David’s Lamentation - 2 Samuel 1

Story about Jeanine at Makapuu.

Today… do we sometimes disregard or underestimate the Lord. This is a clear warning that we get many times in the scriptures and the problem we face is that the wave of the Lord will not just knock us down. One of the problems we face today is a real loss of what it means to fear the Lord. On Wednesday’s we watched how many of us in modern evangelicalism display a real fear of man. Lets get one thing straight today… the reason why we fear man is because we do not fear God enough. Much of the sins we struggle with is a result of a lack of fear of God. Do we see how we struggle with this today. Thinking that the Lord is gonna do nothing about it. Are we struggling with this today? Well we will find some insight from our passage today.

The end of 1 Samuel… we witnessed a tragedy. Saul and his sons are dead. Now that Saul is dead is it time for David to take the kingdom? It has to be right? Were gonna find out, give you a hint, in the weeks to come. But the sad thing… after all the horrible and immoral things in 1 Samuel, maybe 2 Samuel will be different…well unfortunately, it begins with a lie.

An Amalekite man with torn clothes came to David poured dirt on his head to show that he was in mourning and bowed before David. David wanted to know how the battle went. Israel lost and Saul and his sons are dead. David demanded… How do you know? I saw Saul wounded and when I asked him what I could do for him he asked me to kill him because he was in pain and wanted to die. I killed him and took his crown and brought it to you. Strange to the Amalekite, David and his men tore their clothes and wept and fasted the day for Saul and his sons. Where are you from David said to the Amalekite…He told David that he was from David’s land and that he was a foreigner. David asked Him why he was not afraid to kill Saul… (remember Saul’s own Armor bearer was too afraid to kill Saul). I wonder what went through the mind of the Amalekite at that moment. David ordered one of his men to kill the Amalekite for he confessed with his own mouth to killing the Lord’s anointed one. David then composed a funeral song for Saul and Jonathan and commanded that it be taught to all in Judah.

2 Samuel 1

2 Samuel 1:14–16 NLT

“Why were you not afraid to kill the Lord’s anointed one?” David asked. Then David said to one of his men, “Kill him!” So the man thrust his sword into the Amalekite and killed him. “You have condemned yourself,” David said, “for you yourself confessed that you killed the Lord’s anointed one.”

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

Liar, Liar, the Future’s Dire

Disregard for God

Killed the Anointed of God

The first thing we will look at this morning is the insanity of lying and how eventually we will get burned. Second, we will see how many of our sins become full grown bringing judgement into full bloom, because of our lack of the fear of God and Disregard our Lord. Finally we will see how the killing of another anointed of God did not bring us judgement, but blessing beyond measure and a life of Thanksgiving.

Thesis: Though sin and its corruption cause us to seek the acceptance and rewards from the world, leading us into all kinds of deceptions and the putting aside of the Holiness of the Lord, we can rejoice today for there is forgiveness for us in the actual killing of our anointed one by evil men bringing salvation to us all and a King who, thankfully, reigns forever.

II. Liar, Liar, Future’s Dire

- If we Deceive to receive and we should believe that we will receive a reward, but maybe not the one we were looking for.

A. So we see here… the whole plan of the Amalekite was to deceive to receive. He played the part of true grief… tore his clothes, covered himself with dirt, acting before David and his men that he was truly grieving. And he lied about killing Saul. Last chapter we saw that Saul fell on his own sword because his Armor bearer would not kill him. That’s how he died.

B. Why would the Amalekite do this? He was looking for the messenger/hero reward. Rewarded for ending the reign of Saul, by killing him and presenting Saul’s crown to bring the kingdom to David. He wanted to deceive to receive. He was ready for them to start singing celebrate good times come on. But oh what a surprise. Instead of seeing David and his men jump for joy in celebration, they begin to mourn.

C. Oh the irony… He is punished for what he said he did even though we know because we read it, he didn’t do it! He received what he should have received because he deceived. The judgment of God found him still. Because God knows. His lie was his downfall. The irony … he actually did receive because he deceived. But it was not the reward he was expecting.

D. I remember wanting that rubber pencil grip. Is it not funny how we do the same things that they did all those years ago.

