and lament over King Saul. 2 Samuel 1, beginning in 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, Because it's
written in the book of Jasher, and here's what he says about
the death of Saul and Jonathan, 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 offering. 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 on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the
mighty fallen in the midst of the battle? O Jonathan, thou
was slain in thy high places. I'm distressed for thee, my brother
Jonathan. How pleasant has 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? Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And we ask in his name that you
would be pleased to meet with us and to speak in power to our
hearts from your word, we ask that we might be enabled to hear
the gospel. We ask that we might be enabled
to receive the gospel. We ask that you would grant us
repentance, faith, the confession of sin. And Lord, accept our
thanksgiving. So very grateful that all you
require of us, you look to your son for, and for this, we give
thanks. Now, Lord, may Christ's name
be magnified. Would you be with all your people
wherever they meet together in Christ's name, we pray. Amen. Now, David, at the beginning
of this chapter, did not yet know that Saul had been slain. or Jonathan had been slain. He
didn't know anything about this. And they were rejoicing. They
were happy. They had all this spoil they
had taken from the Amalekites that we read about in 1 Samuel
chapter 30. And this is just a day later after what had taken
place when they returned to Ziklag with all this spoil from the
Amalekites. And they were happy. And then they're given this news
that Saul and Jonathan had been slain. And you remember from
the last time he had the fella put to death that gave him the
news. And here he begins this lament. Now, this is actually a poem
that David wrote upon hearing this. And in the next chapter,
We see where the nation is divided in their civil war. This is when
we have the two kingdoms. And there's an actual civil war
in Israel and the men of Judah killing the men of the servants
of Saul and vice versa. And the divided kingdom lasted
for several years. And it was just a very sad time
in Israel. Now, you remember how Saul hated
David and he was always trying to kill him, wasn't he? Now,
did you read, when I read that lament, any bad stuff said about
Saul? Everything he said about Saul
was good. Everything. You know, there isn't anyone that
you cannot say something good about. You're trying to think
I know some people. Well, not really. No, there's
not anyone. that you can't say something
good about. That's just subtle. And at this funeral, Saul's not
a believer. I feel sure he's not. But, you know, I remember one
time I was getting ready to preach my uncle's funeral. This had
been years ago. And I guess they were afraid
I was going to say something bad about him. I wouldn't have
done it. I don't do that. But I think they were afraid of it. And they
said, now, he got saved here at the last. In a funeral, I'm not going to
get up and start saying negative things about people. It shouldn't
be done. Now, I'm not going to put them
into heaven. I'm not going to say they're in hell. We're just
going to say good things about them. And that's how David handled
this situation. You can always say something
good about somebody and that's the way he handled this with
Saul. So in a funeral service, don't
ever, any of y'all worry about me saying something I shouldn't
say. You know, we know he wasn't saved. You know, he, no, I'm
not gonna, I'm not gonna do anything like that. But at any rate, everything
David said was good. You know, that's a beautiful
trait. I wish I could learn something about this. Everything David
said about Saul was positive. It was all good. And what character
he displays. Wouldn't it be a blessing if
me and you, beginning with me, never said anything bad about
anybody again? He didn't say anything negative. It was all good. The things that
he said regarding Saul, it's just amazing because we know
Saul's character. He's a contradictory, weak, sinful
man. And you can't see much good about
him as you read this passage of scripture. We've looked at
his history, but yet how David speaks of Saul. I read somewhere
where a man's character is seen by what he doesn't say about
people in private. Isn't that good? I love the way
he handles this, and I pray that the Lord would make me and you
people like this, just like David in the way he dealt with Saul.
You see, love covers a transgression, doesn't it? If you love somebody,
you don't want them exposed. He loves Saul, and he didn't
want him exposed. Now, three times in this passage
of scripture, I just read, he says, how have the mighty fallen? Look in verse 19. The beauty of Israel is slain
upon thy high places. How are the mighty fallen? Look in verse 25. How are the
mighty fallen in the midst of battle? Verse 27. How are the
mighty fallen? And he was talking about Jonathan
and he was talking about Saul. Now, with regard to both of these
men, some try to argue that Saul was a believer. I can't see it
for a second. I don't believe it for a second. And some try
to argue that Jonathan was an unbeliever. I don't see that
for a second. I think he believed the gospel.
I see both of these men, I think for what they are, yet both of
them, it said regarding these two men, how are the mighty fallen? It is important for us to know
how easily we can fall. How are the mighty fallen? Paul said, let him that thinks
he stands take heed lest he fall. How are the mighty fallen? And you can look at this in several
different directions. First apostasy, when someone
actually leaves the gospel. It always happens slowly, but
it happens. People leaving the gospel. This
can be talking about a believer falling in a public way and bringing
reproach on Christ by their conduct. How are the mighty fallen? And what this reminds me of is
the need of this daily prayer, lead us not into temptation.
