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[0:00] Father, we just want to thank you for today. We want to thank you that we're here. We ask, Lord, that you would help us to be mentally and spiritually here and not absent.

[0:15] May you take our distractions and help us to let these things be cast on you. You take care of our worries, Lord. We ask that you would guide us during this time.

[0:26] We would use your word as a light for our path and a lamp unto our feet. And at the end of today's study, we would remember what you want us to remember so that we can take it home and check in the scriptures to see if these things truly are true.

[0:43] We ask for your help at this time. In Jesus name. Amen. OK. OK. So we are in 1 Samuel.

[1:00] As you can see, we are going to be covering a little bit of 1 Samuel and a little bit of 2 Samuel. If you're not familiar, they were actually written as one book. So we will be bridging that gap today.

[1:17] Because it's been a little while since we had some teaching in 1 Samuel, I'd like to just try and remind you as to where we're at. Preceding 1 Samuel, you've had things like the book of Judges, where Israel are following these judges who are in charge of Israel.

[1:37] They're following their guidance. And as we transition into 1 Samuel, those judges eventually get rejected. And the people want what everybody else has. And that is a king.

[1:48] So Samuel anoints Saul. And then progressively, he just gets worse and worse and worse as a king throughout 1 Samuel.

[2:00] And what we're going to see is the end, the demise of Saul today. So anyway, so we've had this period of Saul being in charge. He, for a time, was being led by the Holy Spirit.

[2:12] But he gets to this point where he's asked to exterminate the Amalekites. Saul fails to carry that out faithfully to God's instruction. And, well, God rejects Saul.

[2:27] And therefore, David is anointed to be the next king. But then we have this period of several years where Saul knows that his time is up. And yet he remains king.

[2:38] David, despite having several opportunities to murder King Saul, chooses not to touch the hair of the Lord's anointed. Last time I was teaching, you would have seen Saul went to see a medium at Endor and spoke to the spirit of the dead Samuel.

[2:58] I'm not going to rehash that study. But if you're interested, go and look at that recording on the podcast. Logistically, though, what happened was Saul and the Israelite army are camped at a place called Gilboa.

[3:12] And he is then told that he's going to die the next day by Samuel's spirit. Saul then has a feast and returns to his army on Mount Gilboa.

[3:26] As an aside, it's worth looking at how in many times in the Bible, you'll see people respond to the news of their demise with repentance.

[3:38] You know, in the book of Jonah, the Ninevites are told they got 40 days until their doom and that cloth and ashes. Repentance is the national outcry.

[3:48] So God relents. Obviously, to Jonah's annoyance. That showed the repentant heart. Saul, on the other hand, didn't repent. He feasted after only a small amount of encouragement from the medium slash witch lady.

[4:05] So if we get into 1 Samuel chapter 31. So verse 1. Now, the Philistines were fighting against Israel and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines, but fell fatally wounded on Mount Gilboa.

[4:23] Where's Mount Gilboa, I hear you ask? OK. OK. I will give you a map. Naturally put my big head in the way.

[4:34] So Mount Gilboa is down here. So if we look at this little map in the corner here, we've got the Dead Sea at the bottom and we've got the Sea of Galilee at the top. So we're up here in the north.

[4:45] So there's the Sea of Galilee. But yeah, Mount Gilboa is here. What Saul has done is he's camped here. He's travelled to Endor here. And at Shunem here, this is where the Philistine armies camped.

[5:02] OK. So this battle has taken place on Mount Gilboa. And a Philistine army has fatally wounded the Israelite armies. And the remaining men of Israel have run away.

[5:16] So verse 2. And the Philistines also overtook Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab and Malkishua, the sons of Saul.

[5:28] OK. So I'll just move on to my next slide. That is Saul's family tree. There's Saul in the middle there. His dad and uncle.

[5:40] These are his children. OK. Two girls over here. All of these are boys. The ones that have just been named are Jonathan, Abinadab and Malkishua. Right. Yeah. So it's these three. What you will see in 2 Samuel is that this one will be murdered.

[5:55] And these ones and these five sons will be passed up as a peace offering. Leaving our friend Mephibosheth just here. I'll head out of the way.

