As we move through the lectionary texts on David, we have lots of different vantage points to view his life and actions. David is a fascinating character whose actions connect to our lives in many ways, particularly the way in which he seems to get it right and get it wrong, sometimes at the same time.
The path to the sermon began as I read the lectionary passage, 2 Samuel 1: 17-27, and then read the scripture leading up to the lectionary passage. I found myself stunned to move immediately from David having the head cut off of the man who brought him news of Saul's death (and claimed to have helped kill Saul) to David's lament over Saul and Jonathon's death. then, I began pondering why David lamented Saul's death - Saul had tormented David for years. It occurred to me that David's lament was more than just a lament for Saul and Jonathon. Maybe at the death of Saul David reflected over the course of his life, which helped lead to the lament. From that thought, the sermon developed. I believe somewhere in this sermon is the foundation for a really good sermon, but I did not arrive there on Sunday!
“David’s Lament” July 1, 2018, SAPC, Denton; 2 Samuel 1: 17-27; I Samuel 31: 1-13
David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. 18 (He ordered that The Song of the Bow[a] be taught to the people of Judah; it is written in the Book of Jashar.) He said:
19
Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!
20
Tell it not in Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon;
or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,
the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult.
21
You mountains of Gilboa,
let there be no dew or rain upon you,
nor bounteous fields![b]
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more.
22
From the blood of the slain,
from the fat of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
nor the sword of Saul return empty.
23
Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!
In life and in death they were not divided;
they were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
24
O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you with crimson, in luxury,
who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
25
How the mighty have fallen
in the midst of the battle!
Jonathan lies slain upon your high places.
26
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
greatly beloved were you to me;
your love to me was wonderful,
passing the love of women.
27
How the mighty have fallen,
and the weapons of war perished!
Introduction:
Move 1: David mourns the death of King Saul and Jonathan.
a. Like one of us at the death of a friend or loved one, David takes time to remember and then he offers this powerful lament.
b. David has many reasons to offer a lament.
1. Saul had given his youngest daughter Michal to David.
2. David had some good memories of his time with Saul - like playing the lyre for King Saul and celebrating the death of Goliath together.
3. And, of course, King Saul was God’s anointed, which as you remember is why David had not killed Saul on several occasions when he had the chance.
4. David also loved Jonathon like a brother, not one of the bad brother relationships in the Bible, but he loved him like a brother to whom they each had pledged to look after the other forever, and they had done so.
5. David had many reasons to offer a lament at the death of Saul and Jonathon.
b. On the other hand, David could just as easily have sung a song of celebration, at least in response to Saul’s death.
1. Saul had treated David poorly.
2. Saul and David have fought against each, they had been involved in countless cat-and-mouse chases across Judah, and Saul even had tried to kill David on more than one occasion.
3. Saul, propelled by his jealousy, had made David’s life very difficult.
4. now that Saul has died, David will gain more power and authority.
5. David could have seen Saul’s death as a reason to celebrate.
c. The context of the lament is rather odd, at least to me.
1. In the previous chapter, we have a huge battle between the Israelites and Philistines.
2. the death of Saul and Jonathon.
3. then just prior to David’s lament, an Amalekite has told David about Saul’s death, and David has had his head cut off for his part in Saul’s death.
3. From blood, guts and enmity to powerful, heart-warming lament.
4. What’s going on?
Move 2: David mourns not only Saul’s and Jonathon’s deaths, but David mourns the gap between where he and the world are and where he knows God desires them to be.
a. David lives in this gap.
1. no better example of his living in the gap than his relationship with Saul. Time and again, Saul has tried to kill him and David in turn has bedeviled Saul, although he has passed on his chances to kill Saul.
2. No better example of how God calls us to live than his relationship with Jonathon that is built on the commitment to love each other and care for each other forever.
b. We live in that gap as well.
1. We look at our lives and know we are not quite there yet as disciples of Christ. We keep falling short.
2. wE look at our world and see a place that still does not show the goodness God saw when God first created the world.
c. On this week-end leading into the 4th of July when we remember and celebrate our heritage, we are reminded by our own history how we live in the gap.
1. The birth of our nation based on the Declaration of Independence that declared “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal"
2. yet slavery was not abolished.
3. The gap between the nation we were in that moment and the nation we were called to be.
4. Like many of you, I love the patriotic hymns and songs we have, both for their beauty and their words.
5. As we sing “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies” after the sermon enjoy the tune, but also notice how the words recognize how we live in the gap and call on God to “mend our every flaw” and ask God to “refine our gold till every gain divine.”
d. we are not there yet. So what do we do?
1. notice the David keeps moving froward.
2. Immediately following his lament, he is made king of Judah. his power and authority increase.
3. we know David will have some glorious moments in which he seems to get it right and close the gap between how he is living and how God desires him.
2. we know he will have some moments when he misses the mark completely and the gap seems to widen.
3. So too, we move forward, struggling to close the gap between who we are and who God calls us to be; working to change the world from what it is to the good place God created.
Conclusion: A man’s funeral. Open mic. Wife is worried that her brother-in-law might speak. what’s the worry? Either he says all sorts of good things and acts like they were on good terms, or he might share the dirty laundry.
Decided to do open mic. Brother-in-law stands to speak. he does in fact, ramble on with words that seem more about him than about his dead brother. As I listened, I kept looking at the wife, wondering how she was taking it.
“I guess his brother needed to say that to remember how things should have been and how he wanted them to be.”
sometimes we need to remind ourselves that God calls us to close the gap.
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