David's Sorrow Over Saul's Death

If you got your Bible, turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 1. 2 Samuel chapter 1, we've had the privilege of studying the life of David, this man of royalty, and what God is doing in his life. He's just about to ascend the throne. That's in chapter 2. We'll cover that in two weeks. But this is a great study for us to understand how it is God wants to instruct us and train us that we might be the kind of men and women God wants us to be. I'm going to read for you chapter 1, make a brief comment after verse 1, and then we'll get into our study.

The Bible says, Now it came about after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, that David remained two days in Ziklag.

We'll stop right there just for a second, just to get you caught up to speed. Remember, David had spent 16 months in the land of the Philistines. He had rebelled against his God, did not inquire of the Lord as to what to do. And yet he went there and they had obtained a town called Ziklag that the king had given to them. And they lived there for 16 months, he and his 600 men and their families. And yet all the time he was living in rebellion against God. He never inquired of the Lord whether or not he should go there.

And the Bible never records a time that he inquired of the Lord while he was there. And so while he was there, he was called upon to go to war against his own people. And so he decided to do that, to fight against the Hebrew people. And yet God stopped him. God stopped him in a way that would cause the other Philistine kings to come and say, we don't want David nor his men engaged in this battle. So God would remove him from a very compromising situation. Because he had taught his men, we're not going to lay our hand against the Lord's anointed.

That's why he spared Saul's life on two accounts. And yet if he went to battle against his own people with the Philistines, Saul would die, as we will see in tonight's lesson. But God removed him from that just in time for him to come back to Ziklag to see the ruins of the city that had been burned by the Amalekites. All the women were taken. All the children were taken. And there was great weeping over the fact that they thought everybody was dead. Everybody was gone. But then every one of David's men decided that they wanted to kill David.

They wanted to stone him. Because you see, as the led his men into disobedience. And because he had led them from the land of Judah to the land of the Philistines and compromised their stand with the Lord, they had come to a place where enough was enough. And they wanted to stone David. And it was there that David strengthened himself in the Lord, as we learned last week, where he went to the Lord, inquired of the Lord, and God did a great and mighty work. God listened. God responded. And they pursued the Amalekites.

They won the great victory. They were able to get their wives and their children back with them. All were spared. And they returned back to Ziklag. And he's there for two days. That's where we pick up the story. He knows nothing about the battle with the Philistines and the Hebrew people. He knows nothing of that report. He does not know what went on. He's going to find out on this day. He's going to find out that Saul and Jonathan were both slain on Mount Geboa. And so he will realize now that his archenemy is dead.

And then he's going to write an elegy. Not a eulogy, but an elegy. There's a difference. I'll explain that to you in a moment. And what he writes, he expects to be taught to the Hebrew people. And what he writes is very unique. But put yourself in David's sandals for a moment and ask yourself, if you had an archenemy that pursued you for over a decade, wanted to kill you, on three occasions, threw a spear at you or shot a gun at you and missed you, what would you say at his funeral? How would you respond?

If you were given a microphone and you were to speak, what would you say? What David says is quite eye-opening. What he doesn't say is also eye-opening. But what he does say and how he says it shows you why he's a man after God's own heart and why this man was the great king of Israel. Let me read to you the chapter.

Pick it up in verse number two. And it happened, on the third day that behold, the man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes torn and dust on his head.

And it came about when he came to David and he fell on the ground and prostrated himself. Then David said to him, from where do you come? He said to him, I've escaped from the camp of Israel. And David said to him, how did things go? Please tell me. And he said, the people have fled from the battle. And also many of the people have fallen. If you've got a pen, just circle that word fallen for a moment, would you please? I'll come back to it. They're fallen and are dead. And Saul and Jonathan, his son are dead also.

So David said to the young man who told him, how do you know that Saul and his son, Jonathan are dead? And the young man who told him said, by chance, I happened to be on Mount Geboa. And behold, Saul was leaning on a spear. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen pursued him closely. And when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I said, here I am. He said to me, who are you? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. Then he said to me, please stand beside me and kill me. For agony has seized me because my life still lingers in me.

