Suicide was Saul’s crowning sin. He saw that the enemy was pressing on him in overwhelming numbers, and that he could not escape; therefore, so as not to fall into the hands of the Philistines, he killed himself. This was a terrible sin, for on no account may a man take away his own life, as he did not give it to himself. God is Lord of life and death, and he who kills himself robs the divine Majesty of His rights. But it might be argued, Saul could not anyhow have had long to live, for most likely the Philistines would have killed him on the field of battle. True, but if Saul had, by God’s permission, been killed by his enemies, he would have died the death of a hero, in defence of his religion, his people and his country. Very likely, however, the Philistines would not have killed him at once, but would have taken him prisoner, and would later have put him to death. Saul would in this way have had to endure humiliations and tortures, but he would have had time to repent of his many sins, and if he had offered his sufferings to God in the spirit of true penance, his soul would have been saved, and he would have died the death of a martyr to faith in the one true God. By his suicide he not only killed his body, but also his soul; for his last act on earth was one of mortal sin, and the very nature of the act made repentance impossible. Every voluntary suicide is a suicide of the soul which can in no way be expiated; and it is in this that lies the horror of this sin. Cowardice, moreover, lies at the root of every suicide, as we have seen was the case with Saul. He shrank from humiliation and degradation, and to avoid them put an end to his life. The suicide is too cowardly to endure such temporal evils as poverty, sickness, or shame, and therefore puts an end to his life, never considering that he thereby subjects himself to the everlasting torments of hell. Suicide is the most foolish of all sins and crimes; for in order to escape a passing evil he who commits it exposes himself to eternal suffering.
Humility and love of our enemies. There are many beautiful virtues to admire in David. He remained humble in spite of the adulation of the world; he did not glory in being chosen by God to be king; he bore no grudge in his heart against the unjust, ungrateful Saul; he did not rise up against him, but honoured him as “his lord and king”, called himself his servant, forgave him from his heart, and spared his life when the opportunity of revenge was given him. David had a most noble and magnanimous heart; he did not return evil for evil, but really loved his mortal enemy, and bitterly bewailed his sad end. Thus David gives us a splendid example of love of our enemies, which teaches us that we should never take vengeance on them. St. Paul writes (Rom. 12, 19): “Do not revenge yourselves, but give place unto wrath (i. e. leave vengeance to God), for it is written: ‘Revenge to me, I will repay, saith the Lord.’” By this noble virtue of love of his enemy David won a victory over himself (over anger and the desire of revenge) which was far greater and more worthy of renown