[6:08] To get blessed by David having promised Saul to not wipe out his family tree. So verse 3.

[6:19] The battle went heavily against Saul and the archers found him and he was gravely wounded by the archers. I don't know how you think about this, but personally, I picture this a little bit like the demise of Boromir from the Lord of the Rings.

[6:34] He's pierced through with lots of arrows. Admittedly, there aren't any Uruk-hai or anything like that chasing King Saul, but you get the point. Well, he literally has got the point. Several of them.

[6:47] He is going to die. There's no ifs or buts about this. He's shot through with arrows. And in Saul's case, he's badly injured. But death is not close enough for his liking.

[7:01] We will see what happens next. Verse 4. Then Saul said to his armour bearer. That was David's old job. Then Saul said to his armour bearer, draw your sword and pierce me through with it.

[7:12] Otherwise, these uncircumcised Philistines will come and pierce me through and abuse me. Well, that sounds not nice. So Saul is asking for his armour bearer to kill him.

[7:27] He wants what would be known as a mercy killing. In the modern situation, this mercy killing, that would be considered against the Geneva Convention.

[7:37] If you're not familiar with the Geneva Convention, it generally prohibits mercy killings, deliberately killing of wounded or sick individuals. It also mandates that if you take any prisoners or you come across enemies injured in the field, you have to give them humane treatment.

[7:56] Yeah, to all, including those who are incapacitated. So therefore, it also prohibits acts like torture, murder and other cruel treatments. Compare that with this situation.

[8:08] What Saul is worried about. He says the Philistines will come and pierce me through. He already is. And abuse me. Now, I did look into whether it was specific about what this abuse was.

[8:22] It's a non-specific word. It's used several other places in the Bible in some of the bleakest chapters. So, yeah, I don't need to earmark those chapters for you.

[8:35] You'll come across them in your own good time. Carrying on in the chapter. But his armour bearer was unwilling because he was very fearful.

[8:46] OK, so the armour bearer is unwilling because he's afraid. Some would say fear is the beginning of wisdom. No, it is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom.

[8:57] In this situation, there is nothing in the Hebrew to suggest it's the Lord that he's afraid of. So, carrying on, what happens next? So Saul took his sword and fell on it.

[9:10] So Saul committed suicide. The king that Samuel had anointed in 1 Samuel chapter 10, who David once said, I will not raise my hand against the Lord's anointed, despite David being anointed the next king, this guy has finally died.

[9:30] When his armour bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. So, this wasn't a moral stand about suicide or anything like that.

[9:41] His view on this matter has changed very quickly in a very short space of time because of, well, fear. It's understandable, given what the human condition is like, although not commendable.

[9:55] Verse 6. So Saul died with his three sons, his armour bearer and all his men on that day together. Verse 7. Now, when the people 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.

[10:19] Then the Philistines came and settled in them. I should probably pop the map back up and make that make some sense. When we're talking about beyond the Jordan, even though we're over here, we're talking about this side, this west side of the Jordan, this being the River Jordan.

[10:36] The reason this is beyond is because when the Israelites entered the land, they came up this way and went that way. So, what's happened is, this is where the battle is in Mount Gilboa, and then people from these areas have legged it.

[10:55] Okay, fine. So, it came about on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip those killed, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

[11:08] Just to remind you again, Mount Gilboa is here. Okay. So, we can see that the Philistines didn't already know that Saul had been killed, but they did recognise him.

[11:20] Verse 9. Ah, splendid. They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines to bring the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.

[11:36] So, in those days, photography wasn't a thing. If you wanted to know somebody was dead, you could prove it with the body, but those things are heavy. So, taking the head could achieve the same thing.

[11:49] You can therefore see why Saul was a bit worried about meeting these people, because they're a bit barbaric. Verse 10. They put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth and they nailed his body to the wall of Beth-sham.

[12:03] I mean, this is a reflection of what things were like in that time. I mean, don't forget that when David killed Goliath, he took Goliath's head to Jerusalem and put his armour in his tent.

[12:17] But there's no mention of what they did with Goliath's body. Here, head goes one direction, body goes another direction, and the body is nailed to a wall. Now, when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, let's pause there a second.

