1 Samuel 31

Would you pray with me?

Lord, I pray that you would bless your word and teach us tonight that every bit of it has truth for our edification.

And that you are speaking to it, through it, to us even now.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

Long live Dagon, the God of the Philistines and conquerors of our enemies.

Long live Dagon, God of the Philistines.

For Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our enemy, is defeated.

And the body of his servant Saul, stripped of its armor, its dignity, and its very head adorns our walls.

Long live Dagon, God of the Philistines.

These, perhaps, were some of the chants of the Philistine warriors in their hall of rejoicing,

returned from the fresh destruction of Israel, the people who claim to be the beloved children of the one true God.

But where was their God yesterday when they fled as cowards before Philistine swords?

The ones who remained behind were the dead, whose souls the Philistines stole from their bodies yesterday,

and whose jewels, armor, weapons, and clothing the Philistines stole today.

And among them, Saul.

The people of God are bloodied, horrified, defeated.

Their God made them promises.

And what a mockery those promises are.

How did we get here, to this hall, where Philistine wine is poured out today in celebration as freely as Israelite blood was spilled out yesterday in their defeat?

That story is found in our passage for tonight.

Turn with me, if you will, to 1 Samuel chapter 31.

1 Samuel 31 · chapter mention

Let's read it together.

Now, the Philistines were fighting against Israel.

And the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons.

And the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malkishua, the sons of Saul.

The battle pressed hard against Saul.

And the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.

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.

And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead,

he also fell upon his sword and died with him.

Thus, Saul died.

And his three sons.

And his armor-bearer.

And all his men.

On the same day.

Together.

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.

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain,

they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

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.

They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth,

and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

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.

And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh,

and fasted seven days.

This is a weighty passage.

And I hope as we look together at it tonight,

we can learn from it three things.

Number one,

the word of God,

even when it speaks terrible things,

does not speak in vain.

Number two,

the people of God have enemies

who hate him and who rejoice in the destruction of God's people.

Number three,

through every defeat of the people of God,

God is working a greater salvation.

First,

the word of God,

even when it speaks terrible things,

does not speak in vain.

We saw this chapter coming.

For the last several months here at Trinity,

we have been looking at the book of 1 Samuel.

Because we believe here that the Bible has one coherent,

unifying narrative,

every bit of which is useful for building up the church,

we have looked chapter by chapter at this book.

And as we have looked at it,

we have seen that Saul

grows more and more desperate.

He began this chapter as the Lord's anointed one.

Everyone in Israel rejoiced to see him leading their nation,

going in and out to war and winning great victories for the people of God.

But no political leader,

then or now,

can live up to expectations so messianic.

And Saul was no exception.

He disobeyed God

by offering sacrifices unlawfully

in an attempt to force God to support him.

And Samuel informed him that God had taken the kingdom from him

and given it to another.

Saul was, from that point forward,

a man accursed.

But was he really?

After all, that message from Samuel

came all the way back in chapter 13.

And here we are now in chapter 31.

And up until this chapter,

Saul still reigns.

Saul still spent his days

sitting in the royal palace

on the throne over all Israel.

Hundreds, if not thousands,

of armed men at his beck and call.

He spent his nights

in a palace bed

while David, the one he hated,

his arch enemy,

slept in caves,

fearful for his life.

By all accounts,

it seemed that the word from the Lord

against Saul

was in vain

for 17 chapters.

Saul, the wicked one,

prospered

while the man after God's own heart

was forced into a meager existence

of exile,

laying his head night by night

on rocks in caves,

far from the palace,

far from what we might expect

of the Lord's anointed one.

And Saul here even had the confidence

to go out into battle

against this Philistine army.

Because he had defeated this army

over and over,

and why should this battle

be any different?

Well, this battle was different

this time,

not because of the number of troops

that Saul commanded,

but because of the word of the Lord.

A few chapters earlier,

in a mad attempt to receive some guidance,

Saul invoked a witch

to summon Samuel from the dead.

His message to Saul was bleak.

Moreover, he says,

the Lord will give Israel also with you

into the hand of the Philistines,

and tomorrow you and your sons

shall be with me.

That is, dead.

The Lord will give the army of Israel

also into the hand of the Philistines.

