Please be seated and turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 1, 2 Samuel chapter 1, where today it will be my joy, and I hope your joy as well, for us to pick up and continue in the story that's told us of David and the period of Israel's history relayed to us in the book of Samuel, 1 and 2 Samuel. Before we dive into that, I wanted to call attention to this hymn that we just sang. I was struck by how several lines in here reminded me of the story of King David. For example, David was one who loved the house of the Lord. He was one that loved the worship of God. He often wrote about that in the Psalms, about how his desire, Psalm 27, his desire, his chief desire was to be in the house of God. And we see in David's life, we see how he was one who pursued the Lord, his heart was after the Lord, more than on trying to obtain power or to be king, he desired to serve the Lord. here in this song it speaks about. Verse two, might I enjoy the meanest place within thy house, O God of grace, not tents of ease. nor thrones of power should tempt my feet to leave thy door. And when we think about the life of David, we see that he was rarely on his ascent to be king of Israel. He was rarely in a place where he was in tense of ease, but he was often in suffering and trial and difficulty. And we see that story continue here in 2 Samuel. So let's turn there to 2 Samuel 1. And before reading this, let's remind ourselves of the setting and the context of where we're picking up. Because we're picking up right in the middle of a story, an incredible story, a true story, a true history of how Israel, the nation of Israel, transitioned from the period of the judges to the age of kings, and how the first kings of Israel rose to their positions of reign. And how they foreshadowed in their reign, they foreshadowed the coming of the one true anointed king, the Lord Jesus, who was the son of David. And here we have the story of David. What we've seen so far in 1 Samuel is that David was called by God. He was even anointed by Samuel. He was a faithful servant of Saul, who was the first king of Israel. He loyally and faithfully served Saul. He fought for the people of Israel against their enemies, the Philistines. He was very successful and victorious in that, and God was with him and God blessed him. And Saul became very envious of David's success, his fame, his prosperity in all that he did. When the women of Israel sang his praises, and they said, Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands. Saul, rather than rejoicing in the deliverance that God was working through him and through David, he became envious and fearful of David. And he pursued him and sought to put him to death. And David had to go into exile and go on the run for many years to many places. He had to hide out in caves. He had to hide out among the Philistines, the enemies of the people. He had to use deception and he had to use all kinds of tactics just to stay alive. Meanwhile, on at least two occasions, he had the opportunity to kill Saul who was trying to kill him and put him to death, but he refused to do so, and the reason he gave was that he would not lay his hand upon the Lord's anointed. that even though Saul wanted to kill David and tried on many occasions to kill him, from when David was playing the harp for him at dinner, Saul throws the spear to try to pin David to the wall, to getting his soldiers to chase David and seek him out in the caves to try to catch him in battle, David would not lay a hand on Saul, and David put his trust in the Lord, he encouraged himself in the Lord, and as we come to the end of 1 Samuel, we have everything building up to this climax of sorts, to the resolution of this long-standing conflict between Saul and David. The Philistines are getting ready to go to war against Saul and the Israelites. Saul, along with his sons, including Jonathan, who is a great friend of David, they pitch themselves in battle against the Philistines. The battle lines are drawn, but David is not there. David had gone off and had hid out among the Philistines and pretended a kind of loyalty to them in order to keep himself alive. But the lords of the Philistines did not trust David and did not want him to go out to battle with them. So when Saul faces off against the Philistines, David is not there. David's not able to go out into this battle. Not only that, but David's city, his town, where he and his soldiers and loyal followers lived, was raided by the Amalekites. They took their wives, their children, their goods. They took them captive. They spoiled their camp. And so David goes out with his men, and with 400 men, he goes out to battle against the Amalekites, defeats them, and brings back the spoils victoriously. And while Saul is being defeated by the Philistines and ultimately meets his death as a result of that battle, David is victorious against the Amalekites. And it is in this setting that we find ourselves when we come to 2 Samuel chapter 1. So let's read 2 Samuel chapter 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? Pause there for a moment, because the way this narrative is presented to us, it's very matter of fact about the conversation that this man had with David. And we do not yet see the emotional and internal reaction of David to the news that he's hearing. But we ought to anticipate that if David determines that, in fact, this report is true, that Saul and Jonathan are dead, then this is news of great importance to David. In fact, it's a cause of great sorrow and grief to David, particularly because Jonathan was his close and dear friend. David and Jonathan had a bond, a friendship that was powerful, that was deep and abiding. So it was so strong, their loyalty to each other and their friendship was so strong that Saul, Jonathan's father, though he was trying to kill David, though he explicitly said to Jonathan that David was a threat to Jonathan's opportunity to become king of Israel, which would have been his right as being the son of Saul, Jonathan chose loyalty to David and to the Lord over his own prospects