[12:36] Jabesh Gilead. Hmm. Let's try another map. Jabesh Gilead is not on that map. So, we were over here, Mount Gilboa, there's the River Jordan.

[12:50] Jabesh Gilead is on the other side. So, these are the ones that have run away. This is the people of Jabesh Gilead. What have they done? Now, when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men got up and walked all night and they took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-sham.

[13:11] Where's Beth-sham? Well, that's here. Okay. And they came to Jabesh, that's Jabesh Gilead, and burned them there. So, they burned the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons.

[13:26] And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted for seven days. So, we have a group of valiant men risking life and limb to retrieve a dead body.

[13:41] They're not risking it for someone who's alive. It's not a rescue mission. This is about pride for the nation. This is about compassion for Saul.

[13:52] They are retrieving Saul's body. They're burning it and burying the bones. They've had compassion for their dead king. They've walked all night for his dead body and to bury it.

[14:04] I mean, bear in mind that all those people in that area were fearful and had run away. So, going in there was a war zone. They've given their king some dignity.

[14:15] This is not a proof text as to whether you should select cremation or burial. Right? If you're giving thought about whether you want to be cremated or buried, think about Hebrews 11.

[14:27] It shows that Abraham, when he was asked to make a burnt offering of his son, his only son, Isaac, that Abraham, by faith, considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.

[14:41] Meaning, that even if Isaac had been offered as a burnt offering and effectively cremated, that God can still raise him from the dead. Which means he can raise us from our long scattered ashes.

[14:54] So, personal opinion on this topic. Doesn't matter. Let's move into 2 Samuel, where David will learn of Saul's death.

[15:07] Verse 1. Now it came about after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, that David stayed two days in Ziklag. Time for another map, methinks.

[15:20] Right. So, if you look at this little map in the corner for a moment, Sea of Galilee at the top, we were on this offcut just here, we are now down here in the south.

[15:32] Okay. In line with the Dead Sea. Right. So, David is in Ziklag, far down in the south. So, David has not been involved in this battle.

[15:44] Therefore, David's still alive. In 1 Samuel chapter 30, we saw, when David was last in view, that he was attacking the Amalekites, who had kidnapped the wives and the children of David and his men.

[15:58] David and his men chased them down and killed the Amalekites and retrieved their families. I've got another map that will just bring that bit more to life.

[16:09] In that previous chapter, David had run all the way down here to Ziklag, found his people missing, and then he had gone off to beat the Amalekites up and retrieve his wife, et cetera, et cetera.

[16:23] So, third day, and on the third day, behold a man from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head, and it happened when he came to David, he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.

[16:37] Third day, why is that important? Well, David is well, way down in the south. The battle for Saul is way up in the north, and well, it just takes time for words to reach him, is what this is saying.

[16:50] Then David said to him, from where do you come? And he said to him, I have escaped from the camp of Israel. David said to him, how did things go? Please tell me.

[17:01] And he said, the people have fled from the battle, and many of the people also have fallen and are dead. And Saul and his sons, Jonathan, are also dead. Then David said to the young man who told him, how do you know that Saul and his son, Jonathan, are dead?

[17:18] Why do we think David is asking this question? He wants to know if this is true, right? False reports would be really easy to give in these times. You know, in the current day and age, I could take a photograph of the dead body and text it to someone.

[17:36] You know, send it on WhatsApp if I wanted to prove that someone was dead. Although, I could probably just as easily get one of those created by an AI program. And therefore, it's like, do I trust this image or not?

[17:49] But yeah, false reports were there to draw people out into battle. And therefore, you've got to check the source. Where's this information come from? You know, Eli, for example, when he was given the report that his sons had died, he didn't check.

[18:06] He just fell off his chair, broke his neck and died. What happens if he was lying? That would have been a terrible story. I was only kidding. Anyway, verse 6, the young man who told him said, by chance, I happen to be on Mount Gilboa.

[18:26] Dude, there's a battle going on. Leg it. Anyway, and behold, Saul was leaning on his spear, as you do. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen had overtaken him.

[18:37] When he looked behind himself, he saw me and called to me. And I said, here I am. Then he said to me, who are you? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.

[18:50] And he said to me, please stand next to me and finish me off. But agony has seized me because my life still lingers in me. So, I stood next to him and finished him off because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen.

