The Wages of a Closed Fist Text: 1 Samuel 31:1-6
Introduction: The End of the Road
The book of 1 Samuel ends here, in blood and failure on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. It is a grim and tragic conclusion to the reign of Israel's first king. But we must not mistake a grim ending for a meaningless one. The God of Scripture is a God who writes stories, and He writes them all the way to the end. He does not leave loose ends. The death of Saul is not a random accident of war; it is the final, bloody payment on an invoice that had been accumulating for decades. It is the logical and covenantal conclusion to a life lived in rebellion against the God who had anointed him.
Saul began his reign with so much promise. He was tall, handsome, and from a good family. He was given God's Spirit. But from the very beginning, there was a fatal flaw, a spiritual disease that metastasized over the years. That flaw was a refusal to trust and obey the plain Word of God. From his presumptuous sacrifice at Gilgal to his refusal to utterly destroy the Amalekites as commanded, Saul's life was a master class in self-preservation, excuse-making, and religious maneuvering. He wanted to be king on his own terms. He wanted God's blessing without God's government. He wanted the kingdom, but he would not have the King.
This chapter is the final harvest of all those years of sowing to the wind. We see here the absolute sovereignty of God working itself out through the very human instruments of Philistine archers and Saul's own despair. God had told Saul, through Samuel, that the kingdom would be torn from him. And here, on Gilboa, the tearing is made complete. This is not just a story about a failed king. It is a foundational lesson in the nature of covenantal reality. God is not mocked. What a man sows, that he will also reap. And when a man chosen by God clenches his fist around what God has given him, refusing to yield it back in obedience, God will eventually pry those fingers open, one way or another.
This is a dark chapter, but it is not without light. For in the smoking ruins of Saul's kingdom, God is clearing the ground for the throne of David, and ultimately, for the throne of David's greater Son. The failure of Israel's chosen king demonstrates, with brutal clarity, Israel's need for God's chosen King. Saul's death is the necessary prelude to the glories that will be revealed in the story of redemption.
The Text
Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
And the Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons; and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
And the battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers.
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 abuse me.” But his armor bearer was not willing, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it.
Then his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, so he also fell on his sword and died with him.
Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.
(1 Samuel 31:1-6 LSB)
The Rout of Israel (v. 1)
The chapter opens with the stark reality of military disaster.
"Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa." (1 Samuel 31:1)
The scene is one of total collapse. The army of Israel is not in a strategic retreat; they are fleeing. They are broken. And they are being cut down on a mountain named Gilboa. This is the fruit of apostasy. When Israel walked in obedience to God, they were invincible. A handful of men could put thousands to flight. But when they forsook the Lord, their strength evaporated. Their courage failed them because they had abandoned the source of all true courage.
This is a physical manifestation of a spiritual reality. Saul had spent his reign fleeing from the commands of God, and now his army flees from the enemies of God. The external chaos is a perfect mirror of the internal rebellion. A nation that will not be governed by God will be governed by tyrants, and an army that will not stand on the Word of God will not be able to stand against the swords of the Philistines.
We must see God's hand in this. This is not merely a failure of military strategy. This is the outworking of the curses of the covenant described in Deuteronomy 28. "The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them" (Deut. 28:25). What we are reading is God keeping His promises. His promises of blessing for obedience are sure, and His promises of cursing for disobedience are just as sure.
The Royal Family Destroyed (v. 2)
The Philistine attack is not indiscriminate; it is focused and personal.
"And the Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons; and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul." (1 Samuel 31:2 LSB)
The judgment is aimed at the head. The Philistines zero in on Saul and his sons because they understand that if you cut off the head, the body will die. This is God's judgment on the house of Saul. The dynasty that Saul tried so desperately to establish through his own scheming and disobedience is wiped out in a single afternoon.
And here we have one of the great tragedies of Scripture: the death of Jonathan. Jonathan was a man of faith, courage, and loyalty. His covenant friendship with David is one of the brightest lights in this entire period. So why does he die here, alongside his faithless father and brothers? Because sin has corporate consequences. Jonathan was a member of the house of Saul, and he died with the house of Saul. This is a hard lesson, but a necessary one. We are not isolated individuals. We are bound up in families, in churches, in nations. And the consequences of rebellion ripple outwards, often touching the righteous along with the wicked.
