens himself, he seeks the Lord, and the Lord responds!
• "Pursue them, for you shall surely catch up with them! And, you shall surely rescue them!"
• What confidence that must have been for David at this moment! The Word of the Lord is clear! Go!
• And so having strengthened himself in the Lord, having sought the direction of the Lord, David now acts in obedience to the word of the Lord.

Vs 9-10 Pursuit

1 Samuel 30:9-10

9 So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 

10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor. 

• David immediately obeys the word of the Lord. He sets out straight away. Now, we’ve got to remember, these 600 men are exhausted from their 60 mile march and then expending what little energy they had left in weeping and mourning upon arriving at Ziklag. Now, with direction from the Lord, they immediately set off on another march to pursue and overtake these raiders.
• David doesn’t know where they are, but presumably they came from the south, so that's the direction they head. And a few miles from Ziklag, they all reach the brook Besor. And the reality is that a third of his men weren’t going to be able to go any farther.
• So David leaves them there at the brook and presses on with 400.

Vs 11-15 Providence

1 Samuel 30:11-15

11 They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink, 

12 and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 

13 And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. 

14 We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 

15 And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.”

• Nomadic raiders in the desert would have been almost impossible to track down. They move about constantly, they don't stick to defined paths, they could have gone in any number of directions or headed to one of many different areas.
• David and his men moved in a probable general direction in obedience to the Lord, but they had no idea where to find these raiders, or who they were. They didn’t know what they’d find or the strength of the unit, or whether they had left anyone behind to keep an eye out for possible repercussions.
• And so, we are presented once again with this amazing, recurring theme within Scripture - the providence of our God! The hand of God at work according to his plans and purposes!
• Three days prior, an Amalekite from the raiding band had an Egyptian servant get sick. And instead of carrying him along, he leaves him out in the desert to die.
• And in the providence and plans of the Lord, David’s men discover the man and bring him to David. Now, they had no other knowledge, no other resource, but the Lord provides them with exactly the resource they need!
• They revive the man with food and water and begin to question him. And he tells them how he was left behind by a group of Amalekites.
• But more importantly, he includes the detail “We had made a raid...and we burned Ziklag with fire.”
• This guy was with the very raiders they were pursuing! He had first hand knowledge of the events that had led to the destruction of Ziklag and the capture of their families!
• Who else would have put this man at the very place in the desert where David and his men went and kept him alive long enough to be of assistance in directing David where he must go!
• Only the Lord! The providence of the Lord in these little, seemingly insignificant details is astounding as we see his leading, his plans, his purposes being accomplished by the small things he orchestrates to bring about all that he has foreordained to come to pass!
• God makes a way where there is no way, he providentially is at work in this world, in the lives and elements of it, to work out his good plans, and that should cause us to worship him, have confidence in him, and trust him that in our lives, our country, our church, our families, God is at work. And when we says he is working all things together for good for those who love him, he really is!
• And so David said “will you take us to these raiders”? And the man says as long as you don’t kill me, or give me back to my master, I will take you there.

1 Samuel 30:16-31

16 And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 

17 And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. 

18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 

19 Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. 

20 David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.” 

21 Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. 

22 Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.” 

23 But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. 

24 Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” 

25 And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day. 

26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord.” 

27 It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir, 

28 in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa, 

29 in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites, 30 in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach, 

31 in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.

Vs 16-20 Release

• They find the Amalekites not in a defensive position at all, but rather all spread out eating and drinking and dancing and celebrating all that they had captured.
• From twilight on the day they arrived till evening the following day, David and his men wipe out the Amalekite army who had taken everything from them, ironically doing exactly what Saul had failed to do as he was commanded by the Lord.
• And the next day, they recovered ALL that the Amalekites had taken. David rescued his two wives, the men get their wives and their children back, all their belongings that had been captured were recovered, they got everything! David brought back all!
• Beyond that, David captured all the flocks and herds and of the Amalekites in addition to what belonged to them.
• And his men, who had recently blamed him and were about to stone him, now cheerfully drive the livestock before them as they return, declaring that this was “David’s Spoil”. There was gratitude now!
• The Lord has shown up and given David, the man after his own heart, the victory. Unlike what is happening at that very moment far to the north where the King that disobeyed the word of the Lord, was now facing chaos, defeat, and death at the hands of the Philistines.

