No Other Boast

“Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!

How the mighty have fallen!

—2 Samuel 1:19

“How the mighty of fallen!” We often say this with a sarcastic smirk. David said it with sincere sorrow. David intends no ridicule. He grieves. The “glory” of Israel lies slain on her high places. He grieves for Jonathan his devoted friend. He grieves for Saul his devoted enemy. David has pled for justice, but he does not rejoice when his enemy falls (Proverbs 24:17).

David does not just lament. He leads in lament. This song is to be taught to the people of Judah. David has “friends” in Judah (1 Samuel 30:26). They have hid him from Saul. David does not hide his esteem of Saul from them. He would have the people of Judah mourn this Benjaminite king.

David remains Saul’s best and most devoted servant to the very end. David has nothing to do with Saul’s death. Should David have been on the battlefield that day, I believe we may be certain what David would not have done. He would not have put his hand out against Yahweh’s anointed.

David has nothing to do with Saul’s death. But Yahweh does. The kingdom has been taken from Saul’s hand and given into David’s hand. David does not take the kingdom with man’s violence, but he does execute God’s justice. Saul lost the kingdom for failing to execute God’s justice on the Amalekites, David comes into the kingdom executing God’s justice on the Amaleites. Vengeance is the Lord’s and David is the Lord’s king.

Three songs mark the beginning, middle, and end of the singular scroll of Samuel. Hannah’s song opens the scroll and puts a different tone to the words “How the mighty have fallen!” “The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:4, 6). God will bring redemptive reversal to his people by salvation through judgment in a king. Hannah sings, “The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed” (1 Samuel 2:10). “How the mighty have fallen!”

As the book draws to a close, David sings this song of praise, “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me, who brought me out from my enemies; you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from men of violence. For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever” (2 Samuel 2:47–51).

Yahweh shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever. David’s covenant faithfulness to Yahweh’s anointed is a faint echo of the unfailing covenant love of God towards His King. The Son of David was slain on the high place of Israel, crucified on a Roman cross. But the Mighty has not fallen. He is risen. The Philistines have no gospel and the true Israel of God has no reason for lamentation.

David, Saul, David, Saul— we’re used to the contrast, but now it occurs as we alternate between their separate stories. The rule of one is soon to end. The rule of the other is soon to begin. The previous two episodes are cliff hangers. You close 27:1–28:2 anxious for what will happen to David, but then, it’s Saul. You then close 28:3–25 wanting to see things play out with Saul. David, Saul, David, Saul. We want to finish the story of one, only to be disappointed by the other, but then caught up in that story as well.

The intentionality of the author in this can be seen in that these accounts are not chronological. The Philistines gathering at Aphek happens before they gathered at Shunem in 28:1. But this means that David’s victory over the Amalekites then happens in close proximity to Saul’s death and defeat.

Because we now return back to David, lets recap where were were a couple of episodes back. David, his mercenary status sufficiently established, returns to Achish, king of Gath, this time to be welcomed. He is given Ziklag, a city in Judah’s territory that was allotted to Simeon, taken by the Philistines, given to David, and thereafter the possession of the kings of Judah. From Ziklag, David raids the raiders who trouble Judah while Achish thinks David is making himself an utter stench to Israel. What David is doing doesn’t match what Achish thinks he is doing. But the most uncomfortable aspect of David’s exile isn’t the possibility of his being found out by Achish; it’s that he may found to be a Philistine, worshipping other gods by default—practically if not formally.

1 Samuel 27:1–28:2 records a God-less chapter in David’s life. He doesn’t inquire of Yahweh. He doesn’t praise Yahweh. He doesn’t speak of Yahweh. David’s faith will persevere, but only because Yahweh preserves His king. God is with David, His anointed, in a way that He is not with Saul. Saul is left to himself. David is not. David’s story is not one of David’s greatness, but of divine grace. God will preserve His king in His peculiar and mysterious way.

