WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.960 Well, good evening. We are continuing in our series of the life of David, looking 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:12.839 this evening at the first chapter of 2 Samuel. Now last week, Corey preached on 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:19.240 1 Samuel 28 where Saul sought out a medium, you know, looking for answers 00:00:19.240 --> 00:00:24.879 which really was the height, the pinnacle of his disobedience against the Lord. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:32.079 And he was told there that God would give Israel into the hand of the Philistine 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:39.359 so that he, his sons, and the armies of Israel would perish. And that is also what 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:46.000 happened. Now David was not there at the battle between the Philistines and Israel, 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:52.079 partly because, you know, Saul was trying to kill him so he was keeping away, but 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:57.679 also because David had fought a great battle against the Amalekites after they 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:04.239 had kidnapped the women and the sons and the daughters of David and his men. 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:09.439 Now as a quick note in our Bibles, you know, the battle between Israel and the 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:15.000 Philistines took place at the end of 1 Samuel and now we're in 2 Samuel. Now 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:20.480 originally this is actually just one book. You look in your Bibles you see 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:25.800 1, 2 and you may think they're separate, but in reality they're part of one and 00:01:25.800 --> 00:01:31.640 the same story. So just keep that in mind as you are reading the book that there's 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:38.480 no disjointment but it's one complete story. Now in the first 16 verses that we 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:43.240 just read, you know, we see the news being delivered, being delivered to David of 00:01:43.240 --> 00:01:48.960 the battle that went so terribly, the news of the defeat, the defeat of Israel, 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:54.280 the death of Saul and the death of Jonathan. Now we're going to be focusing 00:01:54.280 --> 00:02:03.239 on verses 17 through 27 which is this lament that David has created to be 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:09.840 sung by Israel. Now lament, you know, it's not really a word that we use but a 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:18.759 lament is it's a deep expression of grief, of sorrow and of suffering. Now before 00:02:18.759 --> 00:02:24.199 we, you know, look at the text and before we start looking into it, let's go 00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:28.479 ahead and pray and ask for God to help us. 00:02:30.519 --> 00:02:38.599 Father God, your servants are listening. We pray that you may speak this evening 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:49.039 in your word, by your spirit and we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:56.719 Ask goes the king, so goes the people. That's a saying that some of you may 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:02.560 be familiar with that you may have might have heard before. It implies that the 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:08.719 way that the king goes, so goes the people that he is in charge of, that he 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:14.439 is to serve. You see this principle especially in first kings, we see one 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:19.640 king after another and we see when there are good kings on the throne, the people 00:03:19.640 --> 00:03:25.719 follow and good things happen to the country, they prosper and things go 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:32.480 well. But then we see in the, when they have the bad kings, the people follow the 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:39.199 bad example of the king and they suffer as a consequence or led into disaster. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:45.199 See in this chapter we see the tragedy that Israel experienced because of Saul, 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:52.639 because of its king, because of his sin. We see Saul and Jonathan in the army of 00:03:52.639 --> 00:04:00.799 Israel being destroyed. See having the right king or the right representative is 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:08.439 crucial. It's a matter of life and of death. And at the heart of David's song 00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:14.000 of lament that we see here in this chapter, we see this phrase repeated three 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:21.920 times. How would the mighty have fallen? You know how the mighty have fallen? That 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:26.720 is the center of this lament and pulling from this we see three points that we're 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:36.120 gonna look at this evening. We see first the death of the mighty, the death of the 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:40.800 mighty, the next the strength of the mighty, the strength of the mighty and 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:48.720 finally we're gonna look at the responses to the mighty. So starting then with the 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:54.840 death of the mighty. We see here first a reaction and then we see a curse. So let's 00:04:54.839 --> 00:04:59.639 look at verse 19 through 20. If you have your Bible still open or your phones out, 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:07.079 look at verses 19 through 20. Your glory, oh Israel, is slain on your high places. 