Now it came to pass, after the
death of Saul, and David was returned from the slaughter of
the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag. It came even to pass on the third
day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul, with
his clothes, ranch, and earth upon his head. And so it was
when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.
And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said
unto him, out of the camp of Israel, and I escaped. And David
said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he
answered that the people are fled from the battle, and many
of the people also are fallen and dead. And Saul and Jonathan
his son are dead also. And David said unto the young
man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his
son be dead? And the young man that told him
said, As I happened by chance upon Mount Gilboa, behold, Saul
leaned upon his spear, And lo, the chariots and horsemen followed
hard after him. And when he looked behind him,
he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I. And
he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite."
He was an Amalekite by birth, but he had become a Jewish proselyte.
That's how he was in the camp of Israel. He's a proselyte.
And he said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay
me. For anguish has come upon me, because my life is yet whole.
in me. So I stood upon him and slew
him, because I was sure that he could not live after that
he was fallen. And I took the crown that was upon his head,
and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them
hither unto my Lord. And David took hold on his clothes,
and rent them, and likewise all the men that were with him. And
they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for
Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the
house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword." Now
pretty much everyone agrees that this man who comes to David,
this Amalekite, did not kill Saul. We read in the last chapter
how Saul took his own life. But what this man is doing is
lying to David to try to curry favor with David. He's trying
to take credit for this thinking David will be very happy that
Saul is dead. What must have happened is he
came across the dead body of Saul and he took Saul's crown
and he took his bracelet And he made up this story and brought
these things to David to try to get David's favor. Now, I
told you he was a Jewish proselyte. His father was an Amalekite.
He is an Amalekite by birth, but he had become a proselyte.
He converted to Judaism. And what he is really is a religious
pretender. That's what he is, a pretender.
And mourning was not the reaction he expected from David and his
men. I'm sure he expected a celebration. And more importantly, he expected
to be rewarded for killing Saul. But David mourns. And this was
not just a show. He truly was mourning. And when
he does this, he teaches us an important lesson about our attitude. I have looked and looked and
looked at this this week in regard to my heart, my attitude. Now
you think about this. Saul's mission in life was to
kill David. Seven years ago, David was anointed
king of Israel. For seven years, he'd been on
the run from Saul. In those past seven years, he
never sat on the throne. He never wore the crown. This
is a long time to have been anointed king, but living in caves and
dens and the fields and so forth. David was anointed. But Saul
is the king of Israel, and David knew God put Saul on the throne.
God anointed him, he put Saul on the throne to accomplish his
purpose for that time. And David mourns. First of all,
he truly mourns because of the death of the king. This is the
king of his people. The king has died. Look over
in Proverbs 24. David's son, Solomon, gives us
some good instruction right here. David mourned because the king
has been slain. In Proverbs 24, verse 17, Rejoice not when thine enemy
falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth, lest
the Lord see it, and it displease him, and turn away his wrath
from him. Just don't celebrate, don't rejoice
when your enemy falleth. That's what David did, he mourned.
He mourned because the king had been slain. Secondly, David mourned
because his people, Israel, suffered when the king died. When Saul
was slain, Israel suffered and he mourned. Even though it was
a relief to him personally, he mourned because Israel suffered
when the king died. And even though it was good news
for David personally, thirdly, David and his men mourned for
all those families that had lost loved ones in battle. Many men
were slain in that battle, and they mourned for those families
that had lost those loved ones. And fourthly, David particularly
mourns for the loss of Jonathan, his friend, his dear friend,
who he loved more than his own soul, Scripture says. Now, Jonathan
had to die. It was just the way that the
Lord would open up the throne for David. With Jonathan dead,
there's no rivals to the throne. We'll see this later. They tried
to take one of the other sons of Saul, make him king, and most
people would not accept him. But now Jonathan, a lot of people
would have been behind him. Now that Jonathan's dead, the
way to the throne is open for David. But David still mourned
with a genuine heart mourning because David had a heart that
cared about somebody other than himself. I'd love to have a heart
like that, that cared about somebody else more than I care about old
Frank. That's the heart David had and
he mourned. Well, look at verse 13. David said unto the young
man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I'm the
son of a stranger and a Malachite. And David said unto him, How
is thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand and destroy
the Lord's anointed? And David called one of the young
men and said, Go near and fall upon him. And he smote him, that
he died. And David said unto him, Thy
blood be upon thy head, for thy mouth hath testified against
thee, saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed. Now Saul may
have been a wicked man, but like I said, he's God's anointed king
for this time to accomplish God's purpose at this particular moment
in time. And David had this man killed
who claimed to have killed the Lord's anointed. That account reminded me of the
people who crucified our Lord Jesus. They thought they were
doing the will of God when they crucified him, didn't they? That's
what they thought. David said, this young man, he says, thy
blood be upon thy head. What did that crowd say? Crucify
him. Let his blood be on us and on
our children. His blood's on their head. They
thought they were doing the will of God. They thought God would
be happy with them. for killing this man who claimed
to be God's son. Now, you've got to grant them. They appeared very pious, didn't
they? They appeared so religious. They were very religious. They
were zealous of their religious tradition, but you know what
they were? They were religious pretenders, just like this young
man, a pretender. Now, they accomplished God's
purpose, didn't they? But God's not pleased. And the
same people The same kind of people treat God's people the
same way for the same reasons today. Look over in John 16.
