2 Samuel 2

Well, good morning, Saylorville! If you brought a copy of scripture with you on this cold winter morning, you can find 2 Samuel, chapter 2. 2 Samuel, chapter 2 as we continue in our series that we’ve been studying, David, the Man Who Captured the Heart of God.

So I have a confession to begin with here. When I became a Christian in 1982, and the very first Bible I ever read cover to cover… was this one. If you can’t see it from your vantage point, it’s called the Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes. It’s a children‘s Bible, and I took my daughter through this in probably about a month’s time, so I could say I went through the Bible real quickly! But I also realized as I studied the real scripture that this was a very much sanitized version of the Bible. And I get it. You don’t want to traumatize your kid by taking him through some of the stuff that David did! And even in the story today… heads getting cut off and things like that… that doesn’t look really good in a children’s Bible.

But I should tell you that David really is front and center in God’s Word. If you look at Abraham, the life of Abraham, there are 14 chapters dedicated to Abraham. There are 12 chapters dedicated to Joseph. There are 11 chapters dedicated to Jacob… all of these patriarchs of ours. 62 chapters of the Bible are dedicated to David… over a thousand verses! Except for Jesus, no other individual is mentioned more than David, the man who captured the heart of God… the greater David, of course, being the Lord Jesus Himself.

So I was in a Bible study the other day with a couple, and this gal said, “I’m familiar with the New Testament, but this David stuff is all new to me,” — and that was really good for me to hear that so as to not presume upon everyone’s knowledge here.

So there’s nothing sanitized however about this version of David. We’ve already seen that, and the Bible doesn’t make any attempt to cover up all of his blemishes, spiritually speaking. In fact, I want to show you Eugene Peterson’s version of 1 Corinthians 10 verses 11-12. Let me show you this right here. Here it is:

1 Corinthians 10:11-12

“These are all warning marker— DANGER!— in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel — they at the beginning, we at the end — and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. (Can I get a…) Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence. It’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.”

Eugene Peterson

And so just to review in the history of Israel, Saul was the first king in the United Kingdom. God rejected him through his disobedience and anointed a very young teenager. He may have only been 12 years old. We don’t know for sure. We know he was very, very young when David was anointed to become the future king of all of Israel. A fast forward. Saul’s kingdom does come to an end. He’s actually killed in a battle with the Philistines King, Achish, and company. Remember King, Achish wanted David and his 600 men who were on the run, hiding in pagan territory, to come with them to battle against the Israelites. David, you know… the other Philistines King said, ‘No, no, no! We ain’t bringing David and his guys with us. They’ll turn on us!’ Remember that? So this was the battle. This is where we left off. The battle takes place. Saul is killed. Jonathan, David’s best friend is killed. Two of his other sons of Saul are killed, and many, many, many others. It’s a horrible defeat! And the kingdom… Saul’s dead. The kingdom is in disarray. David is down south. He’s just gotten word of what’s taken place. That’s where we left off. And he’s a new David… and by new, I mean, David, as we have seen in our study, has not been seeking God for over a year! We talked about this last week.

Some of you are missing God even right now. You’re far away from Me. You remember a time when you were close to Him, but you’re not. We’re still on that. We’re still gonna be looking at that vibe, vein… whatever you wanna call it… this morning.

David now, however, is… he’s turned back to God. And the very first thing he does is seek the Lord. Chapter two… It says this.

2 Samuel 2:1-4

1 “After this David inquired of the LORD, (something he wasn’t doing) “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And He (God) said, “To Hebron.”

