This is Not the End (1 Samuel 31)

Good morning…if you have a Bible, go ahead and meet me in 1 Samuel 31.^[1] And I want to point out this is the end of ^[2] Samuel, but it’s not the end of our series. I just want you to keep that in mind as we look at a really sad story.  

Now, this probably sounds like a silly question, but does anyone like sad endings?When things don’t go according to plan or when everything doesn’t work out in the end?  

I went to see The Odyssey the other week. I didn’t realize at the time when I said yes to go watch it that it was a 3-hour long movie or that our showing wouldn’t start until after 11 p.m. There were some horrifying moments, but when it got to the end of the movie, things weren’t looking so great for the main character. I was like, ah man. I just invested 3 hours of my life on this guy; is he really about to die? That would be such a waste! 

But that’s all fictional stuff. Some of us don’t have time for that. We’re too busy trying to make it in the real world. And in the real world, not everything has a happy ending. 

Maybe some of you are living in that story right now. You’ve been walking through a challenging season. You saw a lot of purpose in the path you’ve been on, but when you get to the end of the road, it feels less like “You’ve reached your final destination. Thank you for flying!” and more like you just survived a crash landing.  

Some things in life don’t go the way you thought they would. Sometimes that ending feels really messy. Sometimes that ending leaves you wondering, “What was the point?”  

That’s where we find Israel as we finish 1 Samuel. See, if you remember from the beginning of the book, Israel was coming out of a season when they had replaced God as their primary source of identity, security, and purpose.  

They needed someone to unite them and lead them back to God. So they chose the biggest, strongest guy they could find. But I want to warn you: the story of Saul is a tragedy.  

His story reminds us that every attempt at replacing God always leaves us worse off than before.

Today, we’re going to see how Saul’s life ends, but the greatest tragedy of all isn’t just that Saul dies a humiliating death; it’s that he wasted his life. Let’s look at 1 Samuel 31… 

[v. 1]  – Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.  

Last week, we learned that the Philistines were getting ready to fight the Israelites, which put David and his men in an awkward position because they were on the side of the Philistines. But by God’s providence, and probably just a smart move by the Philistine army, they didn’t trust David to fight with them.  

So David and his men get sent back to Ziklag and find that the Amalekites came and took their families. So they go after the Amalekites and recover everything they’d lost.   

While all of that’s going on, Saul and his men go to battle against the 

Philistines. But things aren’t going so great for them. See, when you’re in the midst of battle, ‘fleeing’ and ‘falling’ are not two words you want to describe your performance. 

[v. 2]  – And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. Just like Samuel said would happen when he was called upon by the medium.  

[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.  

Over the past few months, we’ve gotten to take a deeper look at the life of Saul. And there’s a lot of things about Saul we can find fault with. But for all of his faults, Saul also did a lot of outwardly good things: –

He led Israel to several great victories over their enemies.  

–       He largely purged the land of mediums and witchcraft. 

–       He gave generously in support of worshiping the Lord. 

–       And despite his many flaws, Saul raised some God-fearing kids.  

If Saul were around today, he probably would’ve been a key leader in the church. People would’ve admired him and expected him to take the lead. People put their hope in Saul. Yet his life ends in such a tragic way. How does someone who starts so well and reaches such heights end with a wasted life? 

Let me show you three lessons we learn from Saul about a wasted life: 

Lesson #1: A wasted life lives for people’s praise instead of God’s glory.  

Something we’ve been saying throughout this series is that God was always meant to be our primary source of identity, security, and purpose. But when God isn’t at the center of our lives, we all look for someone or something else to crown as King. 

When you get down to the core, what is your life really about? Who or what needs to be pleased with you for you to feel satisfied and fulfilled? Parents/spouse/boss/kids? 

See, Saul’s life shows us what happens when we live for the praise of man instead of the glory of God.  

Saul started with so much promise. Even before he was chosen as king, he didn’t just look the part. He sounded like it. Back in chapter 9, when Samuel told Saul he would be someone desired by the whole nation, Saul basically says, “Why me? I come from the lowest of all the clans and the least of all the tribes in Israel.”²  

At face value, that sounds like a guy who’s primed to understand his lowly position before a holy God. This is what it means to live coram Deo – we live all of life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.  

