"Spiritual
Suicide"
At the close of the book of I Samuel one of the saddest stories in the
history of the nation of Israel
is told. Saul, the once highly blessed of God, king of Israel, commits physical suicide atop mount Gilboa
(I Samuel 31:4). The man that was anointed of God (I Samuel 10:1), given
another heart by God (I Samuel 10:9), used by the Spirit of God (I Samuel
10:10; 11:6), and humble in the beginning (I Samuel 9:21; 10:23) commits this
ultimate act of despair and destruction.
However, his slide down the path of sin began when his own self-will
caused him not to keep the commandment of the Lord and intrude into the
Priest's office (I Samuel 13:8-14). He must have lost his reasoning ability,
making a rash oath (I Samuel 14:44). He directly disobeyed the voice of the
Lord by not eliminating Amelek, instead sparing him and "the chief things which should have been utterly destroyed."
This open disobedience by the king caused Samuel to utter those now
famous words:
"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and
stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the Word
of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king" (I Samuel 15:22, 23).
His jealousy led him to try to kill David, falsely considering him an
enemy (I Samuel 18, 19). And, his anger caused him to try to kill his own son
Jonathan (I Samuel 20:33). He later, brutally commanded the slaughter of (85)
Priests of Israel and all the inhabitants of their city (I Samuel 22:17-19).
His last irrational act prior to his suicide was consulting the witch of Endor.
Recognizing that the Lord no longer was with him, he turned to Satan's
counterpart to give him counsel. But even through this unlikely source he hears
from the departed spirit of Samuel who soundly condemned him and prophesied his
doom. Saul reacts by falling down and "was
sore afraid"(I Samuel 28:20). This bizarre encounter leads him into
the final episode of his life as he ends it all by committing physical suicide.
This is Satan's ultimate goal for the child of God. Ending their
God-given life in shame, utter despair and destruction is Satan's plan and
unfortunately it is not an uncommon thing to hear of suicide among many today
and especially the young. As a matter of fact, it is the leading killer of
teens in the U.S.A.!
One mortician recently told me: "The majority of suicides never make the
news, most are hidden in shame."
However, it is obvious that Saul's physical suicide began by his acts of
self-will, disobeying the Lord, and finally rejecting His Word! "Spiritual
Suicide" always takes place first, before anyone is found
committing physical suicide! Underline always! When anyone gives up on life, they have
previously rejected the ways and wooing of the One who is the very Author of
life, the God of the Bible. Giving life, whether it be physical or spiritual is
God's business!
Saul, obviously received eternal life from God when "God gave him a
new heart", and the Spirit of God then repeatedly used Saul. These two
acts of God prove that he truly was a child of God. But, Saul's "Spiritual
Suicide" began when his self-will opened up an opportunity for the devil
to direct his thoughts and actions leading him down the treacherous road of
rebellion and witchcraft ending ultimately in his Satanically motivated
self-destruction!
‘No man in the Bible had so many opportunities thrust upon him to make a
success of life, and no man ever so missed them and deliberately abused them as
this man Saul. The down-slide of Saul is the old familiar story of pride,
egotism and abuse of power leading to moral degradation and ruin' (Herbert Lockyer).
Saul was Satan's Number 1 target in the nation of Israel at that
time. Eliminate the leader and the followers will flee in disarray! I Samuel
31:7 attests to these despairing facts: "And
when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that
were on the other side Jordan fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they
forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them."
A similar event occurred when Jesus was taken by the Jews, as the disciples
fled fearing the Jews (Mark 14:50; John 20:19).
Satan's primary target is God's leader for he knows by past experience
that he can inflict the most damage by destroying the one whom God has chosen
to direct and lead His people. All the more why we should pray for and uphold
those whom God has chosen to be our leaders, the Pastor/Elder and Deacons of
our local church and the government officials He has ordained to be in
positions of authority.