Vs 21-25 Return

• Now, as David comes back, they arrive at the place where the 200 men who were too exhausted to continue were left. And they come out to meet the triumphant 400, returning with their wives and their children and their stuff.
• Now, the greeting is stated somewhat specifically here - they went out to meet David, and to meet the people with him, and when David came near the people, that is the 200, he greeted them.
• This sets the stage for what comes next, because the men with David were not as upright as he was.
• They took the position of “You don’t fight, you don’t get the spoils. You can have your families, and your stuff, but you guys stayed behind and we went on so you don’t get any of that.”
• Now maybe they were just selfish, greedy, or had a posturing sense of fairness, but Scripture calls them “wicked and worthless fellows.”
• You might remember all the way back to the beginning of 1st Samuel that Eli’s sons were called worthless fellows. Saul met some worthless fellows in 1st Samuel 10 that showed contempt for him. Nabal was a worthless fellow too.
• But look at the position that David now takes with these worthless fellows: He calls them “brothers.” He acts as a peacemaker and he lays out an argument for them which is heavy on theology.
• He says “You're not going to do that, My Brothers, with what YAHWEH himself has given us. He’s the one that's given us this spoil. He’s the one that preserved us and has given these raiders in our hands.”
• And the theology behind this is “All that we have is a gift from the Lord!” This is the proper world view for the people of God. This is the concept of grace here!
• Because if you see what has been given to you and you say “I earned this, I worked for this, it was by my own efforts or my long hours, or my sacrifice that I got this or got to this point”, then you are mistaken and you're missing the gifts of grace.
• These men thought they could say “Hey, it's only fair that what we recovered belongs to us and you guys missed out.” That makes sense if all the effort was on your part and you are focused on your own contributions instead of living with reliance on the God of all grace who gives good gifts to his children!
• That’s idolatry because it says you value the gift, but reject the source of the gift.
• The proper theology here is what David argues for: "It’s the Lord that has given us these gifts! And so we won’t be selfish and greedy with them because if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t even have them! He is the God of all grace that has blessed us with these things!"
• We know God to be a God full of grace! It is by Grace we have been saved!
• And the opposite of grace is self reliance, self sufficiency, rejecting the Giver of gifts and attributing them to ourselves as these men had done.

• The apostle Paul asks the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 4:7 this same exact question: 

1 Corinthians 4:7

What do you have that you did not receive?

• What do you have that you worked for, that you earned, that isn’t deserving of attribution to the God of all grace who has blessed you and given you good gifts?
• Is it your health or your strength? Is it your employment? Is it your money or your belongings? Is it your time?
• To acknowledge God as the giver of all gifts is a worldview that stands in direct opposition to the comfort and ease of life we like to enjoy. One that allows us to coast through a world that has a great need for God’s people to live with a mindset that recognizes that all we’ve been given comes by the God of all grace who preserves us and blesses us with all the gifts we’ve been given!
• We live in a world that says what these wicked and worthless fellows say: “I earned it. I worked for it. I put in the effort. You earn your way and I’ll earn mine. And I can enjoy what I’ve got and you can enjoy yours as you see fit.”
• And many in the church, have adopted this mindset, and you see it in their lack of generosity, their focus on building their retirement more than building the kingdom of God, the wastefulness in their time or squandering of their abilities, because it's theirs to do with as they please and not a gift from above.
• May the Lord convict us in this area and open our eyes as we wrestle with our own answer to the question “What do you have that you did not receive from above?”
• David says rhetorically to these men “If you have the proper understanding of God as the one full of grace who has blessed you, then who is going to listen to this greedy ungrateful direction you're trying to go?”
• David is giving us a glimpse of what kind of king he would one day be: “For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.
• That is the leadership of a good king with a right perspective.

