The cost of choosing our own way (1 Samuel 31)

In his imaginative book, The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis describes different characters who take a trip from Hell, a town where it is always raining, a place damp and miserable, to Heaven. Although the sun is shining in Heaven and there is beautiful scenery, these visitors do not like it. Everything is so solid in its reality that the grass hurts their feet as they try to walk, the flowers represent an insurmountable obstacle because they would not bend while the visitors themselves are ghost-like, without substance. These people are convinced that they know best and refuse to consider an alternative way of living. They are self-absorbed and cling to their way. Although they meet ‘Solid People’ who inhabit Heaven and try to guide and encourage them towards it, the visitors refuse to join them. They rather choose their miserable town with its petty quarrels and complaining neighbours than explore this new place. Lewis’ portrayal suggests that it is not God who keeps us out of heaven, but that people willingly choose hell even when they are given a chance. Hell is locked from the inside.

Saul – still wanting control

I am reminded of Lewis’ story as we come to Saul’s end. The Philistines are victorious, Israel flees, and Saul’s sons are dead (1 Sam 31:1-2). The king himself is wounded, but even as his world is crumbling around him, he is trying to retain a vestige of control. Not wanting to experience humiliation at the hands of the Philistines is an understandable human emotion, but it is also Saul’s besetting sin. He could not face the humiliation of letting go of kingship and power before, which led to his holding on to an office that was no longer his. It is as if at this last moment when he knows he must die, he is still wanting to choose the circumstances of his death, if nothing else. His servant is afraid to kill him (1 Sam 31:4) – perhaps it is a recognition that Saul’s is a sacred office as anointed king. Whatever the reason, Saul cannot force the situation to bend to his will but as a last protest, he dies by his own hand (v.4). In its stark factuality, Saul’s death is still full of pathos. The king who was anointed with the hope of ridding Israel of the Philistine presence fails (1 Sam 31:7).

Faithful service reaps a faithful response

The second vignette of Saul’s end, however, gives us a glimpse of what could have been. Saul’s weapons are taken to the Philistines’ temple as a way of highlighting that their god was stronger than Israel’s (1 Sam 31:9-10) and the bodies of the king and his sons are displayed on the wall of Beth-shan reminding all of Israel’s defeat. Yet the people of Jabesh-Gilead steal the bodies and give them an honourable burial (1 Sam 31:12-13). Their devotion to Saul harks back to an early incident after he was made king, when Jabesh was attacked and Saul rescued the city from their enemies (1 Sam 11:1-15). His service sown then, reaps a faithful response now. If only Saul had continued to serve his people rather than become preoccupied with power and his own way! What a different outcome there could have been!

To choose God’s way

Saul’s story reminds us that although God’s way looks simple, it is not easy because it involves letting go of our ‘kingship’, our will to decide our way. There is a better way than the one we map out for ourselves, but it goes against the grain of our sinful nature. Yet Saul’s end in all its pitiful ruin is a warning. Sin when we cling to it will destroy us in the end. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23)… not because God heartlessly judges us but because it is the nature of sin to corrupt to devastating effect. Repentance and submitting to God’s will is the only way out and those who do, find that the Lord gives them life as a free gift, a life that with all its suffering is much more worth living that the tortured existence we devise for ourselves.  

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