[19:06] And I took the crown which was on his head and the band which was on his arm and I've brought them here to my lord. So, you knew where David was and decided to bring him news.

[19:17] There's no way this is true. Does this guy know where David has just been? He's been down south killing the Amalekites. Anyway, we'll get into that in a moment.

[19:30] Verse 11. Let's see this for a response. Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them and so also did all the men who were with him and they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the people of the Lord and the house of Israel because they'd fallen by the sword.

[19:52] This is David's response for the death of his great adversary. Let's see how the rest of it goes. Verse 13.

[20:03] Then David said to the young man who informed him, Where are you from? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger and a Malachite. And David said to him, How is it that you were not afraid to reach out with your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?

[20:19] Then David called one of the young men and said, Come forward, put him to death. So he struck him and died.

[20:33] And David said to him, after he's dead, this must be one of those witty retorts that you see in the films. And David said to him, Your blood is on your head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, I have finished off the Lord's anointed.

[20:50] Let's read the 1 Samuel version of that again so we can make sure that there aren't any discrepancies. So move back to chapter 31 for a second. Verses 1 to 6. Now, the Philistines were fighting against Israel and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines but fell fatally wounded on Mount Gilboa.

[21:11] And the Philistines also overtook Saul and his sons and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, Malkishua, the sons of Saul. The battle went heavily against Saul and the archers found him and he was gravely wounded by the archers.

[21:27] Then Saul said to his armor bearer, Draw your sword, pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised Philistines will come and pierce me through and abuse me. But his armor bearer was unwilling because he was very fearful.

[21:38] So Saul took his sword and fell on it. When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer and all his sons on that day together.

[21:51] Okay, so Saul shot with arrows, kills himself, throws himself on his sword. Fantastic. There's another version of this. Turn to 1 Chronicles, chapter 10. So 1 Chronicles is 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles.

[22:04] So 1 Chronicles, chapter 10. So we're going to be looking at verses 1 to 6 of chapter 10. Now, the Philistines fought against Israel and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines but fell fatally wounded on Mount Gilboa.

[22:19] And the Philistines also overtook Saul and his sons and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab and Melchishua, the sons of Saul. The battle became severe against Saul and the archers found him and he was wounded by the archers.

[22:33] Then Saul said to his armor bearer, draw your sword and thrust me through with it. Otherwise, these uncircumcised Philistines will come and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not for he was very afraid. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

[22:46] When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword and died. So Saul died with his three sons and all those of his house died together. Okay, why are you reading this, Tony?

[22:59] 2 Samuel chapter 2. Sorry, 2 Samuel chapter 1. Right, our main passage again. Verses 4 to 10. David said to him, how did things go?

[23:12] Please tell me. And he said, the people have fled from the battle and many of the people also have fallen and are dead. And Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.

[23:23] Then David said to the young man who told him, how do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead? The young man who told him said, by chance, I happen to be on Mount Gilboa.

[23:34] Right, it's the right place. Brilliant. And behold, Saul was leaning on his spear. Okay, that might have happened. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen had overtaken him. When he looked behind himself, he saw me and called to me and I said, here I am.

[23:50] Then he said to me, who are you? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. And he said to me, please stand next to me and finish me off. For agony has seized me because my life still lingers in me. I stood next to him and finished him off because I knew that he couldn't live after he had fallen and I took the crown which was on his head and the band which was on his arm and I have brought them here to my Lord.

[24:08] Does anybody see anything about archers there? Did anybody hear anything about chariots or what was it? Chariots and horsemen in the previous two versions.

[24:19] I put it to you this, this is not a contradiction in the Bible. I put it to you that this is an accurate reflection of an accurate account that this young man's pants are on fire.

[24:34] So Mount Kilboa, tick, chariots and horsemen overtaking him. Huh? What? Please stand next to me and finish me off. Agony has seized me. Yeah.

[24:46] This Amalekite is not even mentioned in the other two versions. There's no, you know, the other two versions don't say, oh, an Amalekite helped him to stab himself with his sword. No. Saul talks to his armor bearer.

