Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Stronger Than Lions” 2 Sam. 1:1, 17-27
What do you have to say about your enemy?
The relationship between President John F. Kennedy and his Vice President Lyndon Johnson was notoriously tense. Kennedy’s liberal supporters were shocked when their candidate announced LBJ would be his running mate. Compared to Kennedy and his crew of Ivy League-educated youngsters, LBJ was an old-school street-brawler, a plain-speaking deal-maker who took calculated risks to push his political agenda. Johnson, generally, got what he wanted, giving anyone who stood in his way what journalists would call “the treatment.” This was a one-on-one verbal offensive that employed “supplication, accusation, cajolery, exuberance, scorn, tears, complaint, and the hint of threat”—sometimes all of these together— to win someone to his cause.
In the White House, Kennedy’s staff were at times openly contemptuous of Johnson, especially the president’s brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. They made fun of LBJ’s down-home, earthy manner. Congressman Tip O’Neill recalled that the Kennedy brothers “had a disdain for Johnson that they didn’t even try to hide…. They actually took pride in snubbing him.” First Lady Jackie Kennedy would later state that, shortly after winning the White House, her husband and his brother conspired to scuttle Johnson’s political future and keep him out of any future run for the presidency.
For his part, Johnson bridled at being sidelined by the President, who denied his requests for workspace adjacent to the oval office and oversight on national security matters. Johnson saw himself as the far-superior politician, unfairly characterized as an illiterate, rude, crude bumpkin. He got even by telling tales about the Kennedy’s checkered political past, including the evening that he sat in on the phone call that President Franklin Roosevelt made to JFK’s father Joe, firing him from his appointment as Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Later, when President, Johnson would pass a law forbidding the appointment of family members to cabinet level positions, known as the nepotism provision; Johnson called it the “Bobby Kennedy law.” Ouch.
Our scripture reading this morning has David singing the praises of his political rival King Saul. It’s one of the earliest psalms of the Bible and would have originally been set to music and sung with accompaniment, perhaps with the harp or horns or percussion. David celebrated the skill of Saul and his son Jonathan in battle, remembering how they worked to unite Israel and transform it from a weak tribal confederacy to a national power to be reckoned with. Until their tragic deaths on Mt. Gilboa, their weapons of war—Saul’s sword and Jonathan’s bow—were ever at work against Israel’s powerful enemies like the Philistines. David celebrated the prosperity that Saul brought to Israel—the thriving trade that clothed Israel’s women with crimson and decked them out with gold jewelry. Saul had given everything for his nation, three of his beloved sons and even his life. David wove all that praise together, uniting it with the repeated refrain, “How the mighty have fallen.”
To write those words of praise, David had to rise above his complex relationship with Saul. David served as Saul’s champion against Goliath; he had been a soldier in Saul’s army. David had lived at Saul’s royal court, under his protection. Saul had even made David family by marrying David to his daughter, the Princess Michal. Saul had been David’s king and mentor, yet Saul had also been David’s rival and enemy. Like Saul, David had been anointed by the Prophet Samuel as Israel’s messiah. As David’s star was rising in Israel, Saul’s star was setting—and Saul knew it. David’s success inspired Saul’s jealousy, paranoia, rage, and death threats. By the time David sang, “O, how the mighty have fallen,” he had been on the outs with Saul for decades. David, the once-trusted champion, had become public enemy number one. That’s a lot to rise above when it’s time to write a memorial.
Centuries later, Jesus, known as the Son of David, challenged his followers to love their enemies and pray for those who persecuted them (Matt. 5:44). Anyone, even a tax collector or Gentile, can love the people who love them. Yet Jesus taught that when we love our enemies, we truly become children of our Father in heaven. In our choice for love, we embody the God who loves us on our worst day and chooses to forgive in us what we label unforgiveable in others. This mind-blowing, humbling choice for love was, of course, best revealed in Jesus, who prayed for the forgiveness of his executioners, welcomed a thief to join him in paradise, and called to discipleship followers who would fail him miserably when he needed them most. Jesus knew, God knows, that when we choose to practice this sort of selfless love, we make a changed future possible, a future where enemies become friends.