So I stood beside him and killed him because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. Take your pen and circle that word fallen. And I took the crown, which was on his head and the bracelet, which was on his arm. And I brought them here to my Lord. Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them. And so also did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son, Jonathan, and for the people of the Lord and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

Again, circle that word fallen. And David said to the young man who told him, where are you from? And he answered, I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite. Then David said to him, how is it you're not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? And David called one of the young men and said, go cut him down. So he struck him and he died. And David said to him, your blood is on your head for your mouth has testified against you saying I've killed the Lord's anointed. Then David chanted with this lament over Saul and Jonathan, his son.

He told them to teach the sons of Judah, the song of the bow. Behold, it is written in the book of Yashar. Your beauty, O Israel is slain on your high places. How have the mighty fallen? Again, take your pen and circle that word fallen. Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. O mountains of Geboa, let not your dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

From the blood of the slain, from the bow of Jonathan did not turn back and the sword of Saul did not return empty. Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life and in their death, they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles. They were stronger than lions. O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothes you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. How have the mighty, what? Fallen. Circle it one more time. In the midst of the battle, Jonathan is slain on your high places.

I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was more wonderful than the love of a woman. How have the mighty, just one more time, fallen. Circle it. And the weapons of war perished. Six times the word fallen is used. Just by way of introduction, when Saul was anointed king of Israel, he would stand head and shoulders above all the people in the land of Israel. He was a strong man. He was a big man. At the end of his life, he was a fallen man. He didn't fall just at the end.

His fall began when he rebelled against God's authority in his life, compromised the word of the Lord. This is the end of the fall. He began falling in first Samuel chapter 15 and he fell ever since until he hit the ground in his death in first Samuel 31.

But the important thing to note is that when he went into that that medium to go and search for Saul in first Samuel 28 to try to call him back from the dead, he was fallen then.

And he fell on Mount Geboa to his death. First Samuel 31 is a tragic ending to Israel's first king. It's a tragic ending to the nation of Israel. But God knows all that and God is going to turn all that around through the coming of this king, King David. And there's a little bit of a hint as David would write this, this elegy, this song of the bow, almost as if it's spiritual satire. For the very worst first words he says is this, your beauty or your glory O Israel is slain on your high places.

And then he says, verse 21, for there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul not anointed with oil. The nation had clamored for a king. They wanted a king like everybody else had a king. They wanted to be like the rest of the nations, someone who would lead them into battle, someone big and strong who would be able to guide the nation. They wanted a king and God gave them a king. And once they obtained that king, that king became their beauty and their glory. And that palace of his and that leadership of his began to draw away from the beauty and the glory of the Lord in the eyes of Israel.

And now their beauty, their glory had fallen because whenever you substitute the beauty and glory of God for someone or something else in your life, the end will always be disastrous. That's why the Lord said in Jeremiah nine, let not the mighty man glory in his might. Neither let the rich man glory in his riches, nor the wise man glory in his wisdom. But if you want to glory in something, glory in this, that you understand and know me, that I am the God who exercises loving kindness and mercy and justice on the face of the earth.

God delights in those things. And God wants you to know him. And God wants you to glory in him. He wants your beauty to be surrounded by him. And Israel decided to forfeit the glory of the Lord for the glory of a man. And that man led them down the wrong path and disaster came upon him. And that's why God would look for a man after his own heart. David was that man. And God would prepare that man. It would take a while. It would take over 10 years to prepare him. And even that once he was prepared, he still wasn't king over all of Israel, just king over Judah as we will see next week.

And then seven and a half years later, he then ascends the throne and becomes king over all Israel. So you're talking 18, 19, almost 20 years before David was ever king over all of Israel. That becomes very important to understanding the timing of God, the sovereignty of God, and the providence of God as it works itself out in your life. Because for the most part, we are just too impatient to wait on God to reveal his plan to us. David had to wait. He had to wait. And David is a lesson in learning how to wait on God.