Many of the lessons from the life of this fallen king of Israel are
important, but none as important as our simple childlike obedience to the Word
of God! Saul, of all people should have known the testimony of God's past
leaders as written in His precious Word. The testimony of Moses in Deuteronomy
6:6-9 was available then to Saul which specifically emphasizes the importance
of God's Word being placed in our hearts:
"And these
words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart: And thou shall
teach (lit. engrave in, impress on) them diligently to thy children, and shall
talk of them when thou sit in thine house, and when thou walk by the way, and
when thou lie down, and when thou rise up. And thou shall bind them for a sign
upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, And thou
shall write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."
Moses' repeated emphasis on the continual guidance and presence of the
Word of God is truly significant!
He again attests to this very need in
Deuteronomy 11:18-21: "Therefore
shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and bind them
for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And
ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sit in thine
house, and when thou walk by the way, when thou lie down, and when thou rise
up, And thou shall write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy
gates: That your days may be multiplied, and days of your children, in the land
which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon
the earth."
However, in Deuteronomy 17:18-20 the Lord gave explicit, precise
instruction to the king of Israel:
"And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his
kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which
is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be read therein all the days of
his life; that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of
this law and these statutes, to do them: That his heart be not lifted up above
his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right
hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom,
he, and his children, in the midst of Israel."
This thorough and complete direction to the king must have been
thoroughly and completely violated by Saul, for his complete disregard and
rejection of the Word of God would have been circumvented had he followed these
protective commands from the Lord who knew ahead of time what it would take for
the king to succeed.
Likewise, the next leader of Israel, the successor of Moses
wrote:
"This Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy
mouth; but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou may observe to
do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shall make thy way
prosperous, and then thou shall have good success."(Joshua 1:8)
Joshua here prescribes the only way to God's prosperity and success, it
is through continual meditation on the Word of God, making it the continual
focus of our mind! He tells us that meditation is necessary for us to be able
"to do according to all that is written therein". It is the only
way we can actually obey the commands God has written in His Word!
That is a very powerful and most significant statement! But, let us ask
ourselves about some of the commands we find in the writings of Paul:
"Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind"
(Romans 12:2); "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for
the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14); "Be renewed
in the spirit of your mind" (Ephesians 4:23); "Put on the new
man" (Ephesians 4:24); "Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11); "Let this mind be in you which was also
in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5); "Set your affections on things
above and not on things on the earth"(Colossians 3:2).
How do we fulfill these seemingly impossible commands given to each and
every believer? This type of spiritual success comes only by memory and
meditation on the "This Book of the Law" the written Word of God! The
supernatural faith required to obey these supernatural commands comes from
Joshua's simple time-proven formula for spiritual success!
Saul would never have ended his physical life by this desperate act of
suicide if he would have honored and followed the already existing Word of God.
But, if we take a closer examination of our own lives, could it be we are
already committing the same sin of neglecting Joshua's simple formula? Is
memory and meditation of Scripture a vital part of our daily obedience to God's
commands? Can we really have success and prosperity without Joshua's formula
present in our lives? The answer is obvious. If we are to obey God's direct
command we must have these two activities working in our every day life!
But, listen, Joshua was not the last one to speak of memory and
meditation of the Word. No, David the successor of Saul relied heavily on these
principles of meditation: "In His
Law doth he meditate day and night...and whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper." (Psalm 1:3)
Again in Psalm 119 meditate/meditation on the Word of God is mentioned seven
times. Solomon, too, followed in his father's footsteps commanding and
entreating us to put the Word within us on many occasions in his book of
wisdom, the Proverbs: 2:1-6; 3:1-4; 3:21; 4:4; 4:20-22; 6:20-24; 7:1-5.
Jeremiah also shows his fervor and intensity for putting the Word of God
within him:
"Thy Words were found and I did eat them, and Thy Word
was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart, for I am called by Thy name O
Lord God of hosts" (Jeremiah 15:16). "But His Word was in mine heart
as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I
could not stay." (Jeremiah 20:9)
Paul too, in the New Testament commands us to: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly" (Colossians 3:16),
he also exhorts: "Let this mind be
in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). In I Timothy
4:15, Timothy is exhorted to "Meditate
upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear
to all."
