Scripture: 2 Samuel 1:1-27
Sermon Series: 2 Samuel: When God is Your King! – Sermon 01
Do you think Kevin McCarthy (picture) had one of those “Not what I was expecting” moments when he was voted out as Speaker of the House?
Do you have a big Not what I was expecting moment? I do. When our youngest son, Aaron (picture), was maybe 6, I had a great idea for his birthday. We’d get him a bicycle. Every kid wants a bike. Not Aaron. I can still see his face. I’d rolled the bike out to surprise him and he bursts into tears, letting out a wail. A bike was the last thing he wanted. As hard as we tried to coax him to learn to ride that bike, Aaron wanted no part of it.
This morning we’re beginning a new series on 2 Samuel: When God is Your King! Before we dig into 2 Samuel, since we finished 1 Samuel in June, let’s take a moment to catch up on the story. It is important to know that 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel were originally one book in the Hebrew Scriptures. They are one continual story. 1 Samuel was the account of God giving His people, the nation of Israel, a king. They wanted a king, so they’d be like the other nations around them. They wanted a heroic looking king, so God gave them Saul. He was the tallest, best-looking guy in Israel. But while he looked good, his heart wasn’t wholly devoted to the Lord. He revealed his heart through his unwillingness to obey God’s commands. The turning point was when God commanded him to destroy the Amalekites. Saul failed to follow through and God rejected him as king, and chose a new king, a king after his own heart. His name was David.
The second half of 1 Samuel is of God gradually shifting the power from Saul to David. Saul diminished in prominence as David rose in popularity. At first, Saul loved David, but David became so successful that Saul was overcome with jealousy and plots to take David out. The 2nd part of 1 Samuel is the story of David narrowly escaping from Saul’s many attempts to kill him. But while Saul attempted to kill David, David refused to lift his hand against Saul. He refused to do anything against the Lord’s anointed.
Finally, in desperation to escape Saul, David defects to the enemy, the Philistines. They’re thrilled to have David and his military skills. 1 Samuel finishes as David is about the join the Philistines in a battle against Saul and the army of Israel. But God intervened and thankfully, at the last minute, the Philistine commanders decided they didn’t trust David and sent him home to Ziklag. When the Philistines went to battle King Saul in the north, David was 100 miles away south at Ziklag. In the battle the Philistines defeated the Israelites. King Saul and his three sons are killed on the battlefield.
2 Samuel picks up with David 100 miles away at Ziklag, waiting for news of what happened in Saul’s battle with the Philistines in the north.
Maybe you’re asking, so what? Why should we care? Most of us don’t spend time studying Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar (pictures) or the Roman Empire, and this is further back than that. It was 3,000 years ago.
With the Ukraine War, our border being overrun by illegal immigrants, Hamas attacking Israel, another election, the UAW strike – with all of this going on why should we care about a small ancient country changing kings 3,000 years ago? What possible benefit can come from considering “David remained two days in Ziklag’?”
This is a good moment to remind ourselves what the Bible says about the purpose of the Old Testament. Romans 15:4, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
Behind the story we’ve reviewed and the account we’re about to study is an essential part of the story of the entire Bible and a vital part of the history of the world. At the core of world history is the story of Jesus Christ. 2 Samuel can only be understood in light of all that follows in terms of the King who comes, the One who will be born in “the city of David” (Luke 2:11).
The story of the kings of Israel, and particularly of David the king, is at the very heart of the story of world history. We know that the death of Saul paves the way for David’s reign. But a key question still remains: Where or in whom are we going to discover the kingly rule of God? In the midst of all of this, we have the words of the prophets. When you read the words of the prophets, they’re announcing for example, in Isaiah and Jeremiah, that a new king is coming, “a root out of a dry ground” (Isaiah 53:2). Where does this “root” come from? It comes from the tree of David, the Davidic line.
When He comes, according to the prophets, He will set all things right. A baby is born who angels announced to the shepherds, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
History is His-story. The King is coming and with Him a new kingdom. As contemporary historian, Tom Holland (pictures), writes of his book, Dominion with its subtitle, How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. As a secular historian, Holland says what we’re saying – King Jesus’ coming revolutionized our world and He’s not done yet. That’s why we need to study 2 Samuel.
