It’s hard to imagine a greater defeat. After the battle with the Philistines, Saul and all his sons were dead, and the Israelite army was scattered. Moreover, the Philistines conquered a significant amount of territory once occupied by the people of God (verse 7). And the best, the noblest thing that anyone manages to accomplish in this passage is only to give Saul and his sons a decent burial (verse 13).

Yes, this passage is an accurate if sobering reminder of the consequences of disobeying God. For even though Saul had been chosen by God and anointed by the prophet Samuel (10:1), he kept refusing to follow God’s instructions. As a result, Samuel clearly told him that his dynasty would not continue after him (13:14) and that the Lord had rejected him as king (15:26). Instead, the Lord had chosen David, “a man after His own heart” (13:14) and given him the kingdom.

But even though Saul spent the rest of his reign in a desperate attempt to cling to power and to preserve his dynasty, in the end he found only the defeat predicted by the prophet Samuel. In spite of his constant rebellion against God, all Saul ended up doing was proving the truth of God’s Word and the dangers of disobeying Him.

But were God’s people any less guilty? Yes, when Saul commanded his soldiers to slaughter all the Lord’s priests, they were unwilling to go that far (22:17) – but they also refused to stop an unbeliever from carrying out Saul’s monstrous order (22:18). And how many of God’s people continued to be loyal to Saul, ratting David out and forcing him to live on the run as a fugitive from justice? No, as they themselves fled from their Philistine conquerors, the people of Israel rightfully shared in Saul’s downfall.

But once again, their disobedience only served to prove the truth of the Lord’s words, didn’t they? For what had Samuel promised them at the very beginning of Saul’s reign? “Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king shall be swept away” (12:24-25).

And the same choice continues to face God’s people today. So, does it really make sense for us to go on seeking truth in our traditions or our reason or our experience or our feelings? Shouldn’t we instead embrace the promises and live according to the commandments we find in God’s gracious Word? For one way or another, no matter what we do, it is that Word that will always prove itself to be the only, infallible rule of our faith and practice.

I Samuel 31 (NASB)

Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul.
3 And the battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers.
4 Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and pierce me through and make sport of me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it.
5 And when his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him.
6 Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.
7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 And it came about on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.
10 And they put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 all the valiant men rose and walked 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 at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.