The Daily Link: King Saul, The Lovely

King Saul: The Lovely – By Daniel W. Sheridan

“The beauty of Israel is slain…tell it not in Gath…lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice…Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no…rain, upon you…for there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away…Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided…Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul…” 2 Samuel 1:19-23

The Apostle Paul, the famous minister to the Gentiles, was named after the first king of Israel, Saul. Many consider King Saul an infamous man and classify him among the world’s criminals. Saul did some foolish things, to be sure; he didn’t keep his word, pursued David, tried to kill him a few times, almost killed his son, disobeyed God regarding Amalek, and worst of all, consulted a medium! All bad. But his whole life wasn’t bad. In the Scriptures quoted above, King David said, “Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives.”

David praised the man who persecuted him, calling him “lovely.” Saul had some terrible moments, evil moments, but David never mentions any of those! Look at the string of verses quoted above. Notice the following points:

  1. David calls the man who tried to kill him “beautiful.”
  2. When the news arrives that Saul was KIA, David forbids its publishing lest the news causes the enemies to rejoice.
  3. David wanted to erase the area where Saul died from the map.
  4. David declares that Saul was lovely and pleasant.
  5. David calls upon the women to mourn with him over Saul.

How refreshing to read such an account in a world where people become eternally offended and sever friendships over the slightest offenses, real or pretended. Let us be as gracious as David. After all, he had his bad moments, too, and so do we.

Maybe Paul had David’s words concerning his namesake in mind when he said:

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”