2 Samuel 1:1-27 After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. ² And on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul’s camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. ³ David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴ And David said to him, “How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” ⁵ Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶ And the young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. ⁷ And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸ And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹ And he said to me, ‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ ¹⁰ So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹ Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. ¹² And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³ And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴ David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” ¹⁵ Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died. ¹⁶ And David said to him, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

¹⁷ And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, ¹⁸ and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said:

¹⁹ “Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!
²⁰ Tell it not in Gath,
publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
²¹ “You mountains of Gilboa,
let there be no dew or rain upon you,
nor fields of offerings!
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
the shield of Saul, not 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, beloved and lovely!
In life and in death they were not divided;
they were swifter than eagles;
they were stronger than lions.
²⁴ “You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet,
who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
²⁵ “How the mighty have fallen
in the midst of the battle!
“Jonathan lies slain on your high places.
²⁶ I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
very pleasant have you been to me;
your love to me was extraordinary,
surpassing the love of women.
²⁷ “How the mighty have fallen,
and the weapons of war perished!”

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The big idea of this sermon is this, that David lived life with his eyes fixed squarely on the Lord’s kingdom and on the principles that God laid out for his people to live by. David’s heart was bent towards valuing his relationship with God above all else, because of this he walked humbly before the Lord. Content to allow God’s timing to work out for when he would indeed be king. He need not take the kingdom by force as the Lord had promised to give him the kingdom. He was honoring and forgiving of Saul, the Lord’s anointed, even when Saul was busy pursuing David with the purpose of murdering him.

Before we dig into 2 Samuel 1 I would like to take a quick look at some of the major events of 1 Samuel that have led us to our text for today. At the beginning of 1 Samuel the character Hannah is introduced to us and her desire to have a child. Her promise to the Lord that if she is given a child he would be dedicated to service to the Lord after he is weaned. We know the story, the Lord answers her prayer and she is given a son whom she names Samuel and she takes him to Eli the priest and he begins his life of service to the Lord. Eli and his sons are removed from leadership because of sin and Samuel becomes the leader of Israel.

In chapter 8 of 1 Samuel the people of Israel come to Samuel and they say to him, “Behold you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the other nations.” Samuel was grieved by this but the Lord said to him to obey the voice of the people for they have not rejected you but they have rejected me from being king over them. Samuel is directed by God to anoint Saul as king. Saul begins his kingship as a humble man and God gives him victory over the Ammonites. We know that Saul eventually disobeys the Lord when in 1 Samuel 15 he is commanded to go to the nation of Amalek and utterly destroy the nation of Amalek. All men, women, children, ox, sheep, donkey and camel were supposed to be devoted to destruction. He fails to do so, preserving the life of Agag the king and some of the animals. Samuel comes to him and tells him that because of his disobedience the Lord will tear the kingdom from him and give it to a neighbor of his who is better than he.

In 1 Samuel 16 we see the Lord direct Samuel to go to Bethlehem and visit Jesse and his sons and anoint the one that I direct you to. Samuel goes and the sons of Jesse are brought before him. Eliab the oldest, who Samuel thought for sure was the Lord’s anointed but the Lord says to him, “don’t look at the outward appearance, for the Lord looks at the heart”. Samuel is directed to anoint the youngest son, the youthful shepherd boy David as the next king of Israel.

In chapter 17 we see David defeat the giant Goliath of Gath, all Israel including Saul was too terrified of the giant but the Lord gave courage to the shepherd boy and he takes on the giant with only his staff, sling and five smooth stones. God gives victory to him as he trusts completely in the Lord.

Chapter 18 we see Saul take David and does not let him return to his father’s house. The friendship of Jonathan and David is referenced here that the soul of Jonathan was knit to David’s and he gives David his robe, his armor, even his sword, his bow and his belt, and Saul sends David out to do battle and he is successful wherever he goes and does. This begins the jealousy of Saul against David as the women sing that Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands and Saul tries to pin David to the wall two times with his spear but David evades him both times.

Chapter 19 and 20 we see Saul again conspired to kill David but he is warned by his friend Jonathan, the king’s own son and heir. They make a covenant together and between their offspring together. The humility and obedience of Jonathan of what he saw as God’s hand on David’s life and that he was to be the next king is quite amazing. In the world’s eyes Jonathan should’ve been the next king but he saw that was not to be the case and fully submitted himself to the will of the Lord.

Chapter 22 we see David who has been on the run makes it to the cave of Addullam and God brings his brother’s and his father’s house to him and everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt and everyone who was bitter in soul gathered to him and he became their commander, about 400 men. This number would eventually grow to 600.

In chapters 24 and 26 David is given two opportunities to take the kingdom by force and kill Saul. In 24 his men encourage him to kill Saul, he stealthily cuts off a corner of Saul’s robe as he sleeps and the scripture says his heart struck him because he did this to the Lord’s anointed. He says to his men, as they encourage him to kill Saul, “the Lord forbid that I put forth my hand against the Lord’s anointed”. In 26 there is an almost exact repeat of the first story ending again with David refusing to strike down the Lord’s anointed.