Turn to 2 Samuel 1:1-2: “After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. 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.” This Amalekite messenger is about to have a Not what I was expecting moment.
Two days passed after David’s return to Ziklag. It’s a three-day trip from the battlefield in Gilboa and Ziklag. David is waiting for news of the battle. On the third day a man came from the battlefield with his clothes torn, dirt on his head. He comes to David, falls to the ground, paying homage to David.
Who is this man? His clothes are torn. He’s filthy. This doesn’t look good. Those are signs of deep grief. Remember what we already know about the battle and how Saul died from 1 Samuel 31. Saul and his three sons were killed, defending their father. Saul was badly wounded by archers. He looked like a porcupine with all their arrows stuck in him. He wasn’t dead yet but is close to death. So, Saul asks his armorbearer to kill him. The armorbearer refuses because even if the king was about to die, nobody had the right to take the life of the king. So, Saul fell on his own sword and took his own life. After that, his armorbearer fell on his sword and died. That’s what the narrator in 1 Samuel 31 told us about how Saul and his sons died. It’s important to remember as we begin 2 Samuel.
The writer’s purpose is to make clear that David played no part in Saul’s demise and to defend his right to Israel’s throne, vindicating his kingship. As we make our way through this passage, let’s use as a navigational aid the five questions David asks this Amalekite messenger. If you’re taking notes.
1. The five questions David asks this Amalekite. This Amalekite reminds me of the story of a young, accident-prone American fighter pilot during World War II. Everything this young pilot did always seemed to go wrong. He’s stationed aboard an aircraft carrier. There was considerable doubt whether he’d ever be allowed to fly, since no one knew what might happen. One day though he’s given a mission. Everything seemed to be going his way. He spotted and sunk a Japanese warship; then he shot down several Japanese Zeros. Out of ammunition and nearly out of fuel, the pilot was trying to return to his aircraft carrier, but he couldn’t locate it. Suddenly the clouds open up and there below him was an aircraft carrier. For once, his landing was flawless. With the plane secured, he jumps out and rushes up to the commanding officer, eager to share the details of his successful mission. He reported that he’d sunk a Japanese warship and downed several Japanese fighters, to which the commander responded, “Ha So!” His successful mission ended with his flawless landing – on a Japanese aircraft carrier. That’s what this Amalekite did. He’d landed in the wrong camp,
It’s apparent from his appearance that his news is ominous. He must have been running for several days. It was 100 miles to Ziklag. David could tell from this messenger’s appearance that one of the armies had suffered a tragic defeat, but it was impossible to discern which army had lost—perhaps it was the Philistines. So, David asks him…
Where do you come from? On a much earlier occasion, in 1 Samuel 4, a man looking just like this had come from another battle between the Israelites and the Philistines. He brought terrible news to old Eli the priest in Shiloh that the Israelites army had been crushed, Eli’s sons killed, and the ark of the covenant captured by the enemy. The news killed Eli. The scene in Ziklag is reminiscent of that tragic day in Shiloh. We know this is bad news.
We can’t see this in our English translation but in the Hebrew, there’s a play on words. When he says, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel,” the word escaped is the same word used to describe David’s narrow escapes from Saul. It seems this messenger is subtly trying to ingratiate himself with David. Just as you escaped from Saul’s hand, I escaped from Saul’s camp.
How did it go? David’s second question is – what happened in the battle? There were so many body bags. Most significant of all, Saul and Jonathan are dead. So far, this is all true.
For David, this would be heartbreaking news. He knew this day would come. He knew God would one day remove Saul as king and it would probably be in battle. He talked about this in 1 Samuel. “And David said, ‘As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish’.” David wasn’t a man who heard news and accepted it. He asked follow-up questions. He wasn’t sure he trusted this messenger. He wanted to make sure he’s telling the truth.
How do you know? Famed American attorney, Clarence Darrow (picture) once said, “I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction.” That was the reaction the Amalekite expected from David with the news of the death of his enemy, King Saul.
But there’s a problem. The last chapter of 1 Samuel says that when Saul knew he was dying from his wounds, he tried to get his armorbearer to take his life. When his armorbearer refused, Saul fell on his sword and committed suicide rather than risking the Philistines abusing him.
