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The Song of the Bow (2 Samuel 1:17-27)
12 Plays3 days ago
Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Prayer
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message.
00:00:22
Speaker
If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org. And now, take your copy of God's timeless Word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
Honoring Veterans and Memorial Day
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace. You know, it's going to be Memorial Day weekend very soon. And if there's one group that I appreciate. It is to our veterans, especially veterans who who were willing to defend our freedoms even at the the cost of their own lives.
00:01:01
Speaker
We must not forget what it costs to have the freedoms we enjoy each Memorial Day weekend. I think that Memorial Day is intended to be a time of reflection upon the tremendous sacrifices of those who purchased our liberties at great expense, giving the full measure of devotion.
00:01:24
Speaker
Twice in the passage I'm about to read from 2 Samuel 1, twice it says in verse 19 and again in verse 27, how the mighty have fallen.
David's Lament and Historical Lessons
00:01:36
Speaker
You know, in our church, we think of U.S. Army Private Christopher Kilpatrick, who gave his life for us on June 20, 2005. two thousand and five We can lay our heads down on our pillows at night in peace because of soldiers like Christopher, who stood between us and evil. 2 Samuel 1 says,
00:01:58
Speaker
Verses 17 through 27 contains a lament written by David, a song of grief for his best friend, Jonathan, and his king, Saul, who were killed in action. The New King James Version calls this song, the song of the bow.
00:02:16
Speaker
Perhaps the name came from the skills Jonathan had with his bow. In verse 22, it says, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back. More can be learned about Jonathan's ability with the bow if you wanted to go back from 2 Samuel to 1 Samuel in chapter 20. There's quite a bit written there.
00:02:38
Speaker
But one should not quickly pass over the significance of verse 18 in the passage I'm about to read. In verse 18, David explicitly says why he wrote this song.
00:02:52
Speaker
He says, and he told them to teach the children of Judah the song of the bow. David knew that it was important to leave written documentation of the courage of previous generations of brave men so that future generations of young men growing up under peace and freedom would know the great price that was paid for their liberty.
Reading 'The Song of the Bow'
00:03:19
Speaker
Let me read this ah Song of the Bow that David wrote. It says in 2 Samuel 1, verse 17, and David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, his son.
00:03:34
Speaker
And he said, it should be taught to the people of Judah. Behold, it is written in the book of Jashar. He said, your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places. How the mighty have fallen.
00:03:49
Speaker
Tell it not in Gath. Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
00:04:02
Speaker
You mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul not anointed with oil.
00:04:16
Speaker
From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.
00:04:28
Speaker
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.
00:04:40
Speaker
You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet. John 1, verse 1.
00:04:52
Speaker
how the mighty have fallen
Why Soldiers Fight: Faith and Respect
00:04:54
Speaker
in the midst of the battle jonathan lies slain on your high places i'm distressed for you my brother jonathan very pleasant have you been to me your love to me was extraordinary surpassing the love of women how the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war perished.
00:05:15
Speaker
What an incredible song that was written by David concerning a friend who um perished in battle. So I want to look at this, and maybe this will help you, help me, help all of us who have not served in the military to know why did they go to fight anyway.
00:05:34
Speaker
I think I saw some things in this passage that would be pertinent to any Memorial Day that we would like to to remember those who have fallen around us.
00:05:45
Speaker
First, I think if you look at verses 12 through 16, I think they fought for their faith. Back then, the Philistines were not worshiping the God of Israel.
00:05:58
Speaker
They had other gods of their own. They were idol worshipers, but twice David spared the life of King Saul. Why did he spare the life of King Saul who was chasing him?
00:06:10
Speaker
For no good reason, just King Saul was misguided. Because he honored God, not the king. It wasn't that he respected so much King Saul because he was not acting honorably, but who he honored was God.
Family as a Motivation for Soldiers
00:06:26
Speaker
And he said, "'I will not raise my hand against the Lord's anointed.'" Whenever 2 Samuel chapter 1 begins, we we're greeted right away with this message that comes from a man who says that he's an Amalekite, and he had put to death King Saul at Saul's request.
00:06:48
Speaker
But David can't believe it, that anybody would raise their sword against the king of Israel and take his life because he's the Lord's anointed.
00:06:59
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And so he orders that man's execution. But you see how faith... was such a part of of their lives in the Bible days, especially in the Old Testament.
00:07:12
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Such ah an incredible number of great leaders, such as David, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Asa, Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, Nehemiah.
00:07:24
Speaker
You know what they all did? All of these great leaders in the Old Testament scriptures, they prayed before entering into battle. Faith helped them to fight.
00:07:37
Speaker
Faith helped them to fight for the right reasons. Faith helped them to fight um in an honorable way. Have you ever really thought about the lyrics to the song, America the Beautiful?
00:07:49
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In that song, it says, America, America, God shed his grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.