Our Lord told us this would happen. The same kind of religious zealots
treat God's children the same way for the same reasons as they
crucified our Lord. John 16, verse 1. These things
have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They
shall put you out of the synagogues. Yea, the time cometh that whosoever
killeth you will think he doeth God's service. And these things
will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father,
nor me." That's why they do these things. They're religious pretenders.
They don't know the Father or the Son. And in judgment, they'll
find out God's not pleased. God's not pleased with all those
works and things that they do. Look back at Luke chapter 17.
They'll find out. They'll claim, Lord, we did all
these many wonderful works in your name. We preached, we cast
out devils, we put these heathens to death, and we did all these
things. And the Lord's going to tell them, I never knew you.
I never knew you. In Luke 17, look what he says,
Then said he unto his disciples, It is impossible, but that offenses
will come. Now, they must come. but woe
unto him through whom they come. It were better for him that a
millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea
than that he should offend one of these little ones." And they'll
find out God's not pleased with them killing his son or offending
the least of those, his little ones. Well, then I thought of
this question. How can you please God? How can
we please God? Well, I promise you it's not
by anything we do. Paul said they that are in the flesh cannot
please God. God cannot be pleased with the
motions of our sinful flesh. But I know this, God is pleased
with His Son. He said it from heaven, this
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. God's pleased with
His Son and He's pleased with His people in His Son. God's
pleased with those who believe on His Son. Look over at John
chapter 6. God is pleased with those who
have faith, belief in his Son. John chapter 6 verse 28, Then
said they unto him, What shall we do that we might work the
works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the
work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent. It is
to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without faith, Scripture says,
it is impossible to please Him. And I say with that Father, Lord,
I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Help
mine unbelief. Look over 1 Corinthians chapter
10. It's impossible to please God without faith. 1 Corinthians
10. It's not religious activities
and miracles and signs and wonders. It's through faith in God's Son. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I would not
that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under
the cloud. They all passed through the sea. They were all baptized
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all did eat the
same spiritual meat. They all did drink the same spiritual
drink. For they drank of that spiritual
rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ All those
people, they went through all those miracles. They went through
the Red Sea. They went through the day of
the Passover. They followed the cloud through the wilderness.
They all drank of that rock when Moses smote it. They saw all
the miracles. They did all the ceremonies and things. Then why didn't they enter the
Promised Land? Verse 5, but with many of them, God was not well
pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Why did God
overthrow them in the wilderness? Paul tells us in Hebrews 3, their
carcasses fell in the wilderness and they could not enter in because
of unbelief. No faith. They did not have faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this man who came to David
couldn't please David either because he tried to please David
through something he did. And that's what these people
are going to find. That's what everyone in the Day of Judgment will find.
There's no pleasing God apart from faith in his Son, being
in Christ. So verse 17, back in our text,
now this man's been put to death. And David lamented with this
lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan, his son. Also, he bade
them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow. Behold, it
is written in the book of Joshua. Now, David gives a commandment
here that the men of Judah become expert archers, that they become
experts with the bow, with the weapon that killed Jonathan,
his beloved friend. And the same thing is true of
us today. We must become skilled in our weapons of war. Our weapon
is not a bow, it's the sword. The sword of the Word of God.
