When David hears the report that
King Saul and his son Jonathan had been slain in battle, David
has this lament over his friend Jonathan and over Saul the king,
which is recorded in 2 Samuel 1 and verse 17. 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 Jasher. The beauty of Israel
is slain upon thy high places. 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
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 an ornament 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? How are the mighty fallen, and
the weapons of war perished? This phrase, how are the mighty
fallen, is one which since being recorded in the scriptures has
fallen into common usage in the English tongue. Often people
will use it when some great one falls from the height in which
they once stood. How often it is repeated when
some world leader falls from power or when some personality
or great athlete or person that people speak of and respect is
brought to nothing. Often there are these athletes
and sports people who occasionally are caught using drugs and so
on and their reputations are shattered and people say how
the mighty have fallen. And in the political realm especially,
we've seen this so often in the last year or two, with the troubles
in the Middle East and the effect of civil wars and revolts that
have come about and how the various leaders have fallen from power. Those leaders that held such
a grip upon their people, which seemed so unmovable, are now
nowhere. Many dead. or removed from power. How aptly the phrase might be
said of many of these, how the mighty are fallen. How often this is used. But here
in the scriptures, in the original usage of this phrase, David uses
it here three times over, in this lament over the death of
Saul and Jonathan. What a lament this is. These
are remarkable words and a remarkably famous phrase repeated in this
lament three times over regarding Saul and Jonathan. And what is remarkable about
David's lament here and his use of this phrase is those of whom
he speaks Now one of these, Jonathan, was a great friend of David's.
As shown from the words he uses of him, he was so close to him,
his love for him was so great, that David was understandably
moved when he heard of the death of Jonathan. But Jonathan's father,
King Saul, was one who had sought David's life was one who filled
with jealousy against David knowing that David under God's hand was
a threat and a challenge to his own authority and his own position
as king Saul was moved with jealousy against David and Saul sought
to put David to death and for so long David had been hounded
from place to place. David had to seek refuge in caves. David was on the run. A wanted man. A price put upon
his head. David knew he could be caught
and captured and put to death so easily. All because of the
hatred and the jealousy which Saul had for him. So you might think naturally
speaking that when Saul eventually is slain in battle and David
comes to hear of it and finally knows that his days on the run
are over and finally knows that he is now king over Israel as
a consequence of King Saul having died. that the promise of the
anointing of God upon David had now come to the point where he
would take the throne. You might think that David would
rejoice in the death of his enemy Saul, the one who hated him,
the one who sought his death. And yet David laments over Saul's
death here equally with Jonathan's death. He laments over it. Because David's respect for Saul
as being the king, the king of Israel, as having the anointing
of God as being king, is so great that he cannot rejoice in his
death. Here is an Israelite, slain in
battle by the enemies of Israel. He's slain in the battle in which
Israel is defeated and in which many men of Israel die at the
hands of their enemies. David cannot rejoice that one
of God's chosen nation, an Israelite, and the king of Israel, has been
slain. his compassion and his love for
Israel, for his fellow countrymen, and for the one that God has
put over them is so great that he cannot but lament for him. And yet at the same time he cries
out with a certain wonder, how are the mighty fallen? How can
it have come about, how is it that one so great, so powerful,
the king himself, made to be king, anointed as king, one given
so much power, one who physically was a great and a mighty man,
a handsome man, as Saul was, full of natural strength and
vigor, how can one in such a position, so powerful, have fallen so greatly. He's slain. He's fallen. He's now as nothing. Dead in the grave. How David wonders that the mighty
have fallen. And how he laments over their
death. Now the wondrous thing behind
this lament is what it tells us of Christ's love for his own. Because David is a picture of
Christ, the King of kings. God's anointed. The one that
God would set over his Israel, true Israel, spiritual Israel,
his people, as their king. The one who when all his enemies
were conquered, And when he rose from the dead in power, having
died for his people, would be set over that kingdom forevermore. His power never to be taken away. David here is a figure of the
King of Kings, Christ. David's lament here is a powerful
picture of the tremendous love that Christ has for his people.
