[0:00] Now, had there been opportunity or time, you might say, at the time of doing the readings earlier, we might have taken a third reading to sum up the life of Jonathan.
[0:12] We did take, as you know, the first six verses of 1 Samuel 31. But I'd like us also, in the light of that, to take a third section, and that is 2 Samuel 1, from verse 17 to the end of the chapter.
[0:27] As David's lament for Saul and Jonathan, because this is like almost a postscript, if you like, to Jonathan's life. And we read here in verse 17, 2 Samuel 1, David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son.
[0:44] Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow. Behold, it is written in the book of Jasher, the beauty of Israel is slain upon nine high places.
[0:55] How are the mighty fallen? Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon. Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice. Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
[1:07] Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings. For there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away.
[1:18] The shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.
[1:32] Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
[1:43] Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle?
[1:55] O Jonathan, thou was slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant hast thou been unto me. Thy love to me was wonderful.
[2:07] Pass in the love of women. How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished. And so we have this postscript to the life of Jonathan here, after his death.
[2:20] And obviously this is the section of the Bible where we get this often used phrase now in our own kind of parlance, how are the mighty fallen. It's almost like a proverb, but this is where it comes from.
[2:30] It's from the death of Saul, and Jonathan here, and David's lament for him. A couple of things we might notice in passing through this lament. It says that the bull of Jonathan turned not back.
[2:43] And you might remember on previous occasions what we read from Jonathan shooting his arrows and sending the wee lad to go and gather them up, and then say to David, you know, run, get away, because Saul, my father's trying to kill you, so go and hide.
[2:57] And then it strikes you, oh yes, well of course he used bows and arrows, well everybody would have done, but we don't actually read of all that many people in Israel using archery.
[3:08] We don't actually read of that many Israelites, certainly at this time in history, using the bow and arrow. We don't read of David doing it himself, we read of Jonathan doing it.
[3:21] And this reference to the bow, it says that he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow. In other words, to be like Jonathan was, to have that kind of skill and ability to strike down an enemy at a distance, which Jonathan had learned, and obviously the Philistines already had learned, it says that the archers hit Saul in the course of the battle, but it doesn't imply that the Israelites had much in the way of archers to fight back with.
[3:50] But Jonathan knew the use of a bow and arrow, just as Jonathan was skillful with the sword in a time when almost nobody in Israel had swords.
[4:00] We have this reference also to the fact that, whilst yes, Saul is remembered almost as it were with rose-tinted spectacles, perhaps, Saul and Jonathan are always put together.
[4:13] And as there is Jonathan's love for David, there is, as has been a theme throughout his life, his duty to his father. Love for David, duty to his father.
[4:23] And we see that in all three sections that we read, where we've got Jonathan coming to visit David in 1 Samuel 23 there. He is putting his life in his hand to do so.
[4:34] Saul would give anything to know where David was so he could hunt him down, but Jonathan seeks him out, and we'll come to that in just a wee minute. We could almost, we could truthfully say he risks his life for his friend, but in battle, a couple of chapters later, he gives his life for his father.
[4:51] He gives his life on behalf of his father and his father's cause, at a time when everybody else is melting away or running away. And where it says also here, I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan, very pleasant hast thou been unto me.
[5:08] Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. Of course, some people again read into that old manner of inappropriate innuendo and so on, but we have nothing, as we've said in previous weeks, to suggest any kind of amorous relationship between David and Jonathan.
[5:27] Their ages are hugely different. Jonathan is at least in his late 50s, possibly about 60 by the time he dies. David is about 30 at this stage.
[5:38] So, you know, we know that David was 30 when he inherited the kingdom, so there's a good 30 years, 28 to 30 years between them at this stage. So, it's more like father and son relationship, uncle to nephew relationship.
[5:53] How is it said to pass the love of women? Well, obviously, the love of women and men tends to be, when it's mutual like that, there is a certain romantic involvement, which clearly is not the case here, because it says it surpasses any kind of romantic involvement.
[6:11] There is the involvement of the heart, which breaks, obviously, when that kind of love is parted. You could say there's a broken hearted in this here in his bereavement, but it has exceeded the love between women and men.