If we're going to be successful in this battle, it will only
be through the Word of God. That's why I love teaching the
Word of God, verse by verse, line upon line upon line, because
this is our spiritual weapon, the Word of God. song here that David writes in
his next verses was recorded in the book of Jasher. And they
tell me that that's a song book that had poems in it that the
Jews sang long since been lost. But this is preserved for us
in scripture. In verse 19, here's David's eulogy
in his song of mourning. He says, The beauty of Israel
is slain upon thy high places. How are the mighty fallen? And
that's the title of the lesson this morning. How are the mighty
fallen? Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets
of Ascalon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest
the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains of Gilboa,
let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you, nor
fields of offerings. For there the shield of the mighty
is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not
been anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain,
from the fat of the mighty, the bold Jonathan turned not The
sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely
and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were
not divided. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger
than lions. Ye daughters of Israel, weep
over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet with other delights,
who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the
mighty fallen in the midst of the battle? O Jonathan, thou
wast slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my
brother Jonathan. Very pleasant hast thou been
unto me. Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women, how
the mighty are fallen, and the weapons of war perished." Now,
I want us to look at this eulogy in two ways. First, I want us
to see this as a warning to believers how we can fall. Now, we know
a child of God cannot fall away from Christ. But we can stumble
and we can fall and bring reproach upon the gospel and bring damage
to our brethren. This is a warning to us. And
Saul is an illustration of this. Now, Saul's not a believer. He's
a reprobate. But he is an example of how a
believer can fall or how a pretender can be revealed and cause damage
to God's church. Saul was anointed by the Lord
to be king. Now think of that. He spent a
lot of time with Samuel. You'd think in that time he spent
with Samuel he should have learned something, shouldn't he? We read
of the Spirit of God coming upon Saul, and not coming in him to
abide in a saving way, but coming upon him and enabling Saul to
do some impressive things, particularly some impressive things in battle.
Saul spent time prophesying. I mean, now there was a time
he didn't know God, but he sure looked and sounded like a preacher.
But look how he fell, how the mighty are fallen. David says
Saul and Jonathan, now they were lovely and pleasant. They were
the best Israel had to offer. I looked and I thought, Saul
didn't act like a very pleasant fellow, you know, but to Jonathan
he was. He was pleasant to Jonathan.
He loved that boy. He's pleasant to him. They're
pleasant to one another. They were not divided, even in
death. They fought side by side, died
together. And whatever a person thought
about Saul, you have to admit, Saul and Jonathan were swifter
than eagles and stronger than lions. But how the swift and
the strong in the flesh have fallen. They've fallen. This
is the best the flesh has to offer and what's left of them.
They're both dead. They've been beheaded. Their
naked bodies hung on the wall of their enemies. And the Jews
did go recover those bodies, but they're just turned to ashes
now. They're buried, burned to ashes and buried. There's nothing
left of the physically swift and strong, but ashes hidden
away from the enemy. In all Israel, they've left the
promised land. They've left their homes. The
Philistines are living in their houses because of how Saul reigned
and how Saul died, how he fell. Now, a believer can fall into
a time of sin, temptation. and caused very similar damage
to spiritual Israel. And this is a warning to us.
Look in Psalm 73. We can do this, cause this damage
to our brethren. In Psalm 73, David is lamenting
here about the wicked. They're rich,
they've got everything the heart can desire. And he says in verse
12, Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They
increase in riches. That's not happening to me. He
says, Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my
hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been
plagued and chastened every morning. Now, if I say this, if I say
these things that run through my mind or in my heart, if I
say this, I'll speak thus. Behold, I should offend against
the generation of my children. If I say these things out loud,
I'm going to offend God's people. I'm going to lead others of God's
people to fall in the same way. There is a time to keep our mouth
shut. Just keep our bad attitude to
ourselves so it doesn't infect our brethren. There's times we
want to just act out in anger, act out in a way the flesh would
want to act out. There's a time just to be still now. Because
we're going to offend our brethren. We're going to lead our brethren
into the same bad example, the same bad example of attitude.
That's just so. There's a time to keep our mouths
shut so we don't cause the people of God to say with David, how
are the mighty fallen? And there's four warnings here
to us about the damage we can cause to our brethren when a
believer falls. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12,
Paul said, now beware. You that think you stand, you
beware. lest you fall. Now, we can do it, believe me.
And the first warning in our text is in verse 19. The beauty
of Israel is slain. This is what we say when someone
we have confidence in, they're an example of faith to us, and
they fall. Now, I promise you, any beauty
of man is going to fail and fall every time. And when it happens,
Don't get a holier-than-thou attitude against your brother
and look down your nose at your brother if he's fallen. Don't
do that. And don't gossip about it. This is not a matter to be
discussed amongst the general population. Because when you
do, it's not a piece of gossip to talk about. You know what
we do? We just start gossiping about
this. We bring reproach on the gospel. David says, don't talk
about this among those Philistines, lest they rejoice. Don't do that.
