How the Mighty have Fallen

Intro

The books of Samuel were originally written as one coherent story, but due to the length of the work, they are separated into two books in our modern Bible.

When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (the Septuagint), the long book was split in two to fit on scrolls. At that point:n1 Samuel + 2 Samuel were renamed: 1 Kingdoms and 2 Kingdoms but then was eventually named to 1 and 2 samuel. SO now it makes more sense why I want to go through them both.

First, the book was written by Samuel and probably one or two other prophets like Gad or Nathan 

After the nation of Israel was rescued from slavery in Egypt and made a covenant with God at Mount Sinai, they eventually came into the promised land. There, Israel was supposed to be faithful to God and obey the covenant commands, but the book of Judges shows how Israel failed big time. It was a time of moral chaos that showed Israel’s need for wise, faithful leaders. The books of Samuel provide an answer to that need.

The story focuses on three main characters: Samuel, Saul, and David. These three were important leaders whose actions would transition Israel from a group of tribes ruled by judges into a unified kingdom ruled by King David in Jerusalem.

The second book of Samuel picks up after Saul’s death, and David surprises everyone by composing a long poem lamenting the death of the man who tried to murder him. Once again, the author shows David’s humility and compassion. He is a man who grieves the death of even his enemies.

One thing that we are going to see is that the book of 1 Samuel begins the same way that it ends, or at least it is similar. It begins with the song of praise from Hannah, the mother of Samuel and ends with a similar psalm of praise from David.

1 Samuel 2:1–10 CSB

Hannah prayed: My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is lifted up by the Lord. My mouth boasts over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one besides you! And there is no rock like our God. Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogant words come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and actions are weighed by him. The bows of the warriors are broken, but the feeble are clothed with strength. Those who are full hire themselves out for food, but those who are starving hunger no more. The woman who is childless gives birth to seven, but the woman with many sons pines away. The Lord brings death and gives life; he sends some down to Sheol, and he raises others up. The Lord brings poverty and gives wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the trash heap. He seats them with noblemen and gives them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; he has set the world on them. He guards the steps of his faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness, for a person does not prevail by his own strength. Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered; he will thunder in the heavens against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give power to his king; he will lift up the horn of his anointed.

2 Samuel 22:1–6 CSB

David spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the grasp of Saul. He said: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock where I seek refuge. My shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, you save me from violence. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies. For the waves of death engulfed me; the torrents of destruction terrified me. The ropes of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

This makes sense that the book wuld end and begin in similar ways, seeing as it was all one book. The center of it all can be seen in 2 samule 7. Here we see the gospel message spelled out clearly for us.

In 2 samuel though we see the rise and fall of David, going from success and blessing to moral failure and consequences for that sin. through it all we see a similar theme played out as we did in 1 samuel.

2 Samuel Main themes

God opposes the proud and Exalts the Humble

In this we will see that anyone can fall, no maytter how spiritually mature they may seem. so we must gaurd our hearts well.

so knowing this we must be warned against pride over our spiritual maturity and our ability to withstand temptation in our own strength is the first step to a downfall. God will forgive our sin but sin has consequences and will sometimes leave scars.

In Humility, Patiently Trust in God’s Timing

God will raise up a Messianic King

this is all the background I will get into for this next series, seeing as really it is still just a continuation of the last one. Keep these main themes in mind as we go through these sermons.

Big Idea - An eternal promise, a broken king, and a faithful God, a Greater King.

Big Idea - From promise to pain to praise, in 2 Samuel God, establishes an eternal kingdom through a broken king, proving that His covenant faithfulness outlasts human failure and yet delivers His people.

With this in mind we move on to the 1 chapter of 2 Samuel.

2 Samuel 1:1-16 - The Report of Saul’s Death

Last week we left Saul dead, his body hung on a wall for everyone to see and some of his followers went on rescued the bodies of Saul and His sons and buried them proper. How the mighty have fallen. Then what we see in Vs 1 is a way of beginning a new section in the narrative.

2 Samuel 1:1–3 CSB

After the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and stayed at Ziklag two days. On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head came from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. David asked him, “Where have you come from?” He replied to him, “I’ve escaped from the Israelite camp.”

In this new section David had come back from defeating the Amelekites, and a soldier came to David saying he had witnessed the death of Saul. This is where it gets interesting.

The death of Saul was reported by an Amalekite

David asked the guy, who was an amelekite who told him of the report of the death of Saul and his sons. The guy said he was there and witnessed it. here is the story

2 Samuel 1:6–10 CSB

“I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear. At that very moment the chariots and the cavalry were closing in on him. When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, so I answered: I’m at your service. He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ I told him: I’m an Amalekite. Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for I’m mortally wounded, but my life still lingers.’ So I stood over him and killed him because I knew that after he had fallen he couldn’t survive. I took the crown that was on his head and the armband that was on his arm, and I’ve brought them here to my lord.”

