2 Samuel 1:18-20

The Voice

¹⁸the Song of the Bow, which he ordered taught to the people of Judah and recorded in the book of the Upright.^[a]

Although Saul sought David’s death on many occasions, and although David cannot act as king until Saul dies, David executes the Amalekite mercenary who has the insolence to strike down God’s rightly-anointed king for his disrespect to the position. Demonstrating his respect for Saul, David then composes one of the most beautiful expressions of grief in the Bible, a song of loss and sadness to relay the nation’s sense of sorrow, and his own.

¹⁹David: The beauty of Israel lies dead upon your high places.
        O how the mighty have fallen!
²⁰    Don’t speak of this in the city of Gath;
        don’t proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon,
    Or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice.
        The daughters of the foreigners^[b] will sing for joy.