2 So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

3 And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron.

4 And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

When they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul…”

We’ll stop there, we’ll just stop there. So David is now set up and anointed as King… of Judah. Now just to… put the map up… to show you this map, There are 12 tribes in Israel, 11 to the north and then the one in the South is Judah. That’s the big purple one you see there. Okay? David has been anointed over that kingdom, the kingdom of one tribe. He’s been promised the kingdom over all the tribes, but he’s only over Judah. And he’s over Judah like this for about seven and a half years. David’s general is a guy by the name of Joab. Joab is a force to be reckoned with, and David will have to deal with him later on. He is the general over the Southern tribe of Judah. Up North, Saul, who’s now dead, had a general. You may have read about him earlier. His name was Abner, and Abner was the general of the North. He quickly… as soon as he finds out Saul is… that he installs Saul’s last remaining son,

Ish-bosheth, as the king over the 11 tribes. And you might think, ‘Whoa! 11 to 1… They got a big ol’ advantage over Judah!’ Again, if you’re looking at the map, you see the purple? That’s Judah! It not only was the biggest tribe, it was the most powerful tribe, the most influential tribe, and the most promise-filled tribe.

So early on in chapter two, and I’m… you will forgive me for summarizing a bunch of this today, but I’m going to do that as we go. Early on in chapter two, Abner… he’s the general to the north of those 11 tribes… plotted to reunite the kingdom, which looks very noble on the surface, but his motivations aren’t noble at all. In fact, what he does is, he comes down… General Abner comes down… south, and General Joab comes up from the south, and they meet together around a pool. And we’re not told any of the details other than the fact that they said, ‘You know what? Let’s do a little… let’s have a gladiatorial battle, your 12 best against my 12 best,’ — and they agree to this! — apparently, a big winner take all deal, and the 24, the 12 on 12, go at each other, and all… it’s a bloodbath! They all die. Now Joab gets the win. That’s David’s general, because 320 of the fighters in the north die, and only 20 of Joab’s soldiers die, but in the process Abner… remember, he’s the general to the north… is running from Asahel. Asahel is Joab’s brother. Asahel is chasing after Abner. Abner even says, ‘What are you chasing me for?’ And in the process, Abner kills Asahel, Joab’s brother, basically signing his own death.

Now, a casual reader of this story would conclude that Abner is a noble guy. But his motives are not of God. They’re not for God, and they’re not from God. They’re for himself. In fact, in chapter 3 and verse 7… I’ll tell you how I know this. You’ve gotta look at the bigger picture. And Abner actually brings in a concubine of Saul’s into his house. You don’t do that unless you’re trying to usurp the throne. They even named the concubine, Rizpah. Her name means “hot coal.” You can go ahead and surmise whatever that means on your own. But no matter, because killing Joab basically sealed his own death. And Joab, now… in the course of time, Joab, the general… David’s general of the South, kills Abner, the general in the North.

And what’s David doing during all this time? What is he doing during this time? In a word… and this is going to be the subject of your challenge today… he’s waiting. He’s waiting. He’s been promised 25 years earlier, he’s going to be king of all Israel, and he’s just become king of the Southern tribe of Judah. He’s waiting for God to fulfill His promise.

Now, meantime… now you’ve got a divided kingdom; 11 tribes in the North, the tribe of Judah to the South. But just the same, chapter 3 verse 1 says:

2 Samuel 3:1

1 “There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew (what?) stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.”

Now… so David actually became stronger and weaker because… stronger as a king and his power and his might, his military might and such, plus he had the hand of God on him. But in [2 Samuel] verses 2 through 5 in chapter 3… we’re not going to read it… but weaker in the sense… that tells us in just those few verses… it tells us, David has six kids with six different women. So if you want to know a little bit about the moral downfall of David… there you go! The Bible doesn’t try to cover up all David’s issues. Never does that. And David never authorized the killing of Abner. Remember it was Joab that killed… Joab, David’s general, killed Abner, and David never authorized it. But David feared Joab. Even though David was a powerful king and a great warrior himself, as I said, Joab was a force to be reckoned with. In fact, we’re told in 2 Samuel 3:39… I’m putting it up there in the NLT to make a little more lucid.

2 Samuel 3:39 (NLT)

3 “And even though I am the (this is David talking, “I am the) anointed king, these two sons of Zeruiah —Joab and Abishai — are too strong for me to control. So may the LORD repay these evil men for their evil deeds.”

