Sermon 107: 1 Samuel 31:7-13

7. And when the men of Israel who were beyond the valley and beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they left their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. 8. And on the day after, the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa.

9. And they cut off Saul's head, and stripped him of his arms, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, that it might be announced in the temple of their idols and among the people. 10. And they put his arms in the temple of Astaroth, and hung up his body on the wall of Bethshan. 11. And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12. all the bravest men arose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan; and they came to Jabesh-gilead, and burned them there. 13. And they took their bones, and buried them in the grove of Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

The disturbance of all things which followed Saul's death and the rout of the army is here first narrated; then is described the magnanimity and fortitude of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, who snatched the bones of Saul and his sons from the enemy and, having burned them, buried them -- still retaining the memory of that dignity which Saul had received from God; nor so despairing of the state of affairs that they did not pour out prayers to God for the safety of the rest of the people. Grave indeed was the temptation, especially when the people fled from that land which was called the rest of the Lord. For God had promised that it would fall to the posterity of Abraham as an inheritance, and that he himself would dwell in it forever. Yet nevertheless it was abandoned by the people and occupied by the enemy. By which deed the Israelites seemed to have sent back word against God's promises, and as it were, despairing of salvation, to have withdrawn from him. Hence it appears that the church of God is sometimes so scattered that it nowhere appears, and retains no form. For at those times there was nowhere in the world any church besides the Israelite people, whom we nevertheless hear so afflicted that it might seem they could never afterwards be restored, but rather on the contrary the name of Israel must once for all be abolished. But in this the divine power and clemency appear the greater, which so worked that in a brief space of time those who seemed to lie utterly prostrate not only recovered their spirits but even overcame their enemies, and from day to day made greater progress than before, by David's ministry indeed.

Nevertheless, by that fall of Saul and the rout of the army and the flight of the people, the faithful had a great occasion of consternation; and we, reading these things, ought to convert them to our use, so that if some great confusion and ruin oppress the church, we may nevertheless not cease to invoke God and to hope that at length sometime he will have mercy on his afflicted church, and that we may perpetually remain members of that people which he has gathered and dedicated to himself -- in no way doubting that afflictions and calamities may obtain a blessing, because God turns them to a good end and to our salvation. And so by whatever scourges God chastises us, let us not utterly cast down our spirit, but rather be more confirmed in faith, and the heavier his hand has been upon us, the more ardent vows must we have recourse to him.

Moreover, there is no doubt that there were many in that people who were unbelieving -- indeed the greatest part -- and accordingly few who were rising up to God and who did not despair of God's mercy toward his people: whose faith was indeed in a more disturbed state, which appears to have been most disturbed, with the people fleeing from their cities and leaving them open to the enemy. For what else was it to abandon that land, than voluntarily to cede the inheritance, since that land had been given to them as a pledge of God's adoption, who had adopted them into the number of sons? Therefore by yielding they seemed to bid farewell willingly to the divine promises, and spontaneously to alienate themselves from the Lord and to be exiled from his house. Which to the faithful, few though they were, was the more praiseworthy because it was a grave temptation indeed for those beholding the rashness and panic of their brethren. Nevertheless God in his mercy had pity even on the unworthy, to whom not long after he restored their houses and reintegrated them into their pristine state.

Now therefore let us weigh the things that are narrated as having followed Saul's death. And first, the Philistines are said to have come the next day to strip the dead, as is the custom after so great a slaughter, and to have found Saul with his sons among the dead, and to have cut off his head, which they carried throughout the whole region in triumph. And although nothing certain is recorded about the heads of Saul's sons, it is nevertheless likely that the same happened to them as to their father. For after it is said that the Philistines fastened Saul's body near the wall of Bethshan, it is immediately added that the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead came and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Bethshan. From which it appears that the Philistines were not content with Saul's body but also took at the same time the bodies of his sons, in order that the Philistines might thereby conceive greater hope and believe matters well taken care of, with no one of the royal stock surviving who would one day take vengeance, since not only the king was slain but also his sons and successors. A sad spectacle indeed it was, that the royal body should hang in such disgrace, exposed to the greatest mockery of the enemy: and indeed especially because by Samuel's ministry he had received the sacred anointing -- since that kingdom had been separated from all others and dedicated to God. Although I confess there was not yet any firm and certain state, until Jacob's prophecy had been fulfilled, who had foretold that the scepter would not depart from the tribe of Judah. Now Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin: but nevertheless God for a time had consecrated the person of Saul to himself. Very contrary indeed are these things -- to have that mark impressed by which God had affected him with extraordinary honor, and yet for his body to be dragged with ignominy, hung up, and his head... his head cut off, to be carried in triumph through the whole region of the enemies with the greatest mockery and disgrace.

But from this we are taught to abase and humble ourselves before God: so that, if he has raised us up to any dignity, we may walk in his fear, and whatever we have received from him, may dedicate, consecrate, and hand over wholly to him; taking the utmost care that we do not imitate Saul, who wished to retain against the Lord's will what he had granted only for a time. For why, I ask, did Saul pursue David for so long with such great hatred, except that he could not bear God's judgment, by whose decree he had to be humbled? And yet God did not expose him to the mockery of his enemies, but, allowing him peaceful possession of the kingdom, designated David as his successor. But he arrogantly resists this decree of God, and stubbornly strives to overturn it; for which cause it was necessary that he pay the deserved penalties of his obstinacy. We therefore, taught by this example, let us learn to allow God to take away what he has granted to us, whenever it pleases him to take it from us; and if he has raised us to any dignity, that we may not swell up with arrogance, but rather call to mind our condition and the fragility of our nature; and as often as it pleases God to abase us, that we may not resist. Moreover, here as in a mirror we may behold the divine vengeance, casting down the proud and arrogant who rise up against him, and so subduing them, that they may learn at their own peril that human excellence is nothing before God, who casts down the most powerful and throws them into such ignominy that it would seem to have been better for them if they had never been born.