David is rejected so that he might return. He is rejected so that he might return to His God. By man’s rejection, God recovers. God brings David back. Look at what God is doing. As surely as He is judging Saul, He is keeping David. The tension we felt, wondering what David might do is swallowed up by confidence in what God is doing. Yahweh has raised up a king to rule over His people. He is faithful. He is merciful. He is gracious.

Dear souls, this is your great confidence, God has been faithful to His King, the Son of David, the Son of God. His faithfulness to His King is His faithfulness to His people. Jesus is Lord and Savior of His people. Jesus is Lord and Savior for His people. When the Gentile ruler said “I find no fault in him” (John 19:4), He was not deceived. The Son of David was perfectly righteous. In Him, we are so counted righteous and reconciled to God, that the Son may declare to the Father, “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one” (John 18:9). By God’s mysterious providence, His rejection ensured the return and rescue of all and His exaltation as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Sinners, look to Jesus the Son of David and be saved.

Saints, look to Jesus the Son of God and be strengthened.

“Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the LORD, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.”

—1 Samuel 26:24

“Really! Again?”

There are three ways one might say this of our text. The first one is bad. The second one is true. The third one is best. The exclamation “Really! Again?” might disparage Scripture, disdain Saul, or delight in the Savior.

“Really? Again?” some ask of Scripture, doubting its veracity and truthfulness. Saul pursues David with three thousand men—again? David’s hides in the wilderness—again? Saul is given into David’s hand—again? David is encouraged to take Saul’s life—again? David refuses to take the life of Yahweh’s anointed—again? David does take something of Saul’s to confront Saul with—again? Saul “repents”—again? Thus they argue that same event is being told by different sources, concluding that we cannot trust the historical accuracy of the Bible’s game of telephone.

To which we might reply, “Really? Again? After that line of argumentation has been tried with so many passages and failed? Really? Haven’t we been here before? And shouldn’t your repetition of the same argument in a different place, at a different time, with a different text disprove the very logic of your point? Really? Again?—As if no human in the history of mankind has ever had the experience of dealing with difficult people of saying, ‘Really? Again? Haven’t we done this before?’”

“Really! Again?”—the text intends for us to ask, not of itself, but of Saul. “Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly” (Proverbs 26:11). Again and again. Sinful man may hate his sin, but he repents of it only to return to it. Really. Again and again.

“Really! Again!” we exclaim most fully as we return to these themes hundreds of years later. The life of the King, even in the depths of His humiliation, is precious to the Father. When as a child he must flee to Egypt, His life is precious. As He wanders through the land without a home with a motley crew, His life is precious. When his brothers betray him, His life is precious. As He acts with perfect integrity and lays down his life for His enemies, trusting His Father, His life is precious. Even when He stoops so low as to bear the curse in the place of sinners, the resurrection testifies that the life of the King is precious in the sight of the Lord.

And if you cling to Christ in faith, His life, the life that is precious in the sight of God God, is your life. Really! So that again and again, forever, His unfailing covenant love and mercy redeem you out of every trouble.

Both David and Saul receive human intel, but where David inquires, Saul imagines. God reveals to David, “I will give the Philistines into your hand” (v. 4). Saul imagines, declaring, “God has given [David] into my hand” (v. 7). As the Philistines were delivered into David’s hand, so Saul believes David is delivered into his hand.

David hears God’s word. Saul puts words into God’s mouth. David inquires of Yahweh. Saul imagines Yahweh. Matthew Poole writes, “He easily believed what he greedily desired, though his own experience had oft showed him how strangely God had delivered him out of his hands, and what a singular care God had over him.”

Your imagination is a dangerous way to read the facts and discern God’s will. But this is not only how many seek guidance, it is how they do theology. When you receive intel, inquire, don’t imagine. How do you inquire? Prayerfully read God’s Word. This assumes the indwelling and illumination of the Holy Spirit.

