Who Clothed You Luxuriously (2 Samuel 1:24)

 


Wednesday, July 16, 2025


Psalm 38

2 Samuel 1:17-27

John 5:30-47


Who Clothed You Luxuriously (2 Samuel 1:24)


“You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
    who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet,
    who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.”


There’s a crude joke that is not worth repeating, it is about a New Zealander or a Welshman depending on where you live. The humour relies on the fact that things are funny because they are true. And it is true that, no matter how good and noble and generous and loving you are, if you make one mistake, then all the good you did is forgotten, and you are only known for that one mistake.


It takes a certain level of self-reflection, self-control and wisdom to be able to see the good in someone who has done something awful. Saul was famous for two things: being the Lord’s anointed, and losing that anointing. Towards the end of his life, everyone had seemed to forgotten that he had been chosen by God and done impressive things for his subjects. The chant was “Saul has slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands”. Saul was famous for being second-best, and not taking it particularly well.


But David saw the good in Saul. He saw Saul’s worth, as someone who had been specially chosen and anointed by God, as David’s king, and as adopted father-in-law. David loved Saul, in spite of anything else about him. And so he composed this famous song of lament to mark the tragedy of the death of this great man.


So too does the Lord see us. We weep over our sins. As the Psalmist groans today: our iniquities go over our head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for us. Yet in the beginning God made us, blessed us, and called us good. In the fullness of time he entered into this world as one of us, died for us, rose again, and raises us with him. Christ sees the good in us; he does not think poorly of us, no matter how much we might find ourselves dwelling in our sin.


What about you does Christ love? What about those around you does Christ love?


God of light, in whom there is no darkness at all: show us the height, depth, length and breadth of your love for us, that we may see ourselves as you see us, and see your goodness in the lives of all people.

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