And let this be said about the bodies of Saul and his sons hanging from the wall. Let us also weigh this, which is expressly stated: that the Philistines ordered these things to be announced in the temple of their idols. Now their idols are here named Astaroth, by which word are designated various figures of animals, such as sheep, bears, or lions, which figures it is likely their idols had, since each nation fashioned for itself gods and the figures of gods at its own pleasure, from where some worshipped gods in the form of an ox, others in the form of a dog, others in another form, of which there was an infinite number. For once men have fallen into idolatry, there is no measure or end to superstitions. For how great is the variety of opinions among men, experience itself teaches more than enough. And besides, how great is the inconstancy in those opinions, so that they vary at every moment. Therefore since men allow themselves such license in fashioning gods for themselves, it is no wonder if the number grows to immensity. But what stupidity it was to worship God under the form either of a sheep or of a dog! Truly horrible was that stupor by which, by God's just judgment, men were made mad. For from the time that men did not glorify God as his majesty demanded, it was necessary that they be cast into a reprobate sense, as Paul says, so that they might no longer have any righteousness.

And as to what concerns the messenger sent to the temple of the idols, from this it appears that the Philistines wished to snatch from God the honor due to the God of Israel, and to mock him, magnifying their own idols above him. For what can be attributed to an idol that is not taken from the divine majesty? But in these things something further is also to be observed, since not only did the Philistines hold to their own superstition, as the other nations did, but they even hated the God of Israel himself, and abominated the whole Jewish religion and worship of God prescribed by the Law. Therefore when they ascribe their victory to their Astartes, it is certain that they wished to triumph over the God of the Israelites, and to mock him, as if he could not protect and defend the people whose patronage he had undertaken; and that therefore he was worshipped in vain, hope was placed in him in vain, the Israelites in vain submitted themselves to be ruled by him, that the promise made to their fathers was empty, the covenant entered into with their forefathers empty. And yet God permitted for a time that the ark, as we saw before in the history of Eli, should come into the power of the enemies, and be carried away captive — which nevertheless bore the name of God upon itself. And these phrases of Scripture are familiar: 'When you appear before my face,' and, 'Behold, the Lord of glory comes, lift up your gates,' by which is designated that ark in which God had ordered the tablets of the Law to be placed. How then did God allow himself to be detained as a captive, so to speak? Indeed the prophet in the Psalms answers that this was done because God willed it, that the offense should be removed; and that the people should be taught that God could no more be despised by enemies holding him captive and mocking him, than when his worship was being corrupted and profaned in Judea. For at that time, as we said at the beginning, the divine worship in Judea was most corrupt; and in Saul's time the same corruption continued. God therefore himself always remained like himself and inviolate; but he willed to send that confusion upon the people, so that it might come to the knowledge of its sins, and might consider that the name of God had come into contempt because of their sins, and that those things were being torn by the blasphemous voices of the enemies which ought to be imputed to themselves. Therefore it was fitting that they should acknowledge and confess their fault, just as we see the prophet reproach this very thing to the people captive in the land of Babylon, that the name of God was blasphemed among the unbelievers because of them. There is therefore no doubt that these things happened by divine permission, so that those who had falsely gloried in his name might submit themselves to examination, might come to a better mind, and might beg pardon, that they might obtain mercy.

Let us learn from this, when the wicked open their mouths to detract from the word of God, that this happens by his just judgment, and that all of it must be imputed to our vices. For it is certain that God will be glorified in us, when we strive to perform our duty, when we worship him purely and sincerely and with that integrity which we owe. Therefore when things go prosperously for the enemies, so that they are lifted up against the pure religion which we have received from God, and mock it, let us acknowledge that this happens because we have abused it, and have worshipped God in pretense and with hypocrisy; or because we have lived dissolutely and luxuriously, and God by this judgment of his wishes to show us the bitterness and magnitude of our crimes. For how great a sin is it, I ask, to be the cause and occasion that the name of God should be wounded by the blasphemous voices of the profane, that his most holy majesty should be violated, that his most holy word should not only be despised but even trampled underfoot — are not these things, I say, horrible and astonishing? Since when we offer occasion for them, and are by the very mouth of the Holy Spirit called the authors of them, can he not justly strip from us that gift of free adoption which he had given? Can he not banish us far from him, as unworthy that the earth should sustain us? Such therefore was the triumph of the Philistines by divine judgment, by which we ought to be terrified, lest we fall into the same fault with the Israelites. Moreover, from the fact that the Philistines show themselves so grateful to their idols, our ingratitude appears the more, since we do not refer back to God, as received, whatever good things we have. The pagans, I confess, ascribed their victories to their own valor and prudence; but nevertheless, convinced by the very leading of nature and natural sense, they also gave thanks to God. For although they did not acknowledge the true God, the creator of heaven and earth, but fled to their Astartes and other idols of this kind, nevertheless they reckoned that victory had come to them from heaven, and did not ascribe their victories to men alone. Hence that common saying that prudence and wisdom can do more in war than the strength of men: that we may hence acknowledge that God wished to render all men inexcusable, since even the despisers of God and ignorant men, he yet willed should know some divine power, so that they might profess that they offered to one God the highest honor and obedience. But meanwhile when they transfer and transform his glory and majesty to dead and perishable things, they become doubly guilty before him. Therefore, that we may worship God with the honor due, let us acknowledge him such as he reveals himself to us, which cannot be done without his word. For who can be a faithful witness of the divine will, unless he has understood it from his word? Whatever religion therefore we suppose ourselves to have without the word of God, will appear to be nothing but diabolical superstition and illusion: since the true reason of divine worship is contained in the word of God alone. Whatever therefore the papists do with good intention, without the word of God, is mere abomination: since they have so deviated from the true worship of God, that they know nothing of God except what they have feigned. But when the idolaters gave thanks to their Astartes and idols, what was it but mere pretense, whatever they performed for them? A certain pomp and solemn apparatus and magnificence appeared, but that ostentation was empty: as the prophet Habakkuk speaks: 'They sacrifice to their idols, but they sacrifice to their own net' — that is, to themselves and to their own industry. Thus we see the papists today giving thanks to God with a certain pomp and magnificence, proclaiming their own industry, praising and vehemently extolling the strength of men, so that God now comes into contempt and is reckoned as nothing. But let us, beholding these ceremonies, abominate them, and let us so burn with zeal for the glory and honor of God that we detest from the heart those blasphemous voices; and on the contrary, let us give thanks to God sincerely, and refer to him alone whatever honors we have, in both words and mind, lest our mouth be convicted of lying with pride and ambition. Meanwhile when we see the gratitude of those pagans and idolaters in worshipping their gods with great pomp and superstition, when they enjoyed prosperity, let us not come to such stupor or rather madness, that we forget to give God thanks for the benefits received from him; but let us give thanks to him for all things, and flee to him alone in difficulties and straits. For this cause frequent exhortations occur in the sacred writings, that we, mindful of God's benefits, should sing a song of praise to him. Hence those words of David: 'God,' he says, 'has put a new song in my mouth.' And the prophet Jeremiah: 'God has instituted a new song, which he gave to his whole church': by which words what does he indicate other than that he has given to the church a new occasion for giving him thanks? Let us therefore fix this teaching more deeply in our minds, that to God showing himself propitious and kind to us, and bestowing his gifts more liberally, and bringing help to afflicted things, immortal thanks are to be given, his praises are to be proclaimed, and to be publicly sung as he deserves, lest we defraud him of his right and be sacrilegious. For God's honor is snatched from him when, for the benefits received from him, the thanks that are owed are not given; and especially when God has visited us with a new benefit, we ought also with a new song of praise to proclaim him and give him thanks. For we have a sufficiently great occasion daily for praising God morning and evening; but when by some extraordinary reason he has shown himself beneficent toward us, even greater occasion is supplied to us, that we may know how to magnify the name of his most holy. For if in this part we are mute and have neglected our duty, behold by what judges we shall be condemned: by the idolatrous Philistines, who showed greater honor to their idols than we did to the living God.