[24:59] Anyway, as David is hearing this news for the first time, there's no way of him knowing that the guy is lying through his teeth in the hope that David will reward him for murdering the king.

[25:12] However, we already know that David doesn't want anyone to touch the hair of the Lord's anointed. So, David has him killed. It's a bit harsh, Dave.

[25:22] Why'd you do that? He's only lying. Yeah, but did you also notice where this guy's from? He's an Amalekite. Yeah, sorry, Tone. There's lots of these ites in the Bible.

[25:34] Which one is this again? Okay. There's Jebusites, Amalekites, Hittites, Gergeshites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and probably some termites in there as well. Which one are we looking at? Right, it's the Amalekites.

[25:45] Glad you asked. Do you remember Jacob and Esau? Sons of Isaac. How Jacob was dressed up by his mother to deceive blind Isaac to be able to steal the birthright from Esau?

[25:56] Right, okay. So, Genesis 36.12 tells us that Temna was a concubine of Esau's son, Eliphaz. And she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.

[26:08] Okay, so they're all descendants from Esau's side to the genealogy. Now, when Israel leave Egypt and are in the wilderness, the Amalekites are the lovely ones that come along and attack them.

[26:22] Deuteronomy 25.17 says this, Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt, how he confronted you on the way and attacked among you, oh, these are really brave people, listen to this, attacked among you all the stragglers at the rear when you were tired and weary and he did not fear God.

[26:43] So it shall come about when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land, which your Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, that you shall wipe out the mention of the name Amalek from under heaven.

[26:58] You must not forget. Okay, let's draw this picture a little bit more. 1 Samuel chapter 15, only a few chapters earlier, verses 1 to 3, this is what it says, Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people, over Israel.

[27:17] Now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord. This is what the Lord of armies says, I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel in that he obstructed him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.

[27:30] Now go and strike Amalek and completely destroy everything that he has. Do not spare him, put him to death, both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. Right?

[27:40] These are the people Saul had to go and exterminate. For good reason. God told him to go and do it and Saul didn't obey, which is why Saul is no longer going to be king.

[27:53] So, did you notice when David was talking to this witness that he double-checks with the man that he was an Amalekite before having him bumped off?

[28:05] So, there's three reasons to kill him. Number one, he's an Amalekite. Number two, well, he says he's murdered the king, the Lord's anointed. And number three, well, he's actually a big fat liar as well.

[28:19] Right, throughout this chapter, there are some sensitive subjects that come up and one of them is just your response to death.

[28:32] What's your response to death? I'll be open with you. I am sometimes very uncomfortable around death, if I'm honest. I'm one of those people who's more likely to laugh due to the discomfort.

[28:47] It's not a great trait, I'll be honest. But, it'll be easy for others to think that I'm uncaring, but I don't mean it. It's just difficult around such strong feelings. But, I mean, look at Jesus, right?

[29:00] At the death of Lazarus, bearing in mind Jesus knew Lazarus was dead already, and he also knew that he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus' response to being told that Lazarus was dead was to weep.

[29:15] Right? Jesus had compassion. Right? We see various other responses of people using sackcloth and ashes, weeping and wailing. What do you think the appropriate response to the death of Saul would be?

[29:29] Right? He is the king, a figurehead. When we have people of major significance in our nation die, there's a variety of responses. Right?

[29:40] But typical response in this country is dignified and solemn. For example, when this person died, Princess Diana, there was a massive outpouring.

[29:54] I'll be honest, I was 17 at the time and unsaved. I felt it was completely blown out of all proportion, but that was a personal view at the time. Doesn't surprise people to know that I was a bit of a Stadler and Wardorff type.

[30:07] But, you know, the headlines about Princess Diana were, you know, she was a massive part of this nation, despite the fact she was already the ex-wife of who is now our king.

[30:20] And at the funeral, you'll remember, we had Elton John singing a song, Goodbye England's Rose, Candle in the Wind, 1997 version.

[30:32] But that song went to number one. Massive in the charts. Other people in our nation that have passed away, the Marmite Prime Minister, you either love her or you hate her.

[30:46] Right? You get a factual response, a factual headline about Maggie being dead. Slightly positive responses from some, the ones that hate her, trying to be civilised about it.

