Mercy?

2 Samuel begins with a grisly incident. David has been a fugitive for years and is in Ziklag, a town under Philistine control at the time with his band of followers. A dishevelled figure enters the camp and falls at David’s feet and then when prompted begins to tell his story.

The young man it seems has escaped from the battle at Mount Gilboa where the army of Israel has suffered a catastrophic defeat. He claims to know that King Saul (David’s mortal enemy) and Jonathan the heir are both dead. When questioned as to how he could be sure of this news, the young man explains that in the heat of the battle he saw Saul, mortally wounded who then called out to him. Saul is understandably terrified of falling into the hands of the enemy where he would be abused and having ascertained that the young man is an Amalekite (a gentile) asks to be killed by him. The young man carries out the request and backs up his claims by producing Saul’s arm band and the crown.

At this point the young man would certainly have expected a reward for killing David’s enemy and delivering the crown but events did not follow in the way he expected. The first surprise was that David and his men immediately begin to mourn the loss of Saul and Jonathan and then having questioned the young man further, David orders his execution. I did say it was a grisly story but it’s one that throws up two interesting questions.

Firstly what happened to Saul? I can remember my RE teacher in school saying that the bible gives two accounts of Saul’s death and we’re not sure which is true. Well to be honest I’d love to have been old enough to question my teacher at the time since you hardly have to be FF Bruce to work out the truth. The bible tells us exactly what happened to Saul in 1 Samuel 31; he took his own life during the battle when mortally wounded. The bible also tells us what this young man told David but it doesn’t say it was the truth. The tragedy for the Amalekite is that he told lies in the hope of a reward and David having questioned him further to ensure that the young man knew the Laws and practices of Israel, took him at his word. David said, “Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the LORD’S anointed.’ ”  

The second question involves mercy killing or assisted suicide and is one that is often in the news. The fact that the incident three thousand years ago deals with the same issue shows that these are dilemmas that are not unique to the twenty first century. David is surprised by the young man’s claim and asks, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’S anointed?”  

The news in the past few days has been full of Ray Gosling’s claim to have killed his gay lover who was dying of AIDS some years ago. We have seen that a judgement has been made, when last night fraudsters were exposed seeking to profit from the terrible events in Haiti, the BBC announced that the details of the case had been passed on to the police. Yet when Mr Gosling made his confession on camera to the BBC some months ago no action has been taken until the news has become public, we are now told that the BBC is cooperating with the authorities. This is not a case of assisted suicide, it is a case of one man taking another man’s life and I could find no phrase more eloquent than that of David “Why were you not afraid?”

I know that these are difficult circumstances but we are seeing values eroded. Initially it was assisted suicide for those with terminal illnesses, then we have seen assisted suicide for people who are paralysed and do not have a short life expectancy, now we have someone deciding to take another person’s life.

The end of a life is stressful enough without placing more of a burden on those involved. For many the thought of being an inconvenience to those that we love would be an added pressure. Sometimes people with a terminal illness understandably feel low, it is the role of loved ones to stand with them and to be there. It’s often a time when important things can be said.

The church too must stand with those who are suffering, both with the person and with the family. We believe in the dignity of every human being. That they have value and are made in the image of God. We believe that life is the gift of God. That he knows our days. That he is faithful and can be trusted.

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