But Saul wasn’t ultimately driven by the greatness of God. And even though he was bigger than everyone else, Saul felt smaller than 

² 1 Samuel 9:15-21 

everyone else, which made him hungry for the approval of his community.  

You see this play out in 1 Samuel 15. God gives Saul a clear command, but Saul’s more concerned with pleasing the people than obeying God. And when Samuel confronts him, Saul admits he’s sinned, but his immediate concern isn’t God’s displeasure. He’s more worried about how Samuel will make him look in front of the other leaders.   

What about you? What motives drive your biggest decisions–who you marry, where you live, what job you take, how you spend your money? Is your primary concern to please others or to exalt Jesus?  

Because when we care more about people’s praise than God’s glory, we’ll eventually compromise what God wants. We tend to prioritize the voice of whoever’s approval matters most to us. 

Think about your job: If your boss and your direct report came to you at the same time, who are you going to prioritize?  

The person who has the most authority in your life is ultimately who you’re living your life for. And if God has given you your life, your gifts, your opportunities, and your calling, then His Word and commands should be your highest authority. 

That means sometimes God will call you to do hard things. Things that may disappoint or even upset the people around you. 

I remember after graduating high school, my parents were so proud of me. I finished near the top of my class; I was going to a great university, and by every measure, my life seemed to be headed in a good direction. 

And I wouldn’t say my parents stopped being proud of me. But they haven’t always understood my career choices, especially why I would move so far away when I had a better-paying job closer to home. 

But when my family was considering moving to KL, my ultimate priority couldn’t be what would make my parents happy. It had to be what God was calling me to do. When given the choice between the praise of my family and obedience to God, I chose to obey God.

Again, whose approval are you living for? Parents, what voice are you teaching your kids to value most–yours or God’s? There may be times when their obedience to God challenges what you want for them. What are you going to encourage them to do? 

Now look back at Saul. What’s the worst-case scenario for a guy who spent his whole career seeking people’s approval and being jealous of anyone who threatened his crown? It wasn’t dying.  

The worst thing that could happen to Saul is that he be humiliated. He cared so much about his image and what people thought of him that, in the end, his obsession with protecting his reputation robbed him of the dignity God had given him. 

Even in his final moments of life, Saul was trying to control the outcome. And that just exposes a deeper problem in Saul’s heart: He never learned to trust God in any area of his life.  

Now, we’re happy to praise God when things go our way. But what about when things fall apart? 

What happens when your reputation takes a hit, your plans fail, the visa doesn’t go through, your career doesn’t go the way you expected, or someone else gets the opportunity you wanted? Is your life still about the glory of God then? Or will you look somewhere else for your worth and approval? 

Whether in life or death, Saul’s life isn’t about the glory of God. Saul’s life is all about Saul. And Saul’s decision to take his own life is his final example of an empty faith. Which brings us to… 

Lesson #2: A wasted life never puts its faith in God.  

Saul’s life teaches us there’s a difference between living a religious life and living a life surrendered to God.  

A religious person can do a lot of good things for God, whether it’s Jesus or somebody else. Outwardly, they may even look like a great person. But their relationship with God is entirely transactional. They do good things for God only because they expect God to do good things for them.  

And that just doesn’t work because it’s a relationship built entirely on fear and control.  

It’d be like if I told my wife, “I washed the dishes, folded the laundry, and put the kids in bed while you went to play bunco at church.” The religious person says, “You owe me.”  

But Sarah would be like, “What? Every time you do something nice for me, I have to do whatever you want. Even if I didn’t ask you to do it?” 

That’s not how a healthy marriage works. And that’s not how our relationship with God works. I don’t serve Sarah so that she’ll owe me. I serve her because I love her. Similarly, we don’t obey God to put Him in our debt. We obey Him because we trust Him and because He’s worthy of our lives. 

See, the religious person only serves God as long as God honors their terms.  

So they’re constantly living in fear of what God might take away or get angry at what God refuses to give. They might even question: Have I not done enough?  

But the surrendered person obeys God because He’s their King. 

And if God’s your King, He doesn’t operate on your terms. You don’t get a relationship with God built on reciprocity and shared control. No, you have to give up control and do what He says.  

That’s what Saul refused to do to the bitter end. He was willing to obey God as long as God did what he wanted, but as soon as God stopped answering, Saul went elsewhere. And that’s not a relationship built on love and trust.  