In chapter 27 David is feeling discouraged and feels that he will one day be killed by Saul so he flees to the Philistines and to Achish their king. Achish gives Ziklag to David to reside in and David lived there for a year and four months.

In chapter 29 the Philistines are preparing for battle against the Israelites and Achish calls for David and his men to come fight as well. However the commanders of the Philistines want no part of David being in their fighting forces as they were afraid that David would attack them instead during the battle. Thus David and his men were delivered from having to fight against their own countrymen.

In chapter 30 while David and his men were away the Amalekites made a raid against Ziklag and took captive all of David and his men’s families and possessions. David and his men return from Achish and find out what has happened. The men were bitter in soul and spoke of stoning David, but David strengthened himself in the Lord his God and he enquired of the Lord should we pursue after this band? Will we overtake them? The Lord responds to him to pursue for you shall surely overtake them and surely will rescue them. God gives them victory over the Amalekites and nothing and no one was missing whether great or small and they head back to Ziklag.

In chapter 31 the Israelites are routed by Philistia and Saul falls on his own sword and kills himself for fear he would be found and tortured by the Philistines. His three sons and many other men of Israel perished that day on Mount Gilboa. `

A main theme that permeates from Joshua, Judges and through the books of Samuel is to obey the Law of God. We see in Judges the punishment Israel endured when they disobeyed the Law of God, we see Eli and his sons removed because of disobedience, Saul and his heirs are removed from the kingly line because of disobedience. Now in 2 Samuel 1 we see the heart of the next king of Israel on display, a heart that is turned towards complete obedience to his heavenly Father.

Philippians 2:1-11 is probably my favorite passage in scripture, I think it so clearly and succinctly describes the character of Christ, his humility and willingness to obey the will of the Father no matter what was asked of him. I would suggest that the life of David, his kingship and his desire to fully obey his heavenly father pointed towards the life of that greater king who was to come, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Samuel 1 I believe shows us clearly David’s heart, just as Philippians 2 shows us clearly the heart of Christ. Let’s dig into 2 Samuel 1 now.

2 Samuel 2:1-16 David Hears of Saul’s death.

The Amalekite comes to David with dirt on his head and his clothes torn. He’s painting the picture to David and his men of someone who is in genuine grief. Grief over the loss of the men of Israel, maybe grief over what I’m about to tell you that the king asked me to do to him. He had come about eighty miles to bring this news to David, what was going through his mind as he made his way to David? I wonder if he ever second guessed telling the lie and what the consequences might be. In verses 3 and 4 we see David conversing with him, asking him where have you come from? He responds that he’s come from the camp of Israel. David asks him how the battle went? Maybe apprehensively he asked these words as the signs of grief were worn by the young man David maybe was anticipating bad news. He responds to David telling him that the people have fled in battle and also many of the people have fallen in battle and are dead. Does he give a pause here before he then says, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead? David then asks him, how do you know this to be true, that Saul and Jonathan are dead? We don’t see in the text him really answer the question about how he knows Jonathan is dead but he moves readily into his prepared lie, his lie he has been sharpening during his eighty mile journey to see David. I, by chance, happened to be on Mount Gilboa and there was Saul leaning on his spear and the chariots and horsemen were closing in on him and he saw me and called out to me. I responded “here I am”. Saul asked who I was, I told him that I am an Amalekite, and he said to stand beside me and kill me for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers. Verse 10, so I stood beside him and I killed him and I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.

Dale Ralph Davis in his commentary on 2 Samuel has a great line about this. If you’re someone who just casually read 1 Samuel 31 and now reading this narrative of 2 Samuel 1, you may ask are there actually two accounts of what happened. Not really, we have the true account given by the narrator in 1 Samuel 31 and we have the Amalekite’s account in verses 3-10 and the solution is simple: the Amalekite lied. If you ever have a choice between the narrator and an Amalekite, always believe the narrator, have you ever met an Amalekite you can trust?

David’s response and his men’s response in verse 11 must have shocked the Amalekite, he most likely was thinking there would be cheering at the news. Saul is dead, David can now go claim the throne that was long ago promised to him, the 600 outcast men and their families can once again go and dwell in their homeland of Israel. Instead they immediately grieve, they tear their clothes and they mourn and they weep and they fast until evening. They mourned for King Saul, his son Jonathan, and they mourned for the people of Yahweh who had fallen by the sword. To me this is quite amazing. David mourns not only for Jonathan his great friend, but also for the people of Israel, some who’ve probably been a part of hunting him for these years, but most amazing is his utter grief as well over the loss of Saul the Lord’s anointed, the one who has on multiple occasions tried to murder David. It is also a marvel to me that his men follow him in grief. A few days before they had been ready to stone him but now they join him in grief over the death of, besides Jonathan, men who had been pursuing them and seeking their lives. There is a real contrast here between the godly leadership of David and the disobedient leadership of Saul. David’s adherence to seeking after the Lord and his obedience to God brought the Lord’s blessing and rescue of these men’s families and possessions from the Amalekite raiders. Saul’s disobedience to the Lord ultimately led to not only his death but also the death of his sons and the death of many of his men at the hands of the Philistines. David’s heart was one of forgiveness and love for Saul despite the things he had done.

