TELL IT NOT IN GATH, PUBLISH IT NOT IN THE STREET OF ASKELON.
Text: 2. Sam. 1:17-27.
And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son: 18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)
19 The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places:
how are the mighty fallen!
20 Tell it not in Gath,
publish it not in the streets of Askelon;
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
21 Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew,
neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings:
for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away,
the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.
22 From the blood of the slain,
from the fat of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan turned not back,
and the sword of Saul returned not empty.
23 Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives,
and in their death they were not divided:
they were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
24 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights,
who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!
O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.
26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:
very pleasant hast thou been unto me:
thy love to me was wonderful,
passing the love of women.
27 How are the mighty fallen,
and the weapons of war perished! 2 Samuel 1:17-27
Introduction:
I was born a Muslim and one thing I have noticed between the two religions( Christianity and Islam) is this:
In Islam there is spirit décor, the spirit of brotherhood/ brotherhood is not in Christianity rather we look for means of bringing ourselves down
There is respect for the religion of Islam that no one is allowed to denigrate it. In Christianity we joke with the holy things and the personality of our saviour Jesus.
Imams could marry as many wives and nobody say he is wrong
A former governor in Nigeria married a child and many Muslim kept silent over the matter until the matter died down.
Why is it in Christianity we cannot settle matter under our roof that we have to always shout it out to destroy the sanctity of the church and Christianity?
I Have all my life seen how Christians have been attacking other Christians and the church of Christ, God has laid it in my heart to preach this sermon to you on Christian conduct in Christian community.
In this text and story King Saul just died in battle and a young man came forward to claim responsibility for his demise.
To many of us who are conversant with the whole story know the followings.
1. King Saul was the former boss of David
2. The son of King Saul was a very close ally of David.
3. There was hatred from King Saul towards David to the extent that he wanted him killed.
4. David himself had the opportunity to Kill Saul but he refused to do it.
5. King Saul also realising his mistakes in trying to kill David quickly reconciled with him.
Now in this story King Saul died in battle and the young man who came forward to claimed responsibility for his death was killed by David soldiers.
By human calculation David should have burst into joy at the hearing of the death of King Saul and his son Jonathan but he did not. As a matter of fact he ordered the death of the young man who claimed to have killed King Saul
WHAT SHOULD WE DO WHEN AN ENEMY OR RIVAL DIES OR IN IS TROUBLE?
Normally people will want to ask us to rejoice and be glad.
But just before we begin to rejoice and be glad we must ask ourselves what type of enemy just died. I have these types of enemy:
• The ungodly enemies whose death brings glory God,
• Your Godly enemies whose death brings glory to Satan.
Even then I want you to remember that unless at the extreme God does not want the death of any sinner.
Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth,
and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
18 Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him,
and he turn away his wrath from him. Proverbs 24:17-18
As soon as David heard the death of Saul he commanded through a poem saying:
20 Tell it not in Gath,
publish it not in the streets of Askelon;
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. 2 Samuel 1:20
Another way of saying this in modern language is
Hush, silence, don’t publish this news of King Saul’s death on the pages of newspapers, don’t tweet, don’t facebook it. Do not make a banner of it so that the ungodly people who wanted such news about King Saul will not start to praise their gods and make a jest of our God.
Lessons from this story
1. We must never rejoice over a matter that could cause the infidel to feel that their gods have finally won the battle. When we rejoice over a child of God who is going through a problem or challenges we are giving glory to the devil. Of course you might want to say this or other person is not a good preacher, good Christian or whatever. Let’s leave that to God who is the judge of all. Don’t judge leave that to God. This is what Apostle Paul said 15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: 16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: 17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. 18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. Philippians 1:15-18
2. It is not only that we are giving glory to the devil we are belittling our God as a God who cannot save and deliver his own.
3. Thirdly we are saying that no matter how much someone has served God in life he will eventually be abandoned at the last.
4. If admittedly it was Satan that killed the person and we are rejoicing over it, we will seem to be telling Satan that he could come and take another person amongst us. We shall then become like a house divided against itself that cannot stand.
In conclusion
1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) 4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. 5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. Acts 12:1-5
1. Do not rejoice at the calamities of your Christian Brother or sisters, if you do the calamities that claimed your Christian fellow could make you the next target.
2. Always pray for those who are going through because one day you too might need their prayers.
3. Do not attack the anointed men of God because you do not know what they are passing through to be your pastors. Let others criticise them but you do the praying for them.
1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. Numbers 12:1-2
4. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy:
when I fall, I shall arise;
when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. Micah 7:8
Falling position may not be a permanent condition. We have in the past seen many who fell and were able to get up again into greatness. Where will you hid your face when the enemy you thought had died completely suddenly rise again?
• Rejoice not when a brother or sister fall into fornication or adultery.
• Rejoice not when a brother or sister in the Christian community fall sick.
• Rejoice not when your brother or sister fall into sin.
• Rather we should encourage them to be able to get out of that condition.
Our prayer always should be that the Lord will restore those who have fallen, strengthen those who are week and guide those who are lost.
5. Do not expose the weakness of your faith to outsiders for them to gain advantage over us as Christian. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Colossians 4:5-6.
Be careful how you talk to outsiders about Christianity
Be careful how you talk about your brethren. Let your speech be of encouragement,
Don’t say something that will denigrate the person of God and of Christ.
5. Finally, let us rise in unison against any enemy of our brethren to the extent that the world and the devil will know we are not happy losing any of our soldiers to the enemies.
But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. Luke 11:17