Jonathan's death is a sober reminder that faithfulness in this life does not guarantee a long and easy existence. He was loyal to his father, the king, even a wicked one, and he died in the line of that duty. He honored his father, and yet his days were not long in the land. This does not mean God's promises failed. It means that God's economy is not our economy. Jonathan's reward was not on Mount Gilboa; it was waiting for him in the presence of the Lord he served. His death, while tragic, was not the final word.
The Despair of the King (v. 3-4)
The focus tightens on Saul himself, wounded and cornered.
"And the battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. 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 abuse me.'" (1 Samuel 31:3-4 LSB)
Saul is not killed by a noble warrior in single combat. He is struck down from a distance by anonymous archers. There is an ignominy to it. The man who stood head and shoulders above everyone else is brought low by a random arrow. God's judgment can come from any direction.
And in his final moments, Saul's character is revealed in full. His last act is one of pride and fear of man. His concern is not for his soul, not for the God he is about to meet. His concern is for his reputation. He doesn't want the "uncircumcised" to abuse him, to make a sport of him as they did with Samson. He is still obsessed with appearances, with what men think. He is more afraid of pagan mockery than he is of divine judgment.
He asks his armor bearer to kill him, to assist him in his suicide. This is the final abdication of responsibility. He who would not obey God's command to kill Agag now commands his servant to kill him. But the armor bearer, in a moment of proper fear, refuses. He rightly fears to strike the Lord's anointed, a lesson Saul himself should have remembered in his dealings with David. The armor bearer's fear of God was greater than his fear of the king.
A Coward's Death (v. 4-6)
Rejected by his servant, Saul takes matters into his own hands.
"But his armor bearer was not willing, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. Then his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, so he also fell on his sword and died with him. Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together." (1 Samuel 31:4-6 LSB)
Saul's life ends in the ultimate act of faithlessness: suicide. It is the final, desperate attempt to seize control, to be the master of his own fate. But it is a damnable illusion. By taking his own life, he does not escape judgment; he rushes headlong into it. He dies by his own sword, the symbol of his royal authority. The very power he misused becomes the instrument of his own destruction. This is the wages of sin. It always turns on the sinner and devours him.
The armor bearer's subsequent suicide is a picture of misplaced loyalty. He feared to kill the king, but he followed him into death. This is the tragic end of a man-centered worldview. When your ultimate loyalty is to a man, even a great man, you will follow him right into the grave. Our ultimate loyalty must be to the living God alone, the one who has conquered the grave.
The summary in verse 6 is stark and absolute. "Thus Saul died... and all his men on that day together." It is a clean sweep. God is not interested in half-measures. When He brings a judgment, it is thorough. The house of Saul is finished. The first experiment with monarchy, a monarchy demanded by the people in rebellion against God, ends in utter ruin. This is what happens when men get the king they ask for instead of the king God provides.
The King We Need
The story of Saul is a black velvet backdrop against which the glory of Christ shines all the more brightly. In every way that Saul failed, Christ succeeded. Saul was the king the people wanted; Jesus is the King we need.
Saul was consumed with what men thought of him; Jesus, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame. Saul feared being abused by the uncircumcised; Jesus was mocked, beaten, and pierced by His enemies, bearing our abuse and our shame upon Himself. Saul fell on his own sword to save his pride; Jesus was lifted up on a cross to save His people. Saul took his own life in an act of ultimate despair; Jesus laid down His life in an act of ultimate, sovereign love, only to take it up again.
Saul's death brought an end to his failed kingdom. Christ's death inaugurated a kingdom that will never end. Saul died surrounded by his dead sons and followers. Christ died, and was buried, but on the third day, He rose again, and He is now surrounded by countless sons and daughters whom He has brought to glory.
The lesson of Mount Gilboa is this: you cannot fight God and win. You cannot build a kingdom on the foundation of your own pride and expect it to stand. Saul's life is a monumental warning against the sin of presumption, the folly of partial obedience, and the dead end of a man-centered religion. His story forces us to ask ourselves: who is on the throne of our lives? Are we, like Saul, trying to manage our own little kingdoms, fighting for our own honor, and living in fear of what others think? Or have we bowed the knee to David's greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ?
Saul's fist was clenched to the bitter end. But the gospel call is to open that fist, to let go of our self-righteousness and our self-rule, and to receive the free gift of grace offered to us by the one true King. Saul's story ends in death on a lonely mountain. But for those who trust in Christ, the story ends in life, in a city whose builder and maker is God.