[30:58] Some not being so civilised about it. Some being less so. Does anyone remember the song? Made it to number two in the charts.

[31:10] When she died. Ding dong, the witch is dead from The Wizard of Oz. Oh my days. So what would the headlines have been if newspapers existed when King Saul died?

[31:24] Right? You've got, I thought I'd ask ChatGPT to see what it could come up with. A little bit of AI. I came up with a few myself, but mine weren't quite so great.

[31:35] You know, things like tragic end to Saul's reign. Death of Israel's first king. Suicide of God's anointed king. Idiot king who forgot to obey God dies.

[31:46] I don't know. ChatGPT did a, I'd be honest, generally a better job. So King Saul falls in battle at Mount Gilboa. I love, I love using AI sometimes because it mocked it up for me.

[31:58] I didn't have to do the work. Ha ha. So that one's not so bad. Tragedy on Gilboa, Saul and Jonathan dead. Mourning across Israel was royal line cut down in battle.

[32:10] King Saul falls in battle, monarch slain as Philistines prevail at Mount Gilboa. Death of King Saul, Israeli ruler killed on battlefield. Okay. But then there's this song that's written and you will cover that song the next time we come to 2 Samuel.

[32:29] So that picture there is actually from a kid's Bible from the 1800s. I wonder what they were drawing pictures of someone mourning for. Normally it's like drawing me a picture of like Goliath or something like that.

[32:43] Something a bit more cheery like the, someone going and retrieving, you know, the shepherd looking for the lost sheep or something like that. But, yeah. Anyway, so David's response to this king who has died.

[32:58] Remember, this is the guy who was jealous of David because of a song. Saul, was it Saul killed his hundreds? David killed his tens, is that ten thousands?

[33:10] Sorry? Ten thousands? It's like, come on. You know, he's thrown spears at David multiple times. He's tried to kill him by demanding an impossible number of Philistine foreskins as a dowry for his daughter's hand in marriage.

[33:22] Then he cheated him out of that wife that he won in the contest. Not the best way to pursue a relationship with a woman, I'll be honest. This guy was in relentless pursuit of David throughout the wilderness despite David's loyalty.

[33:38] This is the guy that murdered the priest who tried to help David. So David reacted and wrote a song. Like I say, we'll look at it next time. There are some other sensitive subjects in here though which are interrelated.

[33:52] But just because there is a sensitive subject doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about it. We just need to tread lightly and have grace for each other. For me, for saying the wrong thing, if I'm insensitive, I apologise in advance.

[34:07] I cannot do you the disservice of just dodging the subject. I also need to have you have some grace for me though. Sorry, if I have grace for you though, if I touch a raw nerve.

[34:18] So, let's discuss these things with compassion and understanding for each other. So, in that passage we see Saul asking for assistance in killing himself.

[34:31] That request gets denied and then we see him taking his own life. Serious matters. Suicide. It's intentionally taking one's own life.

[34:46] In the latest statistics from the Office of National Statistics in the UK, there were 6,069 suicides in 2023 in England and Wales alone.

[34:59] This is just over 1% of all the deaths or 11.4 deaths per 100,000 people. If we look at the top 10 causes of death in the USA, the green on there, let me explain what this slide is showing you.

[35:15] So, you've got age of people across the top, different groups, the types of death. The top one is the one that's killed the most people. The one at the bottom is the 10th one, the 10th most likely thing to kill people during 2023.

[35:30] COVID-19's on there. Anyway, whether that's really COVID-19 or not, I'm sure Ray can debate that later. But anyway, let's talk about the prevalent ones.

[35:43] Right? So, for the benefit who can't read that, I'm just going to zoom in on the top five. So, the blue ones. The blue ones are unintentional injuries.

[35:54] That's things like falling, getting run over, just stuff that causes you to die by genuine accident. Homicide. This is America, so they like to shoot each other, unfortunately.

[36:08] But what you'll see is that the suicide is prevalent kids aged 10 to 14 up to people in their 50s. Right? For those that don't know what malignant neoplasms means, it means cancer and heart disease over there.

[36:25] But suicide, it's so prevalent. It's so prevalent. And when it comes to suicides, one of the stats, 75% of all suicides are males.

