Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

1 Samuel, chapter 31, verse 6.

Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor bearer,

and all his men on the same day together.

What a verse. And in a sense, a very depressing verse, to see Saul,

who had so much potential and God granted so much grace to end his life in such disgrace,

having lived and led God's people with pride and ultimately in

disobedience to God. And now in 1st Samuel chapter 31, he dies. And I read this first,

and I think about two particular funerals that I've been to recently, one for my mentor and spiritual father in

ministry in so many ways, Jim Shaddix, and then more recently my uncle, Uncle John, and

both of them died in a way that is totally different than what we read about here with Saul in 1st Samuel 31.

Both of these men died faithfully following Jesus.

And while there is, without question, grief in their death, there is also joy and fulfillment and contentment. I saw both of these

men and the days before they went to be with the Lord, and they were totally trusting in Jesus,

and they were surrounded by people who were trusting in Jesus, family, and friends,

as a result of their lives.

And I have thought a lot about Ecclesiastes and how Ecclesiastes really points us to the

brevity of life and almost beckons us to fast forward to the day when each of us are going to

die. So just hang with me. This may feel depressing for a moment, but I think this is so important.

And scripture attests to this. It is good for us to think about the number of our days. Psalm chapter 90 makes this

very clear that it's wise to realize we only have a short number of days here in this world,

and none of us is guaranteed tomorrow. So jump to the end of your life for a moment. And even if you're a child or a teenager,

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