David, Man of Sorrow, Man of Action
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
This morning, we are continuing our look at the life of David. This morning, we come to the book of 2 Samuel, which in the Jewish Bible 1st and 2nd Samuel are combined into one book. So we are actually continuing the story of David.
You may remember that last week we saw that Saul, Jonathan and Malki-Shua were all killed along with Saul’s armor-bearer and much of his army.
You may also remember that at the time of Saul’s death, David was living at Ziklag which was in the land of the Philistines. You may also remember that David and his men were NOT involved in the battle against Isreal. In fact, they were chasing down the Amalekites who had burned their city and taken there families captive. David and his men went and defeated them and rescued their families and possessions.
Now we pick up the reading in 2 Samuel 1:1. If you have your Bibles, I want to encourage you to turn there with me.
After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.
David and his men have returned to Ziklag. No doubt, they were busy getting things rebuilt.
We are given a timeline—they had been back at Ziklag for two days.
On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor.
Here’s another time marker—”on the third day. . .”
A strange man arrived at Ziklag.
His clothes are torn and he had dust on this head. There could be two ways to interpret this passage:
—First, it could be saying that his clothes were tattered and his body was dirty, which is exactly how you would expect him to look.
—Or, secondly, torn clothes and dust on a person’s head was a traditional sign of grief.
I prefer the second idea, but either are possible interpretations. Maybe it was a bit of both.
When he saw David he fell to the ground and payed his respect to David.
“Where have you come from?” David asked him. He answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.”
David asks the man where he came from.
The man tells him that he has just escaped from the Israelite camp.
Can you imagine what ran through David’s mind? He wants to know how the battle was going! And that’s what he asks, look at verse 4.
“What happened?” David asked. “Tell me.” “The men fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”
David wants to know what happened.
So the man tells him:
—The men of Israel fled from battle.
—Many of them died!
—In fact, King Saul and his son Jonathan are both dead!
This is NOT good news to David. Even though Saul had tried to kill him, he and Jonathan were very close. And the actual truth is Saul had been a great teacher to David, and in many ways Saul had been like another father to David.
Now David hears that they are dead. He has one major question, are you sure? Look at verse 5.
Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
So the young man spins a story, that he believes will endear him to David.
NOTE: If you were with us when we saw how Saul and Jonathan died, then you’ll immediately notice that this man’s story is vastly different.
“I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” the young man said, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and their drivers in hot pursuit.
He says he happened to be on Mount Gilboa on the day of battle.
He said he saw Saul leaning on his spear, with the chariots and there drivers were in hot pursuit.
You may remember, that according to 1 Samuel 31, Saul asks his armorbearer to kill him, but he won’t. So Saul falls on his own sword. You may also remember that it was NOT chariots pursuing him, but archers.
When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’ “He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ “ ‘An Amalekite,’ I answered. “Then he said to me, ‘Stand here by me and kill me! I’m in the throes of death, but I’m still alive.’ “So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.”
He says Saul turned around and saw him, and asked him to identify himself.
The man tells aul he is an Amalekite.
Then, supposedly, Saul asked the man to kill him—because Saul knew he was in the throes of death.
Then the man says he knew Saul couldn’t survive!
So the man took the crown and the band (from his arm).
And the man says he brought them to David.
Keep in mind, this man believes that telling David he killed Saul would give him some positive status with David. Because he believes David sees Saul as an enemy. The next actions seem to contradict that thought.
Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
They tore their clothes—a sign of mourning.
They wept—again, a sign of sadness or mourning.
They fasted. This was a custom to pay respect for those who have died.
They were mourning for:
—Saul
—Jonathan
—The army of the Lord—or Israel’s army.
—And for the nation.
They are grieving because of all who had fallen on the sword.
Now as the man told his story, David begins to pickup on some things, so he began to ask the man some questions.
David said to the young man who brought him the report, “Where are you from?” “I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite,” he answered.
David asks, “Where did you say you are from?”
The answer is, “I am the son of a foreigner, and Amalekite.”
Remember that David had just finished fighting the Amalekites.
David asked him, “Why weren’t you afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”
David’s view of Saul was that Yahweh had anointed him as king—so to kill Saul was to go against God!