Who’s telling the truth? The writer of 1 Samuel 31? Or this Amalekite? Amalekites were known to be dishonest and were enemies of God. This Amalekite is an opportunist and lying. He hopes David will rejoice at the news of the death of Saul and reward him. His account is missing details. He just happened to be wandering around a mountain in the middle of a battle? How did you get there? Why is he in such a high-risk place? When you don’t have the details, it’s probably because someone is not telling the truth.
The Amalekite said Saul was wounded but alone on the mountain. We know the truth is that Saul’s sons defended him to their death. We also know Saul’s armor-bearer wouldn’t have left his side in battle. Saul, the king, alone on the battlefield when he had an entire army committed to defending his life doesn’t make sense. Later, in 2 Samuel 4:10, David will talk about this Amalekite looking for a reward. He twists the story of Saul’s death to make himself the hero in hope of getting a reward for bumping Saul off.
The Bible never tells us the whole story, but I think that this is a strong possibility of how it all went down. This Amalekite was walking through the battlefield after the battle was over before the Philistines came the next day to strip the dead. He’s picking up loot from dead bodies when he ran across a deceased Saul. He saw an opportunity for profit. He took Saul’s crown and armband, then brought them to Ziklag to give to David.
It’s noteworthy that Saul lost his kingdom and life because he disobeyed God and took loot from his attack on the Amalekites. Now an Amalekite loots his crown. The Amalekite concocts a tale to make himself the hero, hoping it would bring him reward and tries to manipulate David.
Proverbs 18:17, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” Every parent needs to know this. The first kid to tell you what happened may not be telling the truth. We need to learn from David and be slow to trust the first report. When someone tells you a juicy bit of gossip or shares a story that puts someone in a bad light, make sure that you verify that it’s true. Don’t rush to judgement. God is the God of truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth…” (John 14:6).
As Christ-followers we must be committed to telling the truth and encouraging truth telling. We must also not be quick to jump to judgement.
What would you do if someone brought you news that your worst enemy, the person who hated you, harassed you, stalked you and tried repeatedly to kill you, was dead? Would you rejoice? That’s not how David responds.
“Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 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” (2 Samuel 1:11-12).
How we respond to the death or suffering of an enemy says a lot about our relationship with God. God never rejoices at the suffering of His enemies, and neither must we. David’s grieving makes clear that while he had lived among the enemy, his loyalty is to God and God’s people.
Christians have been contaminated by a world that wants to deny that Death is our enemy. Paul writes: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). As born-again Christians, we sorrow. Death is always a loss, but we sorrow with hope.
At the average American funeral, including Christian funerals, we often attempt to deny grief. Death is death. Grief is grief. Please hear me – a funeral is not a celebration of life. It’s the acknowledgement of death and the end. It’s not like a birthday party or a celebration of retirement.
David understood that. So did Jesus. He understood the will of God when he mourned over Jerusalem. It was an expression of grief.
So, knowing that it was in the will of God to take my mother at the age of 47 as a result of a tragic car accident—knowing that that was the will of God—doesn’t transform grief into joy. It’s still grief! Christians in a death denying culture must testify to the reality of what death means by taking death seriously, the way David and his friends do here. David and his men mourn the loss of Saul and Jonathan, and the many soldiers of Israel that died. They mourned that God’s people had lost to an evil, pagan army.
Too often we’ve lost mourning in the Church. We should mourn that the lost are headed to Hell and a Christless eternity. We should mourn the evil and brokenness of this world. The pictures from Gaza, the rape, murder and execution of civilians should break our hearts. The hopelessness of our world should bring tears to our eyes. The apathy we too often find in the Church should break our hearts. Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that there is “a time to weep…and a time to mourn.” While Saul’s death was God’s judgment and a fulfillment of Samuel’s prophecy (1 Samuel 28:19), it was a time to mourn.
Where do you come from? In our English translations, this looks like the same question that David had asked him earlier. It’s not. In the original in this question, the you is emphatic. David wants to know more about this man’s personal history. Now this Amalekite gave away an important piece of information that reveals the evil in his heart and motives.