If we're tempted, we'll fall. So just don't even let us be
tempted. Put a hedge around us. Deliver us from evil. Our Lord taught us to pray that
prayer daily. How are the mighty fallen? Now, 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 because
it's written in the book of Jasher. Now what that's a reference to
is they've been destroyed. All their bows have been confiscated
and they need to learn how to protect themselves. They are
in trouble now with the Philistines. Now look what he calls Saul and
Jonathan. The beauty of Israel is slain
upon thy high places. High places. How are the mighty
fallen? You know, whenever you fall,
you always fall from a high place, don't you? If you're in a low
place, you don't fall. High places. High places. That's where the fall comes from.
Pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before the
fall. How have the mighty fallen from
their high places? But yet he calls them the beauty
of Israel. Verse 20, he says, tell it not,
in Gath. Now, Gath was in Philistines.
And I thought, this is a good word, tell it not. Tell it not. They've fallen, tell it not.
We don't want the uncircumcised and the Philistines to hear about
this, lest they rejoice, tell it not. And I thought, what a
good thing for us to learn. Tell it not. Tell it not. I wish I would learn something
about this. My tongue, I wish I could rip it out of my mouth
sometimes. I'd regret the things I say and I'd wish it hadn't
happened. Tell it not. Tell it not. Tell
it not. You know, even a fool, if he
holds his peace, is deemed a wise man according to the scriptures.
Tell it not. Tell it not. 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. Now he talks about the mountains
they were slain on. And this is a very scary verse.
You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let
it 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. He's saying Saul died
as a reprobate. as if he had never been anointed,
that he was utterly loathsome in his death. And he's grieving
over this. He's grieving. Look at that.
It was as though he was never anointed. Look at his end, and
he's grieving and crying over this. He says in verse 22, 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. He's talking about what they
were as mighty warriors, and they were indeed mighty warriors.
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives. And in their death, they were
not divided. They were still seeking to deliver
Israel from the Philistines. He says they were swifter than
eagles. They were stronger than lions. You daughters of Israel,
weep over Saul. who clothed you in scarlet and
with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your
apparel. He did all these things for you. How are the mighty fallen
in the midst of the battle? And now he turns to Jonathan.
Oh, Jonathan, thou was slain in thine high places. I am distressed
for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant has thou been unto
me. Thy love to me was wonderful,
passing the love. of women. Now I'm going to use
the next time for a whole message on what this means, but understand
this does not have anything to do with a homosexual relationship.
It really doesn't. People have made that accusation
against Jonathan and David. He's talking about a love that's
greater than romantic love. He's talking about a love that's
greater than plutonic love. He's talking about a love that
If you see someone, here's how all this began. Jonathan watched
David defeat Goliath. He heard the things he said regarding
the glory of Christ and how Christ was going to win the battle.
God was going to win the battle. It's not to the strong. The battle
is the Lord's. Is there not a cause? He saw
all this in David. And the scripture says his heart
was knit to him. It was knit to him. And David
and Jonathan loved one another because of their mutual love
for the Lord. Jonathan loved the Lord Jesus
Christ. David loved the Lord Jesus Christ. And this knit their
hearts together in love. This is a spiritual love. This
is the love that every believer possesses. It's a supernatural
love. He that loveth not knoweth not God. God is love. And every
believer has this kind of love that he's speaking of. So it's
not homosexual or anything like that. That's, in our society,
that's, well, see, they were that way. No, no. This was a
spiritual love that he admired so much. And he says, I'm distressed
for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant has 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? Now, What stands out in my mind
is what David said about Saul. Now, how could that be? Because the scripture points
out the weakness and the sinfulness of Saul. The scripture points
out his contradictory ways. The scripture points out his
weakness, his dishonesty, his pride, his self-seeking and his
self-interest, making everybody his servants, just like God said
he would. The scripture points out a whole lot of things about
Saul, and yet, When David speaks of him, he uses nothing but good
words, words like beautiful and courageous, lovely and pleasant,
undivided, swifter and stronger than lions, very pleasant. He says of Jonathan's love, your
love to me was better than women. It was the best love of all.
And what really hit me when I thought about this, because I thought,
how do you preach the gospel from this lament? What does Christ say about his
contradictory, sinful, weak, self-seeking bride? Now, when
you hear those descriptions, do you think bingo? That's me.
That's me. Weak, sinful, contradictory. Yeah, that's me. All these battles
going on in my mind, in my heart, all the time. And weak. But you know what Christ says
of me? He says, verse 19, the beauty of Israel is slain. He
says regarding me, regarding every believer, you're beautiful. You're beautiful. There's no
spot in you. You're absolutely without blemish. That's what Christ says regarding
all of His people. And what this lets us know about
is the reality of justification. If Christ put away my sin, you
know what that means? That means there is no sin. There's
nothing ugly about me to Him. When He says, I'm beautiful,
it's because I'm beautiful. Beautiful through His righteousness,
through His comeliness, through what He's done for me. Every
believer is beautiful. Now, we don't feel beautiful.