Oh, there were times he went ahead of God. There were times he didn't call upon the Lord. There were times he went out and did his own thing, right? He leaned on his own understanding. It cost him big time. It did. But when he learned to lean upon the Lord, boy, great things happened in his life. And that's what we need to learn from the life of David. So that's all just introduction material to help set the tone for the story. So let's look at two points tonight.

First of all, we're going to look at the story of Saul's death. And then we're going to look at the sorrow over Saul's death.

The story over Saul's death in chapter one of second Samuel consists of three things. The announcement of the death, the Amalekite who claimed to kill Saul. Then of course, the assassination of that Amalekite. Let's look first of all at the announcement.

David did not know that Saul was dead or Jonathan was dead. He knew he was in the battle. It would take him three days to get from where he was back to Ziklag. Once he got there, the city was burned. He had to go and he had to fight the Amalekites, come back to Ziklag, be there for two days. And now this Amalekite shows up and gives him the announcement that Saul is dead. He asked, how do you know? He's got the crown in his hand. Okay. How do you know he's dead? And he gives a story about he's wounded and he sees me.

He cries out to me. I come to him. He asked me who I am. I tell him who I am. And he wants me to kill him so he doesn't have to suffer anymore. So I slay him. The question comes is that exactly what happened? Because there's discrepancy. Did this Amalekite kill Saul or did Saul commit suicide? There's a big discussion about that. And the answer could be both, or it could not be both. It could be one or the other. What is the answer? Does the Bible teach in 1 Chronicles 10 and 1 Samuel 31 that Saul committed suicide?

The answer, yes. Does the Bible teach in 2 Samuel 1 that the Amalekite assisted him and killed him to put him out of his misery? The answer is yes. Are both true? Can both be true? And on top of that, does the Bible contradict itself? Because the critics will say there's a major contradiction between 1 Samuel 31, 1 Chronicles 10, and 2 Samuel 1. Well, I want to let you know, to dispel all notions, okay, that in all reality Saul did not commit suicide and the Amalekite did not kill him. God killed him.

How do I know that? 1 Chronicles 10, verse number 13. So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep and also because he asked counsel of a medium making inquiry of it and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore he, that is the Lord God, killed him and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse. To dispel all notions about who killed who, when, where, and how, the bottom line is God killed him. It was time for Saul to die. David had his opportunities to kill him.

He did not. Why? Because he would not lay his hand against the Lord's anointed. But this Amalekite says that he did it. He says that Saul was suffering and therefore he just put him out of his misery. Is that the way it happened? I don't know. I do know this. God says he killed him.

That's good enough for me. Now you might not like that but that's what 1 Chronicles chapter 10, verse number 13 says. If you've got a problem with that, just talk to God about it. I'm sure He'll give you an answer sometime. But that's the bottom line. And this Amalekite, whether he lied or didn't lie, some say, well he was lying. But note this, if he was lying and David said to his men, kill him, don't you think he would have said, wait I'm lying. I'm not telling the truth here. That's not really how it happened.

I would think he would say something like that. Just because he wanted to live. I mean that's why he was there. Why did he come to David? Because he thought that probably there would be a reward. In fact, in 2 Samuel chapter 4, verse number 10, it does say this, When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. In other words, maybe there was this Amalekite who came and was looking for a reward.

That somehow he would be able to gain favor with this new king of Israel by bringing him the crown of his enemy. The crown of the one who pursued him so relentlessly for the last decade. It didn't work out that way. But you'll note that 1 Chronicles 10, 13 tells us that the reason God killed him is because he trespassed against the word of the Lord. He did not obey God's word. Yes, he sought a spiritist, a medium to somehow inquire of the evilness and the wickedness of that medium about Samuel. But the bottom line is he trespassed against the word of the Lord.