00:08:03
Speaker
You know, so many in the past have defended our country because they wanted to protect the faith that we have, the faith in the Lord. They wanted to protect our freedom to exercise our faith on our soil.
00:08:17
Speaker
But let's move from how they fought back then in verses 12 through 16 of chapter one for their faith to also looking how they fought for their families.
00:08:28
Speaker
You know, in verse 1, it's a reminder that ah in 1 Samuel chapter 13, David's family had been abducted by it's the some Amalekites.
00:08:42
Speaker
Some evil men came and they abducted David's wife and his children, but not just his, the whole encampment. While all of these soldiers were out to battle, there were evil men who came And ah they took away his family.
00:08:58
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And so that's what it alludes to in 2 Samuel 1, verse 1. So David knew what it was like to say, you know what, there's a time and there's a place when you may have to defend your family. And certainly he did because his family had been captured.
00:09:15
Speaker
But when you see in this passage, we're looking at in verse 23 and 24, Jonathan did not always agree with his father, King Saul, on every decision.
00:09:26
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But the one thing he did do, we see here, he died protecting his dad. You know, verse 24 is like a call for women to weep for the ones who had provided for them all that they enjoyed, what they wear, their necklaces and all of these kinds of things.
00:09:44
Speaker
You know, it's no wonder in the book of Nehemiah that whenever Jerusalem was under attack, that he he stationed men on the wall so that they would protect Jerusalem.
National Pride and Loyalty
00:09:56
Speaker
But guess where he stationed them? in front of their homes. He said, you fight for your home. You fight for your family. That's found in Nehemiah 4, verses six through 14.
00:10:08
Speaker
I thought about the account I read of the Revolutionary War where George Washington's troops faced so many hardships. I don't know if you've ever read what it says about them, but they were untrained in battle.
00:10:22
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They were under supplied. i think that each soldier was only issued nine rounds of ammunition. Can you imagine? You got nine bullets, make them count. Wow, they were malnourished. They had no meat and no bread.
00:10:37
Speaker
They had insufficient coats for the harsh winter in the snow. They yeah also, some of them had no boots, so no footwear that was appropriate for what they were having to march through.
00:10:50
Speaker
So what kept them from desertion? Well, if you read history, there's only one thing. They stayed to fight for their families since many fought very near to their homes.
00:11:03
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That's what one ah stanza, not the main stanza we sing at the ball games, but the Star-Spangled Banner in its second stanza says this, oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
00:11:23
Speaker
That's definitely the case that they faced in the Revolutionary War because the British were coming in the midst of their families and their homes and their cities But I think there's a third thing that we can learn about why some soldiers fight.
00:11:37
Speaker
I think some fight for their nation. They fight for their flag. David says in verse 12, and they mourned and wept for the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.
00:11:50
Speaker
Who did they mourn and weep for? They wept for the house of Israel. In verse 19, he goes on to say, your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places. How the mighty have fallen.
00:12:03
Speaker
Which mighty, who are we talking about? He says, your glory, O Israel. So Israelites have fallen. You know, there's a tradition that we have in our US military There's ah people are decorated.
00:12:19
Speaker
They're given citations, medals and so forth, different things to commemorate how they, you know, exemplified, let's say, bravery in battle. But there was a man named Sergeant Leo Slade who served in the Korean War.
00:12:34
Speaker
Have you ever heard that the Korean War is called the Forgotten War? Do you know that 33,686 our troops gave their lives in that that war?
00:12:47
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do you know that fifty nine years later ah This man, Sergeant Leo Slade, he was finally recognized for his combat valor with the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, and four other medals.
00:13:01
Speaker
When they asked Sergeant Slade, hey, how did you feel about today's presentation of all these medals being given to you? He said, well, I was doing nothing more than doing my job.
00:13:14
Speaker
You see, he saw his duty to his country. He was loyal to that flag.
Protecting Future Generations
00:13:19
Speaker
And so he fought under that flag. I believe that also we can see not only that they fought for their flag and for their families, but I think they also fought for the future of others.
00:13:31
Speaker
Verse 18, why would David want this song taught to the people of Israel? Well, like I said earlier, so that they would be motivated to defend their future.
00:13:45
Speaker
A nation with no one willing to defend their future will forfeit their children's future eventually. It's just a matter of time. Lieutenant Michael Murphy was a Navy SEAL team leader on a mission in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005.
00:14:02
Speaker
His four-man team was surrounded by 30 to 40 Taliban fighters in a fierce gunfight. Something took place within the heart of Lieutenant Michael Murphy when he saw the man who was the radio operator suddenly killed. He suffered a fatal wound.
00:14:21
Speaker
And when he saw that, he ran to that radio, exposing himself to gunfire, and he radioed for help, and it cost him his life. But you know what happened?
