2 Samuel 1

We thank You, Father, we're glad to come to You and worship You in each place and anywhere we want to. We thank You for this opportunity to be in Your house to study Your Word, and we thank You for that Bible that You have prepared so we may understand.

Now we ask You to be with Mike when he's leading our service. We ask You to watch over him and keep him from error. And again, we thank You for the love, joy, and happiness that You give to us each day.

We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.

Setting Up the Study in 2 Samuel

So in case you're wondering why I'm standing here, it's because Brother Mike and Sister Sybil are out of town. Brother Andy's in the next room, the room affectionately known as Andy's room, and teaching from the book of Job.

And we'll be starting our study in the book of 2 Samuel today. And I appreciate you asking God's blessing on our time, because if He doesn't bless, then our time will be spent in vain. Now, 2 Samuel was originally combined with 1 Samuel, and it stayed that way in the Hebrew text until the printing of the Hebrew Bible in 1517, and that's when the two were separated.

The Septuagint, along with other Old Testament translations that came afterwards, divvied up Samuel and Kings into four books, and that would be 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 3 Kings, and 4 Kings. Real original. And written during the Babylonian exile around 550 B .C., they're not sure who the author is.

Some say it was penned by the prophet Jeremiah. There's problems with the timeline there. Others say that it was penned by Samuel himself, which would have for itself at least two reasons that would make it difficult.

First of all, 1 Samuel begins before he's born. So that kind of makes it hard. And then secondly, it would be hard for him to have written it because anyone? Yeah, he dies back in chapter 25. So he's got six chapters to go.

And we read clearly back in 25. One is, and Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered together and lamented him and buried him in his house at Ramah. So there's no ambiguity there. And if there was any doubt, chapter 28, verse 3 starts off, and it's just like the opening lines of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

And Marley was dead. And it starts off, now Samuel was dead. So again, no doubt about it. Now Samuel could have been like Moses, who wrote the greater part, the larger part of Deuteronomy, just not the end where he dies.

And that could be the same situation there. Most of the people I looked at said that they believed it was written by, or at least in greater portion, by Nathan and Gad. The theme of 2 Samuel continues to be as that of 1 Samuel, that there's virtue in humility, and there's destruction in pride, and God is always faithful in his promises.

So the 2 Samuel, the next portion of this narrative, is unlike 1 Samuel in that 1 Samuel begins before Samuel is born, Hannah is barren, Eli blesses her, God answers her prayer for a child, she lends him to the Lord for his life.

She obviously didn't understand the definition of lend, because she never got him back. She says she lends him to the Lord. But he grows up, God's calling on his life becomes more and more evident, and as he grows, despite being a good high priest, an upright high priest, his sons are not so, and the people cry out for a king, like the heathens around them.

And Saul enters the picture as the answer to the people's desire for a king. In chapter 8, verses 19 -20, we read, Nay, but we would have a king, that we may also be like the nations, that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

So Saul is anointed as king, and although he begins well, as Mike said, last Lord's day again, still success and faithfulness are not synonymous. Saul was successful in his military endeavors, at least at the beginning, but his faithfulness was found to be lacking at best.

So then David comes on the scene as Saul's soothing musician, as his giant killer, as his mighty military man, and as his son-in-law. And the book ends in chapter 31 with Saul's death, and that of his armor bearer, and that of his three sons, and it's a sad ending at best.

2 Samuel is not such a book, at least not in its regard to its primary character. David and his reign are front and center throughout the whole book, from beginning to end. So some commentators look at the book more politically, and so they divide it up with David's reign over Judah, chapter 1, through the end of chapter 4, and then his reign over all Israel, beginning with chapter 5 and through the end of chapter 12.

But most, however, split it up based on the spiritual content, dividing it up more along the lines of his triumphs, chapter 1 through the end of chapter 12, and then his troubles, chapter 13 through chapter 24, verse 25.

So concerning that, George Williams wrote, David the king is the great figure of this book, and when walking in the light, presents a rich type of Messiah, the king. The first part of the book records the victories which accompanied his life of faith and conflict.

The second part relates the defeats he suffered when prosperity had seduced him from the path of faith. So without further ado, let's get into God's holy word and let him be the ultimate authority and teach us as we read.