He disobeyed God's holy word. And he was supposed to kill every Amalekite. He was supposed to kill the king of the Amalekites, and he didn't do it because he listened to the voice of the people. Now, if we were meeting tonight at 830 with the men of our church and talking about faith driven fathers, we would counsel the men not to listen to the multitude of people who would turn you away from God. Because more people will turn you away from God than will turn you toward God. And you have got to learn to stand alone in order to stand above everybody else.

And most men just can't do that. But you have to. Saul did not. Saul now is dead. He died in a humiliating way on Mount Geboa. His son died as well. But he died because of a sin. He trespassed the word of the Lord. He took matters into his own hands. He did what he thought was right instead of obeying God's holy word. That will always bring disaster to your life, to your marriage, to your family. You need to do what God's word says no matter what. And this man came, this Amalekite. Who is this Amalekite?

Well, he was of the tribe that David was or Saul was supposed to kill. All the Israelites were supposed to wipe them off. For back in Deuteronomy chapter 25, we read this past week, verse 17, remember that Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary and he did not fear God. Therefore, it shall come about when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

You must not forget. You must blot out all the Amalekites. Must kill them all. Saul did not do that when he was commanded by God to do so. It cost him his kingship. He never repented of a sin. He never went back. You know, yeah, he said to Samuel he was sorry, but he wanted Samuel to plead his case before the people. But he never truly repented of a sin, never got back on track with the Lord God of Israel and just continued to stray further and further and further away through a bitter spirit because there was one in his company, young David, who had heard the words that he, Saul, heard when they returned from defeating the Philistines.

Saul has slain his thousands, but David has ten thousands. That did not sit well with the king. And so he wanted to rid himself of any competition from anybody who would want to take his rulership from him. And David didn't want to take it from him. He was anointed king of Israel by Samuel the prophet. And so this Amalekite is from a nation of people that is supposed to be destroyed by Israel. And Saul did not do that. So David does. And David asks him, what makes you think you can lay your hand against the Lord's anointing?

What makes you think you can kill God's man? You can't do that. And so David killed him. The question comes, was that the right thing to do? Remember, David is now the king of Israel. He has yet to ascend the throne, but for all practical purposes, he's already been anointed by Samuel. He is the king of Israel. This is his first order of business since the death of Saul.

What is he going to do? He must rid Israel of every evil influence. He must help Israel to understand that evil cannot coexist with us. And so he has the man slain right there. Not just because he laid his hand against the Lord's anointing, which he did. You can't do that. But he was an Amalekite and God had made a rule. I want them all to die. And David, his first order of business was to deal with the Amalekite.

And he dealed with evil quickly and decisively. If you want to lead in God's kingdom, you must deal with evil quickly and decisively. You can't play with evil. You must deal with it when it arises. Don't have to pray about it. Don't have to ask God about it. If it's evil, you got to deal with it. As fathers in our homes, we must not let evil come into our homes. We are the protectors of our homes. We are the providers of our homes. Therefore, we protect and provide for our families. We protect them from relationships that are ungodly.

We protect them from people that will draw them away from the Lord and not to the Lord. That's our responsibility because we are the protectors of our household. David begins his protecting of the household of Israel by slaying the Amalekite immediately. And he will set the tone for his kingship. He will let the nation know that he is the ruler. He is the leader. He will not tolerate evil. In fact, later in his ministry, David will write these words in Psalm 101. I will sing of loving kindness and justice to thee, O Lord.

I will sing praises. I will give heed to the blameless way. When wilt thou come to me? I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart. I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not fasten its grip on me. A perverse heart shall depart from me. I will know no evil. Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy. No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure. My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land that they may dwell with me.

He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me. But he who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house. He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me. Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land so as to cut off from the city of the Lord all those who do iniquity. Now that's a prayer and a commitment by the sweet singer of Israel. He wanted to deal with evil. He models that in his first act as king.

