10/04/2020- Day 115 – 2 Samuel-Ch 1- David laments Saul and Jonathan.. More connections to His truth… it’s never ending
Our Parkside church via live stream, our church home at least until we get moved in November. Once again, I again refer you to Alistair Begg’s sermon today via truthforlife.org. Click “sermons” on the menu bar then search on 2 Samuel / then click on chapter 1. Today, you will see Jan 17th – verses 1 – 17 , sermon titled: “Two Days in Zicklag” and Jan 24th, same verses titled: “A Grave Miscalculation”. Come around Wednesday, click on this morning’s sermon dated today, Oct 4th, I would guess a sermon title of “David’s lament Saul and Jonathan”. So this is why , I am going back over two weeks to our reading of 2 Samuel – Chapter 1.
Alistair cracks me up, once again, I found myself echoing his own admissions at the start: “I suspect you may be wondering how I can spend an entire sermon on these verses. He connects the lament for Saul and Jonathan to the lament for the nation of the Israel.
Alistair shares the death of his beloved Mother in November 1972 in London. He shared with us that he will never forget the day of her death, thinking “how can the world go on without a so much as a notice?” I too can relate to that heartfelt recollection, as I recall my Mom’s death in November 1971.
I also agree with Alistair in that I don’t get the Irish wake and have a party afterwards tradition, in honor of a dear departed soul. And Alistair added: “Don’t give me Romans 8:28 either, not now!” No, it is appropriate for a lament , a grieving period. Death is not natural as some point out. Only through Yeshua’s substitutionary atonement on the cross for our sin and resurrection, can we look for a reset of the “unnatural”.
Once again, Alistair connects the lament of Jonathan and Saul to the lament for the nation of Israel. For the Jewish people , the nation can be lamented at three points in history in particular: 1) The destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple , the first temple in 586 B.C.E.; 2) The destruction of Jerusalem and the 2nd temple in 70 A.D.; and, 3) The Holocaust – WW2. Alistair noted this morning of a study that reportably concluded that 30% of 16 – 29 year olds today do not even have a concept of the Holocaust.
We are seeing in our Saturday Jeremiah study, how God pronounced His judgment on Israel, while at the same time promising a new Covenant that would result in a perfected Jerusalem that would be never-ending. I think I have a take-away personally to apply from this sermon within the next month or two. If Biden is elected President, I think it will be appropriate to lament the death of America. God blessed America too, but it does not tie into his eternal Covenant and His kingdom like the nation of Israel. As Paul notes in Romans, we have been “grafted into the root”. So, I don’t expect America to ever return. So, I will lament and fight on to His glory as David did. But thankfully, I am not reflecting much on the near-term prospect , other than to note again from this weekend’s post: “The duty is ours, the results are left to the Lord!”
In conclusion, a fascinating reflection from Alistair commenting how we should be mindful that Jesus cried too for the death of Lazurus, with his sisters and other loved ones. That, in spite of the fact , that he knew he was about to resurrect him from the grave.
Soli Deo Gloria!