Now let us pass to the other part of the context, in which the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead are said to have been informed of the whole matter, and that all the bravest men rose up and came by night and took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall where they were hanging, and burned them with fire, and finally buried the bones. First it must be observed that this city had been privately bound to Saul by a singular benefit of his toward it, as we heard at the beginning of this history: that he had freed it from siege, and when the enemies were pressing it and offering unjust and cruel conditions, he had brought timely help to it. The memory of this benefit, fixed deeply in their minds, drove them to attempt at their own peril to snatch the corpses of Saul and his sons from the enemies, that they might be honorably buried. By which example we are taught to render gratitude to men, recalling with mindful intent the benefits received from them, if it should happen that they fall into calamity. For in this humanity truly shows itself, if to him to whom we owe the most, when he has fallen into calamity, we have brought him aid according to our ability, and have demonstrated our grateful mind by the deed itself. Surely the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead could not without enormous danger come to the very walls of the enemies, from which they were to take down the hanging bodies of the king and his sons, especially since the enemies were still intact, breathing threats and slaughter, so that they could expect only death, if they fell into their hands. They therefore set to the work secretly, although in danger of life: and they strove to acknowledge and recompense to the utmost the benefit received from Saul, although hoping for no reward from him, since he was dead; and to honor him with the honor of burial, with which nevertheless the dead man was not affected, and to perform the duty of humanity. Let us learn from their example, when benefits have been received from someone, if he afterward falls into calamity, to bring him aid according to our strength, and to testify by the deed itself that we have not laid aside the memory of the benefits received: lest otherwise we seem not only to do injury to the mortal man, but to the living God himself. For the men from whom we receive benefits are the ministers and instruments of his goodness; and if we neglect and despise them, we show notable malice with the highest ingratitude, and testify in fact that God is held of small account by us, whose instruments we do not recognize.

And thus far concerning these things; let us now treat of the burial. They burned the corpses with fire. It was unusual among the Jews to burn bodies with fire, since we know that the fathers were buried and interred without their bodies being burned: although afterward this custom of cremation prevailed among many nations; but in some custom the corpses were laid in the ground preserved with spices. Nor indeed were they thus preserved as if spices benefited the dead, but that rite was a certain type of the future resurrection, by which the survivors were instructed in the burial of the dead. For the corpse, committed to the ground, was, as it were, entrusted to the earth as a deposit until it should be restored. Therefore, that they might testify their faith concerning the future resurrection, they preserved the bodies with spices. By which reason consideration was given to human weakness and rudeness, which, when it saw bodies dissolved into corruption, nevertheless retained the hope of life by this ceremony, and overcame that temptation of perishing. There was therefore no superstition in preserving bodies, but so the custom went which God himself had impressed on the minds of the fathers; and accordingly, although there was no written authority on which they relied, nevertheless it was done by them not without faith, with God himself ruling them inwardly. This rite of burying the dead the custom of cremating corpses succeeded, which began among the common people, because, since they were not able to bear the expenses which it was necessary to incur in preserving bodies, the plebeians took up another method, of cremating the bodies and collecting the ashes, which they laid up in urns. But concerning the bodies of Saul and his sons this is peculiar, that they were not entirely reduced to ashes, but the bones were buried. The bodies seem therefore to have been burned which had already begun to be corrupted, since they had now been hung in the sun for several days: so that they had begun to be corrupted with putrefaction. For this reason therefore the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead burned the corrupted flesh with fire, before they buried the bones. And yet, as we said before, these things availed nothing for Saul nor for his dead sons; but nevertheless God willed them to be vindicated from ignominy and disgrace: from which it appears that his vengeance had been mitigated. Severely indeed he had avenged Saul, when he not only handed him over to the will of the enemies, but so blinded him that, driven by a kind of fury, he laid hands upon himself, and his corpse was dragged off by the enemies and then hung up: which were all undoubted signs of God's wrath demanding penalties from Saul, which his arrogance had merited. But now God seems to have remitted something of the severity of the punishment, not so much for Saul's sake as rather for the sake of the whole people, that the routed and despairing might gather their spirits from the slaughter received, and begin to hope for better things. It was therefore a divine work: for the abjection of those bodies was a sign of divine malediction, just as God had threatened by his Law that his transgressors should be buried with the burial of asses. By which words he shows that the divine judgment is not satisfied by the punishments which the transgressors of the Law sustain while living, but that even after death the malediction of God pursues them, and that he exercises his justice in punishing them. It is therefore a sign of divine malediction that corpses lie unburied.

