Dear God, we are wrapping up David this week for the guys in CMLS. Next week, I’ll branch into new territory of being explicitly evangelical and inviting them into a life lived with you. In conjunction with you. Loving you. Worshipping you and you alone. Rejecting idols. Loving their neighbors. Forgiveness. But first, we need to wrap up David and then link him to your son, Jesus. One, a king corrupted by his power. The other, a king who declined the power-over Satan offered him and taught us a new way.
When last we left off…
- David was in Ziklag, having just recovered his and he men’s wives, children, and possessions from the Amalekites and sent some off to the cities in Judah who were close to him.
- Jonathan and his brothers were killed in battle.
- Saul died a particularly painful death, impaling himself on a sword after being shot by arrows.
- The Israelites inhabiting the towns in the area of the battle evacuated the towns and the Philistines took up residence.
- The men of Jabesh Gilead honored Saul by caring for his and his sons’ bodies.
Page 332
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
- 2 Samuel 1:1-2 – 1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag, 2 on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. So it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.
- Notice the torn clothes and dust on his head. This was a sign of mourning and grief. These words are important to describe what they nonverbally communicated to David.
- David knew the battle would have happened, but this was his first contact with anyone who had news. 2 Samuel 1:4-18 – 4 Then David said to him, “How did the matter go? Please tell me.”
And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.”
5 So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?”
6 Then the young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear; and indeed the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. 7 Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ So I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9 He said to me again, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my life still remains in me.’ 10 So I stood over him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.”
11 Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
13 Then David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?”
And he answered, “I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.”
14 So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, and execute him!” And he struck him so that he died. 16 So David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’ ”
The Song of the Bow
17 Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, 18 and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher:
- David does some important things here:
- He punished the Amalekite for killing God’s anointed, even under those circumstances.
- Did the Amalekite lie?
- He publicly laments for Saul to disabuse anyone of the notion that he was rooting for Saul’s death by tearing his clothes and “mourned and wept and fasted until evening.”
- Forgiveness?
- He deeply mourns for Jonathan.
- He punished the Amalekite for killing God’s anointed, even under those circumstances.
- David is a song writer and his words in this moment live until this day: “Oh, how the mighty have fallen!
- We usually use these words in a derogatory/sarcastic way, but David wrote them when he was in deep pain.
David, King of Judah
- David asked God if it was time to go home and where he should go. God told him to do to Hebron.
- The men of Judah anoint David king over their tribe. The most of the rest of Israel aren’t part of it.
- David learns about what Jabesh Gilead did for Saul and Jonathan and his brothers. He sends a message to the thanking them for what they did and letting them know that he is now king over Judah.
- Maybe not as much a recruitment for them to do the same but a seed planted for later.
- Look at the map
- Abner, Saul’s cousin and Commander over the army took one of Saul’s remaining sons, Ishbosheth and threw his own credibility and power behind him to have him anointed as king over the 11 remaining Israelite tribes.
- Did Abner do this for Ishbosheth, or did he do it for himself?
- The historian is careful to say David sought God and the people anointed him king while Abner anointed Ishbosheth and positioned his capital away from the Philistines.
Joab and Abner
- Joab was David’s army commander and his cousin. He also had two brothers, Abishai and Asahel.
- Abner took his army to Gibeon. We don’t know why. Joab decided to do the same. 2 Samuel 2:12-17 – 12 Now Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now arise and compete before us.”
And Joab said, “Let them arise.”
15 So they arose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin, followers of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. 16 And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called the Field of Sharp Swords, which is in Gibeon. 17 So there was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.
- Keep in mind that Joab had spent several years with David, running from Saul and Abner. He also wanted to command all of Israel’s army and for David to be king over everyone.
- A huge battle ensues in which 19 of Joab’s men die, but 360 of Abner’s die.
- But the death among Joab’s men that hurt the most was Joab’s brother Asahel. We will see how this plays out later in our story.
- Abner finally calls for a truce and Joab blows the horn to stop.
- Abner returns to Mahanaim while Joab buries his brother in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem, and then he and all the men head back to Hebron.
- 2 Samuel 3:1 – 3 Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.
Abner’s Switch of Allegiance
- Chapter 3 starts with a list of David’s son’s born in Hebron, and we would spend more time on them if we were going through the rest of 2 Samuel.
- One day, Ishbosheth accuses Abner of sleeping with one of Saul’s concubines. 2 Samuel 3:7-11 – 7 And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ishbosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?”
8 Then Abner became very angry at the words of Ishbosheth, and said, “Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show loyalty to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman? 9 May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David as the Lord has sworn to him— 10 to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” 11 And he could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.