Vs 26-31 Reward

• A good king has good theology as we see David had, but he’s also sharp and wise. He is no fool.
• And neither was David. In this last part of chapter 30, we see him acting shrewdly: He takes some of the Amalekite spoil and distributes it, to his friends the elders of Judah.
• As they were in the south, they likely had been hit by Amalekite raids so what a blessing to receive back some of the spoil.
• They were in the areas that David and his men had roamed. Maybe they had blessed him at some point. But sending spoil their way certainly made him look favorable as he moved down this path towards ascending to the throne of Israel.
• He was showing shrewd and wise leadership here.
• Here's the takeaway as we end David’s portion in 1 Samuel: the anointed king after the Lord’s own heart was victorious, not because of his own might or own strength, but because of the Lord, the God of all grace, the Giver of gifts, the One who strengthened his hand for battle, the one who providentially brought him to victory, the one in whom David strengthened himself with reminders of his goodness and care.

Vs 1-3 Philistine Victory

• Saul however, did not turn to the Lord, he persisted in spiraling opposition to the Lord. In Chapter 31 we simply come to the end of his life with a chapter titled, “The Death of Saul.”
• We’ve seen Saul's life, his kingship, really going all the way back to 1st Samuel chapter 8 where the people demanded a king like all the other nations, and then in Chapter 9 we were introduced to Saul.
• And since then he’s really been a failed king. He hasn’t been a king after the Lord’s own heart. And the continued implosion and decline of his reign now comes to an end as chapter 31 fulfills what Samuel foretold last week in chapter 28 when he said:

1 Samuel 28:16-19

16 … “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? 

17 The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 

18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 

19 Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”

• This indeed is a truly tragic and terrifying end for the King who continued in his disobedience to the Lord and now the Lord has brought his reign to an end.
• The end of Saul on Mount Gilboa could really be summed up in 5 verses:

1 Samuel 31:2-6

2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 

3 The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. 

4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 

5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 

6 Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.

• As foretold, the battle didn’t go his way. The Israelite armies were routed and defeated, and they fled. Saul’s sons were killed, including Jonathan.
• Saul is wounded badly by a Philistine arrow.
• And He asks his armor-bearer to kill him so the Philistines don't capture him alive. But his armor-bearer, just like Saul’s old armor-bearer David, would not go against the anointed of the Lord, and so Saul falls upon his own sword and dies. And then his armor-bearer follows suit.
• Saul’s head is cut off, his armor stripped and sent to the pagan temple, and his body along with his sons are hung on the wall of Beth-shan.
• And some valiant and daring men of Jabesh-gilead hear of these, and go out in the night to retrieve the bodies from the wall and burned them and buried the bones under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted 7 days.
• That’s the end of Saul and his rule and reign and descent into blatant disobedience and opposition to the Lord.

• But as we come to this end, there are three things I want to point out:
• First, remember Jonathan. He was good and righteous, the best of friends with David, one who strengthened him in the Lord, and encouraged him, reminded him of the promise of his coming kingdom, fully expecting to be by David’s side when that came to pass.
• And yet he died here alongside his father, a faithful son to him, even as he looked to the better king and kingdom to come. Even as he had set aside his own claim to the throne to David, we now see that he doesn’t live to see the coming kingdom.
• He dies on Mount Gilboa, sharing the treatment of his father with his body hung on a wall.
• Is it terrible that a man should live his life with the eternal perspective and expectancy of a new and better kingdom to come, and live faithfully, and to then come to the end of his life without gaining the world, but not losing his soul, and entering into eternity, being welcomed into the arms of the true and better King?
• We look at Jonathan’s death and say how terrible, but whatever the end is, look at his life and then evaluate your own and ask yourself: "When I get to the end, did I live faithfully, uprightly, did I look for the coming kingdom, did I trade the fleeting wealth and power of this world for a heavenly treasure where neither moth nor rust can destroy and where thieves cannot steal it away? Did I live in a way that I stored up treasure in heaven rather than here on earth?"