Moreover, just as the faithful come to share in the calamities and afflictions which are sent upon the wicked, the unbelieving, and the rebellious, so it often happens that the true sons of God, and indeed those beloved by him, lie unburied: which when it happens, they are not therefore to be judged as having been rejected by God; since sometimes God permits the wicked to rejoice over the disgrace and ignominy of good men: as we see the church complaining in the Psalm, that the bodies of the saints were exposed to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth: therefore, when they hope for incorrupt life and lie unburied, this nevertheless does not turn into a curse for them. For all earthly chances are common alike to the good and to the wicked: such as enduring hunger, thirst, cold, heat, and even disgrace and ignominy, all of which flow from the sin of Adam and from the corruption of nature, and from the sins which we daily commit; so that all miseries and calamities are deservedly attributed to sins. But sometimes God explores the patience of his servants, and sometimes wishes to wrestle with them in want, sometimes in other miseries — prison, tortures, loss of goods, ignominy, and other such accidents — but for their salvation, since he himself knows how to convert evil into good. The same is to be thought concerning the honor of burial: for although sometimes to lie unburied is a testimony of divine malediction, sometimes however it is a kind of testing — that God does not therefore curse them on this account, nor detest them, but rather that we may know all our afflictions to be sanctified through him, which serve us as instruments to salvation. And indeed sacred Scripture says that that rich glutton lived in delights on this earth, and was cruel and unmerciful, who is said indeed to have been buried with honor: but where did his soul go? But of Lazarus' burial no mention is made: whose soul however is said to have been carried into paradise by the angels, although his body seemed to be cast away without honor. We see therefore that God often so works, that that universal rule does not always hold, namely that burial is a sign of God's favor, but on the contrary that to lie unburied is a testimony of malediction: but God makes an exception. Truly here it is specifically said that Saul's body was laid in the ground, because God, about to defer his vengeance for a time, willed also to manifest himself merciful toward his people, and would not permit him who had received the sacred unction to govern the Israelite people consecrated to God, to be overwhelmed with perpetual disgrace and ignominy. This therefore was done more for the sake of the living than of the dead Saul, to whom no advantage came from it since he had no perception. And surely there is no doubt that many of the Israelites, when they heard of so notable a deed by the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, gathered themselves up out of their consternation, took courage, and were made more eager to entreat God with prayers.

For this reason it follows in the context that the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead fasted for seven days, that they might submit themselves before God, and at last acknowledge that the slaughter had happened on account of the sins of the people, and openly confess that they had been worthy of that destruction. For they are not said to have poured out prayers for Saul, nor to have performed services for the redemption of his soul or the satisfaction of his sins: which if it had been so, Scripture in this place would not have omitted it: but mention is made only of his burial. To what purpose then was that fast? Was it, as the papists are accustomed, to mumble their masses for their dead and the salvation of them? Away with such a thing: for as I said before, these men, having performed the offices of humanity for Saul, mindful of his royal dignity and of the singular benefit they had received from him, present themselves before God to acknowledge their sins openly, and as suppliants to beg pardon, as the accused are accustomed to confess their crime before the judge and beg pardon. For this cause therefore mention is made of fasting, which is to be observed never to have been separated from prayers and supplications: since fasts are joined to prayers by an inseparable bond, sacred Scripture from time to time indicating this to us: indeed our Lord Jesus Christ himself always joining prayer to fasting; and Paul, in the second epistle to the Corinthians. For fasting has no other use than to prepare and dispose men to serious repentance before God, and to humbling themselves, and to be more and more incited to prayers and orations. Therefore, since here mention is made of a fast of seven days instituted by the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, it must be felt that, struck with fear of divine judgment and of his wrath against their people, they thought of serious repentance and acknowledgment of their sins, and therefore fled to God with ardent prayers joined to fasting. Fasting itself is nothing, and accordingly the papists are gravely deceived when they place some merit in fasting, and make it a part of divine worship: for which cause our God also reproves the hypocrites of his time, who simulated piety with many such external gestures, and meanwhile remained always like themselves — that is, greedy, cruel, criminal. Fasting is therefore not to be rejected, provided it retains its right use and end. Then therefore is the principal place for fasting, when we are pressed by afflictions: which we ought patiently to bear, since we have offended God: and therefore we must ingenuously confess our sins, and since we have provoked God by our sins against ourselves, confused and cast down before him let us beg pardon, and solicit him with ardent prayers. Many hypocrites indeed are gravely afflicted and saddened when they feel the adverse hand of God, but instead of casting themselves down before him and confessing their crime, they gnash their teeth and chew the bit, and instead of prayers vomit forth blasphemous voices, and instead of repentance turn to fury. Hence therefore let us learn that as often as God stretches out his hand against us, we must subject ourselves to his just judgments, confess our sins, and diligently inquire into them, that we may the more easily obtain pardon. And each one ought to do these things for himself: but especially when some grave affliction presses the church, the example of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead is here set before us. For we must imitate it, and seriously humble ourselves before God. or come into despair, so that we have no sense of divine mercy, but rather as suppliants beg for pardon and hope. Thus those inhabitants of Jabesh, perceiving God's just judgment against their people routed and torn by the jaws of wolves like wandering sheep, fled to God, and joined prayers to fasting: which was a singular testimony of God's favor toward them, that they were not stupefied in adversity, nor despaired, but with fasting begged pardon and hoped well for the future. For this cause we see God gravely angry through the prophet with the people, because instead of weeping and tears at God's judgment they were hardened, when he says: 'The Lord God of hosts called in that day to weeping and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth, and behold joy and gladness. If this iniquity be forgiven you until you die.' By which words of the Lord we are taught that it is a sign of reprobation when we have come to such a degree of stupor that we cannot cast ourselves down before God, and, terrified by the motion of his judgments, flee to his mercy. Therefore let us learn, when afflictions and calamities press in, that we are called to repentance — not indeed placed in those external rites, such as sackcloth or ashes or fasting, but in true humility and unfeigned confession of sins, and from that sorrow which does not, by despair, call us away from God, but which, joined with faith, draws us nearer to him, lest we fall into that rebellion which, as we said before, is never forgiven.

