2 SAMUEL 1:23 LOVELY AND PLEASANT IN THEIR LIVES
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives...
We draw our text from part of David's elegy for Saul and Jonathan when he heard of and had established the fact of their death
It is part of a very eloquent/moving lament, and flows (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) straight from David's heart
David here is not a spinner of mere words- if he were, then he is lying - no other way you could describe it
We might wonder at these words, especially as they apply to Saul
Jonathan rightly gets a better press than Saul
Jonathan befriended David with a deep friendship from the first day, he
met him, never once displayed any animosity/jealousy towards him when
it was evident that David would succeed Saul/throne
He defended David's character and risked his own life for his cause
While Saul had his good parts (alluded to here) yet the Bible tends to concentrate on his faults -
His jealousy aroused when David seemed to get more praise than he -
His many attempts to murder David, even when he (David) was on a supposed bed of sickness
His reviling of his son Jonathan and attempt to murder him etc.,
We remember that God who raised up Saul in His anger, dismissed him in
His wrath and withdrew from His speaking voice from him - a sure
sign that destruction is waiting in the wings to strike
Is David then not lying? No…he is just holding back, as the situation requires it, some of the truth
Had David painted the whole picture (which the Spirit/God does in the
Scriptures) then he might be open to the charge of seeking revenge, and
that in a way in which the now deceased Saul could not counter
By saying these nice things (which were true to some degree) David
shows that he bore no real ill will towards his persecutor - something
which he had demonstrated while the latter was alive by saving his life
(x2) We should not find fault with these words
These words are lovely and pleasant in themselves
We might wish them to be said of us when we die - not in the sense of
Luke 6:26 - but because they are true words i.e. we really should seek
to be lovely/pleasant in our lives
4 thoughts:
1) SUCH A DISPOSITION IS ENTIRELY BEFITTING FOR CHRISTIANS TO HAVE:
This is for a number of reasons:
[i] A Christian is a professed follower of the lovely/pleasant Lord
Jesus Christ - not only a follower but an imitator (1 Corinthians 11:1)
There was no lovelier/more pleasant Person than He
Testimony/Bible towards Him is: He is altogether lovely (Song 5:16)
His ways: ways of pleasantness and peace (Proverbs 3:17)
Everything about Him is lovely/pleasant - the trees/Garden were pleasant to the eyes (Genesis 2:17)
The very instrument on which we are to praise Him is described as being the pleasant harp (Psalm 81:2)
Where anything ceases to be lovely/pleasant in the things/God, it is
because sin has entered and spoiled it all - It is sin that brings in
the wormwood and the gall - but Christ Himself is lovely and pleasant
B/ If we are truly following Christ, then we will be lovely/pleasant
because we will reflect Him in all things:
Cannot be following Him and at same time be possessed by a unattractive and churlish spirit -
Nabal ("Fool") possessed such a spirit and there is nothing good said about him at all (1 Samuel 25)
Worst thing that can happen is if we are professed Christians and yet
churlish etc., is that we will put people off Christianity and cause
the enemies/God to blaspheme
But if we are reflecting Christ - the pleasant fruits in His garden (Song 4:16) - then men will seek to know more about Him
How lovely and pleasant (even in rebuking her sin) was Christ to the
Samaritan woman - Had her eating out of His hand and through her a
whole city reached with the gospel
C/ If we are lovely/pleasant in our lives, it will add so much to
the fellowship within the church and to other Christians
Lead to unity in the church: Psalm 133:1 cf. Jarring of a church fighting with itself where much unpleasantness/ugliness
When expressed in what is said (i.e. pleasant words) it will lead to a healthy church:
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)
2) SUCH A DISPOSITION WILL BRING MUCH GLORY TO GOD:
A/ Must do if it is Christ like, for Christ had this testimony that He
did always those things which pleased the Father (John 8:29)
Again: I have glorified thee on the earth (John 17:5)
B/ We can have no higher aim/end on this earth than this
Guiding star in all that we do - Does it glorify God?
If so…do it! If not…refrain from doing it! Simple!
C/ What can be more glorifying/God than to seek to be like His Son?
The Son is the express image of the Father's Person
If/when people see Christ in us - they will see something beautiful and they will glorify God on our behalf
D/ It may cost something to us to be lovely/pleasant
We live in a world that operates on the principle: survival/fittest
Lovely/pleasant people can sometimes get thrust out of the way, nearly trampled to death in the rush
Don’t that put you off - The meek shall inherit the earth - it
is better to be pleasant/lovely and have a testimony with God
than to have the fearful admiration of men
Where are the Nimrod's/Pharaoh's of earth now?
Where are those who lived for God's glory? Enjoying His presence
3) SUCH A DISPOSITION IS ATTAINABLE FOR CHRISTIANS:
A/ Jonathan was an OT "Christian" - His love for David reflected his love: David's Greater Son and an evidence: New birth (1 John 3:14)
B/ Here was a man of whom it could be said that he was lovely and
pleasant - not merely that he aspired to such a desirable
disposition
3 things we must say here about such a disposition:
[i] It is a disposition - not merely an attitude or a policy
If it is merely "put on" as the occasion suits - then: hypocrisy
Man merely judges actions and is content with the outward show
God judges the motives behind the actions
Something to aim for, if we are not already there, and it doesn't come overnight. Accumulation of many actions
[ii] Not to be confused with being perfect -Jonathan had his faults like everyone else - but the good things unnumbered the bad
[iii] Jonathan (and indeed the Lord Jesus) although lovely and pleasant in their lives, were not soft touches -
Such a disposition does not rule out the display of righteous anger whether in word or deed
Jonathan rightly raged in 1 Samuel 20:34
Jesus rightly raged in the Temple: John 2:14-16
They were still lovely/pleasant in their lives
4) SUCH A DISPOSITION, IN ITSELF, IS NOT ENOUGH WITHOUT THE ACCOMPANYING FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT/GOD:
A/ We have thought of Jonathan whom we must acknowledge as a true saint - such cannot be said of Saul
At the very best - it is in the gravest doubt
Commentators note: David did not speak of Saul's piety at all (nor
Jonathan's !) but especially in the former - there was hardly any, if
any at all, to speak about - Not in the Bible as a worthy example
B/ Here's the difference between the Bible and any other book
The difference between Christianity and any other religion
Christianity is more than mere morality
The Pharisees, on their better days, could attain to morality
But they did not have the fruits/Spirit of God: Galatians 5:22-24
It was all fleshly and could not please God - filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)
It is to be feared that this is all which Saul had
C/ Therefore rather than seek individual virtues to the end of a
lovely/pleasant life, we should seek to be Spirit filled and let the
evidence of that flow through us to the glory of God
D/ The gifts of the Spirit are one thing. Being a partaker of the Holy
Ghost is attributed even to those who eventually fall away (Hebrews
6:4-6) but the fruits of the Spirit flow from none but those who are
Spirit born and Spirit led and that ought to be seen of us who profess
the name of the Lord
THE END