[6:26] I think what we should understand from this is that when there's that kind of love between a man and a woman, let's take it to be, in marriage, there is a certain mutuality.
[6:38] There is a mutual gain. However we describe it, some take one thing from one partner, others benefit in the other way from the other one. Nobody, no marriage, no relationship is all one-sided.
[6:51] If it was, it wouldn't last. It wouldn't survive. It can't be always, you know, one that kisses and one that turns the cheek. There's always got to be some kind of mutuality, that they each plug gaps for the other one, a mutuality of giving and receiving.
[7:07] But the sense here with Jonathan and David, it's not that David didn't reciprocate the love of Jonathan and the kindness that Jonathan showed him, but David was not, as we've said in previous weeks, was not in a position to give much back to Jonathan.
[7:24] He was a fugitive for most of their time that they knew each other. He was hunted by Jonathan's father. Jonathan is treading a line between loyalty to his father and love for David.
[7:36] So one sense in which I think we should understand it is passing the love of any sort of married relationship between a man and a woman is the sense that whilst that would have mutuality in it, there is almost a lopsided relationship here between Jonathan and David.
[7:54] Jonathan is in a sense doing all the giving. David is in one sense doing all the receiving. And even if we were to go back to chapter 23 that we read, where they said they too made a covenant before the Lord, it does imply mutuality.
[8:14] But again, it's Jonathan coming to David. Jonathan seeking out David. So there is this one-sidedness. Now Jonathan's doing the giving, David's doing the receiving.
[8:24] Jonathan has nothing to gain and everything to lose. But because he loves David as he loves his own soul, he risks his life, he gives his all for this love.
[8:36] But at no time does he diminish his duty to his father. Now obviously, as we've mentioned in the past, this partly points us to the Lord's love for us, in which although the church is described as the bride of Christ, there isn't really a mutuality in what we can give to the Lord.
[8:56] We can give him ourselves. We can give him all of ourselves and all of our heart. But you know, he is not enriched by that. He's not made more great or more wonderful or more powerful by us giving anything to him.
[9:10] We have nothing that can add to his glory. But he loves us because he loves us. And what he asks in return is that we love him in return. Jonathan loves David as his own soul.
[9:21] All that he seeks from David is that he swears to him in covenant that he will not only love him but love his own children, love Jonathan's children and look out for them and take care for them.
[9:32] He knows that he will never be king. He knows that David will be. He is prepared to let his own life go so that David can have his inheritance.
[9:43] You know, he must increase but I must decrease. There is so much that is Christ-like here in us. That said, when we look at chapter 23, 1 Samuel 28, we've got this brief passage here, verses 16 to 18, tacked on the end of this situation where David, you know, goes to some trouble to deliver the city of Calah from the Philistines.
[10:08] Philistine ravers are attacking it, robbing the threshing floors, basically stealing everything that people have got and David hears that they're doing it. No doubt Saul must have heard about it too.
[10:19] But David says, shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said, go and smite the Philistines and save Calah. So David's men say, look, we're afraid where we are. We put ourselves at risk even more.
[10:30] Now we're going to take on the Philistines and we're busy running from Saul. Come on. So he asks again and the Lord says, go down to Calah. I will deliver the Philistines into thy hands. So they go down, they fight for the Philistines, they take their cattle, they set the Calahites free.
[10:45] Brilliant. Everybody's happy. And yet Saul hears, not that the Philistines are waiting in Calah, but that David is there. And with this current obsession, when he gathers up all his men together, he gathers the army, sends out the sort of conscripts to bring in the army to go and descend on Calah, not to deliver it from the Philistines, but to go and capture David.
[11:07] And here's gratitude for you. The Calahites are all set to deliver David up to Saul. We might think a little harshly of them for that and think, well, not very grateful for what he's done, are they?
[11:19] But remember that they've got the whole army of Israel coming against them. They're terrified of what Saul might do. And notice here, God's prophetic powers here.
[11:32] We might say, if we were cynical, a cynic might say, you know, David asks himself at the Lord. And he says, you know, will Saul come down? And the Lord says, well, Saul will come down.
[11:44] Will the men of Keilah deliver me up? No, yes, they will deliver you up. And what the Lord is saying is not, this is infallibly what's going to happen, but rather, this is what's infallibly going to happen upon a certain set of circumstances.