of being king. He saved David's life on occasions or helped him preserve his life such that Saul at different points, tried to have Jonathan put to death, because he was loyal to David at the same time as he was faithful and loyal to his father and to the kingdom. But he would not turn on David. David and Jonathan had a deep friendship and a powerful love. And David now hears not only that Saul is dead, but that Jonathan is dead, has died in battle, been defeated by their enemies, But it goes on, and it recounts the narrative as it happens. So very reasonably, David would have wanted to make sure that this news was true. So he asked him, how do you know this? And the man goes on to give him an eyewitness account. Now, it might not be fresh in your minds, but one thing you'll notice about this eyewitness account, if you compare it to the last chapter of 1 Samuel, when it recounts the death of Saul, some of the details of this man's account don't necessarily line up with what's said. Perhaps he is lying. Perhaps he is stretching the truth. Perhaps we're giving a little bit different perspective or more details of what happened. But it is evident that this man has an ulterior motive in the way that he presents this story to David and the fact that he comes to him. He has this Amalekite. He's described as an Amalekite that was a sojourner in Israel. That is, he was an Amalekite, which is interesting because these are the enemies that David had just defeated, but he was one that lived in Israel, and he lived at peace in Israel, and as Israel was taught to be kind to the stranger and take care of the stranger, he was dwelling at peace in Israel. He was not treated as an enemy. And so he comes to David and he comes in a tire of mourning, of grieving. He's grieving over the death of Saul. You can almost see his actions, his words, his physical appearance that he presents himself with in a kind of political terms. He's going to present himself before the king and he's trying to do so in a favorable way that will ultimately get him reward. 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. 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 hither unto my Lord." Crown and bracelet, these are very important. He has something with him. He has a token of his witness to these events. He has the crown and the bracelet of Saul, which were symbols of Saul's kingship, and he brings them to present them to David. This isn't just some kind of meaningless thing. It's not even just evidence that he was there. These are symbols of great importance, because they're symbols of kingly authority, and this man takes them from Saul and brings them to David. What we learned in the previous book was that Saul, in the battle, was struck by the archers. He was struck and he was wounded near unto death, such that he could not survive that blow. And he turns to his armor bearer and he asks his armor bearer to run him through. And the armor-bearer would not do so. The armor-bearer refused to do so. He was afraid to lay his hand on the king and bring about the death of the king. Perhaps there's something symbolic in this as well, because David was once the armor-bearer for Saul. And David, even though Saul gave David every opportunity and reason to put Saul to death and lay his hand on him, David refused to do so. He feared to do so. He feared the Lord. He feared laying his hand on the one who God, through the prophet Samuel, had anointed to be king over Israel. And he put his trust in the Lord more than seeking his own ambition and his own glory. In a way, that would have been the easier path for him to take. Defeat his enemy, slay his enemy. David was a mighty warrior. David was not afraid to kill the enemies of Israel. Kill his own enemies. What's the most famous story that people think of when they think of King David? What's one of the most famous stories about David? David and Goliath. Yeah. David rose to prominence in Israel, and in our understanding, and in our minds, and is famous to this day because of his battle against the great champion of the Philistines, the nine foot tall warrior a champion of the Philistines that was taunting Israel and daring anyone to come out and face him on the field of battle. And everyone was terrified. And David, this young man, shepherd, he's not afraid. He's not afraid because he trusted that the battle belonged to the Lord. And he looked back to how God had delivered him in the past. and he goes out on the field of battle, man to man against Goliath, and he defeats him, and he brings about a great victory for Israel. David was a mighty warrior. He wasn't afraid. But that triumph, that triumph of David, rather than it being a straightforward rise to glory, in many ways, Set into process a series of events that would bring David into a path of suffering and difficulty and sorrow, David would write later about walking through the valley of the shadow of death. And this was much of David's path to rise to glory. It was not an easy road for David. It involved suffering. It involved walking through the valley of the shadow of death. And he didn't take the easy way out when given the opportunity. But bringing it back to the death of Saul, the armor-bearer refuses to do so. So Saul falls on his own sword. Saul ultimately destroys himself, as he did in his reign, in his kingship. He brought about his own devastation, the own destruction of his kingship. He blamed David. He blamed everyone else. He blamed the people. He blamed David. But Saul ultimately was the cause of his personal downfall and the downfall of his reign as king. Because he refused to obey the Lord's command when the Lord gave him command to utterly destroy the Amalekites. Because he sought the guidance of of a witch, of a medium that would call up Samuel back from the dead, rather than seeking after and inquiring of the Lord, because he turned aside from honoring and seeking the Lord. He brought about his own destruction and the destruction of his own kingdom. The story this Amalekite here tells, though, is that he found Saul and he had a conversation with him. So we don't know. We don't know how much of what he's saying is true. Perhaps he just stumbled upon the body of Saul and he made up this story. But to justify why he took the bracelet and the crown from him, but whatever the case, He evidently thinks that this story he tells is going to obtain him favor with David because perhaps he knew Saul was a great enemy of David. Maybe he thought David would rejoice in the defeat of his enemy. Maybe he thought David would reward the man who was the instrument of finishing Saul off, which Saul, in this man's account, tells him to do. He said unto me, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me, for anguish is 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. 