00:14:32
Speaker
As a result of that one radio transmission, the two remaining men on the team were were rescued You know what he did? He fought not for his own future.
00:14:43
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He was willing to sacrifice his future. He gave up his life because he loved those men and wanted them to have a future. Let's move also to verse 20.
00:14:57
Speaker
You know, in 1 Samuel 31 and verse 1, it says, Now the Philistines fought against Israel. You know, had it not been for David waiting in the wings until he could lead the troops, the Philistines would have taken them into captivity.
00:15:16
Speaker
And so 2 Samuel 5, verses 17 through 25, gives the rest of the story. It tells of Israel's victory over the Philistines under David's leadership as the king.
00:15:30
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But what I want you to understand when you read verse 20 is that these Philistines were planning to take over. They were planning to subject and control all of Israel.
00:15:43
Speaker
And that's why in chapter 1 of 2 Samuel, in verse 20, David says in his poem, Tell it not in Gath. Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
00:16:05
Speaker
On April the 22nd, 2004, Marine Corporal Jason Dunham, he died as a result of a detonated grenade in Iraq. After wrestling with an insurgent, Corporal Dunham saw the assailant toss a grenade toward his teammates.
00:16:24
Speaker
Within seconds, he covered the grenade with his helmet and shielded his team with his body to smother that blast. He died for their freedom.
00:16:35
Speaker
not his. I believe that soldiers fight for freedom. General Hague was there when a Navy missile destroyer was named after Jason Dunham.
00:16:48
Speaker
It was nicknamed or called the USS Jason Dunham. And here's what General Hague said publicly that day. He said, Jason gave the gift of valor.
00:17:02
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The worship will serve as a reminder that freedom is paid for by the men and women who wear the cloth of this nation. They're willing to give up everything that is important.
00:17:16
Speaker
Love, marriage, children, family, friends. I can tell you, he said, I've always stood in awe of them. Standing in awe of those who've defended freedom and I believe that many times in verse 20, we see another one.
00:17:34
Speaker
They fought against their foes. There are some today who have grown up in so much freedom that they assume that the whole world is friendly. All i want to say is, yes, maybe the people you've known in your life, they were friendly.
00:17:50
Speaker
Maybe the people you know in our nation, they are friendly. Maybe you have some friends internationally And they are friendly. I agree. There are friendly people in our world, but not everyone is friendly.
Sacrifice for Friends and Jesus' Example
00:18:03
Speaker
Not everyone is your friend. The Philistines killed King Saul, Jonathan, and many others on the battlefield that day. Do you know that the book of Revelation goes on to prophesy that in the last days, people will not be nice.
00:18:21
Speaker
In the last days, people will not sit around at tables to talk through their differences. Mankind will continue to fight until Jesus comes back and gives a global peace that is a genuine, real peace that will be defended with a rod of iron.
00:18:40
Speaker
You should check it out sometime in Revelation 19, but especially pay close attention to verse 15. In Revelation 19, 15, it says that the Lord will rule the nations with a rod of iron.
00:18:55
Speaker
It makes one think, wow. So even during the millennial reign of Christ, even after the Lord comes back, people are still gonna want to try they have uprisings.
00:19:07
Speaker
And yet they will not be able because Jesus will have that rod of iron. Do you know that Captain Stephen Bennett, he knew there was an enemy that must be engaged back during the Vietnam War.
00:19:22
Speaker
On June the 19th, 1972, his plane was hit by a sound missile. It wasn't a game when our troops faced the foe. You know what it was?
00:19:34
Speaker
was. it was It was a ah battle between life and death. Both sides were involved. Both sides saw losses. And so I just want you know that sometimes there are foes and they have to be faced. They cannot be ignored.
00:19:50
Speaker
But then probably if you were to ask soldiers who have actually served on battlefields around the world, they might say that they also fought for their friends.
00:20:02
Speaker
They say that many soldiers on battlefields find the motivation to fight by simply defending their brothers in arms, fighting beside them. David spoke in verse 26 of how much he personally thought of his friendship with Jonathan.
00:20:21
Speaker
Perhaps still, I don't know for a fact, but I think that the most decorated U.S. soldier for sure of World War II was Audie Murphy.
00:20:33
Speaker
Maybe you don't even know who Audie Murphy is. He lived so long ago now. But Audie Murphy was presented the Medal of Honor along with, get this, 32 more medals.
00:20:46
Speaker
And in his book, To Hell and Back, Murphy discloses what motivated him was when he saw his best friend killed by the Germans on the battlefield.
00:20:58
Speaker
Something within him rose up to say, this battle needs to end. Do you know that Jesus saw us fighting battles with sin and we couldn't win?
00:21:10
Speaker
So many of us were losing the battle with sin. So many of us were being beat up by Satan and by sin, by the flesh or by the world's ways and so forth.
