Lesson of Rizpah

But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD:....And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. 2 Samuel 21:8-10

"Q: IF the love of a woman to her slain sons could make her prolong her mournful vigil for so long a period, shall we weary of considering the sufferings of our blessed Lord?
---She drove away the birds of prey,

Q: and shall not we chase from our meditations those worldly and sinful thoughts which defile both our minds and the sacred themes upon which we are occupied?

Away, ye birds of evil wing!

Leave ye the sacrifice alone!

---She bore the heats of summer, the night dews and the rains,

unsheltered and alone. Sleep was chased from her weeping eyes: her heart was too full for slumber. Behold how she loved her children!
---She chased away even the wild beasts, with courage unusual in her gender, and will not we be ready to encounter every foe for Jesus' sake?
---These her children were slain by other hands than hers, and yet she wept and watched:

Q: what ought we to do who have by our sins crucified our Lord?"
Charles Spurgeon