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. Then it proceeds to tell about this song that David sang and this, to lament the death of Saul the death of Jonathan, and the tragedy that had taken place in the nation of Israel. The book of Samuel, both 1 and 2 Samuel, They're bookended by songs. It begins with a song, the song of Hannah. It ends with a song. And here, right in the middle of the story, there's a song. And the songs are very significant. Hannah's song sang about how God would humble the mighty and exalt the lowly. Hannah's song sang about what one commentator referred to as the revolution of the elites. That the powers that were in Israel at the time, the corrupt priesthood, the judges that were not leading people in righteousness, God would overthrow them. He would bring them down. He would bring down the high priest Eli in his house, and he would raise up Samuel, a faithful prophet. He would raise up kings to rule over Israel. And as the account unfolds, we see these things come to pass. And here in the midst of the book of Samuel, we have what is ultimately a tragic, mournful song that speaks much of the story that's told in these books of 1 and 2 Samuel. 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. The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy 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, and 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, that was slain in thine 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 song is very vivid. You can picture the mountains of Gilboa where these battles took place, and David paints this picture, and they're laying on the side of the mountain, just laying on the ground. There's a shield. The shield of Saul is laying there. alone, unused, fallen to the ground. Next to it is the sword of Saul, and it's there, the sword that has been used in many a battle, and it's left there, abandoned. And then there's the bow of Jonathan, and the bow is there, it's left. untriumphant in its battle. And in painting this image, these weapons of war that signified their many mighty victories in their lives are now left. They're fallen. They're destitute. And in doing so, he signifies the fall of the mighty. Multiple times, he gives that refrain, how are the mighty fallen? And we see that David is both expressing his own grief that he experienced, especially as he comes to the end of this song. I mean, David probably didn't have many warm thoughts left for Saul by this point, but his grief just pours out when his attention turns to his friend Jonathan and his death, and you can just feel the palpable sorrow that he's experiencing this. but he's expressing more than just his own. his own grief and his own feeling. He's expressing something that speaks to the nation as a whole, to the people as a whole. He's giving voice and giving words to the sorrow and the grief that the nation is now experiencing, the people of Israel, such that this song, this lamentation is one that would be taught to the people of Israel to sing. and to sing of how the mighty are fallen. So this is how 2 Samuel begins and sets the stage for what's going to happen next, which is what many things have been building up towards. That David would be crowned king of the people of Israel, first of Judah, later of all the tribes of Israel. And this is a turning point in this story. And as we pause here and consider this, let's consider a few lessons that we see from this passage. First of all, I think we can't help but see that life is tragic. David was a man of God. He's far from perfect. major flaws. There's no doubt about that. But he was a man after God's heart. He was a faithful man. And yet his path is a path marked by sorrow and tragedy. Jonathan as well. What do we see in the character and person of Jonathan from the bits that are told us of his story? First of all, he was a man of great faith. He and his armor bearer went down. I forget how many they went against, maybe 30 men or more. Just the two of them, they went up against their enemies. He was someone that trusted and had great faith and great boldness and great courage. Not only that, but he's someone that sought righteousness rather than personal interest because he had an opportunity to have the throne and David could have been seen as a threat to that. Saul saw David as a threat, but Jonathan didn't. In fact, what he said to David was he said he perceived more than Saul or many others saw. He said, David, I know that you're going to be king over Israel. I know you're going to be king. He saw the plan of God come into fulfillment. I know that you're going to be king. And he said something else at the time. He said, and I'm going to be second to you. Never would come to be. Never would come to pass. But that was his desire. More than himself being king or having glory, he wanted to be loyal to his friend who he knew was the anointed of God to be king over Israel. So Jonathan was a man of great faith. He did his best as far as we could tell. He did his absolute best to remain loyal to his father and only oppose him when it was ultimately because he had to choose righteousness and obedience to God over obedience to his father. But he's loyal to him even to the end, even to going out in the battlefield with him against the Philistines. And yet, his end is tragic. And so it is in much of the story