Perhaps in David’s words of praise, we have a foretaste of what Jesus would embody. David could have skipped the praise, seized power, and erased the memory of Saul. Instead, he got out his harp and wrote those lovely verses of homage and celebration. He ordered the psalm to be taught to the people of Judah and included in the Book of Jashar – a collection of national songs. In rising above the mixed-feelings he had for Saul and writing a fitting lament for the loss of a gifted but troubled king, David called his fledgling nation to unity, holding together those fragile tribal alliances. David allowed the example of Saul and Jonathan, stronger than lions, to call the people of Israel to heroic deeds in fighting outside enemies. David used the self-sacrifice of Saul and Jonathan to promote self-sacrifice on behalf of the nation. The friendship of David and Jonathan—across dividing lines of national politics—served as a role model for collaboration and bridge building. David’s memorial held Israel together and challenged them to grow into the nation that God had created them to be.
On November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas, Vice President Johnson was sworn in as the nation’s 36th president, aboard Air Force One at Dallas Love Field. A shell-shocked Jackie Kennedy stood at his side. Five days later, on November 27, Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress, a speech that was broadcast on national television. His words, part-eulogy, part-call-to-action, were later named the “Let Us Continue” address. It wasn’t easy to write—it took nine drafts. LBJ called Kennedy the “greatest leader of our time,” and said that American dreams had been vitalized by his drive and dedication. He called Americans to unity and the pursuit of our best ideals. Johnsons said no eulogy could more eloquently honor the President’s legacy than to pass the Civil Rights bill for which Kennedy had fought. “We have talked long enough in this country about equal rights,” Johnson said, “We have talked for 100 years or more. Yes, it’s time to write the next chapter—and to write it in the book of law.”
Like David, like Jesus’s instruction to love our enemies, Johnson’s words created the graced space for a nation to find unity and healing. Johnson asked all Americans for their help, saying: “An assassin’s bullet has thrust upon me the awesome burden of the Presidency. I am here today to say I need your help; I cannot bear this burden alone.” Johnson’s “Let Us Continue” speech was interrupted by applause thirty-four times. The newly-sworn-in President closed his remarks with words from “America the Beautiful,” “America, America, God shed His grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.” Immediately thereafter, efforts began to push through the Civil Rights Act, which succeeded, despite considerable resistance from Southern politicians, in July 1964.
What do we have to say about our enemies? We live in an age when it is all too common to shun, criticize, shame, or belittle those whose opinions and convictions differ from our own. Yet history, scripture, and the rule of love suggest that we can make different choices. May we, like David, rise above our mixed and hurt feelings to choose a better way. May we dare to cast the vision for a future where enemies become friends, love prospers, and we grow into the nation that God calls us to become.
Resources
ABC News. “Jacqueline Kennedy Reveals That JFK Feared an LBJ Presidency” in ABCNews: Politics, Sept. 8, 2011. Accessed online at https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Jacqueline_Kennedy/jacqueline-kennedy-reveals-jfk-feared-lbj-presidency/story?id=14477930
JONATHAN MARTIN and JOHN F. HARRIS. “Caro revives Kennedy-Johnson feud” in Politico, May 13, 2012. Accessed online at https://www.politico.com/story/2012/05/caro-revives-kennedy-johnson-feud-076234.
ALLEN MCDUFFEE. “WHY THE KENNEDYS COULDN’T STAND LYNDON B. JOHNSON” in Grunge, January 11, 2021. Accessed online at https://www.grunge.com/310120/why-the-kennedys-couldnt-stand-lyndon-b-johnson/
Andrew Glass. “LBJ calls on Congress to pass civil rights legislation, Nov. 27, 1963” in Politico, Nov. 27, 2018. Accessed online at https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/27/lbj-calls-on-congress-to-pass-civil-rights-legislation-nov-27-1963-1012624
Lyndon B. Johnson. (November 27, 1963). Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. (eds.). “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress”. Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum. The American Presidency Project. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
Roger Nam. “Commentary on 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27” in Preaching This Week, June 30, 2024. Accessed online at Commentary on 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary
David G. Garber, Jr. “Commentary on 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27” in Preaching This Week, June 28, 2015. Accessed online at Commentary on 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary
Samuel Giere. “Commentary on 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27” in Preaching This Week, July 1, 2012. Accessed online at Commentary on 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
1After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag.
17David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. 18(He ordered that The Song of the Bow be taught to the people of Judah; it is written in the Book of Jashar.) He said: 19Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places! How the mighty have fallen! 20Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon; or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult. 21You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor bounteous fields! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more. 22From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, nor the sword of Saul return empty. 23Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. 24O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with crimson, in luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. 25How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain upon your high places. 26I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. 27How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!
Frank Muto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Joann White 