E. Just incase we don’t know. The Lord knows and sees everything. No matter what we do in deception, it cannot nor will not escape the Lord when we deceive to receive.

1 John 3:20 NLT

Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

1 John 3:20

John 3:20 NLT

All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.

Hebrews 4:13 NLT

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

Hebrews 4:13

F. We have the same instance in the early church… we had and man and his wife lie to gain rewards in the eyes of the Apostles and the church. They would deceive to receive to boost their standing and admiration of the church, but in the end, Ananias and Sapphira will not acquire high standing in the church, they would be 6 feet under the church. They ended up in the grave. They lied to the church. After they sold a piece of property they brought the money from it to the apostles to give but they held back some of it. They acted like it was everything, but they lied needlessly, according to Peter. It was your money to do what you want, but you wanted to lie to make yourself look good… to boost your self-worth… you wanted to deceive to receive, but Peter said that they lied to the Holy Spirit. And they died because they lied.

G. What kind of lies do we tell in order to look good to other people, or to make us feel better about ourselves and our self-esteem? Do we lie to ourselves to make ourselves feel better about ourselves? What do we tell ourselves when we look in the mirror? Are we prone to deception for our own self-worth and gain? Are we prone to deception for greater acceptance from friends and family? Do we deceive to receive?

H. This is a struggle for many of us. But what of deception when it comes to rewards? A promotion at work, lying on a job application, the acceptance of a certain person, lying about self to get a date with a girl. Lying to you spouse about where you were. Lying about money that was spent. Lying so that you won’t disappoint your parents. Lying so that you wont get in trouble. Why do we do this? God know that we’re doing it. But we do it anyway? Common let’s be honest. Do we still lie knowing that God knows?

J. Do you know that when we lie to others knowing that God knows, then it shows that we care more about what the world thinks than we do God? We would deceive, knowing that God knows, so that we can find the rewards and acceptance from others. We would do this in God’s face. We would rather offend God than lose out on a reward or what we gain from people in the world. Do we desire love from the world before love from God?

James 4:4 NLT

You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.

K. Do we not realize that to do this… is adultery and unfaithfulness to God? We see something more important to please instead of God. This is idolatry. Do we not see how serious James is about this… he wrote it twice.

L. Do we not realize that as Christians are completely and totally accepted by the Lord because of Christ? Do we really need more acceptance? Do we not realize that we are co-heirs with Christ and will inherit everything? Do we really need more reward? Or is that a reward that we do not care for? We struggle with this because of unbelief… we hear it, but do not believe it.

M. Christian do we not believe in our inheritance? Our new birth right. Let us not give it up for something special from the world. Like Esau and the bowl of stew, he forsook his birthright to get it to satisfy his hunger. We do the same things… in order to be satisfied now we would forsake all that we have in Christ. We already have it all in Christ. This is the reality of sin in us and how deep its corruption goes.

N. But there is forgiveness for us today. This is the power and love of Christ. Nothing will keep us away from the power of Christ… not life nor death nor angels of demons, height nor depth. Nothing. Sure we deserved to be killed like the Amalekite, but before the Soldier struck it was as if David stepped in front of the sword and took the blow for the Amalekite and enemy of David. You see Christ did the unthinkable!

O. In the same way, Christ took our punishment. He took it for his enemies. He took it for us. The King took our death and our punishment for us. We receive even though we deceive.

II. Disregard for God

- Does anybody really fear the Lord anymore?

A. The Amalekite had disregard for the sanctity of God. David pointed this out. “Why were you not afraid to kill the Lord’s anointed one?” Do you not fear God? I would not even lay my hand on him. Do you realize what I went through because I would not touch the anointed of God… the sanctity of God’s anointed. Don’t you see the importance? Were you not afraid? Were you not afraid of God?

B. You wrongly assumed that my kingship should ever have been put before God’s law. No kingdom should ever be before the Lord’s… Before God’s kingdom. Nothing!

C. Today, family we need to see and understand that life in the kingdom of God is to be controlled by fear of God. Godly fear must control us. We must be controlled by Godly Fear. says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fear… does it not declare holiness?

