We all know that David wrote a lot of sacred music – after all, 73 of the compositions in the Book of Psalms are attributed to him, and he may have written a great many more. In contrast, today’s passage is one of the few that we might call “secular” songs from his pen: it’s not a song of praise to God, but of praise to Saul and Jonathan.

And its elevation of martial prowess would certainly be offputting to many modern people. Yes, Toby Keith sang in praise of the “American Soldier” and some can even remember when SSgt. Barry Sadler’s “Ballad of the Green Berets” topped the pop charts back in 1966. But David goes a step further, praising Saul and Jonathan not only for the amount of their enemies’ blood that they spilled, but also for the spoil they brought home to the women of Israel. It’s not for the faint of heart or the squeamish of stomach, and it would be hard to imagine singing this on Sunday morning, wouldn’t it?

And when was the last time you heard a song that celebrated the depth of friendship between two men? Yes, we have become accustomed to ever more explicit lyrics in the “love songs” of our sex-saturated society. But David sang in praise of his comrade in arms, celebrating the band of brothers who grow close by keeping each other alive in combat. Modern soldiers may make such close friends, but they rarely sing about them.

But perhaps the strangest aspect of this song is David’s effusive praise for Saul. Remember, Saul was David’s mortal enemy. Because he had falsely accused David of treason, Saul had forced David to live as a refugee and a fugitive for years. And yet after he died, David lamented the death of such an insane tyrant in much the same way that he mourned the loss of his good friend Jonathan.

So, why do we find songs like this to be so strange? Because we have a warped view of human nature. Because we have come to believe that human beings are able to make ourselves perfect in this world, we’ve deceived ourselves into thinking that war is just a thing of the past – until a guy like Vladimir Putin brings us back to reality. Because we have fallen pray to the deception of “scientists” like Sigmund Freud, we have come to believe that sex is more important than friendship – until we really get in trouble and need “a friend who sticks closer than a brother) (Proverbs 18:24). And because our increasingly hate-filled, polarized society encourages us to demonize our political opponents, we have trouble giving any credit at all to those who find themselves on the opposite side of issues we consider to be important.

But if we’ll truly confess that all human beings are unworthy sinners, we’ll not only value the soldiers who protect us from the inevitable evil in this fallen world. We’ll also find more compassion for those who may be just as wrong as we are, albeit on different issues. And we’ll prize the people who are loyal to us in spite of our shortcomings.

In short, it was David’s humility that allowed him to write such a song. And it’s only the humble who can join him in singing it.

II Samuel 1:17-27 (NASB)

17 Then David chanted with this lament over Saul and Jonathan his son,
18 and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written in the book of Jashar.
19 “Your beauty, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How have the mighty fallen!
20 “Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon; Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
21 “O mountains of Gilboa, Let not dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
22 “From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, And the sword of Saul did not return empty.
23 “Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life, And in their death they were not parted; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions.
24 “O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
25 “How have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain on your high places.
26 “I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was more wonderful Than the love of women.
27 “How have the mighty fallen, And the weapons of war perished!”