[11:58] Change the circumstances and the outcome will likewise change. God knows whatever will befall, regardless of the combination of circumstances.
[12:09] So, for example, if I cross the road to one side, am I in danger of being knocked over by the car that will come racing along there? Well, yes, you are in danger. Will I be knocked down by the car?
[12:20] Yes, you would be knocked down by the car. Will I be injured? Yes, you would be injured. So, instead of taking that risk, I go off in a completely other direction. Am I still going to be knocked down? No, I'm not. God is not telling an untruth.
[12:32] God is stating what will be the outcome if David stays where he is. Will Saul come down? Yes, Saul will come down. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up?
[12:43] They will deliver me up. So, David goes away, which means Saul doesn't come down, and the men of Keilah don't deliver him up. It's not that God isn't telling the truth. It's just the circumstance now has changed.
[12:55] And so, a different set of outcomes will follow upon a different set of circumstances. David wants to know, what will happen if I stay here? And God says, this is what will happen if you stay here.
[13:07] But because he moves, and because he takes the discretion, being a better part of valor, that outcome doesn't follow. God is able to predict, to prophesy, every potential outcome that will happen.
[13:22] He knows exactly what will be. We all know, again, without being indelicate, the way in which babies come into the world, and the combination between the seed of the mother, the seed of the father, we all know that there are, there's any number of combinations that might have happened with the fusion of the male and the feminine seed together.
[13:42] And any one of those combinations would make a completely different personality, a completely different character and soul from the one that ends up being conceived when any conception takes place.
[13:55] That possibility, the permutations are literally endless every time the potential for conception is there. Now, that being the case, does God know what all these characters and souls would be like if they came into being?
[14:10] Of course he knows. He knows every single possible combination, exactly how many hairs on their head, exactly how many eyelashes on every eyelid. He knows the shape of their lips, their noses, their chins, their arms, their legs, how many hairs on their arms.
[14:24] He knows exactly how long their toenails will grow. He knows everything about their character, their being, every detail, if any of them were to come into being. And when one does come into being, he knows exactly who that person will be from day one and before that.
[14:39] Every single possibility, the Lord knows. So you can guarantee that when you go to the Lord, when you seek his guidance, his guidance, his knowledge is already perfect for every possible combination.
[14:57] Had David stayed where he was, this is exactly what would have happened. The key lights would have delivered him up. Saul would have come down. David would have been captured. But, circumstances, he changes them.
[15:10] So that then is not the outcome. A different outcome. If he'd said to the Lord, Lord, if I go out of here, will I be free? Yes, you'll be free. Will Saul give up coming to Keilah? Yes, Saul will give up coming to Keilah.
[15:21] The Lord knew that, in good case. So the Lord is in complete control, both in terms of knowledge and outcome. But, if David is on the run and Saul is looking for him, Saul has come out to seek after his life, but God delivered him not into his hand, David saw that Saul was gone.
[15:43] David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood. And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David. How does he know who he is? How can Jonathan know when Saul doesn't? When Saul is obsessed with finding out where David is, and yet Jonathan manages to find him with apparently no bother at all.
[16:00] How can this be? I would suggest to you that, although we could call it one of the silences of scripture, that David, knowing that Jonathan would be with his father's army, where else would he be?
[16:14] That David probably sends a messenger and a guide to Jonathan and says, David is asking to see you. David wants you to come and tell him what's going on and see the situation just now and strengthen him.
[16:28] We're not told in scripture that's what happens, but it does seem to be miraculous that Jonathan, with apparently no prior knowledge, seems to be able to find David instantly.
[16:40] No bother. We've got no mention of a guide, we've got no mention of David sending a message, but how else do we imagine this happen? Nobody's got GPS in those days. Nobody's got any tracking devices or a bug in David's clothing.
[16:53] Jonathan has no way of knowing where David is any more than Saul does unless somebody comes and tells him and unless somebody leads him to where David is.
[17:06] And when they do that, there would be all manner of checks and balances and sentries along the way. Say, halt, who goes there, right, let me through the next one. Stop. Who have you got there? We've got Jonathan and the guide, so-and-so.
