WISDOM FOR TODAY .
TELL IT NOT IN GATH, PUBLISH IT NOT IN.... ASKELON.(3)
Scripture Treasure.
1 Sam 1: 19-21, 24.
The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places:
how are the mighty
fallen!
Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
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, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.
Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
Insight and Highlight.
Though the dead are gone, we can honorably mourn and respect their last wishes.
Scripture Commentaries.
So many wishes and accolades are poured on the dead. Their tombs are well imprinted with words that lavish their presumed or the actual decorated lives they lived.
If only David wished he knew where Saul was buried, he would have embellished Saul's cenotaph.
David's tribute and lamentation to Saul is memorial and tells us that though a person is dead, he/she can be celebrated by loved ones.
David tells us that though Saul was cruel to him, they both had something in common, which was that they were both anointed by Samuel, both were sovereigns over Israel, and he was both a companion and help to Saul.
He did not forget this while Saul was alive or at his death.
Most important to David was Saul's anointing with oil
He says in 2 Sam 1: 21 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, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.
The honor David gave to Saul is acceptable to God. Though destinies are not reversed at death, destinies of the people alive can be encouraged by the eulogies we give at the burial of dead people, ref Eccl 7:2-3. An encouragement to live well, an exhortation that death is the end of all things and it is a leveler are some of many key admonitions to mourners.
His tribute tells us that we must be true to people when they are alive
David was true to Saul when Saul was alive, and his truth is reflected in his lamentation. Just as he would appreciate Saul when he was alive, he honored him at death. Not many people are like David.
It teaches us that while we are still alive, though people are bad to us, we can be good to them. David's impeccable resume with Saul sustained his love for the dead king.
It teaches us that when we are good to people, we will be befitted with an honorable burial. The kind of death and burial Saul had is a life's lesson.
We must always think of our end. It does not pay to be wicked.
Saul's wicked life may have been wickedly rewarded by his terrible death and burial. Was this a kind of retribution? The bible did not say it was, but his end was undoubtedly sour, and what was done to his body was most unexpected of a royal.
1 Sam 31:9, 10-12 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour,...."
And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.
And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;
All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.
Even the valiant men did not think it wise to preserve the body. They instead burnt it!
Let us be good to people. Let us be good to our children equally. You do not know the one in whose hands we will die, neither do we know who amongst them or the people who will give us the most befitting burial.
David was not a hypocrite like many of us
Our obligation is to win souls to Christ and depopulate the kingdom of Satan.
It does not end there. We are to also take care and supervise a good burial for the dead.
Let us make people's lives worthy of living.
Remorse corner.
Saul was more honored at death than when he was alive.
Call to Word action.
David preserved a lasting legacy of how we should treat people when alive and when dead
The Christian clarion duty.
Take care of the living and do not despise the dead, even if he/she was most wicked.
Prayer.
Lord, help me to live a meaningful and blessed life. Let me live happily with people. Let me not be an offense to them, in Jesus name.
Good morning all and have a blessed day today.
God bless you.
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