… And He surely does! So even though David fears his own general, Joab, the people adore David. Later on in chapter, toward the end of chapter, the third chapter in 2 Samuel, verse 36 says,

2 Samuel 3:36

36 “And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people.”

So that said, that takes us to the fourth chapter. Again… I know I’m summarizing… I hope you can follow all this.

1 Samuel 4:1

1 When Ish-bosheth, (see that there) Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, (Now remember, Abner was his general, Saul’s general, now Ish-bosheth’s general) his courage failed, and all Israel (with him) was dismayed.”

So, if David feared Joab, Ish-bosheth was scared spit-less of Abner! — And now Abner’s dead… and he’s gonna be dead, too!

Now, there’s so much weakness in the Northern Kingdom… couple of bad yahoos come together. They plot and they sneak up on Ish-bosheth. They kill him while he’s in bed, they cut his head off, and they bring the head to David down in Judah, as if to say, ‘Hey look, we took out the king up north! You can unite the kingdom now, were forcing it to come together.’ And what does David do? He has those two guys put to death, because they have usurped their own authority. They’ve killed one of the anointed. And why am I sharing all this with you? I’m sharing with you because while they thought they were doing David a favor by forcing the reunification of the kingdom, they just brought about their own death.

And something else I want you to note here. David never agreed to killing Joab. He never agreed to… killing Abner… or these yahoos killing Ish-bosheth. Yet… this is important… in the sovereignty of God all of this happened for David to become the king of the United Kingdom. And you say, ‘Wow! That’s a big mess for the promise of God to come about!’ But that’s the whole point! When we talk about God being sovereign, we’re saying He’s over everything, right? And when we say He’s over everything, what does that even mean? It means exactly this. God uses a lot of messed up circumstances to bring about His glory.

And sometimes when you look at your life and you look at the people around you and you look at people messing things up and doing stuff to you or whatever, and the cause of Christ is, ‘Oh… my goodness! I can’t believe this is happening! Everything‘s coming down! It’s coming down!‘ No, it’s NOT! God is still God! Amen? And He will use even the sinful acts of people to bring about His will, even though He doesn’t… He’s not justifying those acts, but He does things to bring about… His sovereignty includes good and bad. This is why… this is all pregnant within the word of the scripture [that] so many of you have memorized.

[Romans 8:28]

28 “And we know that all things work” (what?) “together [for good…”]

“Together,” and that’s the word, “together.” We say it so glibly. Don’t say it glibly! — because together incorporates good, bad, sinful, ugly, beautiful, and whatever else, God has to do.

So all that said, that moves us to chapter five. And in chapter five… because of all this, David becomes king of it all. It says that:

2 Samuel 5:1-

1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh.

2 In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the LORD said to you, You shall be shepherd of My people Israel, (Notice, these 11 tribes to the North, they’re recognizing the promise of God here.) and you shall be prince over Israel.’”

3 So 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. (What? All 12 tribes!)

4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.”

You wanna know how long David lived? — 70 years. It’s right there… 40 years as King. David, at this point, is 37 years old. Why do I point that out to you? — because the Bible doesn’t give us a chronological storyline of David. We know he reigned 40 years. We don’t know every detail. We know all the details in his life that God wants us to know. It’s the same principle of Deuteronomy 29:29 which says:

Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our (kids) children forever…”

Right? David waited some 25 years from the time he was anointed as a little boy before ascending to the throne of the kingdom of all Israel. So much of what David waited for was coming to pass. He would even have a house built for him, and I’m sure it was beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as the one that God was going to build for him. That’s for the next chapter.

None of us like to wait. Can I get an ‘Amen’ on that? None of us like to wait, not even David. Psalm 13, verse one.

Psalm 13:1, “How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?”

What are you waiting for? We wait for all kinds of things, and some of you are waiting for them now. You’re waiting, some of you are waiting for love. And yet Solomon says, don’t stir that thing up until it’s time.

[Song of Songs 2:7, “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.“]

Some of you are waiting for all of your goals, ’cause you’ve got a five year plan, you’ve got a 10 year plan… and yet the writer of Proverbs says:

[Proverbs 28:19] ‘He who works the land will have plenty of bread, but the one who chases fantasies gets nothing.’

