Your beauty, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How have the mighty fallen! (verse 19)
Message: Lament for Saul and Jonathan
Time: Second Samuel is set in the land of Israel during the reign of David and follows the course of his forty years as king of Israel (1011–971 BC). It chronicles the establishment of the Davidic dynasty and the expansion of Israel under God’s chosen leader.
What the Lord is Saying: I've been thinking more about these Laments and our need to continue to go to the Lord with our problems and our struggles and especially when those struggles over a period of time are not working out the way we would like. I think of my dad's salvation, my youngest son's. I think of people in Africa and 3rd world countries that are continually struggling to have their basic needs met, working hard, and getting by on feeble means while so many other parts of the world, live in comfort, with heat, running water, and indoor plumbing. I think of our country and world that seems to be replacing God with personal choice - exchanging the truth for a lie. The division that is in our country at large.
In 2 Samuel 1, after David learns of the death of Saul and his sons, specifically Jonathan he brings forth a lament or funeral dirge or elegy that will be publicly spoken about these events. David and his men have already mourned, wept, and fasted (1 Samuel 1:12). David mentions this song of lament will be added to the Book of Jashar. This book is also mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and though never discovered seems to be a collection of a series of songs related to the men of Israel.
verse 19 - Your beauty, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How have the mighty fallen! - Saul and Jonathan are the beauty of Israel, the mighty that have fallen on the high Mount of Gilboa.
verse 20 - Tell not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistine rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. - Gath and Ashkelon were chief cities of the Philistines and the expression of the daughters is it is customary for women to celebrate national deliverances and victories. The uncircumcised refers to the Philistines and their triumph over Israel.
verse 21 - O mountains of Gilboa, let not dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings; for there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. Joseph Benson comments that the expression of the height of the mountain is the height of our mourning and no dew and nor rain and no fertile fields is "a passionate expression of the sorrow and horror which he felt at this public disgrace and loss, which were such as if he thought every person or thing which contributed to it ought to bear tokens of the divine displeasure, such as the earth does when it is deprived of the influence of dew and rain." The shield was to be the protection of Saul and it was defiled and cast away. These are stark words because Saul was to David both his enemy and his prince.
verse 22 - From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty. Saul and Jonathan had both been on the battle field victorious warrior who returned from battle often with the blood of the slain on them. This verse speaks of the greatness of Saul and David upon their foes.
verse 23 - Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life, and in their death they were not parted; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. Saul, but most notably Jonathan were pleasant (loved) in their life. As is done in any funeral service we commend the dead for the noble achievements and good works in their lives, for everyone does some amount of good. Father and son also share in a strong union. Like an eagle, they were swift, expeditious and nimble in pursuing their enemies and like a lion, strong. Again, we are meant at funeral to speak well of the dead.
verse 24 - O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. - Clothed in scarlet means the victories that Saul experienced in his battles and time, though he goes out defeated. The daughters which celebrated his triumphs, shared the spoil of his victories, now lament his loss. Men fight and women are the first to reap the benefit. They show up and adorn themselves in bright colors and golden ornaments of jewelry. They present themselves in all of their beauty.
verse 25 - How have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain on your high places. - This lament began with the mighty and ends now with words of the battle, with David expression this in his friend Jonathan. In this lament, David does not for a moment speak of the grief he experienced continually from Saul who often wanted him dead. He passes over all of that, not only for himself, but also on the account of Jonathan. Whether Jonathan wanted to be there with his father Saul, he was there. He was present with him. He supported his father even if it was hard. The mighty have fallen is the epic of odes offered.
verse 26 - I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan, you have been very pleasant to me, your love to me was more wonderful than the love of women. - There is a love between these two friends that transcends the love of women. Before everyone, David expresses his personal sorrow. In the Pulpit commentary, it states, "Never was there a purer friendship than that of Jonathan for David. It began just after the combat with Goliath, when the young prince, instead of seeing in David a rival, who had equaled his own feat of valor, took him to his heart, put upon him his own robe and armor, and thus presented him to the army as his friend and brother. Nor did his father's hatred of David, nor the knowledge that David was to inherit the kingdom, interfere with his love. He remained a dutiful son to his father, and accepted his inferior position with magnanimity, without once seeing in David cause for blame; and it surpassed the love of women, because, to requite their devotion, they look for protection and homage, the more delightful because it is paid by the strong to the weak. But here the lives of the two friends could not combine in one happy fusion of mutual union. Their hearts were bound together, but a hard fate, of which they were fully aware, made the ruin of the one the certain result of the happiness of the other. Nevertheless, Jonathan, with everything to lose, and David with everything to gain, remained true and loyal friends."
verse 27 - How have the mighty fallen, and the weapon of war perished. This thrice-repeated refrain sounds the keynote of the elegy. Saul had experienced great victories for the people of Israel and that is now contrasted with the terrible defeat of life.
As I read this, I think of how it is interesting that we have changed our funeral services and termed them times of celebration or celebration of life and yet we often don't shout out the mourning and the grief that we are experiencing. The person's life yes was great, but me without them is now not great and we are at a loss.
Sorrow is needed at times, but even in these words of sorrow are words of extreme thankfulness and the union that was present when these lives were on the earth. Let us continue to celebrate life. David was the rightful successor to Saul, but David was not out to get Saul. Despite Saul being threatened by him, David still had a love and respect for Saul. And he has in these verses heart-wrenching words of sadness for Saul's demise. But more so for his son Jonathan. We look forward to death no more. We are fine to want to escape it, though we cannot. We are fine to mourn it when it occurs in another, though again every person's outcome is certain. As Matthew Henry comments, “the more we love the more we grieve.”
Summary: David now brings a lament of sorrow, grief, but also celebration of Saul and even more notably his honored friend Jonathan. David has loved well.
Promise: We are to support one another in every difficulty. There is a powerful bond of friendship we have with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for these words. I took time to go through them and understand them and think about them, for they were heartfelt words spoken by David and recorded in this book of Jashar, thankfully, so that I can read them today. You are good God, so good to remind us of the joy we have of being with others and the special bonds we have with other people. I thank you for the good friends you have given me. I have such a joy and thankfulness for the people that I walk through life with and am honored continually for their special friendship. There is a union with them that is different from the union with my wife and I am extremely grateful. Help me at those times to celebrate people, lament their loss, and not ever focus on their shortcomings. They are there in my life for a reason and help me God to always celebrate this. Be praised always.
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