Thoughts on David’s Elegy #2 of 2:

Your hero lies slain upon your mountains.

(Second Samuel 1:19)

Most likely, those of us who know something of the Bible story, think of King Saul as a tormented and troubled king—a failure. He will be replaced by our big hero, King David—a man after God’s own heart. Yet, it is David who insist that Saul be memorialized as Israel’s hero.

Saul is flawed, like all heroes, yet worthy of honor. Negative words could be spoken, as they could be at any memorial; yet, David speaks good, beautiful and honoring words concerning Saul, and invites us to do the same.

Each of us is a hero to someone. A flawed hero of course, but a hero nonetheless. Some folks think we are something—maybe within family, or civic life, or church life, or elsewhere within the sphere of our influence. In retirement, I’ve been surprised by kind words spoken to me by folks I didn’t know—folks on the margins of my pastoral influence. It’s best we don’t know about such things; otherwise, we would become obnoxious. But, what is good to know, is that we are a hero, in spite of ourselves, to someone—some of whom we have no idea.