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Saul could not sleep that sad
night; and the next morning he went to the battle where he was to
die. The battle was in Mount Gilboa. The Philistines
conquered, and many of the Israelites fell down dead on the field; for God
was not fighting for his people now. The
Philistines followed after Saul, and shot him with their arrows, and
sorely wounded him. Then he knew that his enemies would soon come
and kill him, and he was very much afraid, and called his armor-bearer,
and asked him to kill him, that he might not be put to death by the cruel
Philistines. But the armor-bearer was afraid to kill Saul; he would
not murder his king; so Saul took a sword, and fell upon it, and
died. He murdered himself. He died in his sin; and there was,
therefore, no hope that his soul could be saved; self-murderers have no
time to ask for pardon. When
the armor-bearer looked at Saul, and saw that he was dead, he took a
sword, and fell upon it, and died too. And the Israelites saw that
Saul and his sons were dead; and they all ran from their cities, and left
their houses; and the Philistines came and lived in them. Where
was Jonathan? The next day, when the Philistines came to look at the
field of battle, they found Jonathan, and his brothers, and Saul, all
lying dead upon the ground. Jonathan was ready to die. He had
begun to love God when young, and well, and happy; and God did not forget
Jonathan when he was in trouble, and danger, and death. Jonathan's
sins had been all washed away, and his heart had been made new and clean;
and now he was in Heaven, to be happy for ever, where there is no pain,
nor sorrow, nor sin. The
cruel Philistines cut off Saul's head, and took away his armor, and sent
home the news of their victory, and shouted for joy. They nailed
Saul's body to a wall; but the people who lived in Jabesh-gilead were kind
to their king, and honored him; and took his body, and his sons' bodies,
and buried them all under a tree, and mourned for them many days. Where
was David now? He was still in Ziklag; waiting quietly there, and
very thankful for God's kindness to him. After the battle, a
messenger came to David from Saul's camp. His clothes were rent, and
dust was upon his head: and David knew that he had sad news to
tell. Then David asked, who had gained the battle, and what had
happened to Saul and Jonathan. The messenger said, "The people
are fled from the battle, and many are fallen and dead, and Saul and
Jonathan are dead also." Then David asked how all this
happened, and the messenger told him that he had seen Saul on Mount Gilboa
in great distress, pursued by the Philistines, and that Saul had asked him
to slay him. "So," the man said, "I stood on him, and
slew him, and took his crown, and his bracelet; and I have brought them
here to thee." Was this a true story? No, some of it was
false. This man did not kill Saul; Saul killed himself. Why
did the man tell this lie? Because he thought David would be glad to
hear that his enemy Saul was dead; and perhaps would give him a
reward. And was David pleased? No; he wept for Saul, and for
his dear friend Jonathan; and he was angry with the man who told him of
their death. David thought the story was all true; so he commanded
his servants to slay the man as a murderer. The man was an Amalekite;
one of that wicked nation which God had commanded to be destroyed.
Go punished him for his wicked lie, when David thought he was punishing
him for murdering the king. David
mourned very much for Jonathan, and wrote a beautiful song of lamentation
for him, for he could not forget Jonathan's love and kindness.
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