2 Sam. 1:17-27
"And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan." In this lament he expresses his grief over the disasters of Israel's leaders and their army, but this song of the bow is to be learned by the children of Judah (2 Sam. 1:18). It is an instruction for them. As witnesses of Israel's disaster they must know how to avoid such disaster in the future. Saul had been overcome by the archers (1 Sam. 31:3) when he himself had been deprived of archers. Indeed, from 1 Chron. 12:1-7 we learn that before Saul's defeat the band of archers belonging to the tribe of Benjamin and in large part to the family of Kish had rallied around David and had joined him at Ziklag. This is why Saul "was much terrified" (1 Sam. 31:3) by the archers.
This Song of the Bow has a poignant refrain: "How are the mighty fallen!" (v. 19). "How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!" (v. 25). "How are the mighty fallen, and the instruments of war perished!" (v. 27). What did they lack? The bow which had overcome Saul!
Throughout Scripture the bow is the symbol of strength to conquer the enemy. The sword is used in hand-to-hand combat; the bow is used to attack from a distance, opposing the enemy's approach. The archer sees the enemy approaching in the distance, takes account of his movements and his plans, and levels him to the ground before he has opportunity to attack. The bow is a weapon requiring greater skill than the sword, but it is above all the symbol of strength, for it takes powerful arms and hands to draw a bow and make proper use of it.
Israel's mighty men with Saul at their head had met the bow of an enemy stronger than they. The error that led to their ruin was esteeming their own strength to be sufficient. But there is no strength without dependence, for strength is not to be found in us, but rather in Him whose strength is infallible on our behalf. The Man Jesus Christ is the example of this. He did not seek strength except in God nor would He otherwise have been the Perfect Man. Smitten by the archers (Gen. 49:23-24), His strength did not leave Him. When His weakness appeared to succumb to the enemy's power His bow remained strong—His strength was full. This strength existed only in dependence: "The arms of His hands are supple by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob."
Had He not already manifested God's power in His life through complete dependence on Him? All His acts were proof of this. Thus at the tomb of Lazarus He demonstrates His might by the resurrection of one who was dead and adds, "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me" (John 11:41).
In His death, although crucified in weakness, He was nevertheless the power of God. Before the cross all the strength of man and of Satan was reduced to nothing. Through death He overcame him who had the power of death. It is especially there that His bow remained firm and that His hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.
His resurrection is the public demonstration of this power of God in whom He trusted. God declared Him to be the Son of God in power by raising Him from among the dead. He had the power to take up His life again as He also had the power to lay down His life, but even when it came to His resurrection, His soul dependently waited on the power of God: "Thou wilt not leave My soul to Sheol, neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to see corruption" (Psa. 16:10). "From the horns of the buffaloes hast Thou answered Me" (Psa. 22:21). "He brought Me up out of the horrible pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and set My feet upon a rock" (Psa. 40:2). "Christ has been raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father" (Rom. 6:4). "The surpassing greatness of [God's] power...in which He wrought in the Christ in raising Him from among the dead" (Eph. 1:19-20).
This is not all. His bow will remain firm; His strength will be full forever. When the Son of Man comes to judge the nations the bow of brass that will strike down sinners will be in His hand. There again, it is His God who will gird Him with strength, who will teach His hands to war (Psa. 18:32,34). In this dependence He will pierce His enemies so that they cannot rise (Psa. 18:38). His arrows will be sharp and will strike the heart of the king's enemies (Psa. 45:5).
Yes, His bow remains firm and the arms of His hands are made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob until He comes to sit on the throne of His power forever.
Man may have a bow, but in his hands it fails when he uses it. "The sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, turned back in the day of battle" (Psa. 78:9), and as for the Lord's enemies, "the bow of the mighty is broken" (1 Sam. 2:4; Psa. 46:9; Jer. 49:35; Hos. 1:5;2:18).
As for ourselves, fellow Christians, our bow will remain whole on condition that we place our confidence in God who communicates His strength to us. "Go in this thy might," the Lord says to Gideon (Judg. 6:14), and the apostle himself experienced that when he was weak, then he was strong (2 Cor. 12:10). Nothing is weaker than a Christian who has given up Christ as his strength. We need to know how to use our bow and then, like Christ, the arms of our hands will be strong through the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob. Let us learn the song of the bow by exercising ourselves in drawing it, by aiming the arrow toward its mark. The more we use it, the stronger we will be against the enemy.
The archers of Benjamin who found refuge with the son of Jesse-his faithful followers at the eleventh hour just prior to Israel's defeat-showed by this action that they did not trust in their bows, with Saul as their master, but rather trusted in the strength of the despised David. Let us do the same; let us gather around the rejected King. Let us not weep over our weakness, as though we were resourceless: this would not be faith, nor confidence in Christ. In very humble dependence let us count on His strength to make our hands firm to war for Him until the day when, the conflict ended, we shall enter His eternal rest.
David's lament is the touching expression of the affections of this man of God. A heart full of love has no room for resentment or complaints. If in the past David had wept at unjust accusations and hatred, he has now forgotten everything. There is no word of reproach against the man whose bones now lay under the tamarisk at Jabesh. But it is not enough for this noble heart to merely forget. He loves to remember. He recalls that Saul had been the Lord's anointed, the bearer of His testimony, that he had led His people to victory. He recognizes the natural gifts that had made him pleasant during his life and had attracted Israel's love to him. He sees him magnificently dressing the daughters of his people. His song expresses respect for and grief over the man who had always hated and persecuted him. His lament is Israel's lament-Israel against whom in a day of weakness he had thought to fight by joining himself to the Philistines. David now identifies himself with Israel and shares in its tears. Joy may be the portion of the daughters of the uncircumcised, but never will David share in it. Let the mountains of Gilboa, the witnesses of God's people's defeat, be accursed!
His anguish over Jonathan is unbounded. Oh! how the tender heart of the son of Jesse valued the affection of his friend! "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant wast thou unto me; thy love to me was wonderful, passing women's love" (2 Sam. 1:26); his was a completely selfless affection, something that affection for one of the opposite sex can only with difficulty be. Jonathan had indeed stripped himself of his dignities and glory and the bow of his strength to give them to David in the day of his victory over Goliath. Then with all the warmth of his convictions he had pleaded the cause of his friend. Lastly, his admiration for the son of Jesse had not diminished during David's time of shame and exile-he had visited him then, although it is true he had lacked the courage to follow him. David says nothing about this last point. He covers the memory of his friend with inexpressible tenderness. He does not speak of his own love for him, but gives proof of it by exalting Jonathan's love.
Oh, how these words all bear the odor and fragrance of the heart of Christ! Only David had to be molded through discipline to produce such outpourings; Christ's heart had no such need. His entire life was only love and grace. "I have called you friends," He says to those who were at the point of either denying Him or of fleeing and leaving Him alone. "Ye are they who have persevered with Me in my temptations," He says in Luke 22:28 to those who shortly afterward could not even watch one hour with Him! Let us follow the example of this perfect Model!
The Kingdom Established Over Judah.—2 Sam. 2-4