June 06, 2024 | Be God's Light
David Laments Deaths of Saul and Jonathan
Scripture: 2 Samuel 1 (NIV)
1 After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days. 2 On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor.
3 “Where have you come from?” David asked him.
He answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.”
4 “What happened?” David asked. “Tell me.”
“The men fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”
5 Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
6 “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” the young man said, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and their drivers in hot pursuit. 7 When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’
8 “He asked me, ‘Who are you?’
“‘An Amalekite,’ I answered.
9 “Then he said to me, ‘Stand here by me and kill me! I’m in the throes of death, but I’m still alive.’
10 “So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.”
11 Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. 12 They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
13 David said to the young man who brought him the report, “Where are you from?”
“I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite,” he answered.
14 David asked him, “Why weren’t you afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”
15 Then David called one of his men and said, “Go, strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died. 16 For David had said to him, “Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”
17 David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, 18 and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):
19 “A gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel.
How the mighty have fallen!
20 “Tell it not in Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.
21 “Mountains of Gilboa,
may you have neither dew nor rain,
may no showers fall on your terraced fields.
For there the shield of the mighty was despised,
the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.
22 “From the blood of the slain,
from the flesh of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.
23 Saul and Jonathan—
in life they were loved and admired,
and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
24 “Daughters of Israel,
weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.
25 “How the mighty have fallen in battle!
Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother;
you were very dear to me.
Your love for me was wonderful,
more wonderful than that of women.
27 “How the mighty have fallen!
The weapons of war have perished!”
Devotional
As we turn the page from 1 Samuel to 2 Samuel, the story shifts from King Saul and the prophet Samuel to King David and the prophet Nathan. Upon receiving news of the death of his nemesis Saul and his best friend Jonathan, David mourned and wept and fasted for both.
Now that the king and all the prominent princes were dead, David would be king. The young man who lied about killing Saul came bearing the crown. He was certainly hoping to be rewarded handsomely. Instead, he paid with his life. Even though Saul had tried to kill David multiple times, he was still the Lord’s anointed king.
As tribute, David wrote a lament for King Saul and his son Jonathan. This form of poetic expression became the trademark for how David would interact with God. He went on to write half of the one hundred fifty Psalms. Read through this lament again. What descriptions and words about Saul and Jonathan stand out to you? What does this say about David’s character? How can you incorporate this into your own life?
In the New Testament, when Stephen was being stoned to death as the first Christian martyr, he cried out to Jesus, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). In doing this, he fully embraced what Jesus had said on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). The way of Jesus is the way of forgiveness. David lived this out when he lamented Saul’s death. A thousand years later, his descendant Jesus embraced it as a model for all time.
Again, pray the Lord’s Prayer. Ask God to help you forgive as you have been forgiven:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory
for ever and ever. Amen.
Poem
My Heart Pours Out Deeply
My heart pours out
My tears will not end
I’ve sorrow for king
And my very true friend
O, would that we three
Could have stood side by side
And returned full victor’ous
In peace to abide
The waste, O, the wreckage
Of home, kingdom, race
The greatest destruction
Of family and place
My heart pours out deeply
My tears will not end
On this day I’ve lost
Both my king and my friend
