Spiritual Practices: Imagining the Text
Sometimes passages in the Bible need to be observed and absorbed with awe and wonder instead of analyzed, dissected, and categorized. This is one of those passages. Read the passage over in its entirety a few times. As you do, imagine that you are a participant in the scene. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
In this passage, David is mourning the death of Saul and Jonathan. Saul had been David's enemy in life and strove on many occasions to kill him. Jonathan was David's friend and had saved his life on at least one occasion, but was still between David and the throne of Israel. Yet here, David mourns their passing. Imagine that you are in the group of people around David when he receives the news of Saul and Jonathan's death.
Sometimes passages in the Bible need to be observed and absorbed with awe and wonder instead of analyzed, dissected, and categorized. This is one of those passages. Read the passage over in its entirety a few times. As you do, imagine that you are a participant in the scene. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
In this passage, David is mourning the death of Saul and Jonathan. Saul had been David's enemy in life and strove on many occasions to kill him. Jonathan was David's friend and had saved his life on at least one occasion, but was still between David and the throne of Israel. Yet here, David mourns their passing. Imagine that you are in the group of people around David when he receives the news of Saul and Jonathan's death.
- What would your first reaction be when you heard that the people who had tried to kill your friend was dead?
- As you listen to David's song of lament, what does it make you think?
- How does David's reaction to the death of Saul and Jonathan change your perspective on them?
- What does David's lament teach us about how we should treat our enemies?