Beth-shan is a city partially excavated in Israel… in the days of King Saul, it was a Philistine stronghold… with walls around it.

The Philistines were enemies of Israel.  There was a war on Mount Gilboa between King Saul’s army and the Philistines.  Israel lost.  King Saul and three of his four sons died.  The Philistines cut off King Saul’s head and sent it around to the cities in their country.  They fastened the bodies of King Saul and his three sons to the wall of Beth-shan.
1 Samuel 31:1-10

Israelites, men of Jabesh-gilead, heard what the Philistines did with the bodies.  They walked all night and took those bodies down.  Then they went to Jabesh and cremated those bodies, taking the bones and giving them a burial of honor.  1 Samuel 31:11-13

David mourned the death of Saul and his three sons and all the fallen.  2 Samuel 1:11

Many years later, King David exhumed the bones of Saul and his three sons.  He honored those men by re-burying them in the grave site of Kish, Saul’s father in the country of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 Samuel 21:12-14

Honoring the dead, mourning the loss of a life, is a part of life.  Grief and sadness are faced by everyone.
How we “handle” grief is individual and many times different from how we think we will deal with grief.

There are many ways to honor those who die.

A memorial service.
Putting flowers on the grave is another way to remember a loved one.
A memorial gift to a church, or a favorite charity.
Each year, I give a gift in the memory of my spouse, my parents and my in-laws.

~ Take it to heart ~

(NIV) Lamentations 3:22 “Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.”