Chapter XXIII: On Mount Gilboa

As David left Saul, and went back to his stronghold at Engedi, he said to himself: "I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines, and Saul will cease to look for me."

So he went with the six hundred men who followed him, and dwelt with Achish, the king of Gath, for a year and four months.

But, after a time, the Philistines determined to go to battle against the Israelites, and as David and his men were very friendly with Achish, they marched in the rear of the army which was gathered together against Saul.

But when the princes of the Philistines found David and his men among the warriors, they very much objected, telling Achish that when the battle was joined, David would go over to the other side and fight against the Philistines.

Achish tried to persuade them that David and his men were their friends, but the lords of the Philistines would not consent; and David had to go back to Ziklag. It would take too long to tell you here how he found that other enemies had invaded his home, or how he and his men went after them, and how the Lord helped them to recover their wives and children and all the spoil that those enemies had taken.

But it seems very wonderful that, in the great battle of the Philistines in which Saul was killed, the Lord had sent David far away in another direction!

So the Philistines gathered themselves to the battle, and Saul and his sons and all the men of Israel came out against them.

But the night before the battle Saul had gone to a witch at Endor, and asked her to bring up Samuel to speak to him. Both he and the witch were very frightened when Samuel came up—an old man wrapped in a mantle—and Samuel told Saul that God had given the kingdom to David, and that he and his sons would be killed on the morrow.

So the battle took place the next day on Mount Gilboa; and the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and his sons, and Saul was sore wounded by the archers.

Then Saul besought his armour-bearer to kill him with his sword lest his enemies should come and mock him. But his armour-bearer would not, for he was sore afraid.

Then King Saul took his own sword and fell upon it and died. And when his armour-bearer saw that he was dead, he fell upon his sword too, and died with him.

So Saul died, and his three sons and all his men, that day together.

When the rest of the army who were on the other side of the valley and on the other side of Jordan saw that Saul and his sons were dead, they fled, and forsook their cities, and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

On the next day, the Philistines came to the battlefield to strip the slain, and when they found the king and his sons, they cut off Saul's head and stripped off his armour, and sent the news to all the country round; and they published it in the houses of their gods and made a great rejoicing.

They hung the dead bodies of Saul and his sons on the wall of Bethshan; but when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of what the Philistines had done, all the valiant men arose and travelled all night and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall; and the men of Jabesh burnt the bodies, and buried their bones under a tree in Jabesh, and made a great mourning for their fallen king for seven days.

This is a very sorrowful story. Saul had set out well, and he had everything in life before him.

He was a great warrior; he had fought many battles against the Philistines and other enemies on every side; but he spoilt all by one great sin. This was the sin of disobedience. He had disobeyed God's direct command.

Not long after Saul was made king, God told him to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites, leaving none behind, not even flocks and herds, or anything that was theirs.

But though Saul went, and gained a great victory over them, he disobeyed God in the end; for he saved alive the king and the best of the flocks and herds, and all that was good, he kept.

Then the Lord sent Samuel to Saul. And Saul hastened to meet him with the words: "Blessed be thou of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord!"

But Samuel answered: "What meaneth then the bleating of sheep in my ears?"

And Saul answered: "The people spared the best of the flocks to sacrifice to the Lord."

And Samuel said to Saul: "Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord has said to me this night."

"When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made head over the tribes of Israel? And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, 'Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.'"

"Wherefore then didst thou fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?"

"Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?"

"Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He also hath rejected thee from being king."

This is the reason why God gave the kingdom to David, and allowed Saul to be killed on Mount Gilboa.