It's not a juicy piece of gossip. He told the daughters of Israel,
he said, you weep. Don't talk about it amongst the
Philistines. You weep and mourn how the mighty
have fallen. The beauty of Israel was slain.
Second, when a believer falls into sin, temptation, it's vile. It's done in a vile way because
all sin is vile, isn't it? And when that happens, we just
bring open shame upon the gospel. David said in verse 21, the shield
of the one we thought was mighty is vilely cast away. And what
he's talking about there is a soldier throwing away his shield and
running away as a coward. Families at that time told soldiers
as they go off to war, you come home either carrying your shield
or being carried upon your shield. You either fight and live bravely,
valiantly, Or you die valiantly. Don't you live a coward. Don't
you come home if you've cast your shield away. You come home
carrying it or being carried upon it. Saul died as a coward
and all of Israel is troubled because of it. He looks like
a man who was never anointed with oil in the first place.
And that's the damage that a believer can cause or this religious pretender
can cause who ultimately is revealed as someone who was never anointed
with oil in the first place. Or worse yet, if we act like
a believer, a child of God, acts like they've never been anointed
with oil in the first place. No one with life, no one with
spiritual life wants to bring that kind of reproach on the
gospel or that kind of damage to our brethren that we love
so much. It's fallen vilely. Thirdly, when a believer falls,
it's shameful. It's shameful to quit before
the battle is over or before the race is run. Saul and Jonathan
were slain in the midst of the battle, David said. Before the
battle was over. That's why Israel lost. Saul
and Jonathan died in the midst of the battle, before it was
over. Now brethren, we've got a battle. And our battle is not
over. Our battle in this world is not
over. Our course on this earth is not finished. And if we quit
in the middle of the race, Others are going to be tempted to follow
our bad example. A number of years ago, I ran
the Detroit International Marathon. I was excited. I mean, I trained. I was in the best shape of my
life. That gun sounded, and I took
off like a dart. And the first 14 miles, I was
just walking around the park. I mean, just nothing. I wasn't
sweating. I wasn't breathing. I mean, nothing.
I thought, this is awesome. Before I got to mile 16, buddy,
somebody split the switch off. I mean, I was done. I thought,
well, I'll walk a little while, try to jog something. I couldn't
jog a half a block. For 10 miles, I walked until
I got to that finish line. And I'd pass the aid stations,
and I'd see somebody laying there on the stretcher, their shoes
off, they had a nice, cool drink in their hand. I thought they looked more comfortable
than I feel. I wanted to quit. I mean, I just wanted to quit.
Have you been there? Just want to quit? Don't quit. The race is not over. The course
is not finished. The battle's not won. Don't quit
in the midst of the battle. Let's say with the Apostle Paul,
I finished my course. I've kept the faith. Don't quit
before the battle's over. And fourth, this warning. The
worst kind of damage is caused when someone falls from a high
place. David says, Jonathan, you were killed in your high
places. And the high places were supposed to be the safest. They're
the places that are easiest to defend. But that's right where
Jonathan was slain, in the high places. And the pulpits are the
high places in the church. This is where God's word is proclaimed. This is the high place. The place
that the church must protect at all costs. And many people
stumble and fall when false doctrine enters this place. Oh, the damage
that's caused. And when someone falls from the
pulpit for a place of leadership in the church, the church suffers
great damage. With religion today, the greatest
problem in religion today is cowards and reprobates like Saul
are in the pulpit, in the high place, and causes untold damage
to people. Now, this possibility of falling
is very, very real to someone in the flesh. Now, it happens.
Would you agree that the angels are mighty? They're mighty. But we read of a third of the
heavenly host falling. Not one of them has ever been
redeemed. Not one. Adam was mighty. He was mighty,
created in the image of God, holy and upright. But he fell. And when he fell, he didn't just
cause some offense to his brethren. He caused every one of his descendants
to die. Noah fell. Lot fell, David fell,
Peter fell, and typically they fell when they reached the height
of what, I mean, Noah stepped off the ark and fell. Lot was plucked out of Sodom
and fell. And when I read these warnings,
and I'm telling you, it scares me to death because I know this. If the Lord let me fall, I will.