Yet Saul went to battle anyway.

Hadn't this Samuel been threatening

such things for a while now?

And surely Saul had plenty of time

to find some way out of his predicament.

After all, on more than one occasion,

David could have killed him,

but he didn't.

And after these incursions,

Saul would make some weak attempt

at repentance each time.

Oh, David, I'm so sorry.

Please come back.

And then a few weeks later,

he was back on the hunt for David

with no repercussions whatsoever.

Surely this time would be no different.

Samuel must have been exaggerating.

But the word of God to Saul did not fail.

For the word of God never fails.

In this chapter,

all things fall out precisely the way Samuel,

speaking on behalf of God,

predicts they would.

The word of God does not fail.

And so it is also now.

God has spoken to his people.

This is one of the central claims

of the Christian faith.

And he has done it in his word.

And that word contains both warnings

and promises.

Do we, the people of God,

who trust that God's promises are unshakable,

think that his warnings are somehow less unshakable?

That they are witty banter?

Or so much bluster and empty threats,

as Saul perhaps did of the words of the Lord

and Samuel for 17 chapters,

without any repentance whatsoever?

Do we emulate Saul in this way?

Do you put off holiness until tomorrow

and tomorrow and tomorrow?

Or perhaps you are not of the faith yet.

You have flirted with Christianity,

coming to church every so often,

being intrigued by it,

and planning that one day perhaps,

perhaps at the end of your life

when you have little else to do,

less fun to have,

you too shall bow the knee to God,

but not yet,

for there shall always be tomorrow

and tomorrow and tomorrow.

But my brother, my sister,

let the blood of Saul

cry out to you in warning

not to presume upon the mercy of God.

flee to Jesus.

Flee to Jesus.

When you hear the warnings

spoken to you in Scripture,

flee to Jesus.

Take shelter in Him,

the one who bore away God's wrath

for all who would believe in and follow Him.

Psalm 711 says,

God is a righteous judge

and a God who feels indignation every day.

Some translations say,

He's angry every day.

This is not a popular conception of God.

But when you look at Saul's corpse

on that wall of the Philistine fortress

and think that he was put there

because of the judgment of God,

can you think anything other than this verse?

That God feels anger every day against sin?

And it is precisely because he is righteous

that he feels that anger?

If you are not in Christ,

if you have not believed in Christ

and clung to Him in faith,

then God's indignation burns against you

no less than it did against Saul.

This is the warning for us

in this difficult passage.

And the response,

though it would come only thousands,

hundreds of years later,

is this.

Flee to Christ.

Flee to Him.

He is full of mercy,

rich in love for you

if you would come to Him.

As the old hymn says,

let us love and sing in wonder.

Let us praise the Savior's love.

He has hushed the law's loud thunder.

He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame.

Mount Sinai,

that flame that threatened to consume

any who would approach it unworthily,

can be quenched by the blood of Jesus.

Flee to Him.

When you gaze upon the naked,

beheaded body of Saul

on the wall of that Philistine fortress,

rejoice

that such a judgment

is not for you

if you are in Christ.

Therefore,

flee to Christ.

Flee to Him and live.

For the Word of God,

when it issues its warnings

as well as its promises,

are not in vain.

Yet perhaps it seems to you

that God is tarrying.

As it did for Saul

from chapter 13

until chapter 30

of this book.

Perhaps you think

he tarries.

Perhaps he is slow

to keep his promises.

And when we look at the world,

it does seem that God appears to tarry.

But even then,

not without reason.

Every day

that passes

without God

bringing judgment

upon the sin

that He so hates,

He is doing one of two things.

He is either

giving the wicked

opportunity

to repent.

Or He is amassing

greater and greater

evidence

for His final work

of judgment

on the evildoers.

So if you are not in Christ,

flee to Him.

And if you are in Christ,

but find yourself

to be in a condition

of being oppressed,

know that God

will vindicate you.

Either by

converting your oppressor,

as He did with

Saul in the New Testament,

turned Paul,

that persecutor

of God's people

who then became

a famous evangelist

for God's gospel.

Or God will vindicate

you by condemning

your oppressor,

as He does

here with Saul

in the Old Testament.

The Word of God,

when it offers

its threats

and its promises,

does not fail.