Now, [v. 4] tells us that Saul took his life into his own hands, which naturally raises questions about the issue of suicide. So let me speak to that for a moment.  

First, there’s a difference between self-sacrifice and selfishness. When you consider the context, Saul was in the midst of battle. He got shot in the back with arrows. He was going to die anyway. And isn’t it noble to willingly lay down your life for the good of others?  

Absolutely. There is great honor in laying down your life for the sake of others. Jesus says there’s no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends. 

But I think we’d all agree there’s a big difference between sacrificing your life for the sake of others and ending your life because you don’t think life is worth living anymore. 

For example, if a firefighter rushes into a burning building, he’s risking his life. There’s no guarantee he’ll make it out alive. But we wouldn’t consider that sinful. You take that risk because life is precious and worth preserving.   

But the choice to take your own life is just the opposite. It’s a failure to recognize the dignity and worth of someone made in the image of God, even if that person is yourself. It also puts a decision in your hands that is only meant for God.  

Second, suicide is not the unforgivable sin. Some people argue suicide is a sin that God won’t forgive. And they’ll say something like: The taking of one’s life is a sin that you don’t get the opportunity to repent of.  

But if our standing with God is dependent on our repenting of every single sin before we die, then many of us might be in trouble.  

It’s not like everyone dies a pain-free death in old age on their deathbed. Death can come in so many unexpected ways.  

But our standing with God isn’t based on how big or small our sin is or on how exhaustively we repent. Our standing with God is based on Jesus perfectly doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. 

See, the real tragedy of Saul’s death isn’t only that he took his own life. It’s that he had countless opportunities to turn back from his life of rebellion against God, but he never did. 

First Chronicles gives us the same story of Saul’s death, but adds this note at the end…[1 Chronicles 10:13] – 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, seekingguidance. 14 He did not seek guidance from the Lord…

Saul may have done so many good things for God, but he failed to surrender his life to Him. And that doesn’t have to be your story.  

Third, there’s still hope in the darkness. You may be walking through a season right now where life feels really dark. Maybe you’re carrying deep shame over something you’ve done. Or maybe you’re facing circumstances so painful you wish they weren’t true. 

Listen, I get it. In those moments, it can feel like there’s no future worth living for. You may even think the best option is to escape. 

The voices that tell you there’s no hope, that you’re worthless, that things will never change—you don’t have to listen to them. Instead, you can listen to Jesus.  

His light is stronger than your darkness, and his grace is greater than your shame. And when you turn to Him, that means the darkness doesn’t get the final word. 

And I want you to hear this: You don’t have to walk through the darkness alone.  

There are people in this church who are ready to step into the darkness with you. People who want to sit with you, listen to your story, and share the love of Christ with you.  

2 Corinthians 1 tells us that the God of all comfort meets us in our suffering and then uses us to bring that same comfort to others. We want to be that kind of church for you.  

The God who made you sees you as so valuable that He sent His Son 

Jesus to die in your place. And Jesus has called His people to make His love known. So if you’re hurting, ashamed, or struggling to see a way forward, come to Jesus and let His people walk with you. 

Church, if you agree with that, can we say it loud enough for the people around us to know that we mean it? Can God’s people say Amen? 

Saul’s life ends in such a tragic way. But again, the tragedy isn’t just that Saul took his own life. It’s also that the choices he made throughout his life left a trail of destruction behind him.   

Rarely does our sin only affect us. The choices we make have a ripple effect that impacts the people around us. 

Lesson #3: A wasted life always leaves a legacy of ruin.  

And when you hear that, I want you to know: Don’t underestimate the influence you have on the people around you. And I mean that for all of us. Teenagers, I want godly people investing in your life because I want you to know and love Jesus. I want you to experience God’s power at work in your life and learn to walk in His ways. 

But a second reason why I want you to know and love Jesus is that you play a big part in the future of God’s Church. And I’m not just talking about Garden City; I’m talking about the Church. What God is doing in you today will impact His kingdom today and tomorrow. The older generations are here with you for today, but only God knows our tomorrows. Listen, you’re going to speak into places and people many of us never will.   

A third reason why we care about your generation: Kids learn much from their parents, and that is good. But our kids, my kids, are also watching you. And my prayer is that what they see from you will only strengthen the things we/their parents have been teaching them about knowing and loving Jesus. 

