2 Samuel #02: an exposition of 2 Samuel 1:17-27. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, February 10, 2013.
Intro:
Within hours of the young man committing suicide in Coweta people showed up with flowers and other trinkets putting together a makeshift shrine. Drive down most any highway and you’ll find a cross with some faded plastic flowers marking the scene of a fatality accident. There is something basic to our make up that feels the need to respond publicly to tragic events. When it becomes a national event the need is even more profound. On a personal level grief touches each one of us. The mortality rate is a solid 100%! When you love someone and they are taken from you it hurts. Grief is natural. We all handle grief differently. There is no set pattern. There is no set form or duration. I can’t look at you and say, “You’re doing it wrong.” Nor can I look at you and say, “Okay, move on already.” We are all different and we move through grief at our own pace. Andrew Bonar the great 19th century Scottish pastor noted the anniversary of his wife’s death in his diary every year until his own death nearly 30 years later. As one writer put it, “Grief not only irrupts; it abides.” But my question is, “how ought we to grieve biblically?” Are there biblical principles of grief? I think there are and to help with that I want us to consider 2 Samuel chapter 1 beginning at verse 17.
Text: 2 Samuel 1:17-27
God has given David success in the Southern campaign.
He is back at his home base in Ziklag.
Word comes from the Northern campaign at Mt. Gilboa.
The army of Israel has been routed and both Saul and Jonathan are dead.
I think Ralph Davis is right. We must not rush into our text and start doing psychoanalysis. We first ought to sit down with David and feel what he is feeling. Get a sense of what was happening before we start drawing conclusions.
David has lived “on the run” for years. This in spite of the fact God had anointed him king. In spite of the fact that God had rejected Saul. Saul continues to reign. David continues to hide. Though David had opportunity to seize the kingdom he refused to lift his hand against God’s anointed. The kingdom was God’s to give not for David to take.
Now the kingdom is his but he doesn’t act very kingly…or does he?
David’s heart, his concern is for God’s glory, God’s kingdom and the good of his people. His actions prove God knew what He was doing in anointed David king. David’s response is one of profound grief. Grief for the nation. Grief for Saul and for Jonathan. As we explore his grief we’ll note some principles of biblical grief.
I want to point to 3 things from our text.
- Biblical grief is a shared experience. (1:17-18, 24)
- Biblical grief is honest. (1:19-22)
- Biblical grief expresses a profound depth of emotion. (1:23-26)
Conclusion:
Grief is natural. When you love and you experience loss there will be grief. May we grieve biblically. Biblical grief
- Is a shared grief.
- It is profoundly honest.
- It expresses a depth of emotions.