Disrespect and Respect

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

DISRESPECT AND RESPECT

1 Sam 31

31:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. 3 The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically. 4 Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me." But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5 When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. 6 So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day. 7 When the Israelites along the valley and those across the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them. 8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan. 11 When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their valiant men journeyed through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

NIV

We have come to the end of Saul and his three sons, ending his reign over Israel with no opportunity to have one of his sons ascend to the throne. However, this was the plan of God, for he had already torn the kingdom from Saul and given it to David. God was still gracious to Saul, allowing him to die in battle rather than an old, weak, and feeble man forfeiting any dignity, having a servant care for his basic needs. In those days, death as a warrior was honorable. This is our hope as we desire to breathe our last as a warrior for Jesus, dying in battle. Personally, I would hope to stand firm in the pulpit and leave my body, ascending in the spirit into the presence of my Lord. That is to be caught up in the air to meet my Lord, as we like to call being raptured. But if it is simple to breathe my last, let me stand firm until the end of this life. We would hope this is the desire for all our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Let us continue the battle against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, and against the forces of evil in the heavenly realm. The Philistines may have stripped Saul of his armor, but no one will ever be able to strip us of our armor, for we wear the armor of God. The Philistines disrespected Saul by cutting off his head and hanging his body on a wall. Of course, Saul showed contempt and disrespect for David, as he had pursued him with the intent of killing him. Although David, even when he had the chance to kill Saul, did not, continuing to show respect for Saul as the king. Let us live a life of respecting others with the hope that as we live respected as a warrior for Jesus, fighting the battle against the evil or dark powers of this world, taking our stand against the forces of evil in the heavenly realms, that is the dark spiritual forces and evil schemes of the devil and his evil minions, we will face our last breathe standing firm, taking our stand, and standing our ground. Although the Philistine showed disrespect, the people of Jabesh Gilead, Israelites, took Saul’s and his son’s bodies down and gave them a proper, respectful burial. This is the way it should be, giving respect to those who waged that war for Jesus.