SUICIDE

   We discussed “suicide” when we talked about Israel’s King Saul at a recent Tues. Faith Temple 10 a.m., March 5, 2024, Bible Study. 

God had wanted to lead Israel by speaking through his prophet Samuel (and other prophets who would come later), but Israel desired a king in order to be like other nations. God chose Saul to be king. Saul’s first major sin happened when he offered a sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel as Samuel had instructed (1 Sam. 13:8-15). 

  

In battle, the Philistines bore down on Saul and his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Melchishua. They killed those sons, and archers hit Saul. Wounded severely, Saul told his armor-bearer to kill him with a sword, “lest these uncircumcised [Philistines] come and thrust me through, and abuse me.” Saul didn’t want to be tortured. His armor-bearer did not obey, so Saul took a sword, fell on it, and killed himself.

  

Brother Jackie Pittman, who attends the Bible Study, said King Saul lived in a “shame and honor” culture when he killed himself by falling on a sword (1 Samuel 31: 2-4).

  

“People have long puzzled over the question of whether or not King Saul was saved; that is, whether or not Saul was forgiven and justified by God and is in heaven today,” gotquestions.org says. “It’s not possible to give a definitive answer because, of course, Saul’s salvation rests with God, not with us. We have no certain knowledge of the condition of Saul’s heart — 1 Samuel 16:7b: ‘… for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.’”

  

The Latin word sui means “self.” The Latin cidium means “an act of killing or slaughter.” Cide, from French and stemming from the Latin cilium, means “kill” or “cut down,” thus the word “suicide.”

  

“Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse are risk factors. Some suicides are impulsive acts due to stress, relationship problems, or harassment and bullying,” according to Wikipedia.

  

Pastor Burrows said he was 19 years old when his father died by suicide. Pastor wondered if he and his two younger brothers were not important enough for his father to want to continue to live.  

  

“The aftermath of a loved one’s suicide can be full of confusing and painful emotions,” someone said.

 Suicide has been called “a permanent solution to a temporary problem.”

  

My late wife, Carol, said she had never thought of suicide. Her father left before she was two years old. She grew up poor and the only child of her divorced mother. At age four, she accepted Jesus at a Pennsylvania Baptist Bible School. Carol had a strong survival instinct and a fierce will to live. I thought of suicide as a possibility as I neared 20 years of age. Melancholy (“being wrapped up in sorrowful thoughts”) runs in my family. I never acted on self-destructive thoughts but came to believe I am “bought with a price” and my life is not mine — it belongs to the Lord.

  

“Ye are not your own: for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s" (1 Cor. 6:19-20).