Don’t overlook your influence and the impact your choices have, not just on yourself, but on the people around you.  

Now, Saul’s legacy could be summarized in [v. 6] – Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together. 7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them. That is Saul’s legacy.  

This is devastating news for the nation. Not only is Israel’s military weakened, but the land they just lost was a strategic trade route. Saul’s failure is going to cost people their jobs and leave families wondering, “How are we gonna afford to put food on the table?” 

This is devastating news personally. Saul’s life of rebellion against 

God didn’t just hurt himself. It hurt his whole family and the people closest to him. See, sin may begin in isolation, but it never stays there. It always has a ripple effect.  

So don’t believe the lie that your sin isn’t that bad or that it’s not hurting anyone. What we practice in the dark eventually gets exposed in the light.  

Now, you can give your life to the world and be shaped by the things of the world. Or you can give your life to God and be shaped into the likeness of Jesus. 

But you can’t practice worldly things and expect God to form in you Christlike things. And you can’t live for the kingdom of this world and expect God to give you life with Him.  

That’s why this is also devastating news spiritually. See, Saul’s life was marked by unrepentance. He knew God was real. He knew God had power. He knew God could help him. And he wanted what God could give him, but he didn’t want God as his King. 

You can go back and read through Saul’s story and ask: Was God ever really King in Saul’s life? No. Saul was King in Saul’s life.  

See, Saul expected God to do what he wanted. But a life of faith expects God to do all that He’s promised. And when life gets hard, faith doesn’t mean you never feel the stress of life. It means you eventually realize you were never meant to carry all these things on your own. 

When my family first arrived in Malaysia, the church was in a very different place, and we were trying to figure out our visa situation. I felt a huge responsibility for my family and for the church. I kept imagining every possible worst-case scenario, and at one point, I’m pretty sure I had a panic attack. 

It showed me that even when we’re trying to do good things for God, carrying everything in our own strength will eventually crush us. Either it destroys us, or, like Saul, we destroy ourselves.  

But when I brought that weight to the Lord, it was almost as if He was asking me, “Do you really think you’re the one carrying all of this?” 

And as I surrendered it to Him, that sense of dread began to lift. 

Listen, as we pursue the future God is building, there will be moments when we may wonder if we can even keep going. 

But Saul’s story reminds us that the answer isn’t to take control. The answer is to surrender to the King and trust Him with what comes next. 

[v. 8]  – The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.  

The death of Saul and the defeat of Israel is the gospel of the 

Philistines. This is like Scar celebrating the death of Mufasa in The Lion King and then convincing Simba to run away because it’s all his fault. It’s just pure evil!  

[v. 10] – They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. 11 But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

The story of Saul ends in mourning, and rightfully so because his story shows us what a life and future without God looks like. What we sow in this life, we will reap in the life to come. And that is a sobering word for all of us.   

But the invitation for you and me now is to lay down our crowns in service to God and to live a life that only makes sense if the gospel is true and our eternity is secure.  

C.T. Studd puts it like this: “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” Let’s go all in for the mission of God.  

But I also want you to hear that putting your faith in Jesus doesn’t mean you’ll never be tempted to despair. 

Like Saul, sometimes our despair is the result of our own foolish choices. When that happens, faith requires repentance: owning our sin and doing the work of turning back to God.  

But sometimes we experience despair even while we’re faithfully following God. Paul says there was a season in his ministry when he and Timothy felt like they had received “the sentence of death.” But God used that season to teach them to rely on the God who raises the dead. 

I’ve found that to be true in my own life: That resurrection hope is the only thing strong enough to carry us through circumstances we fear we won’t make it to the other side of.  

See, the ending of 1 Samuel is a tragedy. Saul’s dead, Israel’s defeated, and Saul’s followers are left mourning the death of their King. But you know what that picture should remind us of? Jesus’ disciples after the death of their King. 

They probably thought, “All hope is lost.” They just didn’t understand that Friday wasn’t the end of the story. And neither is Saul’s death the end of Israel’s story. 

See, Israel will get a better king in David. But David isn’t who we put our hope in. Our hope is in an even greater King in Jesus. 

Saul’s story ends in death and mourning, but Jesus’ story goes through the death and comes out the other side in resurrection and victory. 

So when life feels like it’s falling apart, remember: the God who raises the dead is still your King. And because Jesus lives, your story continues with him.