He claimed to be the son of an Amalekite sojourner. “Resident alien” is probably the best term. It means he grew up in Israel. His parents were Amalekites, but he was familiar with the customs and laws of Israel. As a resident alien, he’s expected to abide by those laws. In the Old Testament, sojourners were given legal rights, but were expected to obey Israel’s laws.
We do that. We expect foreigners to obey our laws. Having grown up in Israel, this guy knew the laws of Israel, and broke a big one, which was respect for the king, the anointed, God put in power. Since God put the king in office, only God could remove him. This is why David refused to kill Saul. As a sojourner, he knew killing God’s anointed was a capital offense.
Notice that David doesn’t shoot from the hip. He’s taken time. He grieved that day and gathered information. Some of the best emails you’ll ever write, some of the best decisions you’ll ever make…are ones you sleep on. Probably all of us have too quickly reacted to a text or a post on social media that we later regretted. James 1:19 warns us to be “slow to anger.”
How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed? What happens here could be ripped from today’s headline. Saul is dying. Death is imminent. Saul wants to die and avoid abuse and more pain. So, is it wrong to speed up what’s coming naturally? Yes. Though we know Saul committed suicide, what this Amalekite confesses for personal gain is murder. David only knows what the Amalekite had told him. He doesn’t know what we know, so he has him executed because he committed murder.
Christians are going to have to develop biblical convictions about dying and euthanasia. Doctors can hold off death indefinitely. There’s a big difference between prolonging death and sustaining life. Though it will be cloaked as relieving pain, the true motive will often be financial. The last three months of life can be the most expensive. Let me add that today with modern medicine, pain can be greatly relieved for someone in pain. It is not like it was years ago.
Euthanasia is being accepted as “normal,” and not just for those dying of disease. Canada is now one of the few nations allowing euthanasia for someone whose sole underlying condition is a mental health issue – depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or PTSD. Suffering from mental health pain is a legal reason in Canada for doctor assisted suicide. It’s murder! Our passage reminds us that murder is still murder.
The Bible teaches that human life is sacred. David didn’t know the Amalekite was lying. He acts according to the Law and has him executed. He murdered Saul and took God’s rights into his own hands. God puts leaders in place and God removes them. In doing this, David also shows that he had no part in Saul’s demise, though it would ultimately make him the king.
Taking revenge is a sin. “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19). Remember all the hurt Saul caused David, the multiple times he tried to kill David. The evil Saul was doing to David came out of the sinfulness of his heart. David’s refusal to do evil toward Saul came out of the righteousness of his heart. David left revenge in God’s hands. God took care of the problem of Saul for David. The theme of those who are righteous refusing to do evil and take revenge is found throughout Scripture.
The message for us is that God holds us accountable for our own sin. Nothing is hidden that won’t be revealed. No one gets away with anything. It’s why we need Jesus and His cross. He paid the penalty for all of our sin so God could justify us when we trust Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.
2. Lamentation is the forgotten prayer of the Church. Let’s read vss. 17-27. David’s great emotional response is expressed lyrically. He’s grieving. Forrest Gump’s mother (picture) was wrong when she told him as she was dying that “dying’s just a part of living.” It’s not. Dying is a result of sin.
Erwin Lutzer (picture) wisely writes, “What we believe determines how we grieve.” Frequently, today there’s no lament because truth isn’t taken seriously, love isn’t taken seriously, and human life doesn’t matter as God-given. A failure to lament can be a failure to connect with God’s truth. Death shines a spotlight on life, particularly when mourning is taken seriously as it should be.
Nicholas Wolterstorff, (picture) Yale professor of philosophy and theology, wrote a book called Lament for a Son after his oldest child, Eric, died at the age of twenty-five in a climbing accident. Wolterstorff writes, “[It is] the neverness that is so painful. Never again to be here with us—never to sit with us at table, never to travel with us, never to laugh with us, never to cry with us, never to embrace us as he leaves for school, never to see his brother and sister marry. All the rest of our lives we must live without him. Only our death can stop the pain of his death. A month, a year, five years—with that. I could live. But not this forever.”
God doesn’t want us to hide grief or swallow our pain. A lament is a formal expression of grief. This wasn’t a spontaneous outburst but a well-thought-out song of sorrow. It’s a very thoughtful expression of grief, one that’s to be recorded, circulated among others, and memorized. The Bible contains numerous laments, including certain psalms or the book of Lamentations.