I can't see God looking at me and saying, boy, He's beautiful.
I can't see Christ looking at me and saying, boy, He's beautiful.
But by faith, I believe that what Christ did actually makes
it to where I really am beautiful before God. He looks at me and
says, Thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. That's beautiful, isn't it? Just
the way David described Saul, that's the way the greater David,
the Lord Jesus Christ, describes all of his people. He speaks
of his courage in verse 22 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. They were mighty warriors.
No one could defeat them. Now, that's what the Lord says
of me and you, if we're in Him, if we're His people. We are courageous. You don't
feel very courageous, do you? But this is the way the Lord
views you. He views you as courageous. Verse 23, I love this description. Saul and Jonathan were lovely
and pleasant. That's what the Lord Jesus says
of His people. Lovely and pleasant. Notice where He says they were
not divided in verse 20. They were not divided. Now how
divided do you feel? How divided do you feel? The
flesh and the spirit lusting against each other. You feel
divided, don't you? You would be perfectly holy,
but there's another part of you that would be completely sinful
and just be as evil as possible. You feel divided. But you know
what Christ says? You're undivided. Nothing but
good. Not part good, part bad. You're
undivided. Nothing but good. Swifter and
stronger than lions. Very pleasant. And this is what
he says of our love to him. He says, your love to me was
wonderful. Wonderful. Surpassing the love
of women. Now, you don't feel that way
about your love, do you? You feel like your love is far
too weak, far too shaky, not anywhere near great enough. But
that's what the Lord says of his people's love to him. Thy
love to me was wonderful. And you know, we say that about
his love to us too, don't we? Thy love to me is wonderful. It's better than any kind of
romantic or even platonic relationship. It's better than any kind of
human love. This is divine love. This is the love of God shed
abroad in our hearts. And it's the love that every
believer possesses. This isn't just this one time
thing. This is the love God's children have to one another.
Now, what this lets me know is the reality of Matthew chapter
1 verse 21. Thou shalt call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins. When he said it's finished, his
people were saved from their sins. They were justified. They were sanctified. They were
washed. They were cleansed. And now when
He sees us, and remember this, this is so important, the way
God sees things is the way they really are. He doesn't see us
as if we were something or waiting for us to get that way. He sees
us as we are. And here is how every believer
is to the Lord. Beautiful, courageous, lovely
and pleasant, undivided, swifter, than eagles and stronger than
lions, very pleasant." And he says, regarding our love, your
love to me was wonderful, surpassing the love of women. Now, that's
the gospel, isn't it? Now, may I, and I've been so guilty
here, I'm ashamed of myself, may I learn not to speak anything
but words of kindness toward others, to cover their faults. Wouldn't that be a blessing?
And may I be enabled to really believe what the Lord sees in
me. And when the Lord sees you, he
sees someone who's beautiful, without spot, without sin, perfect
through his comeliness. And we really believe. You know
where the Lord said, turn to Ezekiel 16. Ezekiel 16, Again the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations. And say, Thus saith the Lord
God unto Jerusalem, Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land
of Canaan. Thy father was an Amorite, and
thy mother a Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the
day that thou was born, thy navel was not cut, neither was thou
washed in water to supple thee. Thou was not salted at all, nor
swaddled at all. None I pitied thee to do any
of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee, but they were cast
out. Thou was cast out in the open
field to the loathing of thy person the day that thou was
born." And this is what they did with a deformed or something
wrong. They just throw them away. Throw
them away, let them die. He said, that's what you were.
And when I passed by thee, verse 6, and saw thee polluted in thine
own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thine own blood,
live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou
wast in thy blood, live. And I've caused thee to multiply
as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen
great. Now it come to excellent ornaments. Thy breasts are fashioned,
and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now
when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, the time was
the time of love. And I spread my skirt over thee
and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee and entered
into covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becameest
mine. Then washed I thee with water.
Yea, I thoroughly, throughly washed away thy blood from thee,
and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee with embroidered
work, and shod thee with badger skins, and I girded thee about
with fine linen. I covered thee with silk. I decked
thee also with ornaments. I put bracelets upon thy hands,
and a chain on thy neck. I put a jewel on thy forehead,
and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy hand.
Thus was thou decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was
of fine linen and silk and broarded work. Thou didst eat fine flour
and honey and oil, and thou was exceeding beautiful. And thou
didst prosper into a kingdom, and thy renown went forth among
the heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect through what?
My comeliness, my comeliness. Now, however beautiful Jesus
Christ is, oh, he's so beautiful. However beautiful he is, that
is how beautiful every believer is. Thank God for the gospel.