[36:37] Men are just much more likely to come to this end. But each and every one of those numbers up there is a person.

[36:47] There are real people behind these. People losing their lives and the people that are left behind to pick up the pieces. In Saul's case, he wanted to die, but he wanted his armour bearer to do it for him, which in the battlefield could be termed the mercy killing.

[37:06] Outside of the battlefield context, some people do want to end their lives because they know they are going to die. This is sometimes referred to as an assisted suicide or an assisted dying or, yeah, it depends on which side of the debate you're from.

[37:24] But for anyone who's saying Bible's not relevant, this is going on in our parliament right now. They're trying to legalise assisted suicide. Let's think about things from the world's view on this.

[37:38] You might suggest it's the satanic view, but we need to understand how other people feel. What you need to know is that the enemy of God sows plausible seeds of mistruth around.

[37:53] If they were obvious, they would never succeed in deceiving anybody. take a look at Eve in the Garden of Eden. She was deceived into eating fruit from the tree of knowledge and good and evil.

[38:07] Right? Satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. We know that Jesus won the war against this lion, but he's not going to be cast into the lake of fire until the end times.

[38:22] The devil constructs replicas of some of the good things that God has made, such as the church. Just with a slight twist of scripture here and a dash of deceit there, you end up with evil imitations of the church that will tell you that, oh, if you commit suicide, you'll lose your salvation.

[38:41] They'll also tell you things like, if you pray for the dead, you can get them saved. If you pay us lots of money, you can get them saved. No, I'm sorry. on the day you die, if you haven't already given yourself to Christ, too late.

[38:59] So what is the world's view of suicide, bearing in mind that Satan's deceiving them? How does the world view assisted suicide? Well, the world seems to think that man is equally as valuable as an animal.

[39:12] The point being that, oh, well, we put animals down when they're suffering, and given that we're equal to an animal, Romans chapter 1 says they worship the creature rather than the creator.

[39:25] Yeah. Why shouldn't we put people who are suffering down? Look, I get it. People who are dying are afraid. They're afraid of pain.

[39:37] They're afraid of suffering. They're afraid of what mental or physical state they might be in as they deteriorate towards the end. The burden they might become on their loved ones, and yet they keep on living and getting worse and worse.

[39:53] We are afraid of watching our loved ones go through unspeakable pain in front of our eyes, in front of our children's eyes. In the spirit of openness, I should start by saying that I didn't get saved until I was in my twenties, but I remember at the age of 12 rejecting God.

[40:12] because my granddad was suffering with lung cancer that had spread to his brain. He was, for all intents and purposes, in a vegetative state, and I saw my nana and my mum go to hospital to see him at every single opportunity for six to eight weeks to live by his side.

[40:35] My nana was convinced, he's going to get better. death. When I visited, I could see how hopeless the situation was. I saw that suffering, and I knew that there was no God, or no God worth following, allowing such suffering.

[40:52] This event was one of the biggest barriers to me getting saved in the first place, and yet, saved I am. The Bible mentions many others who felt despair so very deeply.

[41:07] Solomon, in Ecclesiastes, hated life. Even the Apostle Paul and his companions once despaired of life itself, due to immense pressure. Jonah wished to die out of anger at God.

[41:21] Elijah was fearful, depressed, and yearned for death, in 1 Kings 19. And yet, Solomon learned to fear God and to keep his commandments. In Ecclesiastes 12, Paul found in the verse that followed the despairing verse, that although it felt like a death sentence, although it felt like a death sentence, it was to make them rely on God.

[41:50] And in Philippians chapter 4, verses 11 to 13, he says this, I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity.

[42:03] In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being healed and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

[42:16] This is the guy that was shipwrecked seven times, beaten many times, who had the thorn in the flesh to wound and bleed him. Right? This guy knows what suffering is.

[42:30] Life is valuable. You are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. Your body might not be all it used to be, or all that it could be, and yet, God has made you.

[42:47] And one day, you will have that resurrection body. no more pain, no more suffering, an incorruptible body capable of so much more than an adult in their prime.

[43:01] But perhaps God has deemed it that you need that thorn in the flesh at the moment. So you'll learn to rely on him all the more. To learn what my grace is sufficient for you truly means.