The tremendous love that Christ has for Israel. not for the world,
not for all nations, not for the Amalekites and the Philistines,
but for Israel in particular. David here laments for both Jonathan
and Saul, because both were his countrymen, both were Israelites. He did not lament for the Amalekites,
the messenger that came that confessed that he had slain the
Lord's anointed in slaying Saul, David had put to death. But David lamented for his people. And Christ's love is so great
for his people, for the elect of God, for those that God has
chosen to give unto him, that no matter what they're like,
that though they are children of wrath as all others, that
though those for whom Christ died, those He loves, have hated
Him and have rejected Him, that though they, like Saul, have
in their hearts put Christ to death, and whose sin has been so great
that they have rejected the Saviour that God sent into this world,
to save even them. That though God's people hated
him, Christ still loved them. Christ still loved them. And
Christ's compassion for his own is so great that he laments when
he sees their fall. He laments when he sees their
failure. He laments when he sees their
hearts of sin rage against him. but he does not cast them out
because he loves them unto the end. Not only is this a beautiful
picture of the compassion of Christ for his own, but it's
a tremendously encouraging picture. Because it tells us that no matter
how wrong we may go, that no matter how unthankful servants
we may be, and that no matter how greatly we fell into sin
before coming to hear the gospel, that if Christ chooses to love
us, if Christ chooses to save us, then his love will never
grow cold, and his love will never be set aside, and his gospel
and his death are so powerful and effectual that he can save
the worst of sinners, the chief of sinners. Here David laments
over Saul, who sought to put him to death. Well there's another
Saul that we read of in the New Testament, who hated Christ and
his people, and put the followers of Jesus Christ to death. And
yet Christ, as pictured by David, did not destroy that Saul, but
his love was already set upon him. And he arrested him on the
road to Damascus, and shone a light round about him, and said unto
that Saul, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And in that day he made
his gospel known unto Saul, and how he had died for Saul, and
how he had set Saul free, and how he had loved him even though
Saul hated and persecuted him and his people. Christ's love can save the greatest
of enemies. Where are you? Where do you stand
before the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you his enemy or his friend? Are you like Jonathan or are
you like Saul? In your heart, do you reject
and despise him? Do you turn away from him? Do
you seek your own glory and your own ways? Have you effectively
put Christ to death in your heart? Perhaps you have and you think
that you've gone so far into sin that he could never love
you. That you've put yourself outside of the possibility of
being saved by such a one. Perhaps you despair that Christ's
love could ever be said upon you, that you could ever come
to know his salvation. Perhaps you've sought it and
thought that you'll never know it. Well here we have a tremendous
picture of the fact that Christ can save the worst of sinners,
even you. No matter how far off you've
gone, no matter how cold your heart is to Christ, if He chooses
to save you and make His gospel known unto you, then He can melt
your hard heart. He can show you what you are. He can show you your need of
cleansing, and He can take His blood and cleanse you in it.
If He intends to save you, then you will be saved, no matter
how much you have kicked against Him and His gospel. No matter how mighty and strong
your heart might be, Christ can melt it and bring it down. How
are the mighty fallen? But here in David's cry, in his
lament, he uses this phrase three times. In verse 19, he says,
the beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places. How are
the mighty fallen? The beauty of Israel. In verse
25, he says, How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle? O Jonathan, thou wast slain in
thine high places. The mighty have fallen in the
midst of the battle. And in verse 27, How are the
mighty fallen? And the weapons of war perished. Three times over he uses this
phrase. Now what can we learn from this? Well firstly we learn that no
matter how great and how mighty we may be, whether the son of
a king as in Jonathan's case, whether a humble soldier as many
of those who fought for Israel were, nothings but those who
were faithful to their king and leader, or whether the king himself,
as in Saul's case, no matter how mighty we may be, no matter
what our station in life, whether we're at the bottom of the ladder
or whether we're at the top of the ladder, whether we're rich
or whether we're poor, whether we're small or whether we're
great, whether we're weak or whether we're mighty, whatever
we are, all must fall in the end. All must die. We're born, we sin, and as a
consequence of sin, we all die. Death is common to all, mighty
or not. No matter how rich you are, you
cannot cheat death, and you cannot take your riches beyond death.