This is how delusional sinful man is in the darkness of his depravity—he presumes God is with him, when God has proclaimed that He is against Him. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18). God tells man he is condemned. Man replies, “You’re so sweet. I know you love me.” God is patient and long-suffering, but we are children of wrath. Yes, grace is offered, but it is offered precisely because we stand under God’s curse. Those condemned in Adam should not behave as though they were an angel of heaven.

Saul is told and and Saul imagines. David knows, yet David inquires (v. 9). David doesn’t act on human intel alone. He doesn’t act on human intel supremely, which is to say, David doesn’t rely on his own intelligence. David models for us what it means to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart.” Saul however, “lean[s] on [his] own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

David is absolutely unique. He is the Lord’s anointed. He is God’s king. He has a prophet. He has a priest. But you have the Word of God, the revelation of the Son of David, and the Spirit of Christ to illuminate the Word He inspired. You won’t receive such specific guidance, but that’s not really what you need. You need Biblical wisdom and truth. If you can exclaim with the psalmist, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” then you may also rejoice declaring, “Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts” (Psalm 119:97–100). This doesn’t mean that you walk with your head up as though you can see what others do not. It means you walk in humility and obedience, trusting your God.

“Then the king said to Doeg, ‘You turn and strike the priests.’ And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.”

—1 Samuel 22:18–19

You cannot rationalize with a conspiracy theorist. Any logical argumentation that we indeed landed on the moon, that the earth is a sphere, or that Lee Harvey Oswald did shoot J.F.K. are met scoffing dismissal. Such argumentation only proves that you’re a naive pawn of the information brokers in power.

True or false, the real danger of a conspiracy theorist spirit is that it is more concerned about what may have been hidden by man than what has been revealed by God. Isaiah tell us “the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ‘Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread’” (Isaiah 8:11–13).

We may inclined to think of conspiracy theories predominantly as rockets rather than meteorites. That is, they travel from the ground up rather than from the sky down. The citizens suspect the powers that be, rather than the powers suspecting their citizens. But the kings of this earth have a long history of paranoid delusions concerning those who they believe are out to get them. Conspiracy meteorites are as common as rockets, but frequently with this difference, the rockets may make a stunning but short show in the sky whereas the meteorites can cause lasting devastation on the ground.

Saul imagines his conspiracy theories up in the sky, but the devastation wrought on the ground is all too real. But Saul’s imagination is not bigger than God’s revelation. All of Saul’s conspiracy lunacy only works God wise plan. There is only One who has truly planned to bring Saul to nothing, and He has not been silent about it. Samuel declared to Saul, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret” (1 Samuel 15:28–29). Saul not only imagines men conspiring against him, he conspires against God, imagining he can make a liar out of Him. But Saul’s imagination is not bigger than God’s revelation.

The author has prepared the careful reader to see not just a horrid tragedy, but a holy judgment in the midst of it. Don’t be so stunned by Saul’s wicked sin that you fail to see God’s righteous judgement. The author has been subtle, but he has not been silent.

God has preserved David. Why does He not deliver Ahimelech the son of Ahitub? Earlier, when Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison, we were told that among those with Saul was “Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, wearing an ephod” (1 Samuel 14:3). Ahitub is Ichabod’s brother. Ahitub is Phinehas’s son. Ahitub is Eli’s grandson.

In, 1 Samuel 2:31–35 a man of God appeared to Eli and declared, 

Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.

God is bringing salvation by judgment to His people. He removed a wicked priesthood to raise up a righteous priest-prophet in Samuel who prepared the way for the Lord’s Anointed. Saul’s wicked judgment works Yahweh’s righteous judgment. Rebellion is a boomerang that always returns back with more force than it was thrown. The harm intended always rebounds. Rebellion is a boomerang you can’t catch.  Rebellion is not simply futile, it is counter-productive. It doesn’t simply fail to break down the wall. It helps to build it.

“Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, ‘What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?’ ² And he said to him, ‘Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.’ ³ But David vowed again, saying, ‘Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, “Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.” But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.’ ⁴ Then Jonathan said to David, ‘Whatever you say, I will do for you.'”

—1 Samuel 20:1–4

Our covenant-making God makes a covenant-making people. Our covenant-keeping God makes a covenant-keeping people.

Why does David return? Jonathan. He returns because of their covenant devotion to one another. David is certain about Saul. Jonathan is ignorant. If David flees, it seems he not only wants Jonathan to know why, he wants his blessing.

The reason we might be confused by David’s actions is because we’re not driven by the same stuff. We think ourselves wiser when we’re simply selfish. We think ourselves more perceptive when we’re merely self-preserving. David fears the Lord. David walks in His ways. He demonstrates true wisdom. He demonstrates unfailing covenant love. If being covenantally faithful means looking a fool, then gladly don the motley of a jester. It is blessed to be thought a “fool” of the court of the King of kings.

Because their covenant devotion to one another is born of their covenant devotion to God, these friends don’t argue. David doesn’t insist. He allows Jonathan to test. Jonathan does not protest. He puts himself fully at the disposal of his friend. They trust one another and pursue truth together. Jonathan submits to David’s plan to expose his father. David entrusts himself to Jonathan’s plan to preserve his life. When they plan, they don’t really toil over the plan. They toil over their covenant. Before they are practical, they are principled. Covenant first. Planning second. 

A reason so many of our friendships and plans go sideways is because we strive to be wise more than we strive to be faithful. We need to meditate and think covenantally first. Then we may build our plans on that solid foundation.

Underlying Jonathan and David’s covenant faithfulness to one another, is their covenant faithfulness to God. Underlying their covenant faithfulness to God, is God’s covenant faithfulness to His people. Their covenant faithfulness to one another is an expression of our God’s covenant faithfulness to Israel. It is an expression of His covenant faithfulness to us. God delivers His King, thus, He deliveries His people. In doing so, our covenant-making God makes a covenant-making people and our covenant-keeping God makes a covenant-keeping people.

“And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” —1 Samuel 19:23–24

“A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully” (Proverbs 14:35). That was written by a wise king. Saul is no such king. His wrath falls on his best servant. Thus, Saul destroys himself.

The themes introduced in chapter 18 continue to develop throughout chapter 19. Saul’s folly, his mad hatred, grows in intensity and consistency. The lighting strikes are brighter and come without interruption. There is now more storm than calm. Covert plans give way to overt missions. Subtlety is traded in for flagrancy.

The irony of all this is that darkness wants to shine, but only finds itself fading into oblivion. Saul’s deception makes David’s devotion more radiant. Saul’s depravity serves to highlight David’s integrity. And Saul’s faithlessness is the dark backdrop against which David’s faithfulness shines. The proud king thus brings himself down and exalts the humble king. The darkness in Saul that wants to snuff David out, only serves to extinguish itself. Saints, ultimately, the bark of evil is worse than its bite. The darkness may terrify, but in the end, we find that it has no real substance. God is.

With the lightest touch, the great I AM brushes aside the violence of Saul. “The Spirit of God,” writes Robert Bergen, “was gently invincible; those who had entered into Naioth under the influence of the ruler of Israel now found themselves under the infinitely greater influence of the ruler of the universe.”

Four times Yahweh’s anointed is delivered. He is delivered through Jonathan, through skill, through Michal, through Samuel. Through, through, through, through—these are only the means. Who is delivering David? David ends the prayer of deliverance that he penned on this occasion, with this praise, “But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love” (Psalm 59:16–17).

God delivers His king, and notice how effortlessly He does so. He uses the weak to shame the strong. Jonathan’s covenant loyalty to David is a fruit of the Spirt’s work in Jonathan. The true “spy” in Saul’s camp is the Holy Spirit. Jonathan’s covenant loyalty is an expression of Yahweh’s covenant loyalty.