So David wants to know why this man wasn’t afraid to kill Saul?
Then David called one of his men and said, “Go, strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died. For David had said to him, “Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’ ”
David gives the order for the Amalekite to be killed!
And that is exactly what happens.
Apparently David told the Amalekite that he had testified against himself when he said he killed the Lord’s anointed.
Learn the Lament for Saul & Jonathan
Learn the Lament for Saul & Jonathan
When you come to verse 17, David commands the people of Judah to learn the lament of the bow
David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):
The last part of chapter 1 (verses 19-27) is a copy of the lament that they gave.
“A gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel. How the mighty have fallen! “Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice. “Mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, may no showers fall on your terraced fields. For there the shield of the mighty was despised, the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil. “From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied. Saul and Jonathan— in life they were loved and admired, and in death they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. “Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold. “How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights. I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women. “How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!”
David Anointed King Over Judah
David Anointed King Over Judah
David comes before the Lord to see if he should move to one of the towns of Judah—thus he’s moving out of the land of the Philistines. Look at verse 1 of chapter 2.
In the course of time, David inquired of the Lord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked. The Lord said, “Go up.” David asked, “Where shall I go?” “To Hebron,” the Lord answered.
Should he move to one of the towns of Judah?
The Lord says, “Yes!”
David asks to which town he should go to?
The Lord says that David should go to Hebron.
Hebron stood on the highest point in Judah, and was about 25 miles northeast of Ziklag and 19 miles south southeast from Jerusalem.
So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David also took the men who were with him, each with his family, and they settled in Hebron and its towns.
David moves his family, and his entire base of operation to Hebron—which is what God commanded him to do.
Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah. When David was told that it was the men from Jabesh Gilead who had buried Saul,
The men of Judah come and anoint David as king over Judah. This is the second time he’s anointed as king.
He also learned that the men of Jabesh Gilead had buried Saul. So almost immediately he begins to make political maneuvers to enlarge his position.
he sent messengers to them to say to them, “The Lord bless you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him. May the Lord now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this. Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me king over them.”
Jabesh Gilead is in the territory of Gilead east of the Jordan River. If you look at the Sea of Galilee, Jabesh Gilead is south and east of the sea of Galilee—and on the east side of the Jordan River. Hebron is way south of Jabesh, and south of Jerusalem in the territory of Judah.
David sends Messengers to Jabesh Gilead:
—He asks Yahweh to bless them because they showed Saul kindness by burying him (and his sons).
—David wants God to who them kindness and faithfulness.
—Then he tells them that he too will show them favor because of their faithfulness to Saul.
—He encourages them to be strong.
—And he tells them that he has been anointed him king over Judah.
So What?
So What?
This chapter helps to demonstrate again how truly different David was from Saul. This has actually been a theme throughout 1 Samuel.
The biggest difference we see is in their view of Yahweh.
For much of his rule, Saul saw Yahweh as Samuel’s God more than his personal God (1 Sam. 15).
For David, Yahweh was David’s personal God.
Saul killed the priest Nob
David sought God’s leadership through the Israel’s priests.
So the question that we face today is this: how personal is your relationship with God?
In John 15, Jesus tells His disciples that He calls them “friends.” Look at John 15:13-14.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
Jesus calls us “friends.” But He expects us to do what He commanded.
David is going to be called “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14) because he sought to do what God said to do.
Today, it is about obedience. I know that this has been a reoccurring them throughout out study of Samuel. But honestly, it is a major theme throughout God’s Word.
Noah’s obedience allowed God’s creation to endure.
Abraham’s obedience was credited to him as righteousness.
We could go through every person mentioned in Hebrews 11 and the one thing we will discover is that faith in God is inseparable from obedience, and obedience is inseparable from action. That is why James wrote:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?
The answer to the rhetorical question is: Absolutely NOT! James then gives some examples of how this is true. Then in verse 17 we read:
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
So you see obedience to God’s Word is a major theme throughout God’s Word! And that means that it should be a major them in our lives.
So this morning, I close with the next verse in James 2 18
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
Let’s live out our faith by how we live!