No matter how powerful you are, what status or position you have
in this world, whether you're great in your community, whether
you run a powerful and large company, whether you are the
leader of a country, whether you are the king himself, no
matter who you are, in the end you're brought down to nothing.
Whether you die young or die old. If you live to an old age
you become weak and frail and old. And your power is taken
away from you even before the day you die. You're as nothing. You have no strength in your
bones. And then the day comes when you pass from this world
into eternity. We all fall in the end. We all
die. We're all nothing in the end. How humbling this is. And how we've seen this throughout
history in all arenas of life. How the mighty have fallen. Great
leaders, great empires, great emperors. Famous people. They're lifted up to great heights
one day, they're brought down to nothing another day. and ultimately
whatever they have achieved as they may call it in this world
whatever fame or notoriety they may have achieved ultimately
they pass from this world as nothing to stand before an almighty
God who made them and to answer unto Him for what they are and
what they have done we all must die secondly we may learn No matter
how great we are in the eyes of the people, in any arena,
whether as a king of a nation like Sauria, or indeed, whether
we may be mighty in the things of religion, in the end we will
fall. Here was the king of Israel,
God's chosen nation, a religious people, a nation who followed
God, and as king, one who should have led by example his people
and led them to serve their God. And yet in Saul's case, he was
not a faithful king. Saul did many things unworthy
of his station. He sought a witch to bring Samuel
back from the dead. He did many evil things. He forsook
the true worship of Almighty God. And no matter what position
he was in, he fell in the end. And how often do we see this
in the realms of religion and in professing Christendom? There
are many great leaders which are raised up and the people
wander after them and follow them and they build up their
mighty congregations. Many cults have risen up. Many
large churches have risen up. all of which come to nothing
in the end if they're of man. No matter how mighty, no matter
what a reputation these men, these preachers, these leaders
and teachers may gain, if they're not God's, if their speech is not that of
the Holy Spirit sent down from God on high, if God didn't send
them, that no matter how mighty they may be, no matter what following
they may gain, in the end they come to nothing. As it says of Paul, the beauty
of Israel is slain upon thy high places. You were the king, you
had the position of king, and yet really you loved not God,
you loved yourself and your own ways. And the beauty of Israel
in the churches today, those in great power and position,
those who men wonder after, if they're not God's, their fall
is great. They all come to nothing. No
one is truly mighty, but God himself and his son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Thirdly, we can learn from this.
How the mighty are fallen. How are the mighty fallen in
the midst of the battle? In the midst of the battle. How
battles, how conflict, how war, how trouble really shows us what
we are. How it really shows us how weak
we are. In peace the mighty appear to
stand. When things are easy, when things
go well, we can stand up high and vaunt our power before men,
when in reality we are nothing. But when the battles come, when
troubles come, then our true strength is tested. And if our
strength is in ourselves and not in God, If our strength is
in man and not in Jesus Christ, then when the fires come upon
us, when persecution comes, when trouble comes, how the mighty
fall in the midst of the battle. How they fall. This is true for
many professing believers. They can stand in an easy day,
We can stand when the congregations are large. We can rejoice and
speak well of Jesus Christ when we're in a crowd who'd say the
same thing. We can make a great noise in
the meetings where we sing loudly of Jesus and his love. We can sing the choruses. We
can join in with the congregational singing. When things go well
for us, oh how great our faith is. For when troubles come, when
the fires come, when the persecution and opposition of men against
Jesus Christ and our stand for him come our way, when we find
it hard to stand in our workplace and in our school and before
other men, when the going gets tough, when the trouble comes
when the battle comes how soon so many fall and how fast they
fall and how hard they fall how are the mighty fallen in the
midst of the battle fourthly we see behind this and
behind Saul's fall in battle which ultimately was purposed
by God because of his rebellion against David and against God
and his ways. How we see the ultimate consequence
of Saul's actions. How hatred and warfare bring
about the fall of man. how hatred and warfare bring
about the fall of man, no matter how mighty they may appear, no
matter how man might vaunt his strength and his pride and his
arrogance, how that pride and arrogance turns to hatred and