David’s skill in warfare is as much a gift of God as is his heart for God. How is it that David evades Saul’s spear, now three times? David later sings, “For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your gentleness made me great” (2 Samuel 22:32–36).

Michal’s idolatry and lies, like those of Rachel, are evil, but they are used for good. Yahweh makes sin, and Saul, and Satan nothing more than servants for His purposes.

Samuel is the most Moses like figure we see in the OT other than Moses, but this is as close as he gets to performing any wonder or sign. He does nothing. It is the Spirit of God that comes upon Saul.

God uses all of this to deliver His king. The king, even in his humiliation, is unassailable. Man’s strength is helpless against God’s “weakness.” The throne of God and the throne of David are united. God’s rule is manifest among man in this humble king. Though he may seem vulnerable, he is invincible. Man’s strength in rebellion only demonstrates God’s sovereign rule. Man’s time bound plots and schemes work nothing but God’s eternal counsel.

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:22–24).

God delivers His King, and in doing so, He delivers His kingdom. He delivers the undeserving—His wayward people who have sought a king like the nations. Despite this, He graciously gives them a King after His own heart, His only begotten Son, born in humility, resurrected in glory. God delivers His King and thus He delivers His kingdom.

“‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54–57).

God delivers His King, and thus He delivers the kingdom. This is the good news, “the gospel of God… concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:1, 3–4).

And “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

God has delivered His king. He has delivered His people. Dear sinner, do not rebel. Repent. Do not be a Saul seeking to preserve your kingdom. Be a Jonathan, knit in covenant to God’s King, loving Him with all your soul.

And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,

“Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.”

And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?”

—1 Samuel 18:7–8

Saul is angry at the truth. Saul has struck down his thousands. David has struck down his ten thousands. David is the better warrior. Saul is angry at the truth, but the truth is nothing to be angry about.

Raw truth is a dangerous thing to rail against. It’s like butting your head against a granite wall. That wall ain’t gonna give. Saul is angry at the truth, which is to say, he is angry at God. God is free to give according to His good pleasure. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17).  What do you have that you did not receive (1 Corinthians 4:7)?

Every good is a gift. Man merits only wrath. Wages are earned. Gifts are free. If you want wages, the pay is death. If you want gifts, you can’t demand them. God is free to freely give His free gifts as He chooses. And so it is that envy is anger at God. Envy is murmuring against God. Envy is accusing the just God of injustice. Envy demands redistribution on the basis that God idolize us.

Angry at the truth, Saul eyes David (v. 9). What does this mean? He is suspicious of David. He fears David is that neighbor that Samuel told him was better than him, that neighbor to whom God would give the kingdom (1 Samuel 15:28).

Saul is jealous of the truth but suspicious of a lie. No one demonstrates greater loyalty and undying devotion to Saul than David. Jealousy often sees a twisted version of the truth and then twists the truth into a greater lie. David is better than Saul. David will receive the kingdom. But David will not usurp Saul. David is the greatest blessing God has placed in Saul’s life. David, the Lord’s Anointed, humbly bows as Saul’s servant. Saul’s jealously makes an enemy of his best servant. What should Saul have done? Jonathan models another way. Saul should have honored him and covenanted with him.

Do you see the folly of jealousy? Jealousy refuses God’s blessing if it comes on or through another person. The carnal mind believes that blessings are a zero sum game. “If you’re blessed, I’m not.” But the spiritual man looks at God’s blessings like a sunset He doesn’t have to possess it is to appreciate it, and yet, though it is not his to possess, it is still his to enjoy. Saints, we should learn and know this in the body of Christ. Having received grace upon grace, infinite grace, who are we to demand more? And yet, more we have. All is ours in Christ Jesus. A blessed toe means a blessed body. When God blesses your brother, he blesses you. But jealousy, believing itself robbed, only then becomes robbed.