David Lamenting Over the Death of Saul Part 2 — Chuck Smith

Welcome to the Word for Today, the broadcast ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently leading us on a verse-by-verse venture through the entire Bible.

David’s Lament Over Saul and Jonathan

And on today's edition of the Word for Today, we find David lamenting over the death of Saul, as we pick up in 2 Samuel 1, verse 19. And now, with today's message, here's Pastor Chuck Smith.

But here's the lamentation. The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places. How are thy mighty fallen? Tell it not in Gath, which of course was one of the major Philistine cities, the city where David actually found refuge.

Don't let them know in Gath that it's happened. Of course, they already knew they had carried Saul's head through Gath. They took his head off and carried it through all the Philistine cities so that they could rejoice over their victory.

Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon. You see, when they would come back victorious from war, then the ladies would all come out and they'd have great celebrations, dances, and jubilation over their victories.

You remember, when Saul would come through the villages, having come from the victories in war, the ladies would come out with tambourines and they would dance and they would sing, Saul has killed his thousands.

David didn't want the Philistines to have this kind of a celebration because the people of God had fallen to the Philistines. So don't publish it in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

And then to the mountain of Gilboa, where Saul fell, 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, Jonathan an archer. And from the sword of Saul, it returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided, joined together in life, joined together in death, father and son.

They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions, and they were a powerful pair. They had been a nemesis to the Philistines for many years. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and with other delights, who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel.

Oh, how are the mighty fallen in the midst of 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.

David’s Backsliding and Return to Seeking God

For the third time within the lamentation, how are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished? So the mighty have fallen. Came to pass after this that David inquired of the Lord. Now, you remember we have pointed out that David's experience in the land of the Philistines was an experience of backsliding.

David did some pretty raunchy things. He's still not out of the woods. David is not a pure man. David is not a innocent man. In fact, David is a pretty guilty man in many areas. So much so that when David desired to build a house for God, God said, Sorry David, I can't allow you to build a house for me.

You're too raunchy a character. You've got too much blood on your hands. You're a guilty man, David. I just can't have you building a house for me. Your son Solomon, a man of peace, he can build a house for me, but it would be just too inconsistent for you to build a house for me.

So David was not allowed the privilege of building a house for God because of his background. And now we pointed out that when he went down to the land of the Philistines, he had not inquired of the Lord.

He wasn't seeking the guidance or the counsel of God. While in the land of the Philistines, there's no mention of his seeking the counsel of God. He just joins with Achish to go fight against Israel. He didn't seek the Lord of whether or not he should do it.

It was not until he came back to Ziglag and found that he had been wiped out, his family, his wives and his possessions had been ripped off that he began to seek the Lord again. Tragedy brought him back to seeking God.

Unfortunate, isn't it, that so many times it takes tragedy to bring us back. You know, we sort of go our own willful way. We sort of leave God out of it. We sort of strike out on our own and say, well, okay, God, you know, I've got, I know how to do it now.

And you can, you know, just thanks for your help. But, you know, I can make it from here. And, you know, we get in a real mess. And then we say, oh, God, why'd you allow me to get in this mess, you know.

Isn't it interesting like how we like to blame God for everything that's gone wrong when we've really told God, leave me alone and lay off. And when the mess comes, we say, God, why did you, you know, put me in this mess?

But David is now seeking the Lord again. He inquired of the Lord saying, shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah? He was in the Philistine city of Ziglag. Shall I go back to the cities of Judah? And the Lord said unto him, go back.

David said, where shall I go? Good. He's learning. Not only do you just get the word to go, where shall I go? The Lord said, Hebron. So David went up to Hebron with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelites and Abigail, Nabal's wife, the Carmelite.

And his men that were with him, did David bring up every man with his household and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. And the men of Judah came and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

David Anointed King in Hebron

And they told David saying that the men of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who had buried Saul. You remember the Philistines beheaded Saul and then they hung his body and those of Jonathan on the wall there in Beth Shean.

The men of Jabesh Gilead from across the Jordan river, when they heard of the desecration of their bodies, they came all night and they got the bodies and took them back to Jabesh Gilead where they cremated them.

And then they buried the ashes, the remains. And so it's told David that the men of Jabesh Gilead did this heroic action in saving the bodies of Saul and Jonathan from further desecration. And so David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh Gilead and said unto them, blessed are you of the Lord, for you have showed this kindness unto your Lord, even unto Saul and you have buried him.

And now the Lord showed kindness and truth unto you. And I also will requit you this kindness because you have done this thing. Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, be valiant, for your master Saul is dead.

