As David left Saul, and went back to his stronghold at Engedi, he said
to himself: "I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul! There is
nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the
Philistines, and Saul will cease to look for me."
So he went with the six hundred men who followed him, and dwelt with
Achish, the king of Gath, for a year and four months.
But, after a time, the Philistines determined to go to battle against
the Israelites, and as David and his men were very friendly with
Achish, they marched in the rear of the army which was gathered
together against Saul.
But when the princes of the Philistines found David and his men among
the warriors, they very much objected, telling Achish that when the
battle was joined, David would go over to the other side and fight
against the Philistines.
Achish tried to persuade them that David and his men were their
friends, but the lords of the Philistines would not consent; and David
had to go back to Ziklag. It would take too long to tell you here how
he found that other enemies had invaded his home, or how he and his men
went after them, and how the Lord helped them to recover their wives
and children and all the spoil that those enemies had taken.
But it seems very wonderful that, in the great battle of the
Philistines in which Saul was killed, the Lord had sent David far away
in another direction!
So the Philistines gathered themselves to the battle, and Saul and his
sons and all the men of Israel came out against them.
But the night before the battle Saul had gone to a witch at Endor,
and asked her to bring up Samuel to speak to him. Both he and the
witch were very frightened when Samuel came up—an old man wrapped in a
mantle—and Samuel told Saul that God had given the kingdom to David,
and that he and his sons would be killed on the morrow.
[Illustration: Both he and the witch were very frightened when Samuel
came up.]
So the battle took place the next day on Mount Gilboa; and the
Philistines followed hard upon Saul and his sons, and Saul was sore
wounded by the archers.
Then Saul besought his armour-bearer to kill him with his sword lest
his enemies should come and mock him. But his armour-bearer would not,
for he was sore afraid.
Then King Saul took his own sword and fell upon it and died. And when
his armour-bearer saw that he was dead, he fell upon his sword too, and
died with him.
So Saul died, and his three sons and all his men, that day together.
When the rest of the army who were on the other side of the valley and
on the other side of Jordan saw that Saul and his sons were dead, they
fled, and forsook their cities, and the Philistines came and dwelt in
them.
On the next day, the Philistines came to the battlefield to strip the
slain, and when they found the king and his sons, they cut off Saul's
head and stripped off his armour, and sent the news to all the country
round; and they published it in the houses of their gods and made a
great rejoicing.
They hung the dead bodies of Saul and his sons on the wall of Bethshan;
but when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of what the Philistines
had done, all the valiant men arose and travelled all night and took
the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall; and the men of
Jabesh burnt the bodies, and buried their bones under a tree in Jabesh,
and made a great mourning for their fallen king for seven days.
This is a very sorrowful story. Saul had set out well, and he had
everything in life before him.
He was a great warrior; he had fought many battles against the
Philistines and other enemies on every side; but he spoilt all by one
great sin. This was the sin of disobedience. He had disobeyed God's
direct command.
Not long after Saul was made king, God told him to go and utterly
destroy the Amalekites, leaving none behind, not even flocks and herds,
or anything that was theirs.
But though Saul went, and gained a great victory over them, he
disobeyed God in the end; for he saved alive the king and the best of
the flocks and herds, and all that was good, he kept.
Then the Lord sent Samuel to Saul. And Saul hastened to meet him
with the words: "Blessed be thou of the Lord! I have performed the
commandment of the Lord!"
But Samuel answered: "What meaneth then the bleating of sheep in my
ears?"
And Saul answered: "The people spared the best of the flocks to
sacrifice to the Lord."
And Samuel said to Saul: "Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord has
said to me this night."
"When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made head over
the tribes of Israel? And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said,
'Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against
them until they be consumed.'"
"Wherefore then didst thou fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the
sight of the Lord?"
"Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as
in obeying the voice of the Lord?"
"Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He also hath rejected
thee from being king."
This is the reason why God gave the kingdom to David, and allowed Saul
to be killed on Mount Gilboa.
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