The Crown, Season 2, Episode 8 – Eulogy

We are gathered together today to remember and celebrate the life of our great king, David. For those who don’t know me, I am Nathan the prophet. I was honored to spend many years with the King. I saw him both as a victorious king and a penitent sinner. More on that a little later.

As we know David was born not of royalty but born to a shepherd. He was born in the little town of Bethlehem, not far from here. This tiny hamlet will forever be known as the hometown of Israel’s great King and it is doubtful anyone else of such notoriety will ever again be born in such an insignificant town. But who knows.

His early years were spent in the shepherd’s fields with his brothers. He was one of eight sons born to Jesse. David always loved to tell me the story of the day prophet Samuel came to their house to anoint the successor to our first king Saul. Jesse sent David out to take care of the sheep while his older and more qualified brothers paraded before the king hoping to be the chosen one. David remembered so vividly that after Samuel had been there a good while Jesse came to the door calling for David. He thought it was to let him know who had been chosen but to his surprise Samuel was asking for him. Not soon after that the prophet was pouring the oil of anointing over David’s head. He couldn’t sleep that night wondering what the future would hold.

We know David was a gifted musician. He served in Saul’s court first as a musician as his harp would calm the troubled soul of the King. He was also Saul’s armor bearer. It was during this time in his life when he was sent by his father to check on his brothers in one of our many conflicts with the Philistines. That was the scene of one of his greatest victories – in the valley of Elah. Who can ever forget? He took down that blasphemous Goliath with one stone from his slingshot. David was often asked why he took five stones into that battle. His reply was always, “I heard Goliath had four brothers!” He was quite the sharpshooter with that slingshot. Legend has it as a shepherd he took out lions and bears with that slingshot to protect his sheep. He loved sheep. He was always talking about sheep. I think his best days were out there in the fields as a young man. I even think he thought of himself as a shepherd for our nation. He even thought of God being our shepherd.

While I’m speaking about David as a shepherd I want to make an announcement to all of you today. David was a proficient author of poems. He was always writing. I often wondered what he was doing. I asked him one day what he was doing and he said, “I’m writing down my feelings. My feelings about life and about God. My feelings about good times and about bad times.” He went on to say to me, “You know Nathan, there are just times where I feel God speaking through me and I feel compelled to write.” And write he did. Little did I know he was saving all of these. Weeks before his death he called me into his chambers and he had this stack of parchments in his hands. He told me these were all of his poems – he called them psalms. He said he wanted to pass these on to the nation – to all of you. There are poems about God’s beauty and goodness. There are psalms praising God. I’ve read them all. One of my favorites starts like this:

Psalm 100:1–2 (NIV) — 1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

But there are also psalms about hard times we all go through. Times when we feel all alone. Another one of his poems starts like this:

Psalm 22:1 (NIV) — 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

There are also psalms he wrote specifically for all of you. Songs that you can sing with your family as he come to Jerusalem to celebrate the wonderful feasts we have that call us to remember what God has done for our people. One starts like this:

Psalm 122:1 (NIV) — 1 I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

So, my announcement today is that all of his psalms have been collected and the royal family has hired scribes to meticulously copy these psalms and have copies distributed to every tribe of our nation. And we encourage all of you to regularly read these poems as it our desire that you can know our God like David knew him.

David asked me to read a couple today in their entirety. One of them is a reflection on his shepherd days and how he saw God as his shepherd. I think this one will become one of his most beloved poems. So, for the first time in public hear the words of David, the shepherd who became King.

Psalm 23:1–6 (ESV) — 1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Today we celebrate that David has been led safely home. The God who walked with him through the victories and defeats has welcomed him home.

There’s so much more we could say about him. How he drove away our enemies time and time again. How he expanded the borders of our nation. How his fame spread throughout the world. His capture of our beloved capital city Jerusalem. His bringing the ark of the covenant into the city. He always regretted the fiasco of that first attempt. He told me often he should have consulted the writings of Moses for instructions on how to transport the ark. Again, our sincere condolences to Uzzah’s widow who is with us today. He never thought the road was going to be that uneven. If it’s any consolation, those oxen made for some great steaks. We ate those for weeks in the palace. But he did learn from his mistakes and we all remember that joyous day when the priests carried the ark into Jerusalem the right way. David was so excited. He danced like no one was watching. Of course, Michel was not so thrilled with that display. She’s with us today and I think she’s gotten over that. Yeah, I think I see a little smile on her face. He loved this city and as you know he had great dreams for Jerusalem. He came to me one day and said, “Nathan, I want to build a temple to Yahweh. And not just any old temple. I want to make a great temple to our great God.” At first I was all on board but that night God told me that that project had to put on hold and that David’s son, Solomon would take care of that. Oh Solomon, I know you are ready to start construction. David has left you all the plans, all the funds have been raised and I know before long we will have a beautiful temple here in Jerusalem and for generations to come all of our people will joyfully make their pilgrimages here to worship the only God, Yahweh. Solomon, our next King, we pray for your success and for wisdom to continue to lead us as your father David did.

