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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 2 of 5
2 Samuel 1:17-27
Far from rejoicing over the misfortune which has overtaken his rival and his persecutor, David composes a moving lament on the theme of his death. This "Song of the Bow" (see margin in some A.V. editions) celebrates Saul’s human qualities: his strength, his generosity, his popularity. And, covering up the king’s wickedness from which moreover he had suffered so greatly, David would in the same way hide the defeat which would elicit both joy and scorn on the part of the LORD’s enemies. "Tell it not in Gath . . . " (v. 20).
We need to be taught, just as Judah did (v. 18), the lessons of this Song of the Bow: to grieve over the misfortunes of others; to look for the good points in those we do not like; to hold back from repeating what we may know that is unpleasant about somebody; above all to cover up our brothers’ and sisters’ faults in view of the testimony of God’s people to the world (1 Peter 4:8).
Then David’s heart, moved by grief, is expressed on the subject of his friend Jonathan. Wonderful love, charming to behold, and what is more a pale type of the love of Jesus; unfathomable love from which nothing – not even death – will ever be able to separate us (Romans 8:38-39).