[17:17] Okay, you can pass through. Everyone who knew anything about David would know that Jonathan was his friend in a way that Saul could not be relied upon to be.
[17:29] So, although Jonathan initiates almost every occasion that we know of, I would suggest to you that between the lines here, this is one that David probably initiates himself.
[17:44] Jonathan saw his son and was and went to David into the wood and strengthened his hand in God. And he said unto him, Fear not, for the hand of Saul, my father, shall not find thee.
[17:56] And thou shalt be king over Israel and I shall be next unto thee. And that also Saul, my father, knoweth. And they too made a covenant before the Lord. And David abode in the wood and Jonathan went to his house.
[18:09] It is probably the last time they see each other ever on this earth. And this, as I say, I would suggest David initiates. It is probably the only time David initiates a meeting between the two.
[18:25] The only time David initiates contact between the two. And the implication of the mutuality of a covenant here. David is, perhaps for the last time, responding to all Jonathan's initiating, all Jonathan's moving towards him, all his initiating of the covenants, of the swearing together, of the seeking to bond themselves in this unique friendship.
[18:54] David is, at last, responding, saying, Jonathan, I do want you to come. I do need you to come, but I do need a friend at a time like this. I'm asking you to come. And as I say, it's not stated so only if I was challenged then, oh, you can't say that.
[19:08] The word of God doesn't say that. No, the word of God does not say it. But let's, in all reverence, what the word of God in front of us consider. This is not described as a miracle. God has not appeared with an angel to say to Jonathan, come and I'll lead you to where David is hiding in the wood.
[19:23] We're not told that Jonathan has a vision showing him where David is, or that somebody leads him by a pillar of cloud or by fire or whatever at night. We're not told anything to imply that this is a miracle.
[19:35] So how do we imagine it takes place unless David leads by means of a messenger in my guide, Jonathan, to where he is and they meet for almost certainly the last time.
[19:48] And then their paths diverge. We don't read that Jonathan goes with Saul to the witch of Endor. We certainly read of David going over to fight with the Philistines and then being turned back.
[20:00] And then we've got the incident in Ziklag where the Amalekites have gone and have burned the city and so on and he has to chase after to retrieve his wives and all the men's wives and their goods and so on.
[20:13] And as all these incidents take place with the two of them treading very different paths. And we also read, of course, one reason why Saul stoops to the desperation of seeking out the witch at Endor is that we read that the Lord answered him no more when he inquired of the Lord.
[20:34] Chapter 28. When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not neither by dreams nor by year nor by prophets. Saul's courage is failing at the last.
[20:46] The Philistines gathered to get themselves together. Chapter 28, verse 4. Pitched in Sheba. Saul gathered all Israel together and pitched in Daboah. And when Saul saw the host of the first eyes he was afraid and his heart greatly trembled.
[21:02] This is unique. This is Saul's courage beginning to give out. Why in the world is it giving out now? Because when we think about it, in those days when kings had to be warriors you had to fight every battle.
[21:16] If you lost a battle in those days, mentioned on previous occasions and you lost a battle in those days, you didn't live to fight another one. You'd be captured and paraded by the enemy and probably executed if you didn't die in the field.
[21:29] So if you lose a battle, that's you over. That's you finished. Your kingdom's gone. It's done. So Saul up to this point in 40 years we would have to say logically had never lost a battle.
[21:44] If he had lost a battle he would have ceased to be king. So in 40 years of fighting the Philistines he's never lost. That is a warrior king. That is a king with a record to be proud of.
[21:55] He's never been beat. But now and by this time remember if Jonathan is pushing 60 then Saul must be at the very least in his early 80s.
[22:08] A man in his early 80s still fighting on the field of bad but he must be fit. But he is getting old. he's been fighting for 40 years.
[22:20] I think we can understand something about fear may begin to set in. We read in Ecclesiastes in chapter 12. Remember now thy creator in the days of life while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when I shall say I have no pleasure in that.