David Receives News of Saul's Death

So beginning with 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 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 a 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 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 thither 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 hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed. And David lamented with a lamentation over Saul and 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 the 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, 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 thy 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?

David's Long Journey from Ziklag and the Providence of God

May God bless us in the reading and the hearing of his holy word. I've named this lesson, The King is Dead, Long Live the King. So going back to verse 1, we'll look closer at it now. 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.

So the first thing that we need to do is work out somewhat of a timeline. And there's a good bit of travel and battles and death in this verse and the context that are leading up to it that aren't really spelled out here.

So first of all, as we already said, Saul was dead. But at this point, remember, David is unaware of that. And the end of the verse tells us where he is. Where's he at? He's in Ziklag. He's home. And how is it that David is living in the land of the Philistines?

He's living in the land of the enemies of the Hebrews? He was running from Saul. 1 Samuel 27. And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines.

And Saul shall despair of me to seek me anymore in any coast of Israel. So shall I escape out of his hand. So David succumbs to what I would say is somewhat of a well-founded fear for his life. And though some may say it was just a lack of faith at the hand of Saul.

And what does he do? But he flees to the land of another enemy. David does his imitation of the Beverly Hillbillies. He loads up the truck. In this case, he loads up his wives, his 600 men, their wives, their children, their stuff.

And they move to Beverly. Or in this case, the land of the Philistines. More specifically, they move to Gath under the care of Achish, the son of Maok, who was the king of Gath. And when Saul hears of it, he seeks after David no more, it says.

So David was right. And David asks Achish if he could, rather than dwell in the royal city, if he could take possession of a town somewhere out in the country, which Achish agrees to. He gives him the town of Ziklag, which was a small place about 23 miles away from Gath.

So it was close enough to keep an eye on him, but not so close as you'd go and borrow a cup of sugar. And it's there in Ziklag that David and his band are living when the Philistines gather together because they're going to come together against Israel.

And the Philistines, they encamped in Aphek. So they got Aphek up there, and so that's where they're living at whenever the Philistines say they're going to come up against the Israelites. And Saul and the Israelites, they are in Jezreel.

Saul and the Philistines, and then, so some 40 miles apart. But remember, David and his company just didn't magically appear at Aphek. He was in Gath. He was talking with Achish. That's where Achish was at when he said, Assuredly you'll join me in battle.

And so David would need to return to Ziklag to get his men, which is 23 miles to the south, come another 23 miles back north, then travel another 30 miles from Ziklag back up to where the battle was going to be at.

So they begin to travel with the main body of the army, and they are at the back of the troop. They said they were going out by their hundreds and by their thousands of soldiers whenever the princes of the Philistines discovered that David, the killer of Philistines, is in the troop.

And despite Achish's pleas for David and his men to be allowed to stay and fight for him, they're told to go home in the morning. And so they leave the next morning and begin their trek back down some 50 miles from Ziklag, returning on the third day of their trip back home to Ziklag.

And what do they find there? Places burnt. All their stuff is gone, all their people are gone, and David and his men are devastated. And they wept and said until they could weep no more. And then they changed tunes a little bit, and David's distressed because then the people are thinking of stoning him to death.

But then he encourages himself and the Lord, inquires of the Lord whether to go after these people, and the Lord says yes. And so then they head south. So they said Ziklag was here. They start heading south.

They go about, well, they didn't really say how far they go. And then they come across this young man, this Egyptian, out in the desert. They've got nothing to go on except for the confidence that the Lord told them that none would be lost.

And so as they go, what do they find? But an Egyptian slave, he's been left to die by his master. And they revive him. They give him drink, and they give him food, and they give him sweets, and they strike a deal for his help as a guide as they go off.

And again, this is some 50 miles or so more of a trek. So they're heading down. Like I said, they had left Ziklag. They were starting to come down south just basically blind. Now they know they're headed to the land of the Amalekites because he told them, you know, that's where I'm from.

And so David and two-thirds of his men cross over the Brook Besor because the other third of them were too weak to travel. They engage the enemy and kill them, and they're killing from twilight until evening.

And they slaughter everybody except for 400 guys who escaped on camels. And then what do they do? What does David and his troop do? They plunder the plunder, all that of the Amalekites, which would have included what was their stuff to start off with anyway, you know, David's stuff.