David is a man well gifted in poetry. Seventy-two psalms are attributed to him. This lamentation was originally part of book of Jashar, a collection of war songs for Israel that’s been lost to history. This lament’s theme is: How the mighty have fallen, which is mentioned three times. Fallen is a key word used 6 times. The last thing we should do is over analyze a lament. To do so, takes away its potency. We need to feel it and feel David’s grief.
It’s important to notice that nothing negative is said of Saul. “Don’t speak evil of the dead.” David highlights Saul and Jonathan’s bravery in battle and death. Though Saul tried to kill him, he doesn’t bring up any of Saul’s evil.
Why does David write this sad song? He doesn’t want the nation to forget. It’s why we have Memorial Day and remember 911. David intends to use the poem to motivate future warriors. Gilboa won’t be the last time Israel marches against the Philistines.
Did you know 30% of Americans under 30 have no knowledge of the Holocaust? Ask a young person what they know about the Berlin Wall. They may say, “The Berlin what?” History is vital. One of the profoundest features of the Christian and Jewish way of being in time and history is the commitment to remembrance. Remembrance. The Bible is full of it: “Remember this. Remember this.” “Remember your Creator,” and so on.
David’s troops will never let Gilboa happen again. Under his reign, the Philistines were destroyed to never be heard of again. David mourns the loss of Israel’s anointed king who’s the representation of God’s people.
Like Ichabod, God’s glory had departed. Grief is part of our humanity, but our greatest grief must come from God’s glory being tarnished and David is a man consumed with God’s glory. Israel’s monarchy embodied that.
What grieves you? What makes you cry reveals a lot about who you are. Lament presses us to see this fallen world from God’s perspective.
Let me quote Nicholas Wolterstorff (picture) again: “I walked into a store. The ordinariness of what I saw repelled me…How could [people] be going about their ordinary business when these were no longer ordinary times?…Do you not know that [my son] slipped and fell and that we sealed him in a box and covered him with dirt and…he can’t get out?” It’s the neverness of it.
God doesn’t want us to grieve without hope, yet we’re foolish to sanitize and soften death. Death is God’s warning to a lost world that there’s more than just this life. There is eternity in either heaven or hell. The story of Saul is the story of Israel and the story of our world. It’s the story of our sin and failure. We can only find hope ultimately and savingly in Jesus and the cross.
Conclusion: Not what I was expecting. This Amalekite thought he’d be rewarded but instead brought judgement on himself. David and his men weren’t sure what to expect. They hoped for a different outcome than the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, and the defeat of Israel.
There’s a humorous ending of Aaron and the bike. God moved Aaron to Taiwan. Do you know the primary mode of transportation in Taiwan? Scooters and bikes (picture). On Aaron’s Facebook page, you’ll see a picture of him and his wife, Jiayu, (picture) with helmets riding a scooter.
The Amalekite wasn’t expecting judgement that day. Too many are like that Amalekite, thinking that no matter how they live, they’ll be rewarded. If they think about death, they think God grades on a curve. They’re not that bad so they’ll make it, at least they hope so.
God loves us too much for heaven to be a “hope so.” In 1 John 5:13, John writes these powerful words: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
I can’t help but think that David’s grief for Saul included a loss for his soul – having no assurance of Saul’s relationship with God. I have family members who to my knowledge died without Christ.
Sometimes sincere Christians will say of a deceased loved one that “they now are free from pain.” Are they? Only if they were a believer. We don’t know what someone may believe in those last moments, yet let’s not deny the gospel and wish a loved who never made a profession of faith into heaven. Yes, sinners have repented on a death bed. Jesus though is the only way to heaven. We dare not dismiss that truth to make ourselves feel better.
Yet, for Christian friends and loved ones who have died – Scripture is filled with hope and promise. David’s greater Son said these words, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). Joy isn’t just human happiness. Biblical joy is promised to grieving hearts by Jesus.
Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. May we who grieve the loss of loved ones look to Jesus who will one day wipe every tear from our eyes in that great morning in glory where there will be no more weeping and no more death.