Eulogies at funerals are almost always positive. Regardless of the persons legacy, he is presented as a good person who loved God and his fellow man. However, the Holy Scripture — which never lies — presents men flaws and all. And when giving the eulogy of King Saul, the sacred text is not flattering:
So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the LORD in that he did not keep the command of the LORD, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death …. (1 Chronicles 10:13-14)
Saul started off so well. He was tall, dark, and handsome. The people loved him, and his enemies feared him. His son was a righteous, tender, submissive, and faithful leader. About him were found godly men such as Samuel and David.
However, his life was characterized by compromise and disobedience. When commanded to kill King Agag, all his subjects, and all his livestock, he was found less than faithful. When instructed to wait for Samuel to come and offer the pre-war sacrifice, Saul became impatient and presumptuous. He offered the sacrifice himself in violation of God’s worship regulations. Throughout his later years, he was proven to be a coward and a bully. He was unable to lead his people to victory over the Philistines, and he was enraged with envy and sought to snuff the life out of God’s anointed man — David, Son of Jesse. In his final weeks, he was found not consulting the Lord but turning to the witch of Endor. And his last days he has lost his army, his sons, his armor-bearer, his cities, his legacies, and his head. He is an object of dishonor to the Lord and is used as an object of worship in the Temple of Dagon.
Why? How did this happen? Let us read again the final verses of 1 Chronicles 10:
So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the LORD in that he did not keep the command of the LORD, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death …. (1 Chronicles 10:13-14)
Friends, let this be a warning to us.
- Those who begin well do not necessarily end well. Anyone can start the race; anyone can pick up his cross; but it requires faithful diligence, discipline, and perseverance to finish the race and hear the divine, ‘Well done my good and faithful servant.”
- Spiritual grace and temporal discipline go hand-in-hand. God promises to discipline his children. God promises men will reap that which they have sown. Saul “broke faith” and ultimately Saul was broken by the Lord.
- A leader harms, not only himself, but his family when he does not seek guidance from the Lord.
- Ungodly government may look promising to begin with, but it will bite like a serpent in the end. (Read 1 Samuel 8 and 12) We need to trust in the leadership of the Messiah and not the tall, dark, and handsome king.
Therefore, may our obituary be different than that of King Saul. May our legacy and eulogy read as follows:
So (Insert Your Name) died as a person of devout faith. He kept faith with the LORD in that he fully obeyed the command of the LORD. Never did he consult ungodly counselors, seeking guidance. He regularly sought guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD finds the death of his saint to be precious. The Lord says to him, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
Unfathomable Grace 