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:11.959 How the mighty have fallen? Tell it not in gath. Publish it not in the streets of 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:17.359 Ashkelon, lest the daughters of Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:25.160 the uncircumcised exult. So we see here is the reaction. Israel has experienced 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:30.199 this great defeat and we see in this two verses that the lament is directed to 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:38.080 Israel. Oh Israel, what is the extent of this defeat? The glory that we see of 00:05:38.080 --> 00:05:43.280 Israel has been slain. We will come back to that later to think more about what 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:48.439 that means. But we see this phrase again, how the mighty have fallen. See the 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:54.559 warriors of Israel have been slain. But more than that we see Saul. We see 00:05:54.559 --> 00:06:01.479 Jonathan, they're lying there on the battlefield. And then verse 20 shows us 00:06:01.479 --> 00:06:07.119 this reaction. This reaction to the defeat of Israel that the story of this 00:06:07.119 --> 00:06:12.519 battle should not be told. It should not be told in gath. It should not be 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:20.959 published in Ashkelon. So we see two very common literary techniques here. The 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:25.680 first is this that we see parallelism. You see the parallel here very common 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:31.479 throughout the Psalms. We basically have two lines that are saying pretty much 00:06:31.479 --> 00:06:38.319 the same thing. You know tell it not in gath. Publish it not in the streets of 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:43.560 Ashkelon. Both mean the same thing. David do not want this news of this battle 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:50.560 being told. The news of his fellow countrymen of Jonathan and David of 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:56.319 being dead. And the second technique we see is that he mentions these two cities. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:01.719 You know he mentions the two of them really to refer to the whole Philistine 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:08.600 nation. You know we use similar things. You think of speaking of things from 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:14.160 the east to the west. Incompensates the whole thing. So David is using the same 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:17.880 thing here as you first of these two cities. He's speaking of the nation as a 00:07:17.880 --> 00:07:24.800 whole. He doesn't want any city, any town, any village speaking about this battle of 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:31.920 the news of what has happened there. Because he could not bear it. He could not 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:38.480 bear the Philistines rejoicing over this. And we see yet another parallel. Do we 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:43.480 not? You know less the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, less the daughters of 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:50.840 the uncircumcised exult. See here he may have in mind first Samuel 18. You know 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:55.000 right after he had he had defeated Goliath and he comes back into the city. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:59.319 And people are rejoicing. They're out dancing and celebrating the great 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:07.519 victory that Israel has won. But that is not the image that David wants. Take place 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:12.959 in in the Philistine country. Because of this great battle that has taken place. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:20.239 As they celebrate the death of Saul and the defeat of Israel. But even more than 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:25.360 rejoicing they'll be speaking ill of Israel. But even more than that they will 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:34.279 be speaking ill of Israel's God. They will speak ill of the Lord. You see in that 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:39.680 time the pagan nations believed that when their country defeated another nation 00:08:39.680 --> 00:08:45.200 that it was actually a battle between gods. So their God is the one that 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:51.280 defeated the opposite nations gods. So in the Philistine view they thought that 00:08:51.280 --> 00:08:56.879 their God Dagon had defeated the Lord. Which of course is ridiculous because 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:02.120 he's the maker of heaven and earth. David knows that could not be the case but 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:11.680 he could not bear their rejoicing. Now in verse 21 we see the curse. 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:18.439 You mountains of Gilboa let there be no dew or rain upon you nor fields of 00:09:18.439 --> 00:09:24.039 offerings. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled the shield of Saul 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:30.519 not anointed with oil. So David then turns from addressing Israel to address 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:37.039 the Mount of Gilboa. Which is where the battle took place. He calls for there to 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:42.159 be no dew or rain that no fruit would come of it. He says nor fields of 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:47.279 offerings. See in the culture and in the context of agriculture the idea is for 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:53.759 there to be no fruit. To be no growth. To be no harvest. And the word offerings 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:58.679 you know highlights the connection made to the Philistine God Dagon. David does 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:04.240 not want there to be anything that can be offered up. That can be sacrificed to 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:11.639 the pagan God during this celebration of Israel's defeat. And the second half we 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:18.000 