And then there was that of the Cherthites and the coast of Judah and the south of Caleb. So all that stuff plus his 600 men as he comes back over Besor and their families and their little ones and David's wife and all the cattle, all that head back up that 50-mile trek.

As I was adding this all up conservatively, I'd say that David's been marching with either an army or a group of distraught men or with livestock and family and small children and stuff 226 miles and at least a bare minimum of 10 days.

That's a lot of marching and walking, especially for tender little guys driving cattle, carrying stuff. Remember when they leave, they're leaving for battle. They're coming back, you know, there was no U-Haul to rent, so they had to make their way up with all that stuff.

And David and his company return home, and then rather than just hoarding up all his stuff with his newfound goodies there, he sends out gifts to all his friends. And now after being home two days, we find ourselves in verse 1.

And I couldn't help but, as I was working on the lesson, but imagine the faith that must have grown in David and company as a result of these last 10 days. In the providence of God's good hand, he has been sent away from a battle where in chapter 31 describes not only the deaths of Saul and his three sons, but all, verse 6 says, all his men the same day.

Then because he's sent home early, he's able to ascertain the fate of Ziklag sooner, which means they're out on the road quicker, which means they find the Egyptian slave, who may very well have been dead if they'd come several days later, and they used him as a guide, which enabled them to follow the Amalekites, which enabled them to get all their stuff back, which enabled them to get all their people back, and then as well to share their goodies with all the people that had been a help to him as he had been on his travels of hiding from Saul all those years.

So blessing after blessing after blessing. And as Brother Mike said last week, this account of the rescue as well as the battle in the ending of chapter 31 there in 1 Samuel are no doubt running in parallel with each other.

And a good bit of time has transpired. In verse 2 it says,. And it came to pass on the third day, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth on his head. And so it was when he came to David that he fell on the earth and did obeisance.

Now again, we can't know for sure the exact timing, but the arrival of this one with the news of Saul's death on the third day would have coincided with the timing of David's return to Ziklag. To Ziklag.

And he, that is the messenger, thinks, at least it appears, that all his bases have been covered. He displays himself as one who is genuinely mourning concerning the death of the king. His clothes are torn.

He's got dirt on his head. And he throws himself prostrate on the ground before the one he believes, and rightly so, that will be the next king. Verses 3 and 4 read,. 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, many of the people are also fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.

Now we know that David has been obviously more than busy these last few days, but it's also true that he's got a genuine concern in reference to what he knew, at least in part, as it relates to the battle and those that were involved in it.

The last that he knew, remember, he's leaving the next morning as he's sent back home to Ziklag by Achish. And what he did know for sure was that the Philistines had a formidable army, a great force that was going up against the army of his people.

And had David been a baser man, a more throne-hungry man, he might have sent out his own people to ascertain the outcome, and as well his standing, thank you, his standing politically, but he didn't.

He is, however, ready to receive the account of the apparent eyewitness and find the outcome. In verse 5, David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?

So David doesn't beat around the bush. He cuts right to the chase. How do you know this information? And so, which is a good question. How would you know this information? And then also, how is it that you're still alive?

How is it that you were there and you came away unharmed where the battle was and you knew to come directly to me? And he begins to tell his account of the fall of Saul. In verse 6, 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, so that we did immediately, but, okay, no, so, so he said followed hard after him.

So what we see here, though, is contradictions starting off right there. There's contradictions and omissions in his account and the account of chapter 31. Now, again, remember, David doesn't have chapter 31 for a comparison, but I can't help but think that a flag went up when nothing in the remainder of the account this man gives mentions Jonathan, who David specifically inquired about.

Now, for us, you know, we've got both accounts, so what do we see, but that Saul's, the sons of Saul, they fall at the beginning of the narrative. Their bodies would have been rallied around the king in his distress, and also verse 3 tells us that the archers hit him and he was sore or he was badly wounded by them, but this man speaks of horsemen and footmen, which, if that were the case, they would have killed him probably, the messenger, as well, because he would have been in such close proximity to the king.

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, but I had my cloak of invisibility on, and I was fine.

Nobody saw me, so I was all right. So he's going to say, As chance I was out one fine morning walking my dog, and the next thing I know I found myself in a battle on the top of a mountain. Sounds a little weak, right?

That's Jezreel. This little thing right here Mike wrote in there, that's Mount Gilboa right there. Now, Mount Gilboa is nowhere near the land of Amalek. It's all the way up there by Jezreel, and the land of the Malachites is all the way down there.