Some of you are waiting for children. And yet Psalm 127 verse 1 says:

Psalm 127:3, ‘Children are a gift from God.’

Some of you are waiting for a position, right? You want a new position. And yet, again, the psalmist says in Psalm 75 verses 6 and 7:

Psalm 75:6-7

6 ‘Exaltation does not come from the east or the west or the south,

7 but God is judge, puts down one, lifts up another.’

Ever read that?

Some of you are waiting for retirement. And then you find out that these (Ecclesiastes 12:1) are the “evil days.” You know… you don’t see as well… you don’t hear as well. Your bones ache. I mean, you older ones more than me, but you know what I’m talking about, right? The older you get, the better you were! You want to know what all those things I just went through have in common? — be it love, goals, children, position, retirement? Not one of them have a promise attached to them. — Not one.

But here’s a promise you can take to the bank. Jesus is coming again! You can take that to the bank! The Bible says it. We believe it. That settles it. 2 Timothy 4 says that those of us who are waiting for His return, we love His appearing. We know He’s coming. The promise is set.

We get the crown of righteousness. We get a crown given to us! — for being anticipatory in our faith!

[2 Timothy 4:8, “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”]

Now, I don’t have a lot of pet peeves, okay? — but expiration dates is one of them. Now you go through our refrigerator or our cupboard. If it’s got an expiration date, I’m chucking that thing right now! — but not my wife. She’s cutting mold off of cheese! She’s drinking milk that’s 10 days beyond the date! ‘It’s creamy Italian… 2015. Should we try it?’ ‘NO! No, we’re not going to try that!’ Listen to this. God doesn’t put expiration dates on His promises, and you’ve got to remember that, because that’s what Peter meant when he says that we get tired of waiting. “Where is the promise of his coming?” Right?

[2 Peter 3:4, “They will say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”]

He’s coming! Just because you have to wait… and in the course of so doing, He’s not willing that any of you perish but that all should come to repentance, so He’s bringing more people in.

[2 Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.“]

So here’s how we’ll button it up. While you’re waiting, for whatever you’re waiting for, get close to God. For over a year, David was far from God… far from God, lining up with the pagans, finding help with them, not seeking Him, not going to His priests… but not anymore!

Some of you are like Peter, metaphorically speaking, where at the point where Jesus was tried, before His crucifixion, it says:

[Matthew 26:58, “And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end.”]

… but Peter was following Jesus. And you would say that. You’d say, ‘Well, I’m doing… I’m following Jesus,’  but the rest of the sentence says, “…at a distance.” That’s where you’re content… ‘Oh, I follow Him, but it’s gotta be at a distance. I don’t wanna get that close.’ Get close to God and stay there… in your waiting.

Secondly, stop trusting man. I know you know that’s what you’re supposed to not do… double negative… whatever. But you’re doing it, anyway!

There’s a glaring omission in this story that I just summarized. You know what the glaring omission is? — the Philistines! So I’m going to remind you what we’ve been studying. Remember, the Philistines were arming themselves, amassing their armies, all these kings coming together. ‘We’re going to put a beat down on Israel! Come on David!’ Achish, the king said. ‘You’re my trusted guy, you and your 600 guys. Let’s go get ’em!’ David said, ‘All right. I’m with ya!’ Oh, my goodness! Remember the story? The other Philistine kings, just before they go to battle said, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! You let him come… he’s a Jew! He’s gonna turn on us! We’re gonna lose!’ He does not get to go. You remember that? Achish feels terrible about it ’cause he trusts David! ‘David, take your guys. You gotta go,’ and David sort of pouted. He was fakin’ it, ’cause he was just… ‘Whew!‘ Didn’t have to go after his own people! David leaves, and the kings go on to fight. That was the battle that Saul, and Jonathan and his other sons died in!