And it's not an official act because he's yet to ascend the throne. But he sets a tone for how he's going to rule in the land. And so he deals with the Amalekite in a quick and swift way. He acted with wisdom. He acted with prudence. And they mourned. They mourned Saul and Jonathan until the evening time. And then David writes this elegy. What is an elegy? It's a poem. It's a song designed specifically to express sorrow for those who are dead. It can include a eulogy. But a eulogy simply is a formal statement of praise generally for those who are dead.

But an elegy is a song. A song that is meant to be taught so all will sing it because they know it. This becomes the classic way to help people understand how to deal with those who have died. And David writes this elegy, the song of the bow, in a way that helps us come to grips with how you speak about people when they die. And it says, he told them, teach the sons of Judah the song of the bow. Remember back in the book of Deuteronomy, God told Moses, teach them the song of Moses. In fact, God says this.

He says, verse 14 of Deuteronomy 31, then the Lord said to Moses, behold, the time for you to die is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting that I may commission him. So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. And the Lord appeared in the tent and the pillar of a cloud and the pillar of a cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. And the Lord said to Moses, behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Wouldn't it be good to know that God says, okay, you're going to die.

You're about to die. Moses had a warning, a heads up, right? And this people will arise and play the harlot with the string gods of the land into the midst of which they're going. It will forsake me and break my covenant, which I had made with them. Wow. Can you imagine being the leader of Israel and God says, you're going to die.

And after you die, this is what's going to happen. They're going to play the harlot. They're going to turn away from me. You'd wonder whether or not your leadership was effective or not. Verse 17, then my anger will be kindled against them in that day. And I will forsake them and hide my face from them and they shall be consumed and many evils and troubles shall come upon them. So they will say in that day, is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us, but I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil, which they will do for, they will turn to other gods.

Now, therefore write this song for yourselves and teach it to the sons of Israel, put it on their lips in order that they, that this song may be a witness for me against the sons of Israel. For when I bring them into the land, flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers and they have eaten and are satisfied and become prosperous. Then they will turn to other gods and serve them and spurn me and break my covenant. Then it shall come about when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify before them as a witness for it shall not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants for I know their intent, which they are developing today before I have brought them into the lane, which I swore.

So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the sons of Israel. That song is Deuteronomy chapter 32. And God writes this song because he knows that Israel is going to rebel and you write it Moses and you teach it to them. So it's on their lips. So they know exactly why evil has come upon them. They know exactly why their lives are in turmoil. They need to know why their lives are so disheveled. They turned their back on me. They spurned me, the God who led them out of Egyptian bondage.

They turned away from me. That's why their lives are in shambles and you bank on it. People's lives are in shambles because they turned their back on the Lord God. God will not be mocked. Whatsoever man sows, that shall he also reap. And they might not reap the destruction today for their sins of yesterday, but they will reap the tragic consequences of their sins. Because God said, you write it down, you teach it to them, you sing it for them because they got to know it. It's going to happen just like I said.

And now David writes a song, the song of the bow. He says, you teach it to the sons of Judah. They need to know about Saul. They need to know about Jonathan. They need to know about their leaders. At the same time, they need to know how David responds when his enemy is dead. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs 24 chapter verse 17, do not rejoice when your enemy falls and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles.

Boy, that's a hard one to swallow, isn't it? If you've gone through a horrific divorce and your husband has treated you horribly and has gained everything, you have nothing. And then he goes bankrupt, belly up and falls. It's hard not to rejoice. But God says, don't do that.

Don't do that. Why? Because I want you to be a man or a woman after my heart. I want you to be like me. And I want you to humbly realize that all you have is because of me anyway. And so David responds in a beautiful way. And we'll look at several things.

First of all, the anthem itself. It was not excessive in its sorrow. It was exceptional in its sorrow. And surely they should sorrow over the life of the loss of their king. But it was a lamentation. It was a lamentation about David, I mean, about Saul and his son, Jonathan. And he writes this so that they will learn in the midst of the sorrow. Tears do teach. Sometimes you forget that. That's what the psalmist said in Psalm 1, 1971, it is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn thy decrees.