Let me remind all of you and you especially Solomon of the last words your father shared with you as he gave you charge to be the new king:

1 Kings 2:2–4 (NIV) — 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 3 and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4 and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

Someone else requested to share some words with you today, but because of his disability he is not able to take the podium. But he did write these words to remind us all of the gracious heart of our fallen king.

My name is Mephibosheth. I am the grandson of King Saul and the son of Jonathan. Growing up I was told grand stories about how one day I would be king. As a young boy I remember trembling with excitement at the thought that one day I would wear the crown. Then my world fell apart. There was great confusion and I vaguely remember hearing the terrible news that both my grandfather and father were killed in battle. And with their deaths it was certain that there would be a different king, a man named David. My young mind tried to process what that meant for my future but those thoughts quickly escaped my mind as my caretaker swooped me up in her arms and in a fury was carrying me away – to where, I didn’t know. But soon after all that commotion we took a vicious tumble and all I can recall is the searing pain starting in my back and radiating down both legs. I tried to get on my feet but my legs just didn’t work. I screamed and then I cried and then I don’t remember anything for a while as I mercifully fell into a state of unconsciousness.

When I came to, my caretaker delicately explained to me the tragedy. It was true. Both my father and grandfather had died in battle and we had to escape because certainly whoever killed them would be after me. Not only did we have to escape but we had to hide. Hide from the new king who likewise would certainly want me dead.

Growing up I heard stories about how the throne had been stolen from our family. David’s name was not to be spoken of in our house. It was because of him that I was crippled. It was because of him that my dreams of being king had vanished into this nightmare of being an invalid in hiding. I was no better than a dead dog.

And then one day, out of the blue, messengers from Daid came to our home. I was an adult by now and all the fears, insecurities, and pain from that day long ago rushed back into my soul. I had been found and my days were certainly numbered.

I had no choice but to go with David’s men, my heart racing in terror. When I saw him, however, he didn’t look like the man I had been told about. I don’t know what it was but there was something about him that calmed me. I was told that he originally weaseled his way into our family with his ability to calm my grandfather when he was troubled. Knowing that I was still cautious. But then he said, “Don’t be afraid.” How did he know that I was afraid? How did he know that I had always been afraid?

He then told me about his love for my father, Jonathan. It was hard to hear and harder to believe but others who were there were reassuring me that David really did love my father. David told me how grief-stricken he was when he heard the news of the deaths of both my father and grandfather. Somehow I started to believe him. Somehow I started to believe that David was not the villain I and others had made him out to be. This man was different.

And then he told me of a promise he had made to my dad. David had promised him that if anything happened to him he would look out after his family – our family. For years he had been wondering if there were any relatives left and just now he had summoned all his resources to search the land for one, for anyone. He said how excited he was to meet me and how anxious he was to fulfill the promise he had made.

He looked me in the eyes like no one else had ever looked me in the eyes. And before he revealed the promise, with tears rolling down his face, he said to me, “You have your father’s eyes.” And then he said, “Welcome to the family!” “You will always have a place here at the palace and like my own son you will always have a seat at our table!”

This dead dog became part of the royal family.

I know David did a lot of amazing things in his life - but I’m convinced that I am the greatest. His dedication to a promise he didn’t have to keep and his love for undeserving me are the greatest evidence that he was indeed a man after God’s own heart. And today I tell you that if a mere man can love like that imagine how much more our God loves you.

Faithfully your servant, Mephibosheth

Thank you, Mephibosheth, for sharing your story.

One last thing. David told me, made me promise, that in this eulogy I would not make it sound like he was perfect. He wanted me to acknowledge his faults. And we know those faults. There is no need to rehash his failures at this occasion. Maybe sometime, somewhere else, but not now. He wanted you all to know how devastated his life was because of his sin. And he took responsibility for all of it. There’s one thing you can be sure of – he never blamed anyone else for his failure.

But I will tell you that as sinful and imperfect as he was, your king was even more penitent. As you know, I was called by God to confront him with his sin that he so skillfully tried to cover up. It was the most difficult assignment God had ever given me. It was also the most important assignment God had ever given me. Isn’t it true that often the things that are the most difficult are the most important?

I will never forget his reaction – how his face, his body, his soul reacted when I said those words, “You are the man.” Some of you may find it hard to forgive David – believe me he had sometimes when he could not forgive himself. But David knew God so well that he never doubted that God forgave him.

When we were talking one day, near the end of his life, he pulled out another one of his psalms. He told me he had written this shortly after I confronted him. And he said, “Nathan, when I die I want you to read this. Promise me you will.” And I promised, so hear these words from your King.

Psalm 51:1–19 (NIV) — 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. 18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Pray with me:

God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob we give you thanks for the life of this great man. Thank you for calling him from the shepherd’s fields to shepherd this nation. Thank you for working through him. Thank you for his example of faithfulness, praise, and penitence. We pray your blessing upon his family through whom you have promised to provide for us a king to lead us ever closer to you. We look forward to the day when you will reign not only over Israel but over people of every nation and tongue. May we honor you as your chosen people and may the world no that there is no other God but Yahweh! Lord, hear our prayer. Amen.