The story that the Amalekite tells stands in contradiction to what we read in 1 Samuel 31. So can we trust what the Bible says?

someone asked me about this last week so of course i had to look into it? what do we do with apperant contradictions like this. well we keep digging is what we do.

There have been a few different ways of describing why it all was written out this way. but the one that I found that makes the most sense is this one taken from a commentary I was reading. It seems more logical that the historian has placed these two chapters together intentionally to portray the Amalekite as a liar. he enhances his own involvement in order to win the favor of David (clear from David’s subsequent reference to this event in 2 Sam. 4:10). Furthermore, deception is an important motif in the books of Samuel, and the idea that the messenger lies in order to gain favor with the new king-designate is congruous with other literary features of these books

So reading how it happened in 1 Samuel 31 and taken into account the lack of reference to this guy in 2 Samuel 4:10 it makes sense then the Amalekite was lying to gain favor with the king.

Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but it is interesting to read none the less. whether David thought it was true or not, at the time it would appear he did, he didnt givce the man the result he was expecting for his so called good news.

2 Samuel 1:17-27 - Davids Lament

David’s response to the death of Saul should almost be surprising to us, or for any normal person anyways.

David mourned the loss of the king who tried to kill him

2 Samuel 1:11 CSB

Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and all the men with him did the same.

2 Samuel 1:12 CSB

They mourned, wept, and fasted until the evening for those who died by the sword—for Saul, his son Jonathan, the Lord’s people, and the house of Israel.

Remember all of the times Saul tried to kill David, David was fleeing for his life many times but came to the realization, as we all should, that Saul was placed there by God. David had been encouraged by people in opportunites he had to kill Saul but he didnt, and the time that he came close and only cut off a piece of his clothing.

(maybe read through the lament)

such a beautiful lament for the king that tried to have him killed. something i find interesting is the way that he spoke of his good friend Jonathan.

2 Samuel 1:26 CSB

I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were such a friend to me. Your love for me was more wondrous than the love of women.

As you probably can see, this verse in todays world could be misconstrued to mean something that it does not. It bears dwelling on. This should be seen as grief for a brother. although occasionally (and perversely) understood in a homosexual sense, should rather be understood to have covenantal connotations, “love” in such contexts meaning “covenantal/political loyalty” . Indeed, the Hebrew word for “love” is translated “friendship” in a similar context

How the mighty have fallen, and with it the weapons of war have perished. If God opposes the prtoud and exalts the humbled, then Saul here has been humbled. Jonathan was different, I dont have an answer dor why he had to die, but Saul we know did deserve it if anyone did. but it is Sauls response to this that we need to remember.

What we can learn from this is: David’s tribute to Saul demonstrates one of those attributes of God’s own heart: limitless forgiveness for his enemies.

The death of Saul was foretold, he was a mad king and David knowing He was placed there from God decided to forgive Him and treat him with love rather then anger. even in life, David seemed to embody forgiveness and love towards the man that tried to Kill Him. Forgiveness is a theme written throughout the bible.

The bible speaks again and again of forgiveness as we can see precisley from Colossians 3:13

Colossians 3:13 CSB

bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.

We forgive others because we have been first forgiven by our Lord and saviour. From this passage, this is probably our biggest lesson we can learn. Because we have been forgiven we must also learn t forgive others. If David by the grace of God can someone like Saul after all Saul had done to Him then I think we can forgive othgers who do evil to us.

So What?

There are two main things we can learn from this passage today, the first comes from the main theme of the book as a whole.

God Opposes the Proud and exalts the humble

This is quite the broad statement, but what this tells us is that it is all about God. The glory is to be for God, our life and everything in it is to be for the name of God.

To be among the humble we must learn to be passionate about the things that God are passionate about

The Amalekite and Saul should be warnings to us of the danger of pride over our own self reliance and out own ability to withstand things that come our way. Saul did not understand what it meant to be the annointed of God. He took his role of king and used it not to pursue God but rather to pursue David and tried to kill Him. But David understands what it means to be Yahweh’s anointed one. Not only does he twice refuse to strike down Saul; he also refuses to condone someone else who struck him down. He is intolerant toward the enemies of God. David is passionate about the things of God. Opportunities for personal gain cannot possibly be framed in terms of losses for God’s people, and he refuses to play power politics.

So then if we account ourselves as part of the humble of God, are we then passionate about the things that God is passionate about.

Forgive others as God has forgiven us

This runs along with the previous pointif we are passionate about the things that God is passionate about, then as we learn from what David did right we must learn to forgive others as God has forgiveness us. Forgiving someone who has hurt us repeatedly and deeply is truly a God thing and not something that comes easily for anyone. Of all Old Testament characters, perhaps only Joseph equals David’s capacity to forgive enemies who have hurt him. And David’s ability to forgive served him well his whole life, especially when he declined the opportunity for revenge as king