2 Samuel chapter 1 and verse 1. Now it came to pass after the
death of Saul, when 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 rent 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 am 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 said unto me again, Stand,
I pray thee, upon me, and slay me, for anguish is 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. Then 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. And
David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son
of a stranger, an Amalekite, And David said unto him, How
wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to 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 has testified against thee,
saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed. And David lamented
with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son. Also
he bade them teach the children of Judah to the use of the bow. Behold it is written in the book
of Jasher. The beauty of Israel is slain
upon the high places, how are the mighty fallen? Tell it not
in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, 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 stain,
from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back,
and 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 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 are the mighty fallen and
the weapons of war perished? Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. This opening chapter of 2 Samuel
divides very neatly into two. However, we're going to take
the whole chapter as our lesson, hence the reading today. And
the first part of the narrative speaks of the incident of the
young Amalekite, who comes to David to tell him news from the
battle between the Philistines and the children of Israel. In this account, I suggest to
you, there are more questions raised than answers given. Who was this young man? Was he a soldier? Was he a servant,
like a squire or an aide-de-camp of later days? Was he a traveller,
caught up unexpectedly in the battle? He was certainly on the
mountain, Mount Gilboa, at a dangerous time. and he was present in the
final moments of Saul's life. The fact that he had possession
of Saul's crown and bracelet would indicate that. But how
did he come by them? And how true was his story about
being involved in the slaying of Saul? And how did he know
to travel so quickly to David with news of Saul and Jonathan's
death and even where to find him? None of these questions
have answers, though that has not stopped people from speculating. And we might wonder whether or
not this young man really did kill Saul. His account seems
to differ from the account that we read of Saul's death in the
previous chapter. And yet, it is sufficiently alike
for there to be a suggestion that at least he knew what it
was that had transpired with Saul in those final minutes and
moments. There is a question as to whether
this young man was lying in the hope of gaining something from
David. Perhaps he was close by and he
thought that if he took credit for the slaying of Saul as if
it was part of a charitable work a merciful act on his part to
end the king's life that David would in some way be pleased
to know and that this young man would gain some sort of prize,
something as a mark of gratitude because he was the one to bring
good news of Saul's death to David. He knew, it would appear, that
David had been anointed as the next king of Israel. But how
would an Amalekite know that? It is certain he did not expect
the reaction that he got. David and his men mourned and
the tears that they shed were real. They mourned until nightfall. and they did not eat any food. David was grieved at the news
of Saul's death and he mourned deeply, he was deeply affected
by the death of his beloved friend Jonathan. The young Amalekite
thought to benefit by being first with news to David and to be
a carrier, a bearer of the crown and the bracelet that Saul had
worn. but his own life became forfeit
as David held him to account for slaying the Lord's anointed
king. An act that you will remember
David himself had avoided doing, though he had several opportunities
during the time that Saul pursued him. David had also discouraged others
from doing so. David's judgment on this young
man is given in verse 16, where we are told, Thy blood be upon
thy head, for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying,
I have slain the Lord's anointed. David commanded one of his soldiers
to slay him in return, which was done at once. And there's
just a couple of things that I want to mention about this
little account. The first thing is whether this
man was telling the truth or telling lies or exaggerating
what had transpired. It's a lesson for us. Telling
lies and exaggerating to gain praise and popularity might be
a very tempting thing to do. This young man was clearly a
schemer. He could have come to David and
been truthful about what it was that had transpired. But he must
have thought that here was an opportunity for gain and he had
a foolproof plan because there would be nobody to discredit
him and no one to contradict him. But he did not take into
account David's principles. nor indeed David's feelings.
So let it simply be this that we take as a lesson. Honesty
and integrity is always the best course. Let those who trust the
Lord not be involved in scheming or deceiving in order to get
ahead, in order to gain advantage. Let us be upright and let us
be humble. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
great example in this matter. He was meek and gentle and modest
and truthful, and many despised him for it. He had little of
this world's riches or its benefits, but he was loved of his Father
and his people, and he was given preeminence above all. We who are the people of God,
we who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be blessed
with him as we endeavour to emulate and follow and live our lives
according to his example. The other thing I want to just
mention about this young man is that he testified several
times to being an Amalekite I think it's just interesting, maybe
it's just a coincidence but then are these things ever coincidences? That the reason Saul lost the
throne, the reason that drove him to the depression and the
One might say the madness that afflicted him in later life was
his disobedience in not utterly destroying the Amalekite nation
during the life of Samuel as he had been instructed to do.
