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As the love between Jonathan and David grew stronger, so did king Saul’s hatred on David. From Keilah David now moved to a stronghold in the wilderness of Ziph and Saul pursued him with ceaseless zeal but was unable to discover his hiding place. (1 Samuel 1:19, Romans 6:1) .

Jonathan, however, sought him and found him. He “strengthened his hand in God” assuring him that his father will never find him, that he will live to be the king. Here, the covenant between the two was ratified the third time and the two friends parted, never to meet again (1samuel 23;16-18).

Meanwhile Saul returned to Gibeah, and messengers from Ziph followed him with news of david’s hiding place and offering to betray him into his hands. So he pursued David so close that while David was climbing down one side of a cliff in Maon, Saul and his men were posted to intercept them on the other.

But the arrival of a messenger with the news of a sudden inroad of the Philistians caused the king to suspend the pursuit (1sam. 23:28).

David next hiding place was Engedi which will be a scene of an instance of magnimity on his part. The panic of the Philistine invasion being over, Saul advanced to Engedi with 3,000 men. David and his men, seeing but not seen, were concealed in the dark recesses of the same retreat. Refusing the advice of his men to slay his unsuspecting enemy,

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David contented himself with cutting off skirt of the royal robe. Even for this, however, his heart smote him. Saul noticing what has happened, was very deeply moved, and lifted

up his voice and wept, frankly acknowledges the generosity of his rival. He then owned how while he knew David was to be the future king, and made him solemnly swear not to visit his own ill-will on his prosperity, or destroy his name out of his father’s house.

All this David faithfully undertook to perform, but knowing well the capriciousness of the king did not leave his hideout. About this time, the aged prophet Samuel died, and all Israel gathered together to lamented, and buried him within the walls of his own house at Ramah (1sam.25:1)

Returning once more to the old hiding place in the pasture country of Ziph, the secret of his retreat was again betrayed to Saul by Ziphites and, ahead of 3,000 men, he went to capture David. Informed of Saul’s approach, David retired from the hill to the lower ground and was concealed by the woods.

Saul’s advanced to the hill and there pitched his tent, with Abner his captain-general. Again there was another opportunity for David to take Saul’s life, even as one of his men bade him to let him smite the king but once. But David refused. Again the fugitive pleaded in moving words with the pursues, and again Saul, touched to the heart with admiration for David’s magnanimity, acknowledged his own guilt, and bestowed a blessing upon him (1Sam.26-13-25).

This last occurrence seems to have convinced David that there was no hope of any permanent change in the king’s feelings towards him (|1Sam. 27:1), and he therefore determined to seek refuge once more among the Philistines. No longer a solitary fugitive, but in the company of his wives and 600 followers and their households. He petitioned to the king who accepted his petition and assigned to him the town of Ziklag. His stay at Ziklag of over a year and four months was very eventful.

Before long, the Philistines gathered their armies together for another and decisive contest with the Israelites for supremacy. The King prepared to take part in the expedition and David with his 600 men, consented in the expedition and David involvement in the battle caused some division both in the Israelites army and there Philistine counterpart.

Because of the rift in the Philistine army, David had to return to Ziklag which by now has been destroyed by the Amalekites, even David’s wives and all his followers, left in Ziklag, were all carried off. For David, this was a critical moment, but he encourage himself in the Lord his God (1Sam.30:6).

He enquired of the Lord whether or not he should pursue the troop. The reply was favorable and with his men, and the help of an Egyptian slave of an Amalekite chief he was able to smite the entire people safe only 400 young men. And so regained the trust and kindness of his people. Two days after his return, David got the news of the Philistine invasion. They have encamped by Shunem while Saul and his forces encamped on mount Gilboab.

Saul was greatly alarmed as the masses of the Philistine army marched in their hundred and thousands and felt he was alone. Samuel his older adviser is dead, he enquired of the Lord, but the Lord answered him not neither by dreams nor by prophets (1Sam. 28:6).

Alone and distrusted even by his own army, he asked that enquiry be made for a woman that had a familiar spirit. After diligent search, and disguising him sel. After diligent search and disguising himself and with two of his men, the unhappy king ended up in Endor. He longed to have one more interview with his old adviser, the prophet Samuel.

At first, the woman was reluctant fearing the danger of exciting the wrath of the king who, in his better days had distinguished himself by his zeal against all magic and sorcery. When he finally had his request granted, bowing himself with his face to the ground, he made his deep distress known.

The Philiistines made war against me:God is Departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets Nor by dreams; I have called thee, that thou may  make known unto me what I shall do’. In reply, the prophet could only inform the king that the dumb days are near. Tomorrow, he said, the Lord will deliver Israel with you into the hand of the philistines; and tomorrow so you and your son’s be with me.

