Original Broadcast: August 2009
Monthly Theme: King Saul
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.
Then Saul took his own sword and fell upon it.
(1 Samuel 31:4)
Death with dignity. That's been the great cry of those seeking to make euthanasia legal in more places. We don't want people to suffer. That's quite true. So let's make sure they don't have to suffer and kill them right now.
That's Saul's predicament as he faces a terrible defeat at the hands of the Philistines. His three sons. The great majority of his army. All dead. Just he and his armor-bearer left. They took their own lives so that the Philistines wouldn't. The next day, the Philistines took the bodies of Saul and his sons and put them up as shrines in their temples.
Suicide is a very touchy subject. It seems that many find that to be their only escape from a rough life. There have been recent suicides in the area. I had three high school classmates commit suicide as sophomores. The unbearable pain just won't go away.
Job felt the same thing. His wife even told him, "Curse God and die" (2:9). He suffered about as much, if not more, than any other human being has other than Jesus Christ. And He was the first to receive death with dignity. He rose from the dead. Death could not keep him trapped in the tomb.
And Jesus promises the same thing to you. If you believe that Jesus died and rose for your sins, you too will die with dignity knowing that you will be raised from the dead to live in Heaven with Him forever. Saul never turned back to God. God had abandoned him so he abandoned God. That's was Saul's big mistake: shutting God out of his life. Don't do that. Jesus says, "I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20). Is your door closed? Open it and let God come in today. Amen.