how it brings about warfare and battles which bring his fall. Well, that's where man fell in
the beginning, isn't it? when Adam lifted up his fist
against Almighty God and sin entered this world and death
by sin and he shook his fist at God his maker and he rose
up in might and pride and arrogance and vaunted himself against the
Almighty. What happened? What happened
when he stood up in such pride and arrogance? He mighty man
stood up before Almighty God. What happened? Sin entered. Hatred towards God
entered this world. Hatred towards other men entered
this world. and he who thought he was so
mighty fell with a fall so great that he plunged not only himself
into death and ruin but his whole posterity. All mankind fell in
Adam and fell from innocence into sin and corruption and that
sin and that death which entered past unto all men by natural
generation to this very day and there is not one that is born
that is not born a sinner raging in their hearts against God raging
in their hearts against their parents raging in their hearts
against any kind of restraint or leadership When we're instructed,
when we're guided by others, when our parents tell us that
we can't go this way or that way, how we kick against it,
how we fight against it, we serve ourself. And there's warfare
from the beginning. We fight the restraints of parents. We fight our brothers and sisters. We fight other people in this
world. We tell lies. We grow up in anger. We grow frustrated with those
who cross our path. We're at war from the day we're
born. And the consequence of that warfare
is our death. And when our life comes to a
close, no matter what we've done, no matter what we have achieved
in men's eyes, no matter how mighty we may have appeared,
we're brought to failure and ruin. How are the mighty fallen? And the weapons of war perished. There's no might in man. And
no man can stand in the end. except one takes away the warfare
except one takes away the death that man brought in by his sin
except one takes away the sin which is in man's heart And except
one takes away the pride and the arrogance and humbles us
before God and breaks our hard heart and softens it and melts
it and causes us to cry out unto God have mercy. Except one takes
away our sin and washes us clean and makes us new. except one
sets his love upon us, except one saves us from the death and
the ruin in which we are born, except one makes us new and makes
us righteous and makes us to live again and takes those who
are fallen and sets them up and lifts them up and sets their
feet upon a rock. except one who is mightier than
any should come unto us who thought we were so mighty and yet fell
so hard except one who is mightier than all should come unto us
in love and compassion and say I have loved you with an everlasting
love and I've taken away the enmity and I've taken away your
sin and I've made you new except one should come with a lament
over us as David lamented over Israel and say I have cried for
you when I saw you were far off I have wept for you when I saw
you raging against me and I went to the cross for you when you
hated me and I died for you in your place that you should no
longer be dead but live that you should no longer hate me
but love me that you should no longer be separated from me but
be with me except one should come in our place and take the
punishment which is due to us and rather than us falling in
death should fall himself in death that he should bring us
unto life. Yes, behind all of this, of which
David laments, behind his cry, how are the mighty fallen in
the midst of battle? There is one who is mightier
than all, who died in the midst of the battle, of which this
is a picture. For there is one that came into
a battle like none other battle, one who is mighty, one who is
almighty, one who is the true beauty of Israel, and one who
came into this world because of the fall of his people, because
of their failure, because of their sin, and because of the
warfare that they had brought into this world. He came into
this world to head for a battle like no other battle. and he
went into a battle for them and he went to die in that battle
for them he went to die and to fall in that battle for them
that they should not die that they should not perish but that
they should live forever This one is the Son of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He of whom David here is the
picture, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He so loved
Israel. He so loved that people that
God gave to him, that no matter what they were like, that no
matter that they hated him, that no matter that they in their
hearts would put him to death, he went to the cross to save
them. He went into battle and fell
for them. that he should deliver them,
that he should deliver them. And when he died for them, when
he died in battle for them, the weapons of warfare perished with
him. And the warfare and the enmity
between God and his people was taken away. There was no more
war. they through him were brought
to peace with their God. The warfare was done away with.
We read at the beginning of chapter 1 of 2 Samuel of the messenger
that comes to David to report of the death of Saul in the battle.