• Second, Saul’s death, while violent and tragic for what it might have been, was not unexpected.
• Last week in chapter 28 Samuel told Saul that he would die and that it would be the LORD's doing. The word of the Lord will always come to pass.
• Saul was tasked with utterly destroying the Amalekites in 1st Samuel 15 and yet he refused to obey the Lord in that. And even then, he had already heard the word of the Lord declaring what would happen to the king who chose wickedness.

1st Samuel 12:24-25 

24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.

• The tragedy for Saul was not that he was swept away, but that he didn’t turn in repentance. That he persisted in wickedness and disobedience, failure to follow the commands of the Lord, resorting to sorcery, evil, and his own selfish and self centered ways. That’s tragic. And it’s also sobering.
• Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 
• And make no doubt, his end was at the hand of the living God.

• Third, we see the gospel in the Philistines going forth, proclaiming that Saul was dead. They carried “good news” out to the people and the pagan temples, insinuating that their idols and false gods had defeated the God of Israel.
• The honor of YAHWEH, the living and true God, was being trampled and his honor should be a priority for his people. We defend the name and the honor of our God, we revere his name, we glorify and magnify him as he is due, but we must not be silent when it comes to the blasphemy of his honor.
• The men of Jabesh-gilead go on a daring raid under the cover of night to retrieve the bodies of Saul. Not for the honor of the Lord, but for the memory that years ago, Saul as he had begun his reign as king, had been filled with the Spirit and had marched overnight to deliver Jabesh-gilead. Now at the end of his reign, the men of Jabesh march overnight to deliver his body from the wall.

• Ultimately, 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 gives us the most apt summary of the life and demise of Saul: 

1 Chronicles 10:13-14

13 So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the LORD in that he did not keep the command of the LORD, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. 

14He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

• Saul’s kingdom had come to an end. His legacy was far from spotless, he was yet another flawed leader for the people of Israel to look to for leadership.
• He was truly a king like the kings of the other nations around him.
• But a better king was coming. A good king after the Lord's own heart was on the rise, he was coming soon to lead the people.
• But in the meantime, Israel is left in a pretty precarious position without a leader. With the stench of defeat from their enemies. Their king's reign had come to an end and left them without leadership or victory.
• David, the son of Jesse, would take up the mantle next. And he would be a good king, but he wasn’t a perfect one either. But from his line would come the perfect, true, good and wise King.
• The one whose reign will never come to an end and who sits upon the throne, seated in the heavens!
• He didn’t succumb to evil or death or his enemies but by triumphing over them completely, he now and forever rules and reigns over all!
• And one day, all things will be placed in subjection to him and every knee will bow and tongue will confess his name, and we will dwell with his people.
• Saul's body was hung on a wall, having broken faith, disobeying the command of the Lord, being put to death by the Lord for rebelling completely against the Lord God. His body was burned and thrown in the ground and that’s where he stayed.
• But Jesus hung on a tree, having complete and perfect faith in his Father, perfectly obeying the commands of his Father. His body was broken, his blood shed, and he was placed in a tomb. The third day he rose triumphant and victorious and now he is at the right hand of the majesty on high, reigning and ruling over all, and interceding for us, his people, his kingdom, which no man, no earthly king, can ever snatch from his hand.
• In this book of 1st Samuel we’ve seen prophets come and go, priests come and go, a king rise and fall as the next is on the rise, but ultimately they have all pointed us towards Christ, our greater Prophet, our greater Priest, our greater King who reigns supreme overall for all eternity!
• Look to him and may we strengthen our hearts in him when times are tough, and when sorrow increases. May we be reminded of his goodness and care and power and love, may we come before him in prayer, for direction, in reliance and dependence, and then walk in obedience and with hope to the calling with which we are called.
• I pray we see his grace, his gifts in every area of our lives, and that we’d remind each other that everything in our lives is by his grace and goodness.
• May we be encouraged by his providential care and working in the little things as he governs over all; may we trust him more.
• And may we worship and adore him as our king of Kings, our Lord of Lords, the one who died and rose again and reigns supreme now and forevermore.

APPLICATION AND REFLECTION

In light of today's message....

• What did I learn about the gospel?
• How can I apply what I learned about the gospel to my life?
• With whom can I share the gospel this week?