So here’s where my imagination went. I think it fits even though it’s not in the text. What happened then? Those Philistines just destroy Israel, put them in disarray. Saul’s dead. Jonathan, David’s best friend, is dead. All kinds of people… dead. They’ve taken over the southern part… It’s terrible!

But can you imagine Achish, the king, who had trusted David? He’s going back to Ziklag, David’s town, you know. That’s the one that got burned down. David ran after the wives, and kids and stuff, and got it back. Remember that? So he goes back to Ziklag and… No David. He’s going back to… ‘David…! ‘We just had a great victory! We killed Saul! We killed him! We killed so many people. We’re taking over here. Where’d you go?’ There’s no David. It’s not even in the text. He had the… we know he left. I’m just imagining Achish saying, ‘Where’s David? Where’d David go?’

—but that would be the wrong question. The wrong question would be ‘Where did David go?’ The right question would be, ‘Why did David go?’ He’d been trusting those pagans for a couple of years almost. The reason he went was because he no longer was trusting in man. That’s why. That’s why. That’s why Jeremiah, the Prophet, later on would say:

[Jeremiah 17:5] “Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength (who takes confidence in flesh) whose heart turns away from the LORD.“]

Have you ever read that? And that’s some of you. Your confidence is not in God. It’s not in His words, not His promises. You’re trusting somebody else. You’re relying on this. You’re relying on that, and sometimes God has to just pry it out of our hands so that we’re not trusting it any longer. Stop trusting men!

And finally, wait for God. Wait for God. You say, ‘While you’re waiting?’ Yeah. Wait for God.

Our own Keith Carlson, in a study recently said to his group:

“Just because it’s the right thing, doesn’t mean it’s the right time.” Keith Carlson

It’s a good line. We’re all about God’s timing, and our times are in His hands, right? You wait for all kinds of things. So why not wait for God? — because regardless of how long it takes, you know He’s gonna show up. Amen? And despite all of evil’s resistance, God’s kingdom is coming. And if His kingdom is coming, so is the King! He’s coming, too! You trust his sovereignty in it all. [Daniel 4:35] And you say with the psalmist in Psalm 130:5:

Psalm 130:5, “… my soul waits for the Lord, and in His word do I trust.”

And in the meantime, a much more familiar passage many of you have memorized. Isaiah put it best:

[Isaiah 40:31] “… those who wait on the Lord, (You should underline that word in your Bible.  Those wait on the Lord) will renew their strength. They’ll mount up with the wings like [eagles] they’ll walk and not be [weary;] they’ll run and not [faint.]”

That word “wait” is chocked full of truth. It doesn’t mean to just sit there and spin your wheels or twiddly your thumbs. That Hebrew word “wait” literally carries the idea of “something intertwining itself with another.” That’s the picture of the word. It means you’re seeking God, you’re holding on to God, you’re claiming God’s promises, you’re trusting God for the timing… His timing. What ever you’re waiting for is gonna come to pass, and then you trust Him that it will come to pass. You know it will if it’s attached to a promise. Amen? You know it will [come to pass] if it’s attached to a promise.

Here’s something you don’t have to wait for. You don’t have to wait to have your sins forgiven. You don’t have to wait to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You don’t have to wait to acknowledge you are a sinner separated from God. You don’t have to wait to believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and rose again. You don’t have to wait. You place your faith in Him with all of your heart. And then you can wait, because the wait will be worth it. Let’s pray.

God, that’s our prayer. Today, so many of us are waiting for so many things. Some have promises attached from your words, some don’t. But help us to intertwine ourselves with You, Lord. To be so close to You, clinging to You, knowing that You’ll never let us go, and that Your Son, Jesus, is coming back, and that’s going to take care of all the problems right there, so help us to wait in a way that honors You, and save those who are here who have never trusted in Jesus to be their personal Lord and Savior. Jesus, the greater David, who never messed up, died and rose again for our sins, even as we heard testified in the baptismal. We pray, Lord, that there’s someone here in this room, watching online who doesn’t know Jesus, make today the day of your salvation. You don’t have to wait. And then whatever you’re waiting for will be worth it. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. Let’s stand.