[43:15] Does that mean difficult times won't come? No. Times will be difficult if we live in a fallen world. James chapter 1, verses 2 to 4.

[43:26] That's the same first. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when we encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance, and that endurance has its perfect result, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

[43:43] You will be tested. But it refines your faith. It refines your trust in him. So put your eyes on Jesus, who went faced with death and the barbaric treatment that Jesus had before he was put on that cross.

[44:01] He still enjoyed that cross. Psalm 139 tells us that God ordained the number of days for us.

[44:11] God knows the number, he sets it, we don't decide. Why is this relevant now? Well, as I said, this is going through Parliament right now.

[44:25] The terminally ill adults end of life bill is currently being debated in Parliament. Seeking to legalise assisted suicide or assisted dying, legalised murder, depends on your view.

[44:40] The humanist society's view of assisted dying. Yeah, let's have a look at what the world thinks. So, the humanists, they call it assisted dying and on their website, this is what it will tell you.

[44:57] Why support a change in the law? Well, the reasons to support a change in the law, compassion. Our current laws are unsafe, meaning people have to suffer. Dignity.

[45:10] You give people dignity by shortening death and their suffering. It's about safety. Safeguarded assisting dying laws exist globally.

[45:22] Other countries are able to do it safely. Empathy. Assisted dying eases suffering and fear. Autonomy. Dying with dignity on one's own terms.

[45:34] Clarity. Safeguards would provide legal clarity for families. So they haven't got murdered their brothers or whatever. Democracy. The majority support change.

[45:46] Apparently it's popular. So, you know me. I've tried to be sensitive, but I'm going to explain these things by being a bit blase about it.

[45:58] So, assisted dying. Well, they're spinning the title a little bit there, aren't they? It's not dying, it's killing someone, isn't it? Why should we support a change in the law?

[46:08] Well, why should we ignore the Bible? Compassion. Our current laws are unsafe. Well, we're doing it anyway. So, change the law and then it's legal, isn't it?

[46:25] Dignity. Shortening death and suffering. Well, I hope you like suffering. Okay, fair point. Safety. Safeguarded assisted dying laws is just globally.

[46:36] Everybody else is doing it, why shouldn't we? Empathy. Assisted dying eases suffering and fear. Well, nobody likes suffering.

[46:49] Autonomy. Dying with dignity on one's own terms. Well, it's up to me. It's my life. I will choose when I die. Clarity. Safeguards would provide legal clarity for families.

[47:01] Well, it's not murder if it's legal. And finally, democracy. The majority support change. Well, everybody agrees. Therefore, we should all do that. Look, Saul is a picture of the unsaved following his own lusts and his moves.

[47:20] Throughout his life, he saw him loving, lying, killing. He was flawed. Though David was not without sin, he had a heart after God's own heart.

[47:31] David is a picture of Jesus. Jesus. If we look at Jesus himself, there's hope. Hope in Jesus. Jesus is a healer. Jesus is a saviour.

[47:44] When Jesus died on that cross, he conquered death and sin and suffering. When he was resurrected from the dead, he proved that he could bring us salvation and give us eternal life.

[47:59] Jesus is still alive today. death. He's not physically here. He's with the Father. But when Jesus returns in the future, he will resurrect all of us.

[48:12] Saved into eternal glory with him. The unsaved into, yeah, not so much glory. But that resurrection that we will have, no suffering, no pain, no death.

[48:27] If you put your trust in Jesus, through the storms and the trials, keep your eyes on Jesus so the testing of your faith refines it and makes you more reliant on Jesus.

[48:40] More like Jesus. Compassionate to the broken and the lost, those that are suffering. We need compassion for them because they want to kill themselves. Literally.

[48:53] Jesus gives us hope where there is none. Let's pray. Father, there are some difficult topics there that might bring memories, might trigger any kind of response from this.

[49:11] I pray, Lord, that you would be present with all of us. You would be witnessing to us that you would help us to have compassion for ourselves but also for each other. Help us to live our lives focused on you, not focused on our own lusts.

[49:31] May you guide us, may you lead us, may you help us to be more dependent on your word, the truth, rather than what some weakness has come and told us. Help us to test the sources, test the spirits.

[49:46]  In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.