Now then come, etc.

7. When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and across the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. Then the Philistines came and occupied them. 8. The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

9. They cut off Saul's head and stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to announce it in the temple of their idols and among the people. 10. They placed his armor in the temple of the Ashtaroth and hung up his body on the wall of Beth-shan. 11. When the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12. all the valiant men arose and walked through the night, took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh-gilead, where they burned them. 13. Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

The text first describes the widespread collapse that followed Saul's death and the defeat of the army. Then it turns to describe the courageous loyalty of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, who rescued the bones of Saul and his sons from enemy hands — burning them and giving them proper burial — still honoring the dignity God had bestowed on Saul, and not so broken by circumstances that they stopped praying for the safety of the surviving people. This was a severe trial, especially when the people fled from the land that was called the Lord's resting place. God had promised it to Abraham's descendants as their inheritance, and had promised to dwell there forever. And now it was abandoned by the people and occupied by the enemy. By leaving, the Israelites seemed to be renouncing God's promises — as if they had given up on salvation and withdrawn from His presence. This shows us that the church of God is sometimes so scattered that it appears nowhere and retains no visible form. At that time, there was no church in the world except the Israelite people — and yet we hear that they were so utterly broken that it seemed they could never recover, and that the name of Israel might be wiped out once and for all. But in this very extremity, God's power and compassion shine all the more brightly — for within a short time, those who seemed completely finished not only recovered their strength but defeated their enemies, and under David's leadership made greater progress than ever before.

Yet the fall of Saul, the defeat of the army, and the flight of the people gave the faithful great cause for alarm. We who read these things must draw a practical lesson from them: when some great upheaval or ruin threatens the church, we must not stop calling on God or hoping that He will one day have mercy on His afflicted church. We must remain members of the people He has gathered and dedicated to Himself — never doubting that afflictions and disasters can carry a blessing within them, because God turns them toward a good end and toward our salvation. So whatever scourges God uses to correct us, we must not surrender our courage entirely. Instead, let our faith be strengthened. And the heavier His hand has been on us, the more earnestly we must turn to Him in prayer.

There is no doubt that a great many in that people were unbelievers — indeed the majority — and only a few were lifting their hearts to God and refusing to despair of His mercy toward His people. Even their faith was shaken, as the panic and flight of the people from their cities to the enemy plainly shows. What was it, after all, to abandon that land, except to voluntarily surrender the inheritance — since that land had been given to them as a pledge of God's adoption, proof that He had received them as sons? In fleeing, they seemed to be willingly saying goodbye to God's promises and deliberately separating themselves from the Lord, exiling themselves from His household. For the faithful — few as they were — this was all the more praiseworthy, because witnessing the panic and recklessness of their fellow Israelites was itself a severe trial. And yet God in His mercy showed compassion even to those who did not deserve it, and not long afterward restored their homes and brought them back to their former state.

Now let us examine what the text says happened after Saul's death. First, we are told that the Philistines came the next day to strip the dead — as is customary after a great slaughter — and found Saul and his sons among the fallen. They cut off his head and carried it throughout the whole region in triumph. Though nothing specific is recorded about the heads of Saul's sons, it is reasonable to assume that the same was done to them as to their father. The text says the Philistines fastened Saul's body to the wall of Beth-shan, but then immediately adds that the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead came and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from that same wall. This makes clear that the Philistines had also taken the bodies of his sons — no doubt so they could boast that no one of royal blood had survived to one day take vengeance, since not only the king but all his heirs had been destroyed. It was a grim sight — the royal body hanging in such humiliation, exposed to the full mockery of the enemy. This was especially striking because Saul had received the sacred anointing through Samuel's ministry, and that kingdom had been set apart from all others and dedicated to God. I grant that there was not yet a firm and settled state of affairs, since Jacob's prophecy — that the scepter would not depart from the tribe of Judah — had not yet been fulfilled. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. But God had, for a time, consecrated Saul's person to Himself. What a stark contrast: bearing the mark by which God had honored him with extraordinary dignity — and yet his body being dragged in disgrace, hung up, his head cut off and carried in triumph through enemy territory with every possible mockery and contempt.

