[One-Verse Meditation]

2 Samuel 1:12 (NASB)

“And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.”

(Meditation)

Two days after David and his men returned to their dwelling place in Ziklag, a young Amalekite came from Saul’s camp and reported that Saul and his son Jonathan had been killed in battle. In response, David tore his clothes and mourned their deaths, as well as the loss of the people of Israel, until evening.

But if we pause here for a moment, Saul was the very man who had tried to kill David. And not just once or twice. That is understandable in a way, because Saul did not want to lose his kingdom to David. Yet in the face of Saul’s death, David mourns. At the very news that was most favorable to him, David does not calculate what benefits him and what does not. He does not rejoice carelessly over the downfall of his enemy.

So is this scene simply telling us that David was an admirable man? No. Rather, this verse shows us the kind of king in whom God delights: a king who does not turn even the death of his enemy into his own opportunity, a king who grieves over the pain of God’s people more than his own personal gain. And this leads us to Christ. Jesus, the true King, did not rejoice over the destruction of us who were His enemies. Instead, He went to the cross to save us.

Therefore, before this passage, we are not called merely to imitate David’s dignity, but to stand as those who have received the mercy of Christ. The reason I live is not because of my own righteousness, but because of the grace of the Lord, who did not turn away from me when I was His enemy. And in the life of one who lives by that grace, the love of the Lord is made visible, just as it was in David’s life. This is what the life of God’s holy people—His saints—looks like.

(Prayer)

Lord, I was one who had been at enmity with God. Yet You did not turn away from me; You grieved over me. Saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing,” You died for me. And just as You said, You rose again. So love truly is power. It is the power that gives me life.

Let me live today by the power of Your love. Amen.
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(Daily Meditation)

2 Samuel 1:1–20