[22:41] While the sun nor the light or the moon or the stars be not darkened or the clouds return after the rain in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble and the strong men shall bow themselves and the grinders cease because they are few and those that look out of the windows be darkened and the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird and all the daughters of music shall be brought low when they shall be afraid of that which is high and fears shall be in the way and the almond tree shall flourish and the grasshopper shall be a burden and desire shall fail because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets or ever the silver cord be loosed or the golden bowl be broken or the pitcher be broken or the fountain or the wheel broken at the cistern then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
[23:41] with failing capabilities an element of fear is only natural. It would be a very unusual man who now in his 80s having been a warrior king for 40 years does not stand to recognise I cannot march as once I did I cannot wield my sword with the same strength as once I did if I hold up my shield and somebody hits it with a hammer blow I'm not confident I would still be able to hold it up and fight back as an 80 plus year old as once I did in my 30s and 40s.
[24:23] I am not confident that I will inspire my men still I am not confident that when they look at me they still see an unbeatable warrior king I am old I am feeling my age I am sensing my weakness and I sense that my men perhaps see it too and because my weakness is increasing my courage is not as it once was and they who drew their courage from me and my invincible track record their courage is melting away too but most of all I recognize and see the Lord is not answering me the Lord is not speaking as once he did men's hearts failing them for fear and that's not just a symptom of old age sometimes people as they do it older they know their relationship with the Lord is ripening they positively glow with the anticipation they are radiant into their old age but Jesus talks of a time
[25:30] Luke chapter 21 verses 25 and 26 there shall be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity the sea and the waves roaring men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth for the powers of heaven shall be shaken then shall they see the sight the sun of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory what does he say to his disciples when these things begin to come to pass then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh that's if you're confident in your relationship in Christ you look up say yes Lord even so come Lord Jesus but soul is conscious that the Lord is no longer speaking to them the Lord will not answer him when he inquires he is old he is weak now compared to what he once was he may have won every single battle up to him but he has a sense that time strength energy is slipping away and that intangible disease that spreads through armies which commanders fear more than any and that is fear giving way to panic this has already begun in his army why do you think it is that in wars desertion is punished so severely why do you think it's almost always a capital offence they shoot deserters why do they do that because of other men going through miserable conditions and suffering in the face of the enemy turn around and say well so and so he just went home he just walked off and he got away with it he's back home with his feet up having a cup of tea enjoying his home comforts and here we still are in the trenches around the battle risking our lives stuff this we're off home as well and their courage fails and their will and their nerve and their steel goes unless they can be shown to see any man who deserts his post will be shot any man who seeks to run away will be killed if the enemy doesn't kill you we will you must put steel into your men and you must stamp on this panic that could so easily spread because the lord in the past has used this intangible imperceptible thing you can't put your finger on how does it happen it's not logical the way that fear just completely unmans not only an individual but whole armies he's used this in the past he uses it for Gideon in Judges 7 of course remember verse 20 and the three companies blew the trumpets and break the pitchers and held the lamps in their right hands and the trumpets in their right hands to blow with all they cried the sword of the lord and of Gideon and they stood every man in his place round about the camp and all the host ran and cried and fled and the three hundred blew the trumpets and the lord set every man's sword against his fellow even throughout all the hosts and the host fled to Beth Shittah and Zerah and to the border of Abel and to Tabach panic fighting each other in order to get away this is what the lord had used in the past he used it when Jonathan first attacked the garrison of the Philistines we saw in chapter 14 and we see there at the verses 15 and 16 there was a trembling in the host amongst the host of the
[29:11] Philistines in the field and on all the people the garrison the spoilers they also tremble in the earth quake so it was a very great trembling and the watchmen of Saul and Gibeah of Benjamin looked and behold the multitude melted away and they went on beating down one another panic fear and also of course in second chronicles where came Jehoshaphat when there came three armies against him we read how they rose early in the morning when they began to sing and to praise the Lord and the ambushments against the children of Ammon and Moab and Monsir which were coming against Judah and they were smitten where the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir utterly to stray and destroy them and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir everyone helped to destroy another panic set in and the Lord and the
