2 Samuel 1:1-27

1:1 | Second Samuel picks up where 1 Samuel left off, with the events immediately following Saul’s death. These two books, like 1 and 2 Chronicles, were originally one book and were first separated by the translators of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT).

1:2 | Adversity is the test of faith; prosperity is the test of integrity. David had proven that he could handle adversity, but as the king of Israel, he would know unparalleled prosperity, and what he would do with it would set the tone for the rest of his life.

1:5-10 | There is no discrepancy in Scripture: 1 Samuel 31:4-5 gives God’s record of Saul’s death. These verses are the fabricated story of an Amalekite who found Saul already dead and was trying to exploit his death to ingratiate (gain favor by kissing up) himself to the new king. In trying to gain David’s favor, the Amalekite signed his own death warrant.

1:11-17 | David’s extreme grief at the death of the man who tried to kill him for 30 years is astonishing (Prov. 24:17), but it is consistent with David’s belief that Saul was God’s anointed. Whenever there is report of one of God’s choice servants falling by the wayside in moral or physical defeat, the response should follow David’s response – not gladness, not smug complacency or a superficial piety, but sorrow for the person, sorrow for the people, and sorrow for the work of God that person had committed his or her life to do.

1:16 | The Lord’s instruction to the people of Israel concerning the Amalekites was very specific (Deut. 25:17). As the king, David was responsible for carrying out God’s commands, and the first order of business was to do what God told him to do.

1:18-27 | This passage has been referred to as the Song of the Bow. It is a classic funeral hymn/lament from which many eulogies have been adapted. The lament How the mighty have fallen! Is the key refrain in the song and brackets the entire poem for emphasis.

1:20 | Hearing that Philistine cities such as Gath and Ashkelon rejoiced over Saul’s death, as the women of Israel did in 1 Samuel 18:6-7, distressed David. Despite Saul’s poor leadership and repeated efforts to kill him, David eulogized Saul in glowing terms and did not mention any of his faults. These words model the way to honor someone who has died.

1:25-26 | David sorrowed over Jonathan as he would a brother. There is no hint of an inappropriate sexual relationship, as some modern translators allege. Besides grieving the closest of friends, David also honored Jonathan for his extreme sacrifice in willingly giving up the throne. Jonathan had shown David sacrificial love, the greatest kind of love.