From this we are taught to humble ourselves before God — so that if He has raised us to any dignity, we walk in the fear of Him, and whatever we have received from Him, we dedicate and give back wholly to Him. We must take the greatest care not to imitate Saul, who tried to hold on against God's will what had been granted only for a time. Why did Saul pursue David with such intense hatred for so long? Because he could not accept God's judgment, which had decreed that he must be humbled. Yet God had not exposed him to enemy mockery — He had allowed him to continue ruling in peace, and had designated David as his successor. But Saul arrogantly resisted this divine decree and stubbornly tried to overthrow it. It was therefore necessary that he pay the deserved penalty for his obstinacy. Learning from this example, let us allow God to take back whatever He has given us, whenever it pleases Him to do so. If He has raised us to any dignity, let us not swell with arrogance — let us call to mind our own condition and the fragility of our nature. And whenever it pleases God to bring us low, let us not resist. Moreover, here as in a mirror we can see God's vengeance at work — bringing down the proud and arrogant who rise up against Him, and humbling them so completely that they learn at their own cost what human greatness amounts to before God, who casts down the most powerful and plunges them into such disgrace that it would have been better for them never to have been born.

That is enough about the bodies of Saul and his sons hung on the wall. Now let us also consider what the text specifically states: that the Philistines announced their victory in the temple of their idols. These idols are identified as the Ashtaroth — a word designating various animal figures, such as sheep, bears, or lions, which is likely what their idols looked like. Each nation fashioned gods for itself according to its own imagination — some worshipped gods shaped like an ox, others like a dog, and so on in an endless variety. Once people fall into idolatry, there is no limit to the superstitions that multiply. Human opinion is endlessly varied, and endlessly unstable — shifting at every moment. So it is no wonder that when people allow themselves the freedom to invent their own gods, their number grows beyond counting. What stupidity it was, though, to worship God in the form of a sheep or a dog! Truly, it was a horrible blindness — and God's just judgment brought it on them. For from the time people refused to glorify God as His majesty demanded, it was necessary that they be given over to a depraved mind, as Paul says — losing all capacity for righteousness.

As for the messenger sent to the temple of the idols — this shows that the Philistines wanted to steal the honor due to the God of Israel and to mock Him, exalting their own idols above Him. Whatever honor is given to an idol is honor taken from God's majesty. But we should notice something further here. The Philistines did not merely cling to their own superstition, as other nations did — they also actively hated the God of Israel Himself and despised the entire Jewish religion and the worship of God prescribed by the Law. So when they credited their victory to their Ashtaroth, they were clearly intending to triumph over the God of Israel and to mock Him — as if He could not protect the people He had taken under His care, and therefore was worshipped in vain. They were saying, in effect, that the Israelites trusted Him for nothing, submitted to His rule for nothing, and that the promises made to their fathers and the covenant with their forefathers were empty. And yet God had earlier permitted the ark, as we saw in the history of Eli, to fall into enemy hands and be taken captive — even though it bore God's very name. Scripture has familiar phrases like 'When You appear before My face' and 'Behold, the Lord of glory comes, lift up your gates,' which refer to that ark, in which God had commanded the tablets of the Law to be placed. How, then, could God allow Himself to be held captive, so to speak? The prophet answers in the Psalms that God permitted this because He willed to deal with the people's sin. He wanted to show that He could no more be mocked by enemies holding Him captive than when His worship was being corrupted and defiled in Judea itself. And indeed, as we noted earlier, divine worship in Judea had become deeply corrupt — and that corruption continued into Saul's time. God Himself always remained unchanged and inviolate. But He chose to send this calamity on the people so that they might come to see their sins, and understand that God's name had fallen into contempt because of their own failures — that the blasphemies being hurled by the enemy's voices were in fact a judgment the people had brought on themselves. They needed to acknowledge and confess their fault — just as we see the prophet reproach the people captive in Babylon for the fact that God's name was being blasphemed among the unbelievers because of them. There is no doubt, then, that all of this happened by divine permission, so that those who had falsely boasted of God's name would examine themselves, come to a better mind, seek forgiveness, and find mercy.

From this let us learn that when the wicked open their mouths to attack God's Word, this happens by God's just judgment — and all of it must be traced back to our own sins. It is certain that God will be glorified in us when we strive to do our duty, when we worship Him purely and sincerely and with the integrity we owe Him. So when things go well for the enemies — when they rise up against the pure religion we have received from God and mock it — let us acknowledge that this is happening because we have abused that religion and worshipped God in pretense and hypocrisy, or because we have lived loosely and indulgently. By this judgment, God wants to show us the bitterness and seriousness of our sins. Is it not a tremendous sin to be the cause and occasion of God's name being wounded by the blasphemous voices of the ungodly — of His holy majesty being violated, of His holy Word being not only despised but trampled underfoot? When we provide the occasion for these things and are called their authors by the Holy Spirit Himself — can God not rightly strip us of the gift of free adoption He had given us? Can He not banish us far from Him as unworthy of the ground we stand on? So the triumph of the Philistines was God's just judgment — and it should terrify us, lest we fall into the same fault as the Israelites. Furthermore, the fact that the Philistines showed such gratitude to their idols only highlights our own ingratitude in failing to return to God whatever good things we have received. I grant that the pagans often credited their victories to their own valor and skill. But even so, led by natural instinct, they also gave thanks to a higher power. They did not know the true God — the Creator of heaven and earth — but fled instead to their Ashtaroth and similar idols. Yet they still believed that victory came from heaven and did not credit their wins to human strength alone. Hence the common saying that wisdom and prudence accomplish more in war than physical strength — a recognition that even those who despised God were moved to acknowledge some divine power, and to declare that to one God the highest honor and obedience were owed. But when they then transferred and redirected that glory and majesty to dead and lifeless things, they became doubly guilty before Him. So let us worship God with the honor He deserves — acknowledging Him as He reveals Himself to us in His Word. This cannot be done without that Word. Who can be a reliable witness of God's will without having learned it from His Word? Whatever religion we imagine we have apart from God's Word will turn out to be nothing but diabolical superstition and illusion. The true reason and content of divine worship is found in God's Word alone. Whatever the papists do with good intentions, apart from God's Word, is nothing but abomination — for they have so far departed from the true worship of God that they know nothing of Him except what they have invented. And when the idolaters gave thanks to their Ashtaroth and other idols — what was any of it but empty show? There was a certain pomp, a solemn apparatus, an impressive ceremony — but it was hollow, as the prophet Habakkuk says: 'They sacrifice to their idols, but they sacrifice to their own net' — that is, to themselves and their own cleverness. We see the papists today doing the same: giving thanks to God with pomp and ceremony, but praising their own cleverness and vehemently exalting human strength, until God is brought into contempt and counted as nothing. Let us look at these ceremonies and abhor them. Let us burn with such zeal for God's glory that we detest these blasphemous performances from the heart. And in contrast, let us give sincere thanks to God — giving Him alone the credit for whatever good things we enjoy, in both word and heart — lest our mouths be caught in lying, pride, and ambition. Meanwhile, when we see how even pagans and idolaters showed gratitude to their gods with great ceremony in times of prosperity, let us not fall into such numbness — or rather such madness — that we forget to thank God for the benefits He has given us. Let us give Him thanks for everything, and flee to Him alone in difficulty and need. Scripture exhorts us repeatedly on this point: that we, mindful of God's benefits, should sing praise to Him. Hence David's words: 'God has put a new song in my mouth.' And the prophet Jeremiah: 'God has instituted a new song, which He gave to His whole church' — by which he means that God has given the church fresh reason to thank Him. Let us therefore fix this teaching firmly in our minds: to God who shows Himself gracious and kind to us — who bestows His gifts generously and brings help to broken things — we owe undying thanks. His praises must be proclaimed and sung as He deserves, lest we rob Him of His right and become guilty of sacrilege. God is robbed of His honor when the thanks owed to Him for His benefits are withheld. Especially when God has visited us with some new gift, we ought to respond with a new song of praise. We have ample reason to praise God morning and evening every day. But when He has shown Himself extraordinarily generous toward us by some particular act, we have even greater cause to magnify His most holy name. For if we are mute in this regard and have neglected our duty — consider by what judges we will be condemned: by the idolatrous Philistines, who showed greater honor to their false idols than we did to the living God.