Now the Amalekite is dealt with, in verse 13 David asks the young man where do you come from? He replies that he is the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite. Verse 14 David asks him, “how were you not afraid to put out your hand to harm the Lord’s anointed? Judgement is then doled out, David calls to one of his young men and says go and execute him. The young man strikes him down and he dies. In verse 16 David says “your blood be on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you saying, I have killed the Lord’s anointed”. The Amalekite lived to get ahead in life, he was most likely hoping for a place of reward in the new kingdom under David. He assumed David lived by the same scruples as him, a desire for reward and the kingship no matter the cost. His assumption cost him his life as David lived by a different code, a strict adherence to not touch the head of the Lord’s anointed and to allow the Lord to bring about David’s kingship. He need not take the kingdom by force as he knew the Lord would do what he had promised according to His timing and not David’s.

2 Samuel 1:17-27: David’s lament for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, ¹⁸ and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said:

¹⁹ “Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!
²⁰ Tell it not in Gath,
publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
²¹ “You mountains of Gilboa,
let there be no dew or rain upon you,
nor fields of offerings!
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
the shield of Saul, not 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, beloved and lovely!
In life and in death they were not divided;
they were swifter than eagles;
they were stronger than lions.
²⁴ “You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet,
who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
²⁵ “How the mighty have fallen
in the midst of the battle!
“Jonathan lies slain on your high places.
²⁶ I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
very pleasant have you been to me;
your love to me was extraordinary,
surpassing the love of women.
²⁷ “How the mighty have fallen,
and the weapons of war perished!”

We see David instruct in verse 18 that it should be taught to the people of Judah. That it would be a reminder to them about what Philistia did to them. That they would carry this reminder with them into battle as they marched that it would motivate them. He knew that there would be future battles with Philistia and he desired this to be a rallying cry for the men going to battle, to remember what Philistia had done to their fellow countrymen. He curses Mount Gilboa for the death that occurred on top of it, the shields of the men of Israel that littered the slopes of it. He sings of the prowess of Jonathan and Saul in battle, comparing them to eagles and lions. He assigns the daughters of Israel to mourn over Saul, for he clothed you in scarlet and put ornaments of gold on your apparel. Signs of prosperity that through the reign of Saul came to the daughters of Israel. The mourning over his best friend Jonathan he assigns to himself. He speaks of distress over the loss of his brother Jonathan, the brotherly love and affection he shared with Jonathan surpassed any other love he had experienced.

You read these words and you can quite clearly see the love David had for Jonathan and Saul. He did not hold bitterness in his heart towards Saul over the evil that Saul had tried to perpetrate upon him. His was a heart that had forgiven and was submitted and thankful for the ruler God had placed over Israel.

Application for us.

1. The Amalekite who lies about murdering Saul, does this story remind you of anything from the New Testament? Let’s turn to Acts 5:1-11, Ananias and Saphira sell some land and secretly keep back some of the proceeds but portray like they have given all. How often do we exaggerate to maybe make ourselves seem better to those around us. Maybe to a boss or a co-worker, why do we do this? Maybe pride, we feel the need for an ego boost. Don’t do this Grace, strive for integrity and truthfulness in all your relationships. Man may never know of your bending of the truth but your heavenly Father knows. Do not let dishonesty creep into your lives. The irony in this story is if the Amalekite had come to David genuinely grieved and truthful about what happened to Saul and the men of Israel I believe David would have recognized him in some way. His lie ultimately costs him his life however.
2. Cultivate a heart that is submitted to the authority that God has placed over you. Husbands, are you setting an example of submission to authority to your wives and children? How do you speak about authority over you? Do you complain often about your boss and speak negatively of them? Do you complain about the rules and regulations of the government we live under? Do I live in the reality that God is sovereign over who the authority in place is and I am called to submit to that authority? Wives, are you setting an example of submission to the authority of your husband to your children? Do you ever speak negatively about your husband? Fight against that, be honoring and submissive to him as the church submits to Christ. Kids, are you obedient and submissive to your parents’ authority? Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. It doesn’t say obey when you deem them to be fair it simply states obey. That is what we are commanded to do, David sets an example for us of godly submission and honor of Saul’s God given authority even when Saul surely did not deserve it.
3. Have a heart that is quick to forgive even when forgiveness hasn’t been asked for. David obviously harbored no bitterness against Saul, a bitter heart would not have grieved or spoke of Saul in the way that he did. I believe David truly desired reconciliation and restored relationship with Saul more than he desired the kingdom to be his. Grace may we have hearts that do not harbor past hurts, but may we be able to truly pray, forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
4. David lived with his eyes fully fixed on the promises of God and His commandments and desired to live in strict adherence to them. Grace may we live our lives with our eyes fully fixed on the cross and the teachings of Christ. May they be the lens that we view the circumstances of life through. May we strive to have hearts that are consumed by seeking to be like Christ.