Sunday Morning 9th March 2025
1 Samuel 31:1-13
Due to his disobedience of God, Saul comes to a tragic end, taking his family and his kingdom down with him. At the end, the king himself is in despair, fearful of the abuse his enemies will subject him to, adding shame to his failure. The only option he can see in this disaster is suicide. But this is not the type of self-sacrifice which can save others; taking his life will be for his own sake. It’s a very sad and lost end to a worldly king of the sort that Israel claimed to want. However, though his enemies do get to abuse the corpse, in God’s grace, Saul’s body does receive some final honour. The tale warns us against a careless attitude to sin. It also points us to the Jesus, a king who offered a true sacrifice.
Brief notes on this passage are also sent out in daily emails during the week after the sermon. An archive of these may be read on a separate website: press here to go to the first one from this passage or press here to read the introduction to the notes, which are entitled “Think of the King“.
Photo by Gioelle Fazzeri on unsplash