The second point

I hope we can see tonight.

The people of God

have enemies

who hate Him

and who rejoice

in the destruction

of God's people.

In this chapter,

we see a tragic,

ironic reversal.

Throughout the book

of 1 Samuel,

Israel and the Philistines

have been at war

constantly,

perpetually,

almost boringly.

Perhaps the most

famous battle

in that war

that you can think of

is the battle

between David

and Goliath.

David,

the champion

of the people

of Israel,

Goliath,

the champion

of the people

of the Philistines.

As David

charged the giant

in that battle,

he declared to him

this,

you come to me

with a sword

and a spear

and a javelin,

but I come to you

in the name

of the Lord

of hosts,

the God

of the armies

of Israel,

whom you have

defied.

This day,

the Lord

will deliver you

into my hand

and I will strike

you down

and cut off

your head.

And I will give

the dead bodies

of the host

of the Philistines

this day

to the birds

of the air

and to the wild

beasts of the earth

that all the earth

may know

there is a God

in Israel.

For David,

the battle

between him

and Goliath

had theological

significance.

It was not only

a shepherd boy

against a giant,

it was the God

of Israel

against the God

of the Philistines.

And David's claim

was that his victory

would vindicate

that God.

All the earth

will know

there is a God

in Israel

because I will

defeat you.

And that's precisely

what happened.

David was victorious,

which meant

that the God

of Israel

was victorious

over the God

of the Philistines.

This battle

had theological

significance.

David cut off

the head

of the champion

of the Philistines,

stripped him

of his armor

and sent word

throughout the land

that Yahweh,

the God

of Israel,

reigns.

And he sent

back Goliath's

head to Jerusalem,

the city of God,

as an enduring

reminder that Yahweh

had conquered.

Do you see

the reversal

of that

in this passage?

The Philistines

have done to Saul

precisely what David,

who was then

in that battle

acting as an agent

of Saul,

did to Goliath.

1 Chronicles 10

says that

when they

fastened

the body

of Saul

into the

Philistine fortress,

they took

the head

of Saul

into the

temple

of Dagon.

They took

the champion

of Yahweh

into the house

of the idol,

for Yahweh

was defeated.

Look here,

even in this chapter

at verse 9,

when they

discover the

body of Saul,

they cut

off his head

and strip

off his armor

and send

messengers

throughout the

land of the

Philistines

to carry

the good news

to the house

of their idols

and to the

people.

This word,

good news,

it's the exact

same word

that is often,

in fact,

I think everywhere

else,

translated

gospel.

The Philistines

have a gospel.

The enemies

of God

have a gospel

and it is

the champion

of Yahweh.

Indeed,

Yahweh himself

is defeated.

His people

are defeated.

You see,

we,

reading this book,

realize what's

going on.

God is taking

the throne

away from Saul

and giving it

to David,

but the Philistines

know nothing of this.

All they know

is they have

killed the king,

the royal family,

and the whole army

that came out

to meet them

and their response

is to spread

this gospel around.

If David,

when he cut off

the head of Goliath,

says,

all men will know

that there is a God

in Israel,

now the Philistines

can say,

all men will know

there is a God

of the Philistines.

That's the way

I began this,

that's why I began

the sermon

the way I did.

With the Philistines

praising Dagon

for the destruction

of Israel,

that blasphemy

that they would

have dared to utter.

But with good reason,

it seems.

This battle

had all the theological

significance for them

that David and Goliath

had for Israel.

It was for them

a sign that Yahweh

had failed,

and the enemies

of God

rejoice.

Do the enemies

of God

still rejoice?

I contend

that they do.

And we ourselves

can give the enemies

of God

reason to rejoice.

Consider this.

Satan

said to God

that Job

only loved him

because God

was kind to him

and blessed him.

So God

took away

that kindness

temporarily,

took away

that blessing,

and let Satan

torment him.

Now,

what would have

happened

if Job,

after Satan

afflicted him,

would have

taken his wife's

advice to curse

God and die,

what would have

happened?

Could you imagine

how terrible

it would be

to hear Satan

gloating of his

victory over God?

I told you,

Yahweh,

I told you.

God

yet,

how do we know

that heaven

is not paying

attention to our

affairs as well?