Now let us turn to the other part of the text — where we are told that the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what had happened, and that all the valiant men rose up and came by night to take the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall where they were hanging. They burned the bodies and buried the bones. First, we should note that this city had a particular and personal bond of gratitude toward Saul. As we heard at the beginning of this history, Saul had once rescued the city from siege. When enemies were pressing it hard and imposing cruel and unjust terms, Saul had come to its relief just in time. That remembered benefit, deeply fixed in their minds, drove them to risk their own lives to recover the corpses of Saul and his sons from enemy hands and give them an honorable burial. From their example we learn to show gratitude to those from whom we have received benefits — calling their kindness to mind when they fall into calamity. True humanity shows itself in this: when a person to whom we owe a great debt falls into trouble, we bring them help as best we can and demonstrate our gratitude through action. The inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead had to approach the very walls of the enemy — walls from which they had to take down the hanging bodies of the king and his sons — while the enemy was still intact, still threatening violence, so that they could expect nothing but death if they were caught. They set about the task in secret, though at the risk of their lives. They wanted to honor and repay as best they could the benefit they had received from Saul — seeking no reward from him, since he was dead — and to give him the honor of burial, even though it benefited the dead man nothing, simply as an act of human decency. Let us learn from their example: when we have received benefits from someone, and that person later falls into calamity, we should bring help as we are able and show by our actions that we have not forgotten. Otherwise we do injury not only to the mortal person but to the living God Himself — for the people through whom we receive benefits are ministers and instruments of His goodness. When we neglect and despise them, we show striking ingratitude and reveal in practice that we hold God of little account — not recognizing His own instruments.

So much for that point. Now let us consider the burial. They burned the bodies with fire. This was unusual among the Jews, since we know that in general the patriarchs were buried and interred without cremation. In many nations, however, the custom of cremation eventually became widespread; in others, bodies were laid in the ground preserved with spices. Those spices did not benefit the dead — rather, the practice was a symbolic picture of the future resurrection, by which the living were instructed through the burial of the dead. The body committed to the ground was, as it were, entrusted to the earth as a deposit, to be returned one day. Preserving bodies with spices was a way of testifying to faith in that future resurrection. This practice accommodated human weakness and the simple-mindedness that could see bodies dissolving into corruption and yet needed a ritual reminder to hold on to hope for life — to overcome the temptation of despair. There was no superstition in preserving bodies this way. It was a custom that God Himself had impressed on the hearts of the patriarchs. And though there was no written authority for it, it was practiced by them not without faith — God Himself governing them inwardly. Over time, the custom of preserving bodies gave way among ordinary people to cremation — because those who could not afford the expense of preservation adopted a different method: burning the bodies and collecting the ashes, which they stored in urns. The case of Saul and his sons is distinct, however: they were not completely reduced to ashes, but their bones were buried. It seems the bodies were burned because they had already begun to decay — having been hung in the sun for several days, they had started to rot. For this reason, the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead burned the decaying flesh with fire before they buried the bones. All of this benefited neither Saul nor his dead sons. But God nonetheless willed that they be rescued from disgrace and dishonor — which suggests that His vengeance had been moderated. God had punished Saul severely. He had not only delivered him into the enemy's power, but so blinded him that he was driven by a kind of fury to take his own life, and his corpse was then dragged off by the enemy and hung up. These were all clear signs of God's wrath demanding the penalty Saul's arrogance had earned. But now God seems to have eased some of the severity of the punishment — not so much for Saul's sake, but for the sake of the whole people, so that those routed and despairing might gather their courage from the slaughter and begin to hope for better things. This, then, was a work of God. For the leaving of bodies unburied was a sign of divine curse — just as God had threatened in His Law that transgressors would be 'buried with the burial of a donkey.' By these words He shows that divine judgment is not satisfied by the punishments transgressors endure in this life, but that even after death God's curse pursues them, and He continues to exercise His justice. A body left unburied, therefore, is a sign of God's curse.