D. Do we just disregard the laws and statues of God? I wonder today how much we actually pursue holiness? Do we fear God enough to know how important holiness is? I wonder if we even know what it means anymore?

E. Did you know… a new stat came in from Christianity Today. Yes, two-thirds of Americans think that God accepts the worship of all religions, but 48 percent of evangelicals believe the same thing! How does half of us somehow miss the first commandment?

E. He is not fooling around when His Word declares…

Hebrews 12:14 NLT

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

F. Maybe we think that we can just do whatever we want, live in sin, and think that it does not matter? Do we think we can live in deception, live with unforgiveness against someone, live being mean to others cussing them out, be unloving to our neighbor, unsupportive, manipulative, selfish, break the laws of the land, be sexually immoral, practice all kinds of impure immorality on the computer or mobile device, prideful, arrogant, abusive, cheaters, gossip, take advantage, drunkards, greedy! Will we not pursue holiness?

G. Maybe we think that we can continue to practice the things that the Lord hates and think that there will be no judgment?

Proverbs 6:16–19 NLT

There are six things the Lord hates— no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

These are seen as abominations by the Lord.

H. Maybe we as Christians continue to just cast the sanctity of the Lord and think that all will be ok? What about holiness? Will we fight to be holy everyday? Will we fight against the world’s temptation to get you to do the ungodly? That is what the world wants… Men the world wants you to fulfill your sinful passions through your eyes, what you see. Women the world wants you to fulfill your passions through your emotions, what you feel. Children the world is after your attention, distractions. It is there and we just keep giving in.

I. Church… we need to overcome this. We need to declare that we care more about pleasing God than our flesh. We need to let the world know that we will not kill Saul, but honor what He has set apart. We will not turn away… Does anybody really love the Lord anymore? Does anybody really care? Will anybody sacrifice their Isaac? Will anyone get thrown into a furnace? Will anyone get thrown into the lion’s den? Will anyone obey?

III. Killed the Anointed of God

- The anointed of God was killed and judgement came. The Anointed of God was also killed and salvation came.

A. But the reality is for many of us, really all of us to some extant… We are weak in faith. We are caught in the snares of the world. We would admit that we are too worldly. We have plans and desires that are sinful that we are pursuing right now. We admit that we are unfaithful to the Lord and we have sought friendship with the World. We recognize that we too, and like the Amalekite, deserve the judgment of God.

B. There is good news for us today. The Lord promises to judge our sins and make no mistake it will be judged, and it was. Our Lord and King, Christ the Lord suffered our punishment. He suffered our Judgment. He suffered for our sins on the cross. The good news is that there is forgiveness for us. For those of you in Christ, all of our sins are forgiven and He has promised to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

C. Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures and He was buried and He was…

D. He became sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in.

E. For those of you who the Holy Spirit has brought a change in your heart as you hear the Gospel and right now for the first time can say that you believe that Jesus is Lord. The Bible says if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart… All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Right now you do see the Kingdom of God in faith in Christ… It is because you are born again.

F. Christian… today. Repent and believe. Let us no longer conform to the pattern of this world. The Lord has forgiven you of all that you have done. Now pursue holiness. He will give you the strength to overcome. He will give you the power to be free. We seek Him and Him alone. He expects us to do it, because we actually can though the Holy Spirit. You cannot overcome the corruption of sin on your own. If you could than you would have already. We need to be transformed. We need to be made more like Christ. We need the vine to feed the branches.

G. Let’s not seek artificial methods to overcome, seek the Holy Spirit. Remember the Gospel. Fix your eyes upon Christ the author and finisher of our faith. Come to the Word of God, come to the Table of the Lord, and pray. Rest in His promise that he who began a good work in us will be faithful to bring it to completion. Yes… trust in the Lord always and lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways…

H. He promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will be with us always till the end of the age.

I. The Amalekite who lied, yet suffered for touching the anointed of God. He lied about killing Saul, but do you know that we actually did kill another anointed of God. We nailed him to the cross despised and rejected of men. But He rose from the grave and is now sitting at the right hand of the Father, with all power and authority in heaven and on earth. It is the Kingdom of God. It is the Kingdom of Heaven. Rejoice today that we are citizens of this Kingdom. Salvation is here.