that we're given here, that life, even if you do the right things, will often bring sorrow and tragedy. And so in the midst of that, we must have our hope on something beyond that can bring us through those tragic difficulties of life. We must have our hope on something that is unshakable, something that is ultimately victorious. But much of the Bible, much of the narratives and stories of the Bible are filled with tragic tales. And they speak truly and accurately to what life in this world is actually like and what people are actually like. It's not a neat and tidy and happy story that we read about when we read about the life of King David and Jonathan and the others that he loved. And so we see that life is tragic. This song that he sings is tragic. Oh, how are the mighty fallen. Another lesson we see that is exemplified by David here in this passage is that David's desire was more for the good of God's people and the kingdom of Israel than it was for his own personal gain and personal well-being. He's confronted with a situation that could have been seen by David as, here is the answer to all of my problems. Make no mistake, David's life has been very hard for many years now because of Saul. David did everything to be loyal for Saul, and Saul pursued him to put him to death. And so David had to live in caves, and he had to hide out with the enemies of Israel, and he had to go every which way. He could have been living in the comfort of his house, celebrating the spoils of victory. But instead, he was walking through the valley of the shadow of death, suffering. He could have seen this news as good news. Saul is dead, and he could have rejoiced, and he could have given a prize and an award to the one who said, I finished Saul off. But instead, instead, David sees the bigger picture. He sees that the death of Israel's king, though he himself, Saul, had become a very wicked man in many ways, David cared more for the good of the people of God than he cared about personal interests or even about seeing vengeance rot on Saul for him getting what he deserved. And so instead, what does he do? He took hold on his clothes, he rent them, and likewise all the men 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. David, rather than rejoice because his enemy has been defeated, He mourns because Israel was defeated. He mourns because Israel has suffered. And in his lament, he says, tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Escalon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice. He grieves over the thought that the enemies of God might rejoice in the defeat of the Lord's people. And so we see that David's desire was for the good of the kingdom rather than for his own personal gain. And then a third lesson that we see from this that I've already alluded to and spoken of is that the path to glory, the path to glory and the path to reign and kingship goes down through the valley of the shadow of death. It goes down through the valley of suffering. The true king of Israel, if we are to set Saul and David side by side against each other, Saul, the king that the people asked for when they desired a king to reign over them, contrasted with David, the man after God's own heart that God anoints and raises up to replace Saul, Their path to kingship was very different. Saul's was one where he was taken from his humble beginnings, and he was raised up into a position of kingship without going through that valley of suffering and death. But for David, it was not that way. David, before he would be king of Israel, before he would obtain glory, he would suffer. He would be pursued unto death. He would hide out in caves and struggle against these things. And in doing so, on one hand, he taught us a lesson that applies to all of our lives. That we also will not experience glory without passing through that valley of suffering. We also will not experience glory without walking through the valley of the shadow of death. God's people throughout all the ages have experienced that. Joseph, one of the sons of Israel, he experienced that. The end of his story in Genesis is he is second to Pharaoh, raised up to a position of glory and honor in the kingdom of Egypt. But before that, he was sought to be put to death by his brothers. He was thrown into a pit and left for dead. He was sold into slavery. He was thrown down into the depths of prison for years. He suffered. He suffered at the hands of his own brothers. And so it was with David, suffered at the hands of his own king of the man that he served faithfully, Saul, and he had to go down into the valley of suffering. And it will be the same with us as well. We will not experience the fullness of glory apart from experiencing suffering. And it also teaches us and points forward to the son of David, and what it would mean for him to be raised up to kingship over the people of God. Jesus is several times in the Gospels called the son of David. He was literally the descendant of David, but he was the son of David who David also called Lord. In Psalm 110, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool, which speaks about him being elevated to a position of ultimate authority and glory, where Jesus now sits and reigns forever over his people, over all creation, because he says, all power and authority is given me in heaven and in earth. But it was not until he had gone through the valley of the shadow of death, Jesus himself, David symbolically experienced the suffering of death and was brought very low, but Jesus himself literally went down into death and into the grave before he was raised up to his position of glory and authority over all creation. Joseph, in a symbol, went down. He went down into Egypt. He went down into prison. He went down into a pit before he was brought up. But Jesus truly went down into the suffering of death itself before He was raised up into glory. And so when we learn about the account of David, the forefather of Jesus, according to the flesh, we see in Him foreshadowing what we would see fulfilled in all of its fullness in the life of our Lord Jesus.