So even the Malachites that came north to raid Ziklag and all those other places there, the Cherithites in the south of Caleb, they only came up as far as here in this area right there. Not all the way up to there.

So obviously we can't know for sure, but there's a good chance that this guy wasn't anything more than a battlefield scavenger or a looter that goes on taking the accoutrements from the soldiers, whatever he could get off these fallen guys and then would run with it.

But his story, he's committed now. So verse 7 -10, and when he looked back, that's Saul, when Saul looked back 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 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.

Do you see what, I mean to me at least, it appears to be taking place, this Amalekite is playing the role of a character. He's roleplaying somebody that's in the chapter 31 account. Do you see who he's roleplaying?

The armor bearer, that's right. Chapter 31 shows us Saul's request to his armor bearer to slay him, unless why? He says, These uncircumcised heathens would thrust me through and abuse me. And he refuses to because he's afraid, the armor bearer.

So our chapter 1 version tells us from the account of this man that Saul asked, Who is he and where is he from? And when he finds out he's an Amalekite, one of those that managed not to be slain by Saul, when Saul was commanded to destroy all of them.

When Saul finds that, this is an uncircumcised heathen of that group, he says to this guy, Please slay me. I don't think you'll abuse me. I don't think you'll strip me and leave me there like that. That's again doubtful.

He tells David, I stood on the king and I killed him like he told me to. And then as a present to you, David, I took the crown, I took his bracelet like the thief that I am and here they are. Now obviously it couldn't have been a secret that after, I think Mike said 15 years or so, of Saul chasing David like a criminal, that the king hated him.

And in turn, some would not doubt that the hatred could have been reciprocal from David back to Saul. Something the storyteller probably didn't take into account was David was an honorable man towards the king.

We know that over and over again. And what he thought would gain him some good standing and probably get him a good reward from the king apparent was to have an outcome that he obviously did not expect.

David's Grief, the Amalekite's Death, and the Lament for Saul and Jonathan

Verses 11 and 12. So I think it's right about now that this young man was beginning to see the error that he had committed. David's broken, not only for the loss of his king but his best friend and the people and all of Israel who went up with him.

And note that as David did in his display of this grief, so did the men that were with him. Men that no doubt had been with David as Saul had been chasing him all these years. So they still respect their leader and at least some of them may have come to understand that David did these things because he knew that Saul, despite his shortcomings, was still the Lord's anointed.

Verses 13 and 14. Dying hand to destroy the Lord's anointed. So David asked the young man once more, who are you and where are you from? And we see he changes his answer this time. Originally he said he was an Amalekite but here he says he's the son of a stranger, a sojourner, the son of an Amalekite.

And as such, as a sojourner, he's a protected citizen. So however, at this point I don't think it would make much difference in the outcome for David to ask him, so as a sojourner, somebody under protection, how was thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?

Verse 15, and David called one of the young men and said, go near, fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. And David chooses to keep his own hands clean in the matter, at least physically, and he calls one of the young men to carry out execution.

And he says why there in verse 16, 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. And this proverb rang through to me concerning this, Proverbs 5, 22 and 23, which reads, his own iniquity shall take the wicked himself, and he shall behold him with the cords of his sins.

He shall die without instruction, and in the greatness of his folly, he shall go astray. So his very words of testimony to the account of Saul's death, they bear witness against him along with the crown and the bracelet that he brought back into his possession, and the shame for this young man is he, it didn't have to be that way, he didn't have to do that, but by bringing this false witness, this false testimony, he convinces David of his guilt, which carried with it a death sentence.

And we know that his testimony is a lie just because we have the account of what happened from the narrator in the chapter before and at the end of 1 Samuel, where the testimony of the man was, and it's not in alignment, this man's testimony is not in alignment with what we know to be true, so it had to be false, and so the conclusion of the chapter is this heartfelt lament for Saul, David's king, and Jonathan, his dearest friend.

So verses 17 and 18. 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.

So verse 17 is straightforward, where verse 18 will cause you to do some investigating, and the commentator, one commentator said that the use of the bow was speaking of a bow such as you would use in the playing of music, and in this case music accompanying the poetic verses in the remainder of the lament, which could be an attempt for an argument in that direction.