I mean, with a Thud, I'll fall. Well, what's the remedy? Now,
what's the remedy? What's the believer's confidence
that I won't be a reprobate like Paul and I will be recovered
if I stumble? What's the remedy? The Lord Jesus
Christ. He is our remedy. He was slain
so that we'll never die. He was buried so we'll never
stay dead. He rose again and ascended on
high So we'll follow him there. He's the remedy. And I want to
go back and look at David's eulogy here in this light, the light
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The believer's confidence is
this. The beauty of Israel was slain
for our sin. And this is not something to
keep under wraps, like if one of our brethren falls. God made
sure his son was crucified in a high place. This thing was
not done in a corner. It was done in a high place for
everyone to see. The death of Christ should be
publicized among all men everywhere because he is our only hope of
salvation. David told the daughters of Israel
in verse 24 to mourn over Saul. He clothed you in scarlet. He
put those ornaments of gold on you. He made you beautiful. We
don't mourn over the death of Christ. I mourn my sin that put
him to death, but we don't mourn his death. We celebrate his death.
We remember his death. And we give thanks because Christ
has clothed his people in spotless robes of righteousness that's
been washed in his blood. He's given us ornaments of grace
to wear. He's given us his righteousness,
which is more precious than gold. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
not just given us things to make us beautiful. He is our beauty. He is our beauty. This afternoon
you read Ezekiel 16 about that baby found and polluted in its
blood, passed out to the loathing of its person. In verse 14 he
says, I made you beautiful with my comeliness that I put on you. He is our beauty. The beauty
of Israel was slain for our sin. Second David said Saul fell vilely. Christ our Savior was crucified
Vilely, vilely, the way men handled the Son of God was vile, just
to reveal the worst of human nature for what it is. But worse
than that, more than just how vilely he was treated, the Holy
Son of God was made sin, made to be vile in God's sight. Now,
we know Christ never sinned. He never fell into sin like Saul
fell into sin or we fall into sin. But our Lord Jesus was made
sin when He was made the substitute for fallen men and women like
you and me. And not only did our Savior not look like a man
as He hung there on the cross, He did not look like the Son
of God. He did not look like the anointed of God as He hung
there, bloody agony on that cross. He didn't look like God's anointed,
but He was. But that's what it took to put
the sin of His people away. And he suffered it. He suffered
all the vileness of our sin so that we never will. He's our
hope. You see that? Thirdly, Saul and
Jonathan were slain in the midst of the battle. And if a believer
falls, it's in the midst of the battle, before the battle's finished.
But when Christ died, it wasn't in the midst of the battle. When
he died, the battle's over. The war was won in complete,
absolute victory. It's finished. The battle is
over. It's finished. There will be
no more war. Sin has been put away. Sin no longer has dominion over
a believer. It's been put away. The victory's
been won. The victory over death is accomplished. Death is conquered.
The sting of death is removed, so the believer has nothing to
fear from death. Thirdly, eternal redemption.
When our Lord said it's finished. Now, eternal redemption was finished. It's complete. Nothing can be
added to it and nothing can be taken away from it. It's finished.
And the believer will stumble. But we'll never lose our salvation
because it's finished by our Savior, Calvary's tree. Fourth,
Jonathan was slain in his high places. Christ was slain in a
high public place. But what's the difference between
Jonathan and Christ our Savior? Jonathan stayed dead. Where is
Christ now? Ascended on high. He's in the
high places, assuring the salvation of his people. Assuring that
when we stumble, we'll be recovered. He ascended on high and led captivity
captive. He's seated at the right hand
of the majesty on high, ensuring the salvation of his people.
And last, why? Why did our Savior do this for
his people? Because of his great love for
his people. At the end there of verse 26, David says, While
I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan, very pleasant
hast thou been unto me. Thy love to me was wonderful,
passing the love of women. Now, David is not saying that
he and Jonathan loved each other more than their wives. What he's
saying is it's with a different kind of love. David is saying
that the love that he and Jonathan had for one another was the strongest
love he knew of on this earth. Now, David did not know of a
love stronger than the love of a woman. I went over this with
Janet and she just loved it. She's all the time telling me
men are dogs and women are so much more pure. Well, maybe she's
got a point. I think David might agree with
her. Because what he's saying is, I don't know of a love stronger
than the love of a mother for her children. That love will
make her sacrifice nearly everything for her children. That's how
much she loves him. David didn't know of a love stronger than
the way a woman loves her husband. Usually, and David found this
to be the case, she's not the one to be unfaithful, it's him.
For the love of Christ. For His bride passes all human
knowledge. It's infinite. It's an eternal
love. It's an unchanging love. It's
a perfect love. And it is undeserved. Undeserved. Does that make you
thankful? Oh, my goodness. It makes us
so thankful. And that's why no child of God
can ever fall away. That's why no child of God wants
to fall away, that's our great fear, and that's why no child
of God can fall away. Because of His eternal, unchanging
love for His people. Alright, well I hope the Lord
will bless that too.