see provides the reason for the cursing. You know for there the shield of the mighty 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:25.159 was defiled. The shield of Saul. Now you see the roundabout way of speaking of 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:31.919 Saul's death. He does not outright speak of the death of Saul. The defilement of 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:37.839 his body as it lays there on the ground slain. But he speaks of the defilement of 00:10:37.839 --> 00:10:44.240 his shield. So not only the shield but the body was defiled. And when David goes 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:49.519 on to say that Saul's shield was not anointed with oil. It reminds us of Saul 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:56.039 being the anointed one. We saw that just a few verses prior as he as he has the 00:10:56.039 --> 00:11:03.319 Amalekite killed because he had slain the anointed one or so he said. In 1st 00:11:03.319 --> 00:11:07.879 Samuel twice was David given the opportunity to kill Saul but he would 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:16.120 not because Saul was the anointed one. But now Saul's body had been slain on 00:11:16.120 --> 00:11:20.839 the field of battle whereas he should have been anointed with oil. He had been 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:28.399 covered with blood and with dirt instead. So with the Lord anointed being 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:36.879 defiled Israel is likewise defiled as his soldiers lie dead and the enemy is 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:44.240 victorious. Now throughout this series the the foil or the contrast that we see 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:51.240 between David and Saul which was highlighted by Corey last week. He even 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:57.720 showed how the author 1st Samuel goes to show us a type of Christ in 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:04.200 David. How we look at David when we see Christ in him and in Saul we have a type 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:11.200 of antichrist of someone who is the direct opposite of that. But in this lament 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:18.360 you know interestingly David gives us a glimpse of Christ in Saul. Do you see 00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:29.200 the analogy of the anointed one of God who lies defiled not anointed with oil. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:35.360 You know when Jesus was at Bethany at the house of Simon the leper we have Mary 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:42.360 the sister of Lazarus the sister of Martha who comes up and she breaks an 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:48.519 alabaster flask full of ointment and she takes it and she pours it over the head 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:54.080 of Jesus. Now the significance of anointing someone's head with oil you 00:12:54.080 --> 00:13:00.159 know is throughout the Old Testament. That's how kings are anointed and we 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:07.600 see that even in that Christ's kingship is implied. But Jesus would not receive 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:16.000 another anointment. For his enemies would come. They would take him and they 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:23.600 would crucify him defiling his body. Now Saul is a he's a poor king. He's a 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:29.199 poor representative and he suffered and he was defiled because of it. And his 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:33.920 people they suffered the consequences of this his body and the bodies of many 00:13:33.920 --> 00:13:42.540 other Israelites men were laying slain on the hills of Gilboa with the enemies 00:13:42.540 --> 00:13:52.480 rejoicing. But the day would come when the Messiah would die similarly. You know 00:13:52.480 --> 00:14:01.759 he was to be slain. He was to be defiled on top of a hill. But unlike Saul this 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:10.399 representative Jesus Christ does not remain slain on a hill but his body is 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:19.440 risen victoriously as he has conquered both his enemies death and Satan. You know 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:27.240 he is the one who suffered not for his own sins but for the sense of others for 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:34.360 the sense of his people. And we as long as we as we as we rest upon him as we 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:44.240 believe in him and rest upon him alone for salvation we share with Christ. We 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:51.879 share with Christ in his resurrection in his exaltation in his victory because 00:14:51.879 --> 00:15:00.039 he is our representative and through him we have life and life everlasting. 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:07.080 He saw again is a poor Messiah figure as the dead bodies of Mount Gilboa is 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:13.639 evidence of. However neither David nor any of the Old Testament kings that come 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:20.319 after him bring the hope and the certainty of salvation that we that we 00:15:20.319 --> 00:15:28.039 need. Now may you ask yourself this evening you know who is your representative 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:35.439 you know who is the one on whom you have placed your hope. Who is the one that you 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:46.200 are holding on to. You know is it a political leader is he or she the one 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:53.160 that's gonna bring what you need. Is it your boss is it your parent is it your 00:15:53.160 --> 00:16:01.640 partner or is it yourself. Now you know you may not end up dead in a field but 00:16:01.639 --> 00:16:11.120 death is what awaits for each one of us and there's only one sure firm and true 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:17.759 foundation. It is Jesus Christ the Son of God who who rose victoriously and 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:24.199 a seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty and he can be your 00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:32.640 representative he can be your hope he can be your sure guarantee if only you 00:16:32.640 --> 00:16:39.320 come to him. So the death of the mighty and then second we see the strength of 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:46.920 the mighty now please look at verses 22 and 23 as we see from the blood of the 00:16:46.920 --> 00:16:51.640 slain from the fat of the mighty the bow of Jonathan turned not back in the 00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:58.360 sword of Saul return not empty Saul and Jonathan beloved and lovely in life and 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:02.919 in death they were not divided they were swifter than eagles they were 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:10.240 stronger than lions. See in verse 22 and the second half of 23 we see the 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:15.599 strength of the mighty in battle. See Jonathan and Saul they they fought with 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:22.000 great bravery with great courage and their weapons you know the bow representing 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:27.319 Jonathan and the sword representing Saul they did not turn back they did not 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:31.679 return empty but they continued to go forth they continued to battle the 00:17:31.679 --> 00:17:37.240 enemy they were swifter than eagles they moved with meaning meaning they moved 00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:43.079 with great speed they're stronger than lions you know emphasizing the strength 00:17:43.079 --> 00:17:49.839 in their fighting and in the first half of verse 23 we see the the strength of 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:56.039 their character beloved and lovely is what David calls them you know for 00:17:56.039 --> 00:18:01.079 Jonathan this makes sense and we'll talk more about this in a little bit but 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:10.439 for Saul you know the man who who tried to kill him twice he you know it to me 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:17.039 doesn't seem exactly what I would call a lovely person but it is true that Saul 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:22.400 during the beginning of his kingship could be called those things that he was 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:27.440 beloved and lovely because through his strength he had subdued the enemies he 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:33.360 was honored and he was respected by the people but then David says also that 00:18:33.360 --> 00:18:39.299 they were they were not divided even though Jonathan had renounced his right 00:18:39.299 --> 00:18:45.159 for the kingship and Saul had you know sought to kill David the one whom 00:18:45.159 --> 00:18:52.680 Jonathan loved Saul and Jonathan they remained together in life and in death 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:59.639 on that battlefield even while loving David we see Jonathan remaining faithful 00:18:59.639 --> 00:19:07.559 to his father even unto death on Mount Gilboa and there we see the strength of 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:15.119 the mighty now third we're gonna look at the response to the mighty because in 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:19.319 this little event we see both the response to Saul and a response to 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:25.799 Jonathan so in verse 24 and 25 the beginning of it we see the response to 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:32.639 Saul says you daughters of Israel weep over Saul who clothed you 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:38.800 luxuriously in scarlet who put ornaments of gold on your apparel how the mighty 00:19:38.800 --> 00:19:44.280 have fallen in the midst of the battle see David now addresses the daughters of 00:19:44.280 --> 00:19:52.240 Israel and here focuses on Saul you call them to respond to this tragedy by 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:57.960 weeping and mourning for Saul see in quite in contrast to the Philistine 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:05.920 women who are rejoicing and celebrating the death of Saul David is calling for 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:14.519 them to weep see Saul he's the one who clothed them he provided for them 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:20.559 despite his many many faults Saul in his time had brought some stability he had 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:25.880 brought prosperity because think about what comes before Saul you know the book 00:20:25.880 --> 00:20:33.000 of judges where the tribes of Israel are divided and they're being conquered by 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:38.600 Mesopotamians Moabites Canaanites Midianites of course the Philistines 00:20:38.600 --> 00:20:45.800 yet in the time of Saul we see all 12 tribes come together under one king and 00:20:45.800 --> 00:20:51.240 he defeated all you know several of Israel's enemies you we read that when 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:56.160 Saul took over the kingship of Israel he fought against all his enemies on 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:02.039 every side you know against Moab the Ammonites eat them the kings of Zobah 00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:07.440 and the kings of Philistines wherever he turned he routed them and he did 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:12.359 valiantly and he struck down the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:18.279 the hands of those who plundered them here is someone who has delivered Israel 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:26.639 from their enemies and brought for the first time in a long time prosperity and 00:21:26.639 --> 00:21:35.519 the next look at the response to Jonathan verse 25 and 26 Jonathan lies 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:40.839 