1 Samuel 31-2 Samuel 1

¹ Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. ² And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul’s sons. ³ And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. ⁴ Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. ⁵ And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. ⁶ So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together. ⁷ And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. ⁸ And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. ⁹ And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people. ¹⁰ And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.¹¹ And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; ¹² All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. ¹³ And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. 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; ² 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. ³ And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped. ⁴ 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. ⁵ And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead? 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. ⁷ And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I. ⁸ And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. ⁹ He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me. ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed? ¹⁵ And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. 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. ¹⁷ And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son: ¹⁸ (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.) ¹⁹ The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen! ²⁰ Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. ²¹ 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. 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. 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. ²⁴ Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. ²⁵ How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. ²⁶ 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. ²⁷ How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

The books of 1 and 2 Samuel are actually one book in the Hebrew Bible. That book tells us the story of the rise of the monarchy in Israel and how God established His anointed king, David, as a pattern of the true eternal King that would come in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Interestingly, the book of Samuel is structured around three songs. The first of those songs is Hannah’s that follows God’s promise of her son, Samuel. It is found in 1 Samuel 2 and anticipates God establishing a king in Israel. The third of those songs is found at the end of 2 Samuel in chapters 22-23. It is about David reflecting back on his rule and on all that the Lord has done to establish him as king. The middle song is found in the passage before us in 2 Samuel 1 and it is the hinge on which the whole book of Samuel turns. It is David’s mourning of Saul. After Hannah’s song, Israel eventually demanded a king from her son, Samuel. God gave them Saul, who was a king like they wanted. Saul’s heart was revealed to be far from the Lord and he was disobedient, so the Lord rejected him and went about to establish a king who was “after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:13-14). The book of Samuel ends with that king, David, on the throne, reflecting on the Lord’s deliverance and goodness to him to establish him as king in Israel. In the middle song in 2 Samuel 1, David lamented the death of the first king, Saul, and his sons. It demonstrates David’s heart towards one who continually persecuted him, it demonstrates the failure of fallen human kings and kingdoms like Saul, and it demonstrates God’s righteousness in judgment as the true sovereign King overall. 1 Samuel 31-2 Samuel 1 are about God’s removal of Saul as king. They are passages about His judgment. Last week, from 1 Samuel 31, we learned two important truths about God’s judgment. We learned that it is certain. Saul died just as the Lord said He would. We also learned that His judgment is absolute. Saul’s fall impacted him, his sons, and all of Israel in the humiliating defeat they suffered at the hands of the Philistines. Further, there was no revoking God’s decision. It was absolute. This week, from 2 Samuel 1, we will learn two more truths about God’s judgment from David’s response to Saul’s death.

The third thing we learn about God’s judgment from these two chapters is that it is humbling. What kind of response would David have to the defeat of Israel and the deaths of Saul and his sons? David’s response displays remarkable humility. Three days after David had returned from defeating the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 30, a man came with torn clothes to David and his men in Ziklag. The man informed David that he had come from the camp of Israel, that Israel had been soundly defeated by the Philistines, and that Saul and his sons were dead. Curious about how the man gained that knowledge and escaped, David inquired as to how he knew about Saul and Jonathan being dead (v. 5). In recounting his story, the Amalekite told David that he found Saul leaning on his own spear on Mount Gilboa and that Saul had asked him to kill him to avoid the Philistines (v. 6-10). The Amalekite then took Saul’s crown and armlet to bring them to David (v. 10). When David heard this, he tore his clothes in grief and he and his men fasted and mourned for Saul for the rest of the day (v. 11-12). When David inquired and found that the man was an Amalekite (v. 13), he then asked why the man would dare to strike Saul as the Lord’s anointed king (v. 14). Without receiving an answer from him, David had the man killed for striking Saul (v. 15-16). David had lived his life faithfully toward Saul. Despite being given multiple opportunities to kill one who had persecuted him and made himself an enemy of God, David never took matters into his own hands and struck Saul because Saul was still an anointed king and belonged to the Lord. It was God’s job to deal with Saul, not David’s, and David knew that he had to assume the throne God’s way, not his way. We know from reading 1 Samuel 31 that the Amalekite lied to David, perhaps hoping to gain favor with him for removing Saul, David’s enemy. Instead, he was judged for striking Saul (or at least saying that he did). While we know that Saul actually asked his armorbearer to kill him and then ended up falling on his own sword when he refused, the Amalekite did bring the crown and armlet to David. It is amazing that Saul’s final rejection as king came in 1 Samuel 15, when he disobeyed the Lord about destroying the Amalekites. It is ironic that his crown is now delivered to David by an Amalekite, one of those he had failed to obey the Lord in destroying. The focus here is upon the sovereignty of God and the humility of David. Had Saul been humble, he would have obeyed the Lord and repented regarding his sin. The Amalekite mirrors Saul’s sin. Saul’s refusal to remove the Amalekites ended up leading to an Amalekite taking his crown from him and giving it to David. It was really his refusal to deal with his sin that led to his demise. David waited on the crown to be delivered to him; he did not go try to take it by force. When the news that God’s judgment had fallen upon Saul and when David received the crown, David’s response was not one of gloating or rejoicing over his enemy. Instead, it was to continue to act faithfully toward his enemy by striking down the Amalekite. The proper response to God’s judgement is humility. Oftentimes our view of God’s judgment against sin is to see others get what they deserve. If we are not careful, we develop an attitude of superiority and forget that we are all deserving of judgment. It is only in God’s grace that we are saved and delivered from it. God’s judgment should always produce humility in His people.

