Matins Devotion: August 13, 2026
Throughout his days as king, Saul has been obsessed with preserving his own, refusing to let God take it away from him by giving his throne to David. And now, pierced with the arrows of his enemies, Saul is still consumed with the same thing. He demands that his armor bearer kill him so that the Philistines won’t have an opportunity to humiliate him. Then he falls on his own sword to prevent his enemies from giving him a very unblessed death, abusing and defiling him in order to strip him of his precious honor.
But in the end, the Philistines aren’t the problem. Saul is the source of his own dishonor because he doesn’t want to be clothed in the honor greater than earthly acclaim. He doesn’t want to be clothed in the honor of God’s forgiveness. He doesn’t want the greatest honor of all, the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
And so, there’s something valuable for us to learn in the dishonorable death of Saul. If you want an honorable death, a blessed death, the most honorable and blessed death of all is the one where you’re clothed not in your own honor, but in the honor of Christ. When you die trusting in Jesus, when you die knowing that He has taken away your sins and made you worthy of eternal life, that’s the most blessed death.
So it’s a wonderful thing to die surrounded by your doting children. But if you never had children and die with precious few people surrounding your bed, you still die with the greatest honor of all if you had Jesus Christ dwelling beside you in love through faith. If your children resent you and won’t draw near, you still die a blessed death because the Son of God who drew near to you upon the cross is drawing even closer as He takes you in His arms. If you die a violent death, destroyed by wicked men, you can rejoice even if the last thing you see is your own blood because the blood of Jesus Christ has clothed you in the honor of God and made you worthy to live forever. If your enemies rejoice at your death, triumphing over you, you can still die a blessed death because you will wake up in the arms of the Savior who has made and will make those enemies His footstool.
So whether you die in a comfortable bed or on a bloody battlefield, every Christian can die a blessed death because every Christian has been clothed in the honor of Jesus Christ, the honor that ensures you will never die alone because the Son of God will always be by your side.
Comments