00:21:22
Speaker
You know what Jesus did? He was motivated and said that he calls us friends. He loves us. And so he said, I will lay down my life for my friends.
00:21:34
Speaker
And he did. When he died on that cross, one of the last things that he said is so significant. He said, tetelestai. And what that means is, it is finished.
00:21:47
Speaker
Right after he said that, he breathed his last. He said, it is finished. What did he mean by tetelestai? It doesn't just mean it is finished, because for sure, the battle was finished.
00:22:01
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Sin was finished. Satan was finished. The world's influence over us was finished. But it means... paid in full.
00:22:11
Speaker
You see, really, this is the truth. Really, we are it had enmity with God.
Gratitude and Prayer for Veterans
00:22:20
Speaker
We are enemies against God because even though God loves us, even than god even though God made us, created us, he gave us a planet where he knows that we need water.
00:22:33
Speaker
He knows that we need oxygen, air. And so he provided everything that we need here on this planet. But even though he did all of these things for us, we still resist him.
00:22:47
Speaker
We rebel against him. But the wonderful truth from New Testament scripture in Romans 5, 8 is that, but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, while we were in rebellion,
00:23:05
Speaker
Christ died for us. Isn't that amazing? No one was saying thank you to him when he died. He died on that cross to pay that sin debt that we had so that we could be reconciled with God.
00:23:21
Speaker
To me, I can think of no greater hero than the Lord Jesus Christ. There's so much that we can learn from our ah veterans, from about fighting and about, you know, standing up for freedom, about courage and bravery and not being in, not making all of life about yourself, thinking about your brothers in arms or thinking about your family back home and so forth. But I just thought to myself, Lord,
00:23:49
Speaker
Jesus, he did the same kind of things. And so when you see a veteran, why don't you thank them for their service? Thank them for their sacrifice.
00:23:59
Speaker
Thank them. If you know family members of someone who gave his life, who died on the mission on the ah battlefield, oh, definitely thank them and let them know that you are so grateful for the sacrifice that they experienced, for the loss that they experienced.
00:24:19
Speaker
You know, I remember reading where Carrie Underwood said that so many families of ah veterans used to tell her that they had ah you they were so sad that they remembered the one who was killed on the battlefield. And so Carrie Underwood wrote a song that said, you know, this is not where it ends.
00:24:44
Speaker
And I thought, man, that song is so powerful today. And you will hear it sometimes, at least I do as a pastor at funerals. But I just want you to know that if a loved one trusted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, and my understanding is that in the battlefield, Many do trust Christ.
00:25:03
Speaker
So we don't know for those who died in battle, maybe some of them did trust Christ before they perished. But all I know is I'm so grateful that they died for my freedoms. They died for my family so that my family and I could have an enjoyable life.
00:25:23
Speaker
time on Memorial Day weekend. I mean, it's nothing for me to stop and say, God, thank you so much for those who who sacrificed for me.
00:25:34
Speaker
And so I pray that on this Memorial Day weekend, that you too would would just pause and say, hey, family, Why don't we stop and say thanks for all of these freedoms? Because they they died.
00:25:48
Speaker
They gave their lives for us so that we could have our business, so that our kids could go to school without facing grenades and bombs and all of these kind of things. So I'm just so grateful.
00:26:00
Speaker
you know, for our veterans that are serving now. But I know that Memorial Day is about a deeper level of appreciation. It's for those who gave their lives. Why don't we close in prayer and let's pray for families of those who have lost loved ones on battlefields around the world.
00:26:19
Speaker
Lord, we pause and we first say thank you for the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing like it. And it's amazing that you saw us in our peril. You saw us as we were losing so many battles to sin and you were willing to lay down your life for all of us.
00:26:38
Speaker
We're so grateful for that. But we're also grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy as a nation because there were men and women who were willing to lay down their lives, even to give the ultimate sacrifice, of saying, okay, even though it may cost me my life, I will fight this battle.
00:26:57
Speaker
And it did for many of them. And so we thank you for their bravery. We thank you for their commitment. We thank you for all that they purchased with their blood for us.
00:27:09
Speaker
But we also want to think today about family members. And when it comes Memorial Day every year, it all comes back to them like a wave of grief. And so we pray for them. We pray that you would comfort them. We pray that you might guard their hearts with peace.
00:27:26
Speaker
We pray that you would help them to know that there are many of us across this country who are still grateful for what they did and for the losses that even the family went through. And so God, I pray that you would ah minister to them this um Memorial Day weekend as well. But help us just really to give you thanks, to give you thanks for the freedoms that we have right now.
00:27:51
Speaker
We may not always have these freedoms, but for now we have them. And so for now, we are so grateful, God. Thank you so much for those who purchased the freedoms that we and now enjoy.
00:28:03
Speaker
In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you so much for listening. Pray that God has blessed you.
00:28:15
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.