How do we know

that we,

when we choose

the pleasures of sin

over the pleasures

of Christ,

do not give

equal opportunity

for the enemies

of God

to rejoice

and gloat over him?

Would we do that?

would we caress

our favorite sin

and give the enemies

of the Lord

opportunity this week

to gloat over our

King who loves us?

Brothers and sisters,

let us encourage

one another

that we ought to

fight

to allow our

enemies,

the enemies of God,

no reason

to gloat of their

victory over our

King.

Amen.

Let us cling

to Christ,

love him,

and love like him

so that the

opponents of God

can be put to shame

because Saul

gave them

opportunity

to rejoice.

Do you notice

in this story

also that the

Bible

is not at all

rosy-eyed

about the evils

of this world?

This is not

some farcical

fantasy book

out of touch

with the

difficulties,

the evils

of life.

Think of the

gruesomeness

of this scene.

But we need

a book like this

because the

world around us

is just as

gruesome.

You can watch

it on YouTube

tonight.

The Bible

must contain

these harsh

messages if it's

going to speak

to us in a

harsh world.

The Bible

would have us

be sober,

serious,

and well aware

of the fact

that God

has enemies

and those

who would

ally themselves

with the

one true

God

make for

themselves

powerful,

powerful enemies.

We have

seen those

enemies at work

this week.

Most especially

and vividly

and proximally

in Charleston,

South Carolina

where a white

supremacist gunman

walked into the

house of God

and murdered

the people

of God.

We know

this because

he had a deep

hatred for blacks,

a racism

pervasive and

deep, a racism

that has no

place among

the people of

God.

This story

rightly breaks

our hearts.

We wonder

rightly where

God was,

especially

because this

racial hatred

has taken

center stage in

our country

this year,

time and

again,

even though

it was prevalent

in this country

for centuries

and it seems

tragically still

is.

This time

the target

was a church,

a church

with a long

history of

preaching the

implication of

the gospel,

that in Christ

there is no

longer Jew

or Greek,

that Christ

has broken

down the

dividing wall

between all

races and

ethnicities,

and therefore

hatred between

whites and

blacks cannot

stand.

This was the

message this

church preached

and that man

hated that

message,

so he killed

them.

These are our

brothers who

were murdered.

These are our

sisters whose

blood splattered

the ground where

they once knelt

to pray only

minutes before.

has the Bible

anything to say

to this?

I think the

gruesomeness of

this passage

shows us that

it does.

The enemies of

God have

another gospel

that they

proclaim,

that they try

to advance,

that is advanced

by the people

of God being

destroyed.

The hour is

coming,

Jesus says,

that whoever

kills you will

think he is

offering service

to God.

So mourn for

Charleston and

have conversations

and pray and

fast among

your friends

about how we

individually and

as a church

might continue to

show God's

love, his

message of

reconciliation

instead of

violence and

hatred.

And all the

while, remember

that it was not

only Charleston

that saw the

blood of

Christians shed

this week.

We have been

killed this very

week in Nigeria

by Boko Haram.

We have been

killed this very

week in the

Middle East

by ISIS.

We have been

killed this very

week in dozens

of other places

around the world

that we do not

know about and

will not know

about until we

see the martyrs

in heaven.

Pray that the

faith of the

people of God

persecuted

throughout the

world would

stand.

Pray that the

false gospel of

the enemy of the

people of God

would be exposed

as false gospel.

And pray that the

Lord would come.

for God has

enemies, bitter

enemies, with an

evil gospel.

Third and

finally tonight, I

hope we can see

that through every

victory of the

people of God, God

is working a

greater salvation.

Through every

defeat of the

people of God, God

is working a

greater salvation.

How foolish was

it for these

Philistines to

rejoice, to bring

their praise and

worship before their

gods, for where

are the worshippers

of Dagon now?

Indeed, all

rejoicing by the

enemies of God is a

false rejoicing.

It is a sham

rejoicing.

For all rejoicing

outside of Christ

is merely an

illusion that one

day will be

exposed tragically,

cataclysmically.

And this Philistine

gospel is no

exception.

For when they

think they have

slain the

anointed one of

God, David is

far away.

Somewhere else,

you see.

This is an

amazing progression

of events.

You see what

happens?

