Sermon Tone Analysis

Poetry and the meaning of Story

When you decide to follow Jesus, you are making the decision (whether you realize it or not) to become a student of the Bible.

And every moment you devote to studying the Scriptures, every moment you hold a magnifying glass to the pages of the Bible, you are cultivating a sense for the way words work, and the way sentences work, and the way paragraphs work together to tell a story.

Truly, you become a student of literature in the highest sense of the word, because the Bible is the greatest written work in human history.

Literally by reading the words of Scripture carefully, you are honing tools that will equip you to read everything that has ever been written.

Because in the truest sense of the words, the Bible is the greatest story that’s ever been written.

And it’s especially important because it’s true.

I say all this because, perhaps for this passage more than any other, you’ve got to get your tools out.

This passage is loaded with powerful meaning; this passage is in a lot of ways the centerpiece of the book of Samuel.

But you’re not going to see that meaning, you’re not going to notice the brilliant power of this passage, unless you read it carefully.

In a word, you won’t understand this passage until you treat it as masterful literature.

The significance of Poetry

One of the most important principals for understanding the Old Testament, especially for understanding the history within the Old Testament, is the centrality and significance of poetry.

Poetry operates almost like a user’s guide to the meaning of the historical stories we read in the Old Testament.

Inevitably when you open your Bible and begin reading Old Testament stories, you’ll find those stories interrupted by song.

The most significant stories are punctuated, beginning and end, with poetry.

And in almost every case, the poetry that punctuates the historical stories of the Old Testament is there to teach us the meaning of those stories.

Let me give you an example.

and record the same event twice.

Both and point our attention to Israel’s crossing of the Red Sea.

In both we learn that God split the sea miraculously, in both we learn that Israel crosses over on dry land, in both we learn that Pharoah’s army is drowned in the waters.

The same event, twice.

So what’s the point of the second record?

A better question might be, “How do the two records differ?”

The first record is standard prose - reads just like any other historical text you might find in a library.

But the second record is poetry.

And the second record teaches readers the significance of the first.

We know that God split the waters, we know that Israel crossed through the Red Sea on dry land, we know that Pharoah’s army was drowned.

But we don’t know why.

Until we read these words.

“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously!

The horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea!

The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation!”

That’s why.

Why were the people delivered miraculously?

Because “By your loyal love you will lead the people whom you have redeemed!

You will guide them by your strength!”

Why was the strongest military force in the world drowned in the Red Sea?

Because “The LORD is a warrior!”

Because “Your right hand, O LORD, was majestic in power!”

That’s why.

It’s not enough to know what happened to the people of Israel.

You must know why it happened.

Poetry answers the “why.”

The key to understanding the passage we’re reading today is located within the poetry which surrounds it.

So I want to read the story itself, and then I want to read the poetry that surrounds it, so that you and I can together answer the “why” of this passage.

Turn with me to .

The Mighty have Fallen

Before we begin reading, I think it’s important to note that we’re reading two chapters consecutively that apparently fall in two different books.

We’re going to begin reading in and we’re going to finish in .

We’re doing this because that’s the structure of this passage, not because I needed to go ahead and pick up the pace because this series is super long.

See, the books of 1 & 2 Samuel were originally one book, only one.

It begins in the first verse of and ends on the final verse of .

And it was simply called, “Samuel.”

When the Bible began to be distributed widely in Greek, the Greek version split the book in half for reasons that must have seemed appropriate at the time but were actually terrible.

The reason I mention this is because the death of Saul is the centerpiece of the book of Samuel in more ways than one.

It represents a major shift in the kingdom of Israel, from the leadership of Saul to the leadership of David.

It represents the end of David’s wanderings as an exile.

And also because the words are located pretty close to the center of the book.

But you wouldn’t know that this story is the centerpiece because the present division of Samuel splits this story in half, leading many readers to take chapter 31 as an independent story- the end of one book, and chapter 1 as independent story - the beginning of its sequel.

I want to read it together, because that’s what the author intended for us to do.

So if you’re ready, let’s start reading in , and we’ll just keep on going through .

Okay, let’s get started.

Saul and his men

This story opens on the same battlefield that’s remained central to our developing plot since chapter 28.

The Philistine Army has gathered against Israel to finally, ultimately decimate the Israelite army and to end the reign of Saul, their first king.

It’s worth noting that the people of Israel have faced the Philistine armies before, but in every case victory came by the hand of David.

But where is David now?

Saul has cast him out of the kingdom.

The mighty victor of Israel is a refugee among the Philistines.

And now David, for all Saul knows, stands against the people of Israel.

So here is Saul, facing an army led by his greatest enemies.

Saul is terrified.

Terrified of losing the kingdom, terrified of losing his life.

So terrified, in fact, that he’s willing to abandon the covenant by communing with the dead.

Saul and two of his men disguise themselves and flee to a pagan medium to consult the dead spirit of Samuel while the Philistine army stages rank and file against the inferior Israeli forces.

Samuel’s spirit is successfully raised from the grave, and he promises prophetically that -

within 24 hours - Saul, his sons, and his armies will fall.

As we open to , we immediately learn that Samuel’s final prophecy is fulfilled precisely.

Within 24 hours, Saul and his forces are overrun by the Philistines, and Saul’s own sons, including the faithful Jonathan, are dead on a bloody battlefield.

Saul alone is left, mortally wounded by an arrow.

In his final moments, after years of stubborn refusal, Saul recognizes his cursed fate, and pleads with his armor bearer to end his life.

This isn’t the first time we’ve been reminded that the faithful ought never stretch out their hand against God’s anointed.

Like David, Saul’s armor bearer refuses to strike God’s chosen king.

So Saul kills himself, and tragically his armor bearer follows his example.

Thus ends the house of Saul, the first king of Israel.

His death is a suicidal as his reign, for any rebellion against the Most High God is functional suicide.

When the Philistines discover his body, they cut off his head and the heads of his sons, and then they parade these fallen warriors naked before their gods.

Rumor of this humiliation is whispered throughout Israel, until the valiant men of Jabesh Gilead travel 15 miles overnight to retrieve their bodies and secure for them an honorable end.

As the camera pans to David, we learn that Israel’s devastating loss coincided with David’s miraculous victory.

Both battles - Israel’s clash with the Philistine army and David’s clash with the Amalekite raiders - both battles are happening at the same time.

As David, the faithful king, marches home victorious, Saul, the faithless king, lies dead on the battlefield.

As David's men rebuild their homes, the Saul’s men are abandoning their homes.

The scene shifts when, unexpectedly, an exhausted warrior stumbles upon David’s camp.

He says that Saul and his sons are dead, and he offers indisputable evidence - Saul’s crown and armlet.

Apparently this Amalekite expected a reward, for he brags that he himself stole Saul’s last breath.

Here we encounter strong tones of irony.

Saul was cursed and lost the kingdom because he refused to finally, totally destroy the Amalekite people, though the law demanded it.

Saul refused to end the Amalekites.

Now he pleads with an Amalekite to end him.