The final thing we learn from this portion of Scripture is found in David’s song of lament in 2 Samuel 1:17-27 and that is that God’s judgment is just. David’s song expresses his love for Saul despite all that Saul had done against him, but it also recognizes Saul’s failure as a king. “How Are the Mighty Fallen!” is a lament looking over the failure of the mightiest of men. Even a man who checked every box, looked the part, and stood head and shoulders above the rest of the people still could not deliver God’s people. As we consider God’s just judgment in this song, there are three principles that can be derived from it that we must consider about sin. First, verses 17-21 teach us to acknowledge sin’s shame. The shame of sin in Saul’s life and rule was that “the beauty of Israel is slain upon they high places.” Israel lost some great men and suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of the Philistines. In these verses of the song, David reminds of the Philistines rejoicing over their victory. What happened to Saul and Israel was a shameful thing. The enemies of God were rejoicing and David offered them a rebuke to cease. He then cursed Mount Gilboa, the place where Saul fell. Sin brings shame. When Adam and Eve first sinned, they were ashamed of their nakedness and hid (Genesis 3:7-10). Mankind has dealt with the shame of sin ever since and has been trying to cover it. Sin’s shame is only covered by the blood of God’s sin, but in order to have it covered, one must acknowledge sin’s shame and turn to Him in faith. Second, we see in verses 22-25 the need to count sin’s cost. Sin always brings death. It has a terrible cost that we are unable to pay except with an eternity apart from God. David reflected upon the loss of his friend Jonathan (v. 22) and the loss of great warriors in both Saul and Jonathan (v. 22-23). He called on all of Israel to lament with him the loss of these great men (v. 24-25). Sin cost Israel. Saul’s sin cost him his life and his son, his life. Saul’s sin even cost David the loss of his dear friend. Lastly, we learn that we must recognize sin’s grief. In verse 26-27 we can see David mourning for the loss of Jonathan. The grief that he experienced because the judgment of God had fallen upon Saul and his household for Saul’s sin. Sin never delivers. It always leaves us wanting more and then exacts a heavy toll. It leaves us broken and defeated. Recognizing the awful impact of sin, you and I can see that, despite David’s mourning the situation, God’s judgment is just. He is a righteous God and must deal with sin.

While God’s judgment is certain, absolute, humbling, and just, God’s judgment is something that the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ came to deliver His people from. By trusting in Him, one is delivered from condemnation. In John 5:24, Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” God, in His grace, has provided salvation to all who will trust in Christ. The worst part of judgment falling on Saul is that it did not have to be so. Saul rebelled against the Lord, then persisted in that rebellion, and reaped the consequences of that rebellion. Let us learn from Saul’s life the dreadful end of sin. “How are the mighty fallen” is meant to echo in our hearts and minds and remind us that even the mightiest of men could not escape sin’s terrible consequences. Sin ends in judgment. It brings death. Let us learn from David the proper response to sin and judgment. Let us humble ourselves before the Lord and let us recognize the justice of God against the horrible nature of sin and what it brings.