1 Samuel 31:7-13: a reflection

7When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them. 8On the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9They cut off his head, stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines all around, to carry the news to the house of their idols and to the people. 10They put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan. 11When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12all the valiant men arose, went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

The account of Saul's death ends in dishonor: the Philistines find his body, cut off his head, strip his armor, and fasten his corpse to a city wall as a trophy. But then something honorable happens. When the men of Jabesh Gilead hear of it, their bravest men travel all night, take down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, bring them home, and give them an honorable burial, then fast for seven days. They risked themselves to honor a fallen, flawed king.

Notice the loyalty and gratitude of these men. Saul had failed in many ways, and by the end his reign had come to ruin; yet the men of Jabesh Gilead remembered a kindness. Years before, Saul had rescued their city in its hour of need; and now they repaid that old kindness by risking their lives to honor him in death. Their gratitude did not forget what he had done for them, and their loyalty honored him even when he had fallen.

That is a picture of grateful loyalty worth imitating. It would have been easy to let Saul's body lie, to remember only his failures, to feel no obligation to a fallen king. But these men remembered the good he had once done, and honored him for it, at real cost to themselves. Do not let the failures of others erase the good they have done, or let gratitude fade when someone has fallen. Remember the kindnesses you have received, and repay them with loyalty and honor, even when the one who showed them has come down in the world. Grateful loyalty that honors even the fallen, and does not forget an old kindness, is a good and rare thing.

Lord, when Saul's body had been dishonored, the men of Jabesh Gilead risked their lives to bring it home and honor it, remembering the kindness he had once shown their city. Give me that grateful loyalty. It would have been easy for them to remember only Saul's failures and feel no obligation to a fallen king; but they remembered the good he had done, and honored him at real cost. Keep me from letting the failures of others erase the good they have done, or letting my gratitude fade when someone has fallen. Help me remember the kindnesses I have received, and repay them with loyalty and honor, even when the one who showed them has come down in the world. Make me grateful and loyal, mindful of old kindnesses, honoring others as these men honored Saul. Let gratitude not fade in me.