The death of Saul and Jonathan, upon the heights of Gilboa, is one of the grandest and most awful episodes in Hebrew history. Behold the chosen of God, the hero and the idol of Israel, wounded by the archers, supplicating death from his armour-bearer, falling in despair upon his sword! Princes and warriors," swifter than eagles, stronger than lions; "Saul and Jonathan" are slain in the high places." "The shields of the mighty are vilely cast away!" The king's sons and his body-guards and the flower of his army perish with him on this awful day. "How are the mighty fallen!" But let us turn from the dramatic, the tragic side of this incident, to ponder its spiritual lessons.

I. Saul's appalling fate reminds us of GREAT POWERS MISUSED. The gigantic stature and amazing strength of the son of Kish naturally impressed all beholders, and conciliated ? almost commanded - the respect and confidence of the people. But he was more than an athlete, he was a general who had delivered his country and gained many victories over his enemies. He appears to have possessed great qualities, not only of body, but of mind. All this gave Saul great advantages. If he had but used these aright, he would have retained the regard of his subjects and the allegiance of the brave, and he might have lived to old age, in possession of the dignity and power of kingship. But his moody, wilful spirit gave a wrong bias to his energies. His was a wonderful but a wasted life. The valour and skill which had defeated the Philistines in his early days might have defeated them now. But Saul was not the same man as of old. Even so many, whom God has richly endowed with gifts of body and of mind, have proved themselves unworthy of these gifts, have misused them in such manner that it had been better for them that they had never been born. To whom God has given much, of them he requires the more.

II. We observe here A LOFTY VOCATION ILL UNDERSTOOD AND ILL FULFILLED. Saul was the first of Israel's kings. Anointed by Samuel, chosen by lot, elected by the acclamation of the people, he entered upon the kingly office with every omen and every prospect of success. Called to be, not, like one of the judges, the chief of a tribe or a temporary deliverer, but the ruler of a nation and a king for life, Saul might have raised his people to independence and to power. But be was disobedient to the voice of the seer, he was unfaithful to the cause of the God who raised him to eminence and invested him with theocratic authority; and he reaped the bitter harvest of disobedience and unfaithfulness. To some position, with some vocation, the Author of our life has called each one of us. Not only kings and rulers, pastors and Church officers, but all Christians, in every station of life, have committed to them a peculiar and sacred trust. Let each ask - How is this trust fulfilled?

III. There is exemplified here the possibility of TRUE RELIGION BEING KNOWN AND YET FORSAKEN. In his early life, Saul had put within him another heart, and became another man. But there are signs that he came under heathen influences. Certainly one of the last acts of his life was indicative of superstition, when he sought unto the witch of Endor, instead of looking to Jehovah for counsel and encouragement. He "inquired not of the Lord." It was a grievous defection; he, whose religious life commenced so brightly under the guidance of Samuel, came to grovel before an ignorant necromancer! A lesson this of human instabilty, frailty, and fickleness. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall!" Alas! how often has the bright promise of youth been clouded in maturer years, and the sun which rose in splendour sunk beneath the gloomy clouds! It is a solemn warning which none should disregard.

IV. We are informed that THE FALL OF THIS FIRST KING OF ISRAEL WAS A DIVINE JUDGMENT. "Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord." We are seldom at liberty authoritatively and confidently to pronounce calamity a judgment from the Lord. But in the case before us we are expressly warranted in doing so. Saul had violated the Divine Law. He had directed sacrifice to be offered without the permission of the prophet. He had spared Agag, and appropriated the spoil. He had displayed, again and again, a rebellions and ungodly disposition; had given way to impulses of anger, envy, jealousy, and fear. He had too often despised God's Word, persecuted God's servants, trusted in himself, and forgotten that Jehovah had called him to be the leader of his people in righteousness. Now at length the long-delayed retribution came upon the guilty monarch. "The Lord slew him." A warning to the impenitent, this terrible fate of Saul should summon the sinner to repentance, and (thank God!) to "repentance unto life." - T.

Many men begin with influential parentage, social station, ample education, pecuniary competence, yet they travel a downhill road, falling first into neglect and then into oblivion. Physical greatness, social security, public applause are being continually rebuked, humiliated, and put to shame. The proverb wisely says, "Call no man happy until he is dead." The meaning is that at the very best a man may make a slip which will bring his whole life into degradation in every sense of the term. There is but a step between man and death — not physical death only, but the death of character, reputation, and influence. It remains with each man to say whether a good beginning shall have a good ending. This is a question of personal discipline, holy fellowship with God, and an acceptance of all processes which have been divinely established for the training and sanctification of man. The word comes with special urgency to young persons, to men of influence, to successful men, and to all who are plied by the temptations incident to high station and wide influence.

(J. Parker, D. D.)