Times of tears are times of teaching. Sometimes they are the best way to teach. And Israel would mourn the loss of their first king, as David would mourn the loss of his king, as well as his best friend, Jonathan.

Let's look at the attitude behind this elegy, this song of the bow. Notice it says, how have the mighty fallen?

Wow. It wasn't just anybody who died. It was the king of Israel and his son. It was a heavy tragedy. It was heavy because it weighed heavily upon the people. Remember, this was their beauty. This was their glory. They wanted a king. They got a king. They got what they asked for. Psalm 106 says, be careful what you ask for, because God sometimes gives you the desire of your heart and sends leanness to your soul. Right? Sometimes we forget about that. Well, God gave them the desire of their hearts and boy, did they have a leanness in their soul.

There was a barrenness in their souls because this king did not lead them in the ways of God. Yes, Samuel was a prophet and Samuel was supposed to lead them in the ways of God, but the king, the king should have been a follower of God. He was not. And so there was great tragedy, but it's also a warning. It's a warning about the results of sin and falling away from the Lord and not serving God and not, not repenting when I do sin and giving my life back to the Lord and saying, Lord, take my life and make it what you want it to be.

Forgive me for my, for my sin. Saul never did that. He just kept falling further and further and further away from the Lord. He never turned back to the Lord God. It says, how have the mighty fallen from their high places? Some would believe that the high places are Mount Gilboa. It's a high place. I would tend to look at it from a different perspective.

The mighty was the king, his son, who for all practical purposes should have been the next king, but he lost that opportunity when God rejected Saul and his family. But the mighty who are in the high places were the ones who had fallen. You see, sometimes we want to be at a bigger, better position than we're in. And we clamor for that, wanting to get that promotion, wanting to get higher up the ladder and somehow make more money to have more authority. You know, be careful what you ask for. Because when you're in the high places and you fall, it affects a lot of people.

In the church, people love to teach. They want to be teachers. And the Bible says, don't many of you seek to be teachers for with it comes a greater condemnation.

I told you the story. I'll tell it to you again. Someone comes to me and asks, I want to be a teacher. I always tell them, look to do something else. Don't do that. Unless you know for certain God has called you and given you the gift to teach. Then you read James three, verse number one.

We just think that anybody can step into a Sunday school classroom and teach. Not so. Anybody could step into a pulpit and teach. Not so. Can't do it. The church is a, is an organism. It's different than any other thing. Just because you teach some other place at a college or some seminary doesn't mean you can teach in the church. Big difference. There's a huge difference. Because in the church, it requires a spiritual gift, a spiritual gift, not just the desire, but a gift granted to you by the spirit of God himself to make you a powerful instrument in the hand of God.

That's why the Bible says, don't many of you seek to be teachers for with it comes a greater condemnation.

Why? If you teach people the wrong thing, leading them down the wrong path, you're in for a heap of trouble. Heap of trouble. And oh, how the mighty have fallen. There's a, there's a caution in this elegy about those of us who, who want to be in high places. Be careful because with that comes a great, great responsibility. The Bible says, tell it not to Gath or not in Gath.

Gath is the, the capital of the Philistines. Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, which is their religious center. Why? Because you don't want to air your dirty laundry before the enemy. That's why. You don't want them rejoicing. They were the ones who sang the song. Remember when David went to Philistia and they said, oh, this is the one that was said, Saul has 10,000, but David has 10,000. They knew the song already, but now there would be a different song if they found out about this one.

And David says, don't tell it to the enemy. Don't let them rejoice over what has happened here. This is a sad time, not a joyous time. And then he talks about how it is that these men, Jonathan, his father Saul were mighty warriors, mighty, mighty warriors. It's what David doesn't say that strikes me. David never points out the faults of Saul. Never focuses in on the sins of Saul. Never says, you know, I want to teach you this song, you inhabitants of Judah. When someone throws a spear at you, duck quickly and run, because that's what this guy did to me.