Peter also commands the believer:
"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word
that ye may grow thereby" (I Peter 2:2), and James gives
us this important demand from the Lord: "Receive
with meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save your souls" (James
1:22)
However, the most important teaching concerning memory and meditation of
the Word comes from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In Luke 4:4; 4:8; & 4:12
He shows us by example how we can have victory over Satan by quoting the Word
of God to him when he tempts us.
Remember, anything Jesus would have said would have been the Word of
God, but He chose to quote already written and revealed Scripture showing His
mastery of the Old Testament text in a time of great temptation. He was all man
and all God. He was "in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin" by utilizing the Word of God
when Satan attacked Him. He was victorious in His practice by employing the
Truth of the Word of God!
He also gave testimony to the power of the Word of God in His preaching: "Now ye are clean through the Word
which I have spoken unto you." (John 15:3); "If ye abide in Me and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye
will and it shall be done unto you." (John 15:7); "It is the Spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing, the
Words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, they are life." (John 6:63)
This last quotation of the Lord's is one of the most significant
statements He has ever made concerning the power and importance of His Word for
He put this Word on the same level as the Holy Spirit, notice He did not say
the Word is an instrument of the Spirit, no, He said "It is Spirit", and on top of that He said "It is Life." This reveals to us His evaluation of His
Word, He put it on the same level as Life and the Holy Spirit Himself!
This same truth is found in Paul's writings in Colossians 3:16:
"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly" the
result being "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."
Again in Ephesians 5:18, 19 Paul commands: "And
be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit"
the result "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord." In these two
passages Paul demonstrates the fact that the direct result of being filled with
the Spirit is the same as being filled with the Word! So, if you want to be
filled with the Spirit, get filled with the Word!
This powerful truth underlines the teaching of the entire Word of God,
from Moses in Deuteronomy to Jesus' Practice, Preaching and Praying and
throughout His earthly ministry for in John 17:17 His last night before the
Cross, He prays: "Sanctify them
through Thy Truth, Thy Word is Truth". Here He is praying for God the
Father to sanctify the disciples through the precious Word of God! Successful
sanctification for us too, comes only through our digesting the Word of God!
So, if we want to have spiritual success we will not commit
"Spiritual Suicide" by neglecting this vital practice of memorizing
and meditating on the Word of God. Saul's eventual physical suicide was due to
his committing "Spiritual Suicide" first of all, and we too, in
degrees can be committing the very same sin if we are neglecting this most
necessary practice of memorizing and meditating on the powerful and most
precious Word of God!
Ten Rewards of Memory & Meditation
on the Word of God:
1. You will have good success (Joshua 1:8)
2. You will prosper in whatever you do (Psalm1:3)
3. You will excel in wisdom (Psalm 119:97,100)
4. You will have power over sin (Psalm 119:9-11)
5. You will discover how to live (Proverbs 4:4)
6. You will be led by the Lord (Proverbs 6:20-24)
7. You will be kept in your sleep (Proverbs 6:20-24)
8. You will commune with the Lord when awake (Proverbs 6:20-24)
9. Your profiting will appear to all (I Timothy 4:15)
10. You will be filled w/the Spirit
(Ephesians 5:18, 19; Colossians 3:16)
Meditations Four Steps:
1. Memorize the Word of God (James
1:21) Master the text by engrafting it permanently in your heart
2. Visualize the Word of God (Proverbs
2:1-6) Picture in your mind's eye the value/principles of the Word of God
3. Personalize (John 15:7) Place
yourself in the passage by using personal pronouns-I, Me, My
4. Harmonize (Psalm119:54; Ephesians 5:18,
19; Colossians 3:16, 17) Allow the Holy Spirit of God to form a melody in your
heart using the Word of God for the new song/spiritual song's lyrics.
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