{"id":33552,"date":"2024-11-27T15:00:15","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T22:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-samuel_1_1-16-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-11-12T15:36:30","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T22:36:30","slug":"2-samuel_1_17-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-samuel_1_17-27\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on the Good + The Most Wonderful Love You Will Ever Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Samuel 1:17-27\u00a0 \u00a0 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Samuel 1:17-27.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

2 Samuel 1:17-24 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan,
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and ordered that the men of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“O mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, nor fields that yield offerings [of grain]. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul–no longer rubbed with oil.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Saul and Jonathan– in life they were loved and gracious, and in death they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a017-24: \u00a0Saul had caused so much trouble for David personally.\u00a0 But notice that David did not treat Saul’s death as an occasion for rejoicing.\u00a0 Rather he led all of Israel in mourning for Saul and Jonathan.\u00a0 David even pens a lament (a song of mourning) for Saul and Jonathan and orders everyone in the nation to learn it (v18-19).\u00a0 When you read David’s lament for Saul, notice that David doesn’t mention a single bad thing about Saul.\u00a0 Rather, he speaks about Saul in only positive ways:<\/p>\n

– David speaks of Saul’s strength and dignity.\u00a0 For example, five times in this lament David calls Saul “mighty”.\u00a0 He describes Saul as a gazelle on the heights, a powerful mountain buck who is now slain (v19).<\/p>\n

– When David uses the word “gazelle” to describe Saul (v19), scholars say that this same word can also be translated to mean “glory”.\u00a0 In other words, David equates Saul’s passing with God’s glory leaving Israel.<\/p>\n

– To protect Saul, he tells the people to keep the news of Saul’s death a secret from Saul’s enemies to keep them from gloating (v20).<\/p>\n

– He curses the mountains of Gilboa where Saul was slain (v21), which apparently have remained barren to this day.<\/p>\n

– He praises both Saul and Jonathan for their military prowess (v22).<\/p>\n

– He praises both Saul and Jonathan for being beloved and admired leaders (v23).<\/p>\n

– He praises Saul for the economic prosperity he brought to Israel (v24).<\/p>\n

Despite all the pain and trouble Saul had caused David, David was still able to acknowledge the great things about Saul.\u00a0 David was doing what Philippians 4:8 tells us to do: to focus on whatever is good, true, right, pure, noble, excellent or praiseworthy in any situation.\u00a0 Why do that?\u00a0 It’s because\u00a0when you only focus on what is wrong or on how much you’ve been hurt, you open the door to bitterness, vengeance and discontentment.\u00a0 But, when you focus on the good, “the God of peace will be with you”<\/strong>\u00a0(Philippians 4:8-9).<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>\u00a0Samuel<\/strong>\u00a01<\/strong>:25-27 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 25-27: \u00a0 Here David shifts his focus to Jonathan, who was a friend to David like no other.\u00a0 David calls Jonathan “my brother…very dear to me” (v26).\u00a0 When David says that Jonathan’s love was “wonderful, more wonderful than that of women” (v26), this in all likelihood was not a reference to a homosexual relationship with Jonathan (which would have subjected David to execution according to the Jewish law), but rather a testimony of the selfless, humble, God-centered love that Jonathan had consistently shown David throughout their friendship.<\/p>\n

Similarly,\u00a0we too have a big brother who, like Jonathan, died on a hill and who consistently showed us a selfless, self-sacrificing, humble, God-centered love: His name is Jesus.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0The love Jesus gives is more wonderful than the love you will ever find from any other relationship.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).<\/p>\n

Jesus, thank You for showing me the most wonderful love I will ever know.\u00a0 May I focus on all that is good, true, noble, admirable and praiseworthy today.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Samuel 1:17-27.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

2 Samuel 1:17-24 (NIV)
\n17\u00a0\u00a0David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan,
\n18\u00a0\u00a0and ordered that the men of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):
\n19\u00a0\u00a0“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a017-24: \u00a0Saul had caused so much trouble for David personally.\u00a0 But notice that David did not treat Saul’s death as an occasion for rejoicing.\u00a0 Rather he led all of Israel in mourning for Saul and Jonathan.\u00a0 David even pens a lament (a song of mourning) for Saul and Jonathan and orders everyone in the nation to learn it (v18-19).\u00a0 When you read David’s lament for Saul, notice that David doesn’t mention a single bad thing about Saul.\u00a0 Rather, he speaks about Saul in only positive ways:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33552"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33555,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33552\/revisions\/33555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}