And also the house of Judah has anointed me to be king over them. So while he is in Hebron, a city of Judah, the men of Judah came, they anointed David king. You remember that David had been anointed when he was a child.

Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons to be the king when God rejected Saul from being king over the Israel as a result of Saul's rebellion against God, refused to obey God's orders.

God said that to Samuel, go and anoint one of the sons of Jesse. Jesse brought in his seven sons and he said, don't you have any others? Oh, there's just one. He's just a kid. He's out in the field watching the sheep.

Call him in. So he went over and whistled and they began running in. A little sweaty kid from watching the sheep, you know, and the Lord said, that's the one. And Samuel poured the oil over David's head and he was anointed the king.

But now the people are recognizing what God has done. It's interesting how that oftentimes the, the people are way behind God. God has done something years in advance and now the people are finally recognizing God's anointing upon David and they anoint him king.

When David sends the message to Jabesh Gilead, he points out, he says, Hey, you've done a good job. Be valiant, be strong. I recognize what you've done. I requit it to you. And incidentally, Judah has anointed me king.

It was more or less incidentally, they've anointed me king. Would you be interested in my reigning over you also? However, Abner, who was the general of Saul's army, who escaped from the hand of the Philistines.

The Divided Kingdom Under David and Ish-bosheth

Now, if Abner had been doing his job, he was the chief bodyguard of Saul. You see, he should have been around Saul when Saul was in trouble. And he did escape from the Philistines, which means that he was beating a pretty hasty retreat from the battle.

But he was captain of Saul's host and he took one of the sons of Saul, Ish-basheth, and he brought him to Mahanaim, which is on the other side of the Jordan River in the area of Jabesh-gilead. And there he made him king over Gilead and over the Asherites and over Jezreel, over Ephraim and Benjamin, and over all of Israel.

So, in a sense, the kingdom was divided. David ruling over Judah and the son of Saul, Ish-basheth, ruling over the remainder of Israel. Abner being the chief instigator, being the general of the army and sort of a kind of a military takeover and then a military government set up where Ish-basheth sort of became the figurehead king.

So, Israel followed after Ish-basheth, where he reigned for two years, but the house of Judah followed after David. And the time that David was the king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

So, he didn't ascend immediately to the throne, but there was a good period of time that he was still living in Hebron as king over Judah. Now, Abner is a pretty rough guy and so is Joab. In fact, Joab's a very rough guy.

He's David's chief general. And David had trouble with Joab because he was just a tough, crude, rough guy. Later on, when David was dying and he was turning the kingdom over to his son Solomon, he said, Solomon, I want you to take care of Joab.

Don't let his gray head go down to the grave in peace. Execute him. He's been a bad hombre all the way along. He's done some bad things. He's murdered some men. And don't let his gray hairy head would be a frosted head or the gray hair go down to the grave in peace.

The Battle at Gibeon and the Tragedy of Asahel

So, here Abner, who was the general over the armies of Israel, and Joab, who was over David's armies, they met at the pool by Gibeon. And they sat down on either side of the pool. And Abner said to Joab, let the young men now arise and entertain us.

And Joab said, let them go for it. This was sort of a gladiator kind of a thing. You know, let the guys like the gladiators in the arena. Let them fight to death. Entertain us. Watch them kill each other.

We say we've advanced, but have we? I have difficulty when some guy can take a high power rifle and just, you know, start wiping out people indiscriminately, shooting at everything. And so, we say we've advanced so far, but sometimes I wonder.

The Romans, you know, they were, they had the same kind of gladiator things. They had the sacrifice of the Christian of the lions, and they got some kind of a joy out of watching the lions rip up people, and watching the gladiators kill each other.

So, this is sort of a presaging all of that, as they said, you know, let the guys go down out and fight, entertain us. And there arose and went out by number twelve from the tribe of Benjamin, and twelve of the servants of David.

And they caught every one of his fellow by the head. They each grabbed hold of the other guy's head, and they, all of them, thrust their spears through the other guys, and all twenty-four were dead. So, they fell down together.

Great entertainment. Wherefore, the place was then named the Field of Swords, and that sort of spurred then the whole battle. Then they all jump in, you know, and start fighting now, and waiting it away at each other.

There was a very sore battle that day. Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel before the servants of David. And there were three sons of Zuriah, who was David's uncle. Joab was actually David's cousin.

And his three cousins, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, were there in the battle. And Asahel was as light of foot as a wild deer. He was really fleet of foot. And Asahel chased or pursued after Abner. And in going, he turned not to the right hand or to the left from following Abner.

