(11) В¶ Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: (12) And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.
There can be no question but that this lamentation of David was real and sincere. And I take occasion here from to remark, and it is in my esteem a remark of no small importance, that what we meet with in David's Psalms, where he many times expresses himself harshly against his enemies, (as particularly Psalms 10:1 9th, which see) these expressions are to be considered, for the most part, as leveled against the enemies of God and of his church; and not the private foes of David. Very frequently he spake as under the Spirit of prophecy; and the Reader will do well upon all occasions of this sort, to make a proper distinction between the private feelings of the man, and the public Spirit of the Prophet. See Psalms 139:19-22.