And he presents unto us here the whole context of that battle
and of David's being brought to be king. 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. Now this report comes to David
on the third day that the battle has been won and David's enemy
has been slain and David is now king. And in this we see the death
and the resurrection of Christ pictured for us because Christ
himself went into a battle. And in that battle his great
enemy and all his enemies were slain. And the consequence of
that battle was that on the third day he would rise again victorious. And on the third day he would
be made king. And on the third day here the
messenger comes from the battlefield to this King David. To David
who would be king and tells him that the battle is accomplished. And Christ's battle, Christ's
warfare was accomplished when he died. His enemy was slain. The one who would put him to
death had been put to death. And indeed when Christ died,
all his people died with him. All Israel went into the grave
with him, and they were crucified, that their sins might be judged
and taken away. And on the third day, Israel
rose again with Christ. So here we see many of Israel
dying in the battle, but the consequence of which is that
King David arises the other side with Israel, his people. And
he laments that Jonathan and Saul were slain, but the consequence
of that is that he was made king. And when Christ died for his
own, his death was effectual. He took all his people into a
battle in which their old man was slain, in which sin was taken
away, but after which they rose again victorious with their king
and their saviour on the third day victorious and the battle
had been wrought had been finished no more to be fought again He
died once. He did not die once out of many
times. He was not sacrificed to be sacrificed
again. The sacrifices of the Old Testament
were repeated many times. Blood was shed many times because
it was a figure. But it never accomplished that
of which it was a figure. But when Christ's blood was shed,
it was shed once. There was one battle, one warfare,
never to be repeated. He will never die again and we
will never be plunged into death with him again. But he rising
from the grave rose victorious with his people ever to live
in newness of everlasting life. And the warfare is over and the
weapons of war perished in the grave with him. They perished. And we no longer use the weapons
of war. But we declare and we believe
His Gospel, which makes known this wondrous death, in which
the mighty have fallen, in which the Almighty died, that His people
in Him should rise again victorious, never to fall again. Oh what
a gospel, what a powerful gospel of an effectual saving death.
We don't trust in swords and chariots and horses, but our
trust is in the living God. And our trust is in his gospel
which declares Christ and his salvation. The weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the
pulling down of strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10 4 We have mighty
weapons, but our weapons are not these weapons of war which
perished at the cross, but they are that which are spiritual
in the gospel. This gospel can pull down the
strongholds of men's hearts. It can pull down the mightiest
of men's hearts. It can break and soften the hardest
of men's hearts. It can break and soften your
hard heart and melt it before God and bring you to the foot
of the cross to confess your sin and confess your need of
a saviour and it can open your eyes. and put faith in your heart
to look and see that Saviour in bloodstained garments as He
rises from the dead with four wounds in His hands and feet
and a fifth wound in His side which say it's over, it's done,
it's accomplished, it is finished, I have saved my people. I have washed them clean in my
blood and that gospel can bring you to see that blood and to
take you and to wash you in that blood and cleanse you in that
blood and to know in your heart that that blood has washed you
from your sins and to know in your heart that though you once
thought you were mighty and great and though you fell greatly that
nevertheless Christ's love lamented over your fall, and it took him
to the cross for you, and it caused him to suffer and to die
for you, and to take you out of that depth into which you
had fallen, and to lift you up with him, and raise you up to
a great height to reign with him as a prince with your King
and Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh here's a phrase in which we
can hope and trust. How are the mighty fallen? Because there's none so mighty
that they can resist the gospel and none so mighty that they
can raise a hand against God's anointed or his people and get
away with it. God is jealous for his people
as David was jealous for his people and he will watch over
his people. And so great is his love for
his people that he will find them where'er they be, however
much they resist. And when they are his and when
they're brought to know they are his, he will fight for them.
And no matter how great their enemies may be, he will keep
them to the end. How are the mighty fallen? Our
mighty enemies will fall. Our mighty heart in the old man
Adam fell at the cross. Our almighty Savior fell that
we should live. But praise God our almighty Savior
rose again with us who believe on his name. And Christ has done this all
and will do all this through his gospel, that powerful gospel
which saves, which brings rebels to peace with God, to peace,
to peace with God. The warfare is accomplished.
The warfare is over. The gospel is preached. The gospel of peace. Do you know the gospel which
brings peace? Past understanding. Has this
gospel come into your heart? Has the warfare ended? Has God
led you to peace with him? Has he? How are the mighty fallen
and the weapons of war perished? Are your weapons of war perished
in the grave with Christ? Have you been washed in his blood
and brought to peace with him? Can you say with a truth from
your heart, how are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war
perished? Praise God, amen.