slain on your high places I am distressed for you my brother Jonathan 00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:48.240 very pleasant have you been to me your love to me was extraordinary surpassing 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:57.680 the love of women see right at the end of verse 25 we see yet another parallel 00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:03.839 did you notice it connects with the first verse of the lament you know which 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:10.079 said your glory oh Israel is slain on the high places and here it says 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:17.359 Jonathan lies slain on your high places see David is here clarifying that the 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:24.399 glory of Israel whereas we can also put it the jewel or the splendor of Israel is 00:22:24.399 --> 00:22:32.719 Jonathan so this lament in this way both begins and it ends with Jonathan see 00:22:32.719 --> 00:22:38.359 the death of Jonathan is the greatest loss in the battle with the Philistines 00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:45.039 but why well as we continue we see how the lament shifts so it is now 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:50.639 addressing Jonathan David you know had in the beginning of this lament he 00:22:50.639 --> 00:22:56.119 praised Saul and he praised Jonathan in third person he then called for the 00:22:56.119 --> 00:23:02.759 daughters of Israel to weep over Saul but now he's addressing Jonathan directly 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:11.680 he says I am distressed for you he calls Jonathan his brother the one who's been 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:17.920 very pleasant to him whose love was extraordinary whose love surpasses the 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:24.039 love of women now before I explain what this means I'll first say what it does 00:23:24.039 --> 00:23:31.000 not mean see there are those who read into this passage the idea of homosexuality 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:36.680 but that is not what is going on in this passage and I think if we had if we had 00:23:36.680 --> 00:23:42.680 read through first Samuel thus far we understand what is going on here because 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:49.960 who is David and who is Jonathan well from the perspective of Jonathan at least 00:23:49.960 --> 00:23:58.279 in view of the world well David should be the enemy see Saul is the king and 00:23:58.279 --> 00:24:06.200 David is the threat to Saul's kingship see David has been anointed and as long 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:11.840 as David lives Saul's kingship is in danger more than that however Jonathan's 00:24:11.840 --> 00:24:20.720 kingship is in danger see Jonathan is the air he is to become king so as long 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:28.400 as David lives David is a threat to his father and to his own kingship but we've 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:34.240 already seen in first Samuel Jonathan's reaction to Saul's desire to kill David 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:41.079 see Jonathan tried to persuade his father of David's goodness he warned David of 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:46.519 his father's desire to kill him and even greater than all these Jonathan made a 00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:55.000 covenant with David you know he made this promise in first Samuel 18 that says 00:24:55.000 --> 00:25:02.319 that Jonathan loved David as his own soul and Jonathan took off his royal robe 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:10.159 he took off his armor and he gave it to David and this is quite the symbolic 00:25:10.159 --> 00:25:19.159 act as the things that that represent royalty are given to David and then 00:25:19.159 --> 00:25:23.480 just two chapters later which Derek preached on last month Jonathan renews 00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:28.599 his covenant with David promising to warn him but also saying these 00:25:28.599 --> 00:25:34.359 remarkable words you know if I am still alive show me the steadfast love of the 00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:40.199 Lord that I may not die and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house 00:25:40.199 --> 00:25:47.159 forever and then a few chapters later as Saul is pursuing David Jonathan says to 00:25:47.159 --> 00:25:58.480 David do not fear for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you you shall be 00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:07.680 king over Israel and I shall be next to you Saul my father also knows this see 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:13.360 Jonathan knows that even though he is he is the son of the king he is the son of 00:26:13.360 --> 00:26:20.880 Saul that he is not the heir he's not the real heir for the kingship belongs not 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:28.360 to Saul but to David he knows the Lord is not with his father but with David 00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:34.559 and I could give countless examples of where power has been fought and has been 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:43.359 killed over but unlike those Jonathan freely gives it to David so in David 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:50.359 here in his in this lament says that Jonathan's love with extraordinary he 00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:56.959 is talking about Jonathan's actions of giving up the throne and everything for 00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:03.319 the sake of David you know he says that Jonathan's love surpasses even the love 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:11.720 of women what is meant by that well at the heart of love especially marital 00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:22.200 love is fight is fidelity is faithfulness and who has been more faithful to David 00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:28.440 than Jonathan you hear is a quote from Matthew Henry that that highlights 00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:35.680 