[30:12] Lord had used it as a weapon plenty of times against Israel's enemies now the men of Israel and fell down straight in Mount Colboa and the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons now we don't know whether this means they are running too we don't know whether it means it's an organised retreat but they're falling back and the Philistines are closing in on them or whether that means that Saul and his sons are standing fast but everybody else is running for their lives and the Philistines are closing in here there's a suggestion perhaps that when it says the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away in chapter 1 of 2 Samuel as though it had not been anointed with oil this is what many are panicking they threw away their shields so they could run better it's unlikely Saul would be doing this it may mean the shield of Saul like you know the shield of King George in which all the armies and the Napoleonic times used to sign up for they're following
[31:12] King George so the shield of King Saul the banner of King Saul maybe that's what it means as men threw away their shields in order to run in panic but at any rate Saul is defeated his sons are killed he himself is facing death the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons Jonathan has risked his life to come and see David now he is giving his life in the service of his father and he is slain before his father this is the death of Jonathan exactly as you would expect a prince of Israel to die the warrior for 40 years alongside his father he was born into an ordinary Benjamite home in his teens he becomes a prince of Israel he suddenly becomes crown prince of a kingdom he suddenly becomes part of the blood royal but he never inherits he never becomes king for 40 years he is fighting faithfully alongside his father for probably maybe the last 13 14 years he develops this friendship with the body the man who will be the next king of
[32:26] Israel but he is always loyal of Jonathan it could be said as Jesus says to the churches in the New Testament and Revelation he says in chapter 2 verse 10 of Revelation where he is speaking to the church in Smyrna he says be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crowned life be thou faithful unto death that's what Jonathan does he is faithful unto death he is faithful unto his father faithful unto the kingdom of Israel faithful to the king of Israel he is prepared to give his life in the service of his king and of his country but none of that undoes his friendship with David he is where he ought to be and because he is where he ought to be David finally laments over Saul and Jonathan and Seth Saul were wondrous in their lifetime they were he saw and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death they were not divided it sums them up perfectly they weren't divided in death on the battlefield and Jonathan is not divided from
[33:46] David in death in terms of his friendship if David had actually been given his way if he had actually not been turned back by the lords of the Philistines think of this horrendous possibility that David would have been in the army on the other side that was busy killing Jonathan and Saul thank the Lord for the intervention of his providence that stopped the lords of the Philistines from accepting David in their army that stopped David from lifting up his sword against his beloved friend with whom he was in covenant friendship and relationship God's providence works out in such a way as to prevent evil on all possible occasions and to enhance good Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death they were not divided it's not unusual to look back on somebody's life as David does now in the life of
[34:46] Saul and to remember only the good bits David would have grown up with the knowledge that Saul was the mighty warrior king of Israel he would have been brought into the court as he was he was the king's friend he was the king's son-in-law and yet there were those occasions half a dozen times maybe more when Saul sought his life with a manic obsession that David does not allow that to cloud his memory he remembers Saul for who he was and what he was and how great he was he remembers Jonathan with the love that they entered into this covenant the beauty of Israel is slain upon my high places how are the mighty following how are the mighty following in the midst of battle oh Jonathan that was slain in high places it wasn't a foreign field it was the mountains of Galboa in Israel itself defending your own country Jonathan you died giving your life for your king and your kingdom oh Jonathan that was slain in high places
[35:53] I am distressed for thee my brother Jonathan very pleasant hast thou been unto me thy love to me was wonderful passing the love of women this pain this lament is the price of love it is because David and Jonathan were so close and because Jonathan was so loyal he wasn't one of the renegades or the rebels that joined themselves to David he stayed his friend but he stayed loyal he is unbending in his righteousness we might say unbending likewise in his love he risks his life for his friend he gives his life for his father and his kingship this is the prince of Israel this is the one who points us now to the Christ who enters into covenant with his people standing to gain nothing he's nothing that we can give to him any more than David could give anything to Jonathan his love is just because he loves he loves him as his own soul just as
[36:57] Christ loves his people who can give him nothing but for whom he prepares a throne yet to come just as Jonathan knows that David will enter into a throne that is yet to come this is God's gift not just to the first king of Israel to Saul with such a son who works such military exploits for him but also which binds in friendship and love the reign of Saul with the next reign of David this is a gift of God Jehovah gave Jehonatan that's what the name means Jehovah gave Jehonatan Jonathan let's let's pray she he and because she loves people months she loves to last