He didn't bring those things up. Doesn't bring up the past 10 years of negativity. Doesn't bring up the past and all the turmoil that David went through. We had to go from rock to rock, from rock to cave, from cave to forest, from forest to village, and had no rest. He could have easily went back and said, boy, I tell you, rejoice, O Israel, for your king is dead and a better one is on the horizon. That's me. Because David was a humble man, not an arrogant man. And so he would get them to focus on the great things of Saul as he commended him for his work as a warrior, as a soldier.

He, they were stronger than lions, he says in verse 23. They were swifter than eagles. Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life. And in their death, they were not parted. You know, there were difficulties between father and son. Jonathan loved David. Saul hated David. Saul even tried to kill his own son, Jonathan, with a spear. But in death, they were together. And David knew of the sensitivity of the relationship, and never did he ever try to divide father from son. Never tried to do that.

Oh, he cherished the relationship he had with Jonathan, but he never tried to divide his father from his son. He respected that relationship. He emphasizes that in the elegy. He helps them to understand, all of Israel, that Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life. And in their death, they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles. They were stronger than lions. And then he says, the daughters of Israel weep over Saul. This is his advice, who clothes you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

He says, listen, you got to change songs. No longer do you sing the song you sang 10 years ago. Okay, that's an old song. Okay, here's a new song. I want you to weep for Saul, because if it wasn't for him, you would not be clothed in what you're wearing today. It's because of him, you have the clothes you have. It's because of him, you have prospered. It's because of him. Yes, God used King Saul to help Israel prosper. And so he focuses them on the positive aspect of Saul's kingship. That they might look back and say, God, it was good to us by giving us a king.

And this is what he's done for us. And we rejoice with that. And then he turns from the advice to the affection he has for Jonathan. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. In the midst of battle, Jonathan is slain on your high places. He loved Jonathan. He was his best friend. Maybe he was his only friend. I don't know. But it was certainly his best friend. And he loved Jonathan, and Jonathan loved him. And the love they had, the relationship they had was so unique. It was different than a man would have with a woman.

It was a love based on loyalty, based on commitment, and based on sacrifice. And Jonathan would live his life sacrificially for his friend David. And David now mourns the loss of his great friend. For now he's dead. He'll never see him again this side of eternity. And that's basically the song. It deals with Saul. It deals with Jonathan. It's an anthem that rings true of one who demonstrated a heart that was after God. That was David. But he never says anything negative about Saul in the song. Wow.

How do you do that when for over 10 years it was all negative? But notice that David never says anything about Saul's godliness either, does he?

Because Saul wasn't a godly man. So he doesn't say things that aren't true. He doesn't paint a picture that's false. He doesn't get you to believe something about Saul that would cause you to change your mind about his kingship. No. He speaks the truth. He was a mighty warrior. He did help Israel prosper. He was used by God. And yet he never emphasizes anything godly about him. Because there was nothing godly to report. Remember 1 Peter 4 verse number 8? Love covers a multitude of sins. Wow. That's an incredible thing.

We're not here to expose Saul. Everybody knew his sin. Everybody knew how bad he was. It was no secret, you know. But David loved Saul. He loved him enough not to expose him but to honor the king. Two things I want to point out to you. And both of them in the realm of submission as a result of this song. And the first one is this.

Submission to God's appointed leader is crucial. David was submissive to his king. And we need to be submissive to God's appointed leaders in our lives. That is just so important. And David, if he teaches us anything, teaches teaches that. He was submissive to the king. He respected and honored the king. So much so that when he had the opportunity to slay him, he did not. He spared him. Because he would not violate the word of God and lay his hand against God's anointed. And would it be that we would learn that?

Especially as God-given authority. They are God's appointed leader for your life. And when you decide to come out from under that realm of submission and do your own thing, there's always going to be problems. God has given you your parents to give you guidance and wisdom and leadership. You must submit to that leadership. Because if you don't submit to it at home, you will not submit to it when you get outside the home. That is an ironclad promise across the board. Because you learn the whole realm of authority and submission in your home.

