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2 Samuel 2—24
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Scripture Reading: 2 Sam. 4; 2 Sam. 5
In this message we will continue to consider the matters related to David's being crowned by the tribe of Judah, in particular the matter of the war between the house of Saul and the house of David (2:1—4:12). Then we will see that David was crowned by the other tribes (5:1-5) and established by God as king with his kingdom exalted for the sake of God's people Israel (vv. 6-25).
Abner was the one who had taken Ish-bosheth and made him king over all Israel (2:8-9). When Ish-bosheth heard of Abner's death in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was dismayed (4:1).
Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son whose name was Mephibosheth. When the boy's nurse received the news that Saul and Jonathan had died in the battle against the Philistines, she took up the child and fled. As she hurried to flee, Mephibosheth fell and was made lame (v. 4).
The two sons of Rimmon the Beerithite murdered Ish-bosheth and brought his head to David in Hebron to please him (vv. 2-3, 5-8). They said to him, "Jehovah has granted my lord the king to be avenged this day of Saul and of his seed" (v. 8b).
Instead of being pleased, David reacted negatively and sentenced the two murderers to death (vv. 9-12). First, he told them about what he had done to the one who thought that he was bringing good news by telling him that Saul had died. Then David commanded his young men, and they slew the two murderers.
According to 5:1-5 David gained the heart of the people and was crowned by all the other tribes.
David was crowned by the other tribes in Hebron (vv. 1-3). They came to him there and said, "Here we are; we are your bone and your flesh. Even previously, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And Jehovah said to you, You shall shepherd My people Israel, and you shall be ruler over Israel" (vv. 1b-2). When all the elders of Israel came to King David at Hebron, he made a covenant with them before Jehovah, and they anointed him king over Israel (v. 3).
Verses 4 and 5 tell us that David was thirty years old when he began to reign.
David reigned for forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years (vv. 4b-5).
David was established by God as king with his kingdom exalted for the sake of God's people Israel (vv. 6-25). Here we see that David's kingdom was established by God. Saul, on the contrary, had tried to exalt himself with his monarchy, but he did not succeed. With David, God did everything to establish and exalt him and his kingdom for the sake of God's people. From this we need to learn that if we do anything for ourselves, God will not exalt us, but if we live our lives for God's kingdom and God's people, God will exalt us for His people's sake. Therefore, we should not seek any kind of self-exaltation. If we do, we will suffer and be put down (Matt. 23:12). Saul tried his best to exalt himself, but in just one day Saul and three of his sons were terminated. On the same day that God was putting down Saul, He was exalting David (1 Sam. 30—31).
The history concerning David, particularly the record in 1 Samuel 18:1 through 2 Samuel 5:25, reveals that our God is sovereign. It may seem that He is silent and that He is hiding Himself, but He is everywhere and with everyone. I believe, for example, that God motivated all the lords of the Philistines to complain about David, making it necessary for Achish to send David away (1 Sam. 29:1-11). This rescued David from the dilemma of having to fight with the Philistines against Israel. From this we can see that God was doing everything behind the scenes, directing everyone to accomplish His purpose for the carrying out of His economy. Everything, everyone, and every situation were in the hand of the God in whom David trusted. David did nothing, but God did everything behind the scenes. As a result, Saul was put down, and David was exalted. After the death of Saul, "there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; but David became continually stronger, and the house of Saul became continually weaker" (2 Sam. 3:1). Throughout the books of 1 and 2 Samuel we can see that God was moving and acting all the time in every way for Himself, His kingdom, His people, and the accomplishing of His economy. Without anyone seeing or knowing, God takes care of everything according to His will to accomplish His economy (Eph. 1:11).
A number of matters in 2 Samuel 5:6-25 are evidence that God had established David and had exalted his kingdom. The first of these is recorded in verses 6 through 8, where we see that David was established by God in his victory over the Jebusites.
David's being established by God is seen also in the building of Zion as his stronghold and of Jerusalem (v. 9). Furthermore, "David became greater and greater; and Jehovah, the God of hosts, was with him" (v. 10). This indicates that David had God's presence. In serving the Lord, we need to have the assurance that we have His presence. If we are really following the Lord for the fulfillment of His economy, we will certainly have His presence. If in any matter we do not have the inner sense that the Lord is with us, we must be careful and consider our way. Saul first lost the presence of God (1 Sam. 16:14). That should have helped him to reconsider his way, but he did not. In the Lord's recovery, whenever we do anything, we must take care of the sense of the Lord's presence.
Hiram king of Tyre sent David materials and workmen for the building of a palace for him (2 Sam. 5:11-12). This was a further strong evidence that David's being established as king over Israel was really of God. Such an assurance is very important and is necessary in our working for the Lord. We all need to learn the lesson of caring for these two things: the inward presence of God and the outward confirmation in our environment.
According to verses 13 through 16, in Jerusalem David begot more children, including Solomon.
Finally, David's being established by God was seen in his repeated victories over the Philistines (vv. 17-25). When David inquired of Jehovah, asking whether he should go up against the Philistines, Jehovah said to him, "Go up, for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into your hand" (v. 19). David struck the Philistines and said, "Jehovah has broken forth upon my enemies before me like the breaking forth of a flood" (v. 20b). David continued to do as Jehovah had commanded him and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.
Israel's two most troubling enemies were the Amalekites and the Philistines. Even before Israel entered into the good land, they were frustrated by the Amalekites. In Exodus 17 the children of Israel fought a war against the Amalekites in a particular way under two leaders — Moses and Joshua. In typology these two leaders signify Christ in two aspects. The people of Israel fought against the Amalekites under Joshua, signifying the Spirit within us, and under Moses, signifying the Christ who is in the heavens praying for us. The pneumatic Christ as the life-giving Spirit, as the reality of Christ in resurrection, is living and working within us, and the ascended Christ is interceding for us. The Amalekites signify our flesh, our most bothersome enemy. We should never think that we can overcome the flesh. However, by Christ as the Spirit within and as our Intercessor in the heavens, this enemy can be defeated.
Israel's other enemy was the Philistines, who were very close neighbors of Israel. At times they became somewhat mixed up with Israel. Eventually, David, the one who killed Goliath and defeated the Philistines, became friends with Achish, a king of the Philistines. In typology, the Philistines signify the worldly Christians.
The Philistines were very close to God's people, yet they were worldly and handled the things of God in a worldly way. Consider how they sent back the ark of God. According to God's ordination, the ark should not have been moved by any means other than by living priests, but the Philistines caused it to be carried on a cart. The ark, which represents God Himself, should never have been carried in such a way. To use a cart and two cows in order to send the ark back to Israel was the worldly way. The Philistines knew something about the divine things. They offered a trespass offering to appease God's anger, but they did this in a worldly way. Today, we are troubled mainly by these two things: the flesh within and the worldly Christianity in our environment.
Everything concerning David was arranged under God's sovereign direction to accomplish one thing: the building up of His kingdom in His elect through the proper person. At that time the proper person was David, but today it should be the people in the Lord's recovery. In every age God has a particular thing to accomplish. In this age, the twentieth century, the particular thing that God intends to accomplish is to recover everything that has been lost and is missing in today's worldly Christianity.