- It’s obvious who had the real power in Ishbosheth’s kingdom.
- Abner decides to make an alliance with David, ingratiate himself to David and make it possible for all the tribes of Israel to make David king.
- Abner sends a message to David saying if David will make a covenant with him he will deliver the rest of the tribes of Israel.
- David tests the offer by requiring he bring David’s first wife Michal. 2 Samuel 3:13-16 – 13 And David said, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.” 14 So David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” 15 And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish. 16 Then her husband went along with her to Bahurim, weeping behind her. So Abner said to him, “Go, return!” And he returned.
- Abner communicates with the elders of Israel encouraging them to follow David.
- Then he goes to Hebron, David has a feast for him, and Abner tells him he will go and deliver the remaining tribes of Israel to him.
- David sends Abner away in peace.
- Oh, but wait. Joab wasn’t mentioned in any of this, and Abner has forgotten about the grudge Joab has for killing Asahel.
- Joab gets back to Hebron and finds out what Abner’s been up to. 2 Samuel 3:24-27 – 24 Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you; why is it that you sent him away, and he has already gone? 25 Surely you realize that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you, to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.”
26 And when Joab had gone from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it. 27 Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother.
28 Afterward, when David heard it, he said, “My kingdom and I are guiltless before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 29 Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and let there never fail to be in the [i]house of Joab one who has a discharge or is a leper, who leans on a staff or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.” 30 So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.
- CONSPIRACY THEORY must be stopped. Now, David has a political problem. All of the Israelite elders were about to anoint him king, but this might look to them like David had tricked Abner. David publicly lamented Abner’s death and showed him a ton of public respect in order to convince everyone he had nothing to do with Abner’s death, and it worked. 2 Samuel 3:36-37 – 36 Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them, since whatever the king did pleased all the people. 37 For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s intent to kill Abner the son of Ner.
- David tells his staff Joab has made him look weak and he hopes God pays them back for it, but he doesn’t do anything – yet. 1 Kings 2:28-33 (page 366) – 28 Then news came to Joab, for Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29 And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.” 30 So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ‘Come out!’ ”
And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”
31 Then the king said to him, “Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed. 32 So the Lord will return his [g]blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword—Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it. 33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants forever. But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord.”
The End of Ishbosheth
- We hear a really quick story about Mephibosheth that will be important later when David is King over all of Israel.
- Word spread that Abner was dead and Ishbosheth lost heart.
- Two captains of the guard sneak in and killed Ishbosheth, beheaded him and headed off to Hebron because, apparently, they hadn’t heard about how David treated people who killed Israel’s king. 2 Samuel 4:9-12 – 9 But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity, 10 when someone told me, saying, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag—the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news. 11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now require his [f]blood at your hand and [g]remove you from the earth?” 12 So David commanded his young men, and they executed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.
David, King of Israel
- 2 Samuel 5:1-4 – 5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, “Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. 2 Also, in time past, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel.’ ” 3 Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
Wrap-Up
- David’s path to the throne
- Samuel anoints (about 12?)
- Goliath (about 15?)
- He loved Jonathan and probably felt confused about how he would rule at Jonathan’s expense.
- Made a captain and kills his 10,000s
- Married the king’s daughter, Michal
- Runs from Saul – Jonathan talks Saul down
- Runs from Saul – Spares his life in the cave but doesn’t return. This is the one where he lies to the priest and gets all of the priests but one killed and pretends to be crazy to another king.
- Runs from Saul – Spares his life in the valley and then heads to the Philistines and lives with them over a year. Raids other areas and deceives Achish
- Faithful to wait on God’s timing. No short cuts.
- Saul’s life was marked by insecurity and self-pity, and it ended up being the death of him and his family’s kingdom.
- David’s life, while fraught with a lot of blood and some deception, is marked by loving God, worshipping God, and being willing to honor others over himself.
- God noticed David’s excessive killing. 1 Chronicles 22:6-10 (page 457) – 6 Then he called for his son Solomon, and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. 7 And David said to Solomon: “My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house to the name of the Lord my God; 8 but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight. 9 Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be [b]Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’
Father, give me the words to say to these men tomorrow night. I will go through most of this. Some of it I will end up skipping. And I’ll add other things extemporaneously. Whatever I do in the moment, I want to be completely guided by your Holy Spirit. I want to be a seed sower. I pray that you will prepare hearts for tomorrow night. Start with mine. Teach me through these men. Teach me through my own teaching. Holy Spirit, fill that place tomorrow night.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 