That's where you learn it. And you'll find that those who do not learn that lesson at home, leave home, have a problem with authority. Don't want to submit to it. Have a problem in their marriage when it comes to authority. Boy folks, that's, that's crucial. And God appoints leaders. If you're a wife today, you have to submit to your husband's leadership. So the Bible says.

He might be a horrible leader. Saul was a horrible leader. But he is God's appointed leader for you. That's a hard thing to swallow. But David models that to us. Remember, he mirrors our lives. He demonstrates to us how we are to live our lives from day to day. And he would submit himself to ungodly leadership. That's so important. It wasn't blind allegiance. David wasn't blind to Saul's sins. It wasn't that he just did whatever the king said to do it without ever asking the question. No, but he was submissive to the, to, as unto the Lord.

That's what submission is, right? Submit yourselves to one another as unto the Lord, because you're really submitting to the Lord. It's not about that particular authority. It is the ultimate authority, God himself. And David teaches us that. He teaches us about submission to God's appointed leaders. And then he teaches us about submission in God's appointed leading, God's appointed leading. Because if you look at second Samuel chapter two, verse one says, then it came about afterwards that David inquired of the Lord saying, shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?

And the Lord said to him, go up. So David said, where shall I go up? And he said, to Hebron. God says, it's time.

It's finally time. This is so good because at any time David could have killed Saul and ascended that throne. It would have marred his leadership forever. But he had to wait for the divine appointed leading in his life. He could not go ahead of God. He could not become so impatient that he would take matters into his own hand and run his life the way he wanted to run it. That's why Peter says, first Peter five, verse number six, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and he will exalt you in due time.

That phrase, the mighty hand, it's a phrase used in conjunction with Israel throughout their deliverance. And it was always dealing with the destiny and discipline of Israel. It was always under God's mighty hand. It's called the mighty hand of God's destiny. And Peter says, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God's destiny, and he will exalt you in due time. In his time, you must submit to the appointed leading of your life, of God in your life, so that when it's time for him to exalt you, he will exalt you.

You must wait upon the Lord. Absolutely crucial. And David does teach us that lesson. He has waited for 10 plus years. He has waited for all practical purposes patiently for this day. And when the day finally happened and Saul is dead, it wasn't like, yippee, I'm going to the throne.

It was a song of respect and honor for his enemy in the worship of God. And then he inquires of the Lord, Lord, now's the time. And God says, it's time.

It's time. But there's still more to be taught, still more to learn for David. And so it wasn't all that he expected it to be once he got there. And it never really is, by the way. It's like marriage, you know, you want to get married, you want to get married, you want to get married. So you patiently wait for the right one. You get the right one. And you expect all these grandiose things. It's never quite what you expected it to be. Right? It never is. But it's always what God wants it to be in his sovereign control.

And so here was David. Now do I go? Now's the time. God says, now it's time. But he doesn't have the kingship over all of Israel, just a portion of it, just Judah for the next seven and a half years. And he'll have to learn to gain the respect of the rest of the tribes over time. And he will. But he learned to submit to God's appointed leading in his life. Have you learned that? Have you learned to wait upon the Lord, to trust Him, to wait patiently for Him? Have you learned to submit to God's appointed leader in your life?

Maybe it's your husband. Maybe it's your parents. Maybe it's your elders of your church. Maybe it's your leader at your place of employment. But have you learned to submit to God's appointed leader over your life? Those are the lessons that God is using this chapter to teach us. And may we learn them well, that we might prosper as God designs. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for your word, the joy that's there. What a privilege, Lord, it is for us to look at the life of David.

Father, we need to learn so much from him. We need to depend upon you and trust you and believe in you. And I pray for every man, woman, boy, and girl in this room this evening, that God, you cause them to submit to their appointed leader and to your appointed leading of their lives, that they might learn to trust and believe in the Lord God of Israel with all their heart. We love you. Look forward to worshiping again together this Lord's day. In your name we pray. Amen.