The Amalekites hated Israel and they were a snare to them.
They are a type in scripture of sin and the battle in the
heart of every believer between the old man of flesh and the
new man of the spirit. A battle that will continue until,
a battle that will continue in every believer until we leave
this body of flesh. Because sin and temptation are
always close by. were close by there on Mount
Gilboa as this Amalekite was in the proximity of the death
of Saul, that Saul was made to remember in his dying moments
that here was an Amalekite in his presence. We will not be
rid of the old man while we are in this world, but we can ask
the Lord to strengthen the new man within and to protect us
and to make us wise to the flesh's attacks upon us. The second part of the chapter
concerns David's elegy or requiem a song of praise upon the death
of a friend, or someone who is honourable and mighty. And this was an elegy for Saul
and for Jonathan. Saul was not a good king, and
it may seem strange that David would honour him in the way that
he does in this composition. Grace enables the believer to
soften the anger and the hatred that is perhaps the natural response
to those who oppose us and seek to do us harm. And even, as we
see here in the case of David, to return good for evil. David knew God's grace. and it
enabled him to speak well of Saul despite the fact that the
king hated David and tried on numerous occasions to slay him.
David recognised and respected that Saul was king, that he was
the Lord's anointed. And perhaps it was appropriate
for us to think that here as David, an honourable man himself
amongst the children of Israel, should recognise the honour that
the nation had given to Saul in appointing him. David gives
the honour to Saul that his position carried, though the man Saul
frequently showed himself to be beneath the minimum standard
to be hoped for in a nation's leader. Israel had prospered
for a time under Saul's leadership and David acknowledged this.
descent of Saul into despair in his later years was the result
of disobedience and of envy. But Paul, we are reminded, tells
us to pray for kings and for all that are in authority. So
that even if our choice of king or our choice of governor or
of our choice of prime minister or president isn't that which
God places in charge, nevertheless the Lord's people pray for them
that are in authority. Power is a corrupting influence
to which many men and women succumb. David had no desire to see the
troublers of God's people triumph over them, though he was well
aware of their faults and failings. He says, tell it not in gath,
It's kind of become a little bit of a proverbial saying. Tell
it not in gath. Don't announce the bad things,
the sad things in the city of the enemy. There's a little lesson
there for us. We who are aware of each other's
faults within the church, we have no delight in seeing the
enemies of God and the enemies of God's people exploit our weaknesses
or rejoice over our troubles. Let us try to never give the
world occasion or opportunity to hurt one of the least of the
Lord's little ones, even when by their actions we feel they
deserve it. Our Heavenly Father is always
ready to forgive us our sins, and we should try to forgive
one another as well, and to support one another through difficult
times. It is what family does and we
are the family of God. David's love for Jonathan shines
in his words. Three times he laments, how are
the mighty fallen? And here David gives vent to
his feelings and his grief and his emotions. A few days ago,
he had wept for the loss of his wife, his wives and family. And these were restored to him
by the grace of God. Now he weeps for Jonathan, whose
company he relished and whose company he would no more enjoy. Jonathan is, we trust, in heaven
today. And yet David still felt the
void and the emptiness his passing brought. It is not wrong to mourn
the death of friends, as David shows us here. And yet it is
good for the Lord's people not to mourn as those who have no
hope. Jonathan was in glory in the
presence of the Lord. Saul had gone to his place. and being in hell was separated
everlastingly from the Lord. It is a blessed, blessed thing
to know that our sins are forgiven and that we have peace with God.
And it is blessed to be able to commit the souls of those
we love into the presence of the Lord upon their death. Our Lord Jesus Christ in his
life and death has demonstrated and taught us that death has
lost its sting for a believer. For a believer, the grave has
lost its victory. The Lord's people are able to
endure and overcome the terrors of darkness and evil by the grace
and faith given to us by Christ. who has overcome our enemies
for us. Christ's victory over death,
hell and the grave is the everlasting consolation of his people. Death cannot separate us from
our Lord. Through death, Christ destroyed
him that had the power of death and has delivered them who through
fear of death are all their lifetime subject to bondage. We are a
delivered people. May the Lord teach us to know
that our sins are forgiven and that death has no terror nor
the grave any alarm for us. And may we all hear the Lord
say to our souls, fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore
and have the keys of hell and death. Amen. And amen.