David’s lament over Saul and Jonathan speaks of his
character and it speaks well. Not only
did he write the lament, he said it should be taught all the people of
Judah. Why Judah, Saul’s line was
Benjamin? It would have been easy to
forget Saul, he turned out badly, but David knew it was important not to forget
this first king and the things he had done for the nation. In spite of Saul’s hatred of David and his
desire for his own son, Jonathan, to take over as king, David respected Saul as
king. As he refused to take Saul’s life
when he had opportunity, so he refuses to exult in Saul’s death which will mean
that he is the new king. The people of
Judah must also respect that and not defile the memory of Saul. The most beautiful words on friendship in the
entire Bible are found in this passage: “Jonathan lies slain on your high
places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you
been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.”
Are we saved by faith or works? As children of the Reformation and of the
Bible, we know that we are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, through grace
alone to the glory of God alone. That being said, all that should deeply
influence who we are as people. If we
are indeed saved, we should be people of gratitude and of compassion, we should
be like Jesus who came in the flesh not as a hermit dispensing wisdom but as
one who lived among people and met them in their times of need. We are called to emulate Jesus in being
present to people, comforting and caring for them in ways that require us to do
more than pray for them, but to extend ourselves to them, to bring the comfort
of Christ to them in their need. When
Paul wrote the Ephesians he told them, “For we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk
in them.” We can’t have faith without
works, works reveal faith.
Paul calls the Romans to an active love of one another. They are to hold fast what is good, show
brotherly affection for one another, show honor, contribute to the needs of the
saints and seek to show hospitality.
Even with respect to outsiders, even enemies, they have ethical
responsibilities unique to the kingdom of God, “if your enemy is hungry, feed
him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will
heap burning coals on his head.” Evil is
to be overcome by good. Good is an
active display of righteousness. Just as
David sought to do good to Saul, to bless Him in spite of Saul’s persecution
and actively seeking David’s life, so we are to bless those who persecute us
and love those who hate us. They, too,
are created in the image of God and are potentially those for whom Jesus died,
ones we may one day call brother, just as Paul himself became a brother to
those he formerly persecuted.
No comments:
Post a Comment