Now, just as the faithful sometimes share in the calamities and afflictions sent on the wicked and rebellious, so it often happens that true children of God — even those beloved by Him — lie unburied. When that happens, we must not conclude that God has therefore rejected them. God sometimes permits the wicked to gloat over the shame and dishonor of good people, as we see the church complaining in the Psalms that the bodies of the saints were left for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. Even so, when the faithful are left unburied while hoping for incorruptible life, this does not become a curse to them. All earthly accidents are shared alike by good and wicked: hunger, thirst, cold, heat, and even shame and dishonor all flow from Adam's sin and from the corruption of nature, and from the sins we commit daily — so that all miseries and calamities may rightly be traced back to sin. But sometimes God tests the patience of His servants, choosing to contend with them in poverty, or in other miseries — prison, torture, loss of property, dishonor, and other such things — but all for their salvation, since He knows how to turn evil into good. The same is true regarding burial. Though lying unburied is sometimes a testimony of divine curse, sometimes it is a kind of testing — God does not therefore curse or detest those left unburied, but rather through such things we come to understand that all our afflictions are sanctified by Him and made instruments of our salvation. Scripture tells us that the rich man who lived in luxury on earth and was cruel and merciless was given an honorable burial — but where did his soul go? Meanwhile, no mention is made of Lazarus's burial, and yet his soul was carried to paradise by angels, though his body seemed to have been cast away without honor. So we see that God often works in ways that overturn the general rule — burial is not always a sign of God's favor, nor is an unburied body always a sign of His curse. God makes exceptions. But here, specifically, Saul's body is given burial because God, about to hold back His vengeance for a time, also chose to show mercy toward His people. He was not willing to allow the man who had received the sacred anointing to govern Israel — a people consecrated to God — to be left in lasting disgrace and shame. This was done more for the sake of the living than for the dead Saul, who had no awareness to benefit from it. And there is no doubt that when many among the Israelites heard of the courageous deed of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, they were lifted out of their despair, took heart, and were stirred to call on God with greater earnestness in prayer.

The text then says that the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead fasted for seven days, humbling themselves before God and openly acknowledging that the slaughter had come on account of the people's sins. They were publicly confessing that they had been deserving of that destruction. Notice that they are not said to have prayed for Saul, nor to have performed rituals for the redemption of his soul or the satisfaction of his sins. If that had been the case, Scripture would not have omitted it here. Only the burial is mentioned. What, then, was the purpose of the fast? Was it, as the papists are accustomed to doing, to mumble masses for the dead and their salvation? Far from it. As I said before, these men had performed the duties of human decency toward Saul, mindful of his royal dignity and of the great benefit they had received from him. Now they presented themselves before God to openly acknowledge their sins and as suppliants to beg for pardon — as those who are guilty stand before a judge, confess their crime, and plead for mercy. This is why fasting is mentioned — and we should note that fasting in Scripture is never separated from prayer and supplication. The two are joined by an inseparable bond, as Scripture repeatedly indicates. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself always joined prayer to fasting, and Paul does the same in the second letter to the Corinthians. Fasting has no other use than to prepare and dispose people for serious repentance before God, for humbling themselves, and for being stirred more deeply to prayer. So the seven-day fast instituted by the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead must be understood this way: struck with fear of God's judgment and of His wrath against their people, they turned to serious repentance and acknowledgment of their sins, and therefore fled to God with earnest prayers joined to fasting. Fasting in itself is nothing — and the papists are badly mistaken when they assign it some kind of merit and make it part of divine worship. For this reason God also rebukes the hypocrites of that age, who simulated piety through many external gestures while remaining always the same inside — greedy, cruel, criminal. Fasting must not be abandoned, but it must retain its proper use and purpose. The chief occasion for fasting is when we are pressed by afflictions — afflictions we ought to bear patiently, recognizing that we have offended God. We must honestly confess our sins, and since we have provoked God against us, we must come before Him in shame and humility, beg for pardon, and press Him with earnest prayers. Many hypocrites are deeply distressed when they feel God's hand against them, but instead of casting themselves down before Him and confessing their guilt, they gnash their teeth and bite against the bridle. Instead of prayers, they pour out blasphemous words. Instead of repentance, they turn to fury. Let us therefore learn this: whenever God stretches out His hand against us, we must submit to His just judgments, confess our sins, and examine them carefully, so that we may more easily obtain pardon. Each person must do this individually. But especially when some serious affliction presses the church, the example of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead is set before us. We must imitate it — humbling ourselves sincerely before God, not falling into despair or losing all sense of His mercy, but coming as suppliants to beg for pardon and hope. And so those inhabitants of Jabesh, seeing God's just judgment displayed in their people — routed and torn like wandering sheep in the jaws of wolves — fled to God and joined prayers to fasting. This was itself a singular testimony of God's favor toward them: that in adversity they were not paralyzed or despairing, but with fasting begged for pardon and looked with hope toward the future. For this cause we see God gravely rebuking His people through the prophet because, at the coming of His judgment, instead of weeping and tears they were hardened. He says: 'The Lord God of hosts called in that day to weeping and to mourning, to shaving the head and girding with sackcloth — and behold, there was joy and gladness. If this iniquity will be forgiven you until you die.' By these words we are taught that it is a sign of reprobation when a person has grown so numb that they cannot humble themselves before God or, when struck by the movement of His judgments, flee to His mercy. Let us therefore learn, when afflictions and calamities press in, that we are being called to repentance — not to outward rites like sackcloth, ashes, or fasting, but to true humility, genuine confession of sins, and a sorrow that does not drag us away from God in despair, but — joined with faith — draws us nearer to Him. Otherwise we will fall into that rebellion which, as we said before, is never forgiven.

Now then come, etc.