Abner was running, and Asahel was matching him step for step, just right behind him. And Abner looked behind him and said, Are you Asahel? And he said, I am. And Abner said unto him, Turn aside to the right or to the left, and grab hold of one of the young men, and take his armor.

Let's have a fair fight, give you a chance. But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn aside from following me, man, you're bugging me. Why should I smite you to the ground?

How then should I hold up my face to Joab your brother? Howbeit he refused to turn aside. Wherefore, Abner, with the hinder part of his spear, smote him under the fifth rib, caught his heart. And there the spear came out from behind him, and he fell down there and died in the same place.

Came to pass as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died. They stood still as the men of David were pursuing. They came to Asahel. They saw him. They were shocked. They just stood there.

And Joab and Abishai, the brothers, were pursuing after Abner. And the sun was going down, when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lies before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and they became one troop and stood on the top of the hill.

Then Abner called to Joab and said, Shall the sword devour forever? Don't you know that it will be bitterness in the latter end? Wake up, man, you know, we're doing foolish things. Let's not devour each other forever.

It's going to just be bitterness in the end. How long shall it be before you order the people back from chasing us? And Joab said, As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely, then in the morning the people had gone up, every one from following his brother.

So Joab blew the trumpet. All of Israel stood still at his people of David. They pursued after Israel no more, and neither did they fight anymore. And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain.

They passed over Jordan. They went through all of Bethron, and they came to Mahanaim. And Joab returned from following Abner, and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's servants nineteen men and Asahel.

A total of twenty were lost, but the servants of David had killed of Benjamin and Abner's men three hundred and sixty. And they took up Asahel and buried him in the sepulcher of his father there in Bethlehem.

And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at the break of day.". And there's where we're going to leave them, and we'll take up the study the next time in chapter three. This part, of course, is hard to get too inspired over.

It's pretty much history, but gory history at places. And there are, however, lessons to be learned. And as we come to these applications where possible, we will try to point out important lessons for us to learn.

Learning from History, Grief, and David’s Dependence on God

It's a wise man who can learn from the mistakes of others and grow and develop his position from learning from history. It's a fool that just looked at history and doesn't use the lessons to guide his own life now.

And surely we learn how to properly deal with grief. We learn the importance of living after the spirit. We learn how that following after the flesh is always disastrous, how important it is to maintain a fellowship with God and seek God in the decision-making processes of our lives.

As long as David sought the Lord and sought the guidance of God, he was doing all right. When he went out on his own, he would strike out every time. True of all of us. We seek the Lord, God will guide us right.

But if we go out on our own, you're just going to strike out. So how important that we give God the opportunity of guiding our lives, that we inquire of the Lord before venturing out. The Bible said that if we would trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and lean not to our own understanding, but if in all of our ways we'll just acknowledge him, ask him, ask for guidance, he will direct our paths.

If you're a child of God, you're coming with an earnest heart saying, God, please show me the right way. He's not going to lead you down the path and say, oh, watch them when they get down there, you know.

Disaster. Watch that, you know, bridge blow up when they're going over. No, he's not going to lead you into some disastrous situation. You go into those places when you don't listen to him and you think you know better and you disregard his counsel, that's when you get into trouble.

So in all by ways, acknowledge him.

And he will direct your path. We'll return with more of our verse-by-verse study through the book of 2 Samuel in our next lesson as we follow the death of Abner. And we do hope you'll make plans to join us.

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That's right here on the next edition of The Word for Today. And now, once again, here's Pastor Chuck Smith.

And now, may the Lord bless you. Keep His hand upon your life. Give you a beautiful week as you walk in fellowship with a God who is madly in love with you, so much so that He can't take His eyes off of you because He loves you so much.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin's evolutionary theory, and it also marks 200 years of refuting that theory. Join Ken Ham,.

Do you think history is just chance random processes? God's in charge, and He's responding to the hearts of men and women.

Dr. Andrew Snelling, Darwin and those who have followed him have rejected the written history of the eyewitnesses authoritatively revealed by God in favor instead of human reasoning. Let me tell you why, with a little five-letter word called pride.

And Dr. David Menton, I'm going to call this lecture Three Ways to Make an Ape Man, and I'm going to begin by simply pointing out that God didn't make any ape men. As they scientifically disproved Darwinian evolution.

Start opposing the monkey business. Defend yourself and your friends from really bad science. For more information on how to order the DVD, Answers for Darwin, with a free bonus mp3, call the Word for Today at 800 -272-WORD or visit us online at thewordfortoday .org.

This program has been sponsored by the Word for Today in Costa Mesa, California.