11 When the people of
Jabesh Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 all their valiant
men journeyed through the night to Beth-shan. They took down the bodies of
Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan and went to Jabesh, where they
burned them.
13 Then they took
their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they
fasted seven days.
In this chapter, we read of the last
stand of King Saul and three of his sons. They fought the Philistines and lost
the battle. The Philistines did not honor Saul, but beheaded him and hung his
body along with his sons on the walls of Beth-shan.
The people of Jabesh-Gilead heard of
this tragedy and dishonor. They purposed, even though they were afraid of the
Philistines, to sneak to Beth-shan and remove the men’s bodies from the walls.
These men chose to put their lives at risk to show gratitude to Saul.
Prior to this time, when the city of
Jabesh-Gilead was attacked by the Ammonites, their ruler, Nahash, would only
make a treaty with the people of Jabesh-Gilead if he could gouge out the right
eye of everyone in the city (1 Samuel 11). The people were horrified. They requested
time to make a decision. During the seven days they were given, they sent S.O.
S. messages throughout Israel. Saul, the strong, virulent leader of men,
purposed and acquired the man-power to overtake the Ammonites. For this, the
people of Jabesh were grateful to King Saul. For this, they chose to put into
action their gratefulness to him.
This story should make us think back
and remember those who did good things for us. Who affected your life in a
positive way? Have you shown your gratitude to them? Have you acted upon that
gratitude? Now is the time be thankful and act upon it. Now is the time to be
grateful and show it to the person who was kind and good toward you.
Possibly, you need to consider what
God has done for you in giving you salvation. Have you given Him thanks? Have
you shown Him in action your gratitude? What have you done today?
Each day
should be lived with an attitude of thanks and praise and with actions
expressing this.