Some were citing the mictum, the bow of David in Psalm 60, but as I looked up the book of Jasher, the book of the upright, which was this non-biblical collection of poems that were about great military men and battles of Israel, and so it also alluded to the book of Joshua in the account of his asking the Lord to hold back the sun that victory would be complete.

It seems more in accordance with the latter of the two. Either way, as far as we know, the book of Jasher no longer exists. Verse 19, the beauty of Israel was slain upon the high places. How are the mighty fallen?

We can see, if we take the lament as a whole and read it, it's just a poetic lyric, beginning with the beauty of Israel slain upon thy high places, which is repeated again in verse 25, O Jonathan, thou wast slain in the high places, and the verse ends with a chorus that's repeated three times throughout, How are the mighty fallen?

So if you've ever heard that saying, this is where its roots are found at. So verse 20, 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.

So again, we have to remember that this is poetic language in nature, it's not meant literally. We know specifically from the chapters leading up to this that the men of Gath were in this battle and would no doubt have been aware of Saul's demise, and although not specifically named, Ascalon would have been represented under the heading of all the princes of the Philistines who sent David back prior to the battle.

But you've got to remember just like the women would sing, Saul has killed his thousands and David has killed his ten thousands, they would desire that these things would not come to pass and defame their king.

It just becomes a tag there of what would happen. Verse 21 and 22, 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.". So, the reason of course that he's speaking against Mount Gilboa is because it's the location of Saul where Saul and his sons died.

He's saying they don't want dew and they don't want rain. Mount Gilboa, you can't tell it from here because everything looks brown right here, but when you look at a map that's located and more specific, it is lush.

It's just green. Obviously, they're not saying for real this is going to dry up, but it's like they're telling the mountains because of your part in this, because of where it happened, we don't want you to be lush and green.

So, not only were the shields cast away of many men in this battle, but the shield of the anointed king was. In the latter part of the verse there where it talks about the blood and the fat, that speaks to the persistent bravery and follow-through for the kill, whether by the bow or by the sword.

These were mighty men of battle and though they didn't survive the engagement, the arrows that were loosed from Jonathan's bow and along with Saul's sword were no doubt wet with the blood of their enemies.

In verse 23, 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. When you see where it says lovely, lovely isn't usually how you would think we would describe mighty men of battle, but it can also have with it the meaning of heroic.

I go more along that line. Pleasant means beloved. They were beloved in their lives and in their deaths and they were not divided. So, whether in the defense of their people or their proximity with one another in the battle, they are as father and son together even to the end of their lives.

They were like unto eagles in their speed, unto lions in their strength. Again, these were manly men even in their demise. In verse 24 it says, Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in scarlet with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.

The ladies are called here to join in the lament that for no other reason than in the places that Saul went and the cities that he overthrew, he didn't come back empty handed for them, but he brought back those delights, those dainties from these other cultures that they weren't used to and they had gotten used to.

They enjoyed. So, verse 25 says, How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle, O Jonathan? Thou wast slain in thy high places. Again, this is a chorus like verse 126. 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 says the loss of his dear friend has caused him affliction. Unfortunately, those of a depraved mindset of our generation seek to make something perverse and sexual out of the ending of this verse when in fact what they had was a friendship that made them closer than brothers and a love that was extraordinary, surpassing that of a man and a woman which is an expected thing.

God made men and women for each other. These two had a love between men that was embedded with self-denial even to the forfeiting of his place on the throne such that his relationship with his father was even stressed.

So, the lament ends once more as it began. How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished? The Bible doesn't make any bones about the matter of war. Generals, weapons, soldiers, none of these are the authors of victory in battle but it's the hand of the Lord.

It's the Lord who puts one man up and takes another man down. Some may think that David's penning of this beautiful lyric, at least as it refers to Saul as hypocritical or shallow. We know in truth that the account of Saul is a sad one to say the least but if you read back through the lyric carefully what David did pen concerning him all of it was true.

So, what benefit to his readers would it be to list his shortcomings? It's them. In the voice of the people, we asked for a king. We refused good counsel. We submitted ourselves under the stipulations of having a king and in his death, not only his family but all of Israel bears witness to their folly.

The people's folly. David omits Saul's flaws and focuses on his strengths and to top it all off he sets a precedent for a Disney character. Do you know anybody? A character that untold children have heard but never knew the origin of.