Jonathan's fidelity see he had a reason to say that Jonathan's love to him was 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:44.759 wonderful surely never was the like for a man to love one whom he knew was to 00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:51.720 take the crown over his head and to be so faithful to his rival and this far 00:27:51.720 --> 00:28:00.120 surpassed the highest degree of conjugal affection and constancy see it's it's 00:28:00.120 --> 00:28:06.360 it's it's the love we see there and now this is not the only time that we see 00:28:06.360 --> 00:28:12.640 marital language used without referring to sexual acts I mean think of the 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:16.960 relationship between God and his people of course in the New Testament we have 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:22.779 Christ and his bride but even in the Old Testament when Israel turns from the 00:28:22.779 --> 00:28:28.559 Lord and worships the bales the foreign gods you know God says that they have 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:35.759 committed immorality that they have been immoral to him see God made a covenant 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:41.680 with his people and promised to be faithful and yet his people has been 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:49.400 unfaithful but here you see Jonathan has promised to be faithful to his covenant 00:28:49.400 --> 00:28:59.519 to David and he has and that is a tremendous friend so we've seen the 00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:05.320 death of the mighty the strength of the mighty and the response to the mighty and 00:29:05.319 --> 00:29:13.240 then with the final refrain we see the lament ending how the mighty have fallen 00:29:13.240 --> 00:29:18.799 the weapons of war have perished it is over see the bow of Jonathan and the 00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:26.599 sword of Saul they probably lie there on Mount Gilboa useless you're wasting 00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:32.759 away and this is the lament that David wants for all of his people to know 00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:38.960 than to sing and even though Saul and Jonathan are the heart of this this is 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:46.039 a lament for the whole nation as many husbands fathers brothers and sons had 00:29:46.039 --> 00:29:52.640 perished on Mount Gilboa but what does David's call to remember Mount Gilboa 00:29:52.640 --> 00:30:00.599 mean for us today and I think for us it means to remember an entirely different 00:30:00.599 --> 00:30:09.119 mount a different hill the hill of Golgotha the place of the skull where 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:16.679 Christ was crucified the hill on which the mighty indeed the mightiest had fallen 00:30:16.679 --> 00:30:24.119 the glory of Israel the splendor its jewel slain on that high place indeed 00:30:24.119 --> 00:30:30.159 the glory of not just Israel but the whole world but because the story of 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:38.880 Golgotha does not end on Golgotha but indeed continues with the empty tomb and 00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:44.680 with the ascension and will come to its final fulfillment at the return of Christ 00:30:44.680 --> 00:30:52.880 the lament here is turned on its head because of Gilboa Israel is told not to 00:30:52.880 --> 00:31:01.760 tell of this in gas or ash cologne but because of Golgotha we are told to share 00:31:01.760 --> 00:31:07.800 the great news not only in Jerusalem Judea or Samaria but across the whole 00:31:07.800 --> 00:31:14.680 world because of Gilboa David does not want the Philistines the uncircumcised 00:31:14.680 --> 00:31:23.560 to rejoice but because of Golgotha Christ wants the whole earth Jews and 00:31:23.560 --> 00:31:30.160 Gentiles to rejoice of the salvation that we have in his life and in his death 00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:36.320 because it is in these things that we've been given all things of how we've been 00:31:36.320 --> 00:31:41.759 been given a new heart that we've been given the Holy Spirit we've been given 00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:49.160 justification that we can stand and God can say of us that we are righteous of 00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:55.960 how he can say that we are his sons and we are his daughters and that we've been 00:31:55.960 --> 00:32:01.200 given life eternal life to live forever in heaven and at the heart and the 00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:09.839 greatest of all these things is Christ himself that he is the one the mighty is 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:16.679 one that has been given to us see the mighty is one has fallen but he has 00:32:16.679 --> 00:32:24.119 conquered and he has risen so here are the good news now we're gonna end taking 00:32:24.119 --> 00:32:32.279 from a song called see what a morning written by Townsend and Getty which ends 00:32:32.279 --> 00:32:38.759 honor and blessing glory and praise to the King crowned with power and 00:32:38.759 --> 00:32:45.720 authority and we are raised with him death is dead love has won Christ has 00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:54.240 conquered and we shall reign with him for he lives Christ is risen from the 00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:58.400 dead let us pray 00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:13.840 Father God may we indeed have in our mind the hill of Golgotha the place and 00:33:13.840 --> 00:33:22.200 the time that changed all things for Lord if we set our hope on Saul on David 00:33:22.200 --> 00:33:31.039 on anything on this earth it would all be futile we would still be without hope 00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:41.279 without any sure foundation without any life but Father we thank you that because 00:33:41.279 --> 00:33:46.039 of your love that we have Christ that because of your love we have the Holy 00:33:46.039 --> 00:33:54.399 Spirit that because of you that we have you and we have you for all eternity and 00:33:54.400 --> 00:34:20.000 Father we pray all these things in the name of Jesus Amen