The next morning, the philistines made their onset.saul with his doom upon him could do little. His army was driving up the size of gilboa. many were are slain. To worsen the situation, the philistines and followed hard after son and his sons.The son’s including the valiant Jonathan were killed and saul himself was sor wounded. He implored of his armour bearer to kill him to end his suffering.

when the armor bearer refused, the King fell on his feet on his own sword and died. In this battle Israel was completely routed by the philistines. The next morrow the bodies of Saul and his three sons were found by the philistines, when they came to stripe there slain.

They cut-off Saul’s head stripped him of his armour and sent it into their own land to be placed as a trophy in the temple of their god-Ashtoaroth, and fastened his body and those of his sons to the wall overhanging the open space in front of the city of beth-shan.

Hearingfrom the fugitive what had happened to the King, the inhabitants, remembering past services, determining that his remains should suffer no more relations. By night they took down his body and those of his sons, buried them under the terebinth of their native tongue, and fasted for sevendays (1samuel 31:13).

such was the news David now received at ziklag from a young Amalekite .Expecting the reward that would go to the bearer of glad news, he had brought with him Saul’s crown and the bracelet that was on his arm, and pretended to have slain him at his own request(2 Samuel 1:1-12).But David’s wrath was candid and having rebuked him for touching the Lost anointed,he asked one of his men to kill the young man, then, David burst into a strength of passionate lamentation over Saul and Jonathan. And part of these, forms one theme; How have the mighty fallen(2samuel 1:19).

The mighty? yes, the mighty.who is the mighty? A structure that is strongly built and equipped to withstand all manner of storm and challenges. A city fortified with an equal protection and security against any form of invasion. An individual or community who is divinely endowed to succeed even where others failed. This is the mighty.

From the call of Abraham, and the promises that followed his call, Jehovah protectively and divinely does Israel as a nation to show all cases all mightiness and sovereignty over the entire universe. Jehovah God knew that for his unequal power and infinite wisdom to be felt by all the created world, the people he had chosen most manifest such uniqueness in their dealings with the rest of the world.

The relationship and dealings between God and Israel from the call of Abraham to their settlement in the promised Land can be better understood and summoned up in the words spoken by God himself.”You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’s wing and brought you to myself”(Exodus 19:4).

Earlier on we hear the Lord God say to Israel through Abraham” I will make you a great nation; I will bless you.And make you a name

great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will cause him who causes you; and in you all the families of the Earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3). Thehe nations and people of Israel were from the first day of their calling by God made mighty. This bring us to some of the keys characteristics of the mighty.The mighty do not make themselves, rather they are made. The mighty do not sustain themselves ,rather they are sustain by the maker – God.

And for The mighty to maintain their mightiness, they must rely solely on their makeup and make the most of every resources and opportunities provided by the maker. So the success Israel achieve till the events leading to our team can be attributed to their being made strong and equipped, to Surmount all manners of challenges, fortified, protected and secured against every invasion, and divinely endowed to succeed.by the same God who has called and choosen them.No wonder the urgency and relevance of our theme at the time.

David laments how the fortified cities of Israel could have been so easily invaded. How a nation so divinely endowed and having defeated numerous Kings and taking over their land in the past, A nation so divinely

structured ,and protected a people borne of eagles wings could be so devastated and the tall, handsome warrior and leader of the army of the mighty, be so Dishonored both in life and in death by the ungodly and uncircumcised people whose mighty man he himself defeated and killed, even as a boy .How could this be” How have the mighty fallen?

The answer to David’s strained of passionate lamentation is not farfetched.A little backward flip to some pages of Israel recent history provides the unfortunate answer. “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel” and they said, “no, but we will have a king over us, “that we also may be like all the nations and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles” (1samuel 8:19-20).

Before this time of the people’s request, Israel’s battle had been fought by the Lord their God, but now they want a human King to fight their battles. Before now they had been judged by judges chosen by God, but now they want to choose their own judge themselves. Before this time Israel had been an equally and divinely endowed and fortified like a nation of the world, but now they want to be like all the other nations, and before now they had been Jehovah as King over them, but now Israel  want to choose who will be the King over them ,and all these sets them up for this great fall. How have the mighyt fallen?

Remember what we said earlier, the mighty do not make themselves rather they are made. The mighty do not sustain themselves, rather they are sustained by their maker God.And for The mighty to maintain their mightiness, they must really solely on their maker and make the most of every resources and opportunity provided by their maker. 

Shalom….