David is forced

into exile a few

chapters earlier

by Saul and his

hatred.

And the one

place he knows he

can go to receive

some small amount

of peace is to go

to the Philistines.

And then David

goes out on raids

against the enemies

of Israel.

And the king of

the Philistines asks

David, where have you

gone today?

And he says, I've

gone out against the

enemies of the

Philistines.

He's playing the

Philistines here so

that he can wait in

waiting for the

kingship to be his.

He has proven over

and over that he

himself will not lift

a hand against the

Lord's anointed.

But now there's a

difficulty.

Because the army of

the Philistines to

which he has sworn

allegiance is now

going against the

anointed one of

Israel, Saul and his

army.

He's in stuck between

these two things.

How is he going to

get out of this

situation?

Some of the

Philistine commanders

see him among the

ranks.

They go to the

Philistine king and

say, we don't trust

him here.

Can you tell him

politely to sit this

battle out?

And so he does.

David is off raiding

other enemies of God,

amassing treasure,

amassing more

resources that will be

brought into the

storehouse of the

living God one day,

while the Philistines

are off fighting with

Saul.

God has fought this

battle for David.

And when the

Philistines rejoice over

the death of Saul,

little do they know

what David will bring.

Saul has slain his

thousands, but David

his ten thousands.

So sang the people of

Israel a few chapters

back.

The Philistines ain't

seen nothing yet of the

great victory that God

will work for his people

through David.

David.

So in spite of this

small defeat, God is

working for his people a

greater salvation.

To the Philistine eye, it

seems that Yahweh is dead,

that he has failed.

yet the Christian knows

that after the death of God

comes the resurrection of God.

And this defeat on the way

to the establishment of the

kingdom only serves to advance

the Lord's plan to put on the

throne of Israel David,

from whose house will come

one whose kingdom never

ends, Jesus himself.

The Philistines knew nothing of

this when they rejoiced over

Saul's body, but God did.

God was looking through the

defeat of Israel to Christ on

the other end.

And to have the mind and the

eyes of God is to look

through our defeats, to see on

the other end, Jesus.

The one our hearts yearn for.

The one that every defeat is in

some majestically unknowable way

bringing to bear in this world

and in our hearts.

Is not that message embedded

into the nature of the

Christian gospel?

That our God, in order to save

us, had to die?

Had to endure this defeat on

the road to final victory?

He emptied himself, Philippians 2

said.

He lowered himself and took upon

himself the form of a servant.

Therefore, God highly exalted him.

This is the pattern of the

Christian life.

Through humiliation, through

defeats, exaltation.

Because the cross comes before

the crown.

And there is no way to the crown

except through the cross.

Take it up and bear it, Christ

says.

Which sounds to us a difficult

message.

But he then reminds us that his

burden is easy and his yoke

is light.

Saul did not experience this

rejoicing.

This hope.

Will you?

Will you look to the heir of David?

The one who has come to establish

God's kingdom.

Will you look to him and live?

If you've not done so, I pray that

you would tonight.

I pray that you would confess to the

Lord your sins.

And place your faith in him as the

only savior of the world.

If you're interested more in this, I

urge you to come talk to me or to

Pastor Greg.

We would love to talk to you about

that.

Let the gruesomeness of Saul

and the final eventual rejoicing of

David

be both a stick

and a carrot

to spur you on

to love of God

and citizenship

in the heavenly kingdom

under the great

heir

of the heir of the

great kingdom

of the heir

of David,

Christ himself.

Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you that you have

loved us enough to speak to us

these harsh warnings.

I thank you that you have not

sugar-coated reality for us.

I thank you that you have not

given us mere platitudes

and wishful thinking to resort to,

but you have given us

firm and solid truths.

You have spoken to us

clearly about both the dangers

of sin

and rebellion against you

and of the rock-solid assurance

that your kingdom

will go forth

through every defeat.

We trust that no Philistine

can stand in the way

of your kingdom,

neither then nor now.

We do pray for those

in Charleston,

in the Middle East,

in Nigeria,

in North Korea,

in China,

wherever

the blood of your saints

cries out for justice.

We thank you

that your blood

cries out for mercy.

And so we pray,

come Lord Jesus,

in whose name we pray tonight.

Amen.