II Samuel 1:23&24 - “Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; there were stronger than lions. You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.”
Matthew 5:43-45 - “You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who hate you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”
This story of Saul’s death in battle against the Philistines on Mount Gilboa is a story of three kings: Saul, David, and Jesus. King Saul ran ahead of God and spent most of the end of his kingship pursuing David to kill him and protect his throne. Only the Philistines could draw Saul away as it did on the occasion of his demise.
King David, was anointed by God to be the next king after Saul, but he proved time and time again that he would not take from Saul what only God could give. Saul was the Lord’s anointed and that held a reverence in his heart. He trusted God’s timing AND….mourned the death of the man who was trying to kill him.
King Jesus, said that the love of God was to love your enemies and this is what he did when he died on the cross. We, like Saul was to David, were enemies to our Lord by our sin. But he loved us so much that he gave his life for us. As Jesus teaches in Matthew 5, everyone loves those who love them back…but few love their enemies.
May we be like David and Jesus and love our enemies.
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