If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to the book of 2 Samuel as we look at a few verses from chapter 1 and then from chapter 5. This evening, as you know, we are going to be continuing in our study of the life of David, and for those of you who have been journeying with us up until this part you will have realized that this man after God’s own heart, this man who trusted in the rock of his salvation, who sought to be led by the great Shepherd of the sheep, who cried out, sometimes daily, he cried out and pleaded with God for daily mercy and of course also to be preserved, his life to be preserved from his enemies. But he’s the same man, he’s the same man that is filled with so many foibles. He gets caught up in fear and anxiety. He makes these decisions that he then, at critical junctures of his life, he needs to backtrack as he comes before the Lord and seeks wisdom. And then in the next moment he sings of the steadfast love of the Lord and he thanks God for life and breath and movement and expresses his desire to worship and adore his covenant King.
That’s what we’ve seen up until this point. Most of that is obviously expressed very clearly in the psalms. That’s what we’ve seen in the last few weeks even. And part of the reason for starting this way is it reminds us that there is a complexity to our humanity, isn’t there. You know, this side of the fall, there is a complexity to how I operate from day to day, even moment to moment. There is a complexity to the way that you live your life from day to day and moment to moment. And it reminds us what Scripture says – “Who can understand the heart of man?” Even as believers who have tasted of the goodness and the mercy and the grace and the love of God, we waver, don’t we? We are inconsistent in our devotion, in our love, in our praise, not just from day to day but really sometimes minute to minute. But that’s who we are in this fallen world.
But the point is, we need to be mindful that as we are journeying through the life of David that it is God who is patient and longsuffering. God is the one who is patient and longsuffering. His love and His grace and His purpose are not as we imagine. He does not deal with us as we ought to be dealt with and He does and He is working all things toward His glorious end. And it’s meant to be a reminder of what the apostle Paul tells us in the New Testament. It is by grace that you have been saved. It is the gift of God. It is not your own doing. In other words, you don’t bring anything to the table. It’s not on the basis of your works. He’s weaving this magnificent tapestry, intersecting the lives of every human being, particularly the tapestry and the picture of the electing Christ. Friends, it is God who has set His love upon you and it’s He who continues to lovingly draw you to Himself as He shapes and He forms us into the likeness of His beloved Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as this tapestry is being woven, it’s amid the frayed ends of my life, amid the frayed ends of your life that God is doing this beautiful picture that we will only see one day in glory in heaven.
And that really ought to cause us to sit back and to be astonished and overwhelmed with God’s covenant commitment to never leave us nor forsake us for those who are in Christ Jesus. He uses every moment to shape us. You remember a couple of weeks ago that was part of the theme. He uses every moment to shape us and to conform us. And that’s what we are going to continue to see as we continue in the life of David looking at these passages this evening. So if you are with me, 2 Samuel chapter 1, and then we’ll look at a couple of verses from 2 Samuel chapter 5. Before we read God’s Word, let’s go to the Lord in prayer. Let’s pray.
Our gracious and merciful and loving Father, we pray now that You would pour out Your Spirit, Lord that You would pour out Your Spirit to open up the text of Scripture and Lord that You prepare our hearts and minds to receive truth from You, Lord that You would impact us once again, using the Word of truth to shape, to form, and to bring us in a deeper and more abiding love for our beloved Savior, the Lord Jesus. And so Father, do the work that You have promised to do and continue that this evening, we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
Second Samuel chapter 1, reading from verse 1. This is the Word of God:
“After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. And on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul’s camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. David said to him, ‘Where do you come from?’ And he said to him, ‘I have escaped from the camp of Israel.’ And David said to him, ‘How did it go? Tell me.’ And he answered, ‘The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.’ Then David said to the young man who told him, ‘How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?’ And the young man who told him said, ‘By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ And he said to me, ‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ So I stood beside 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 armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.’
Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.”
And then if you’d like to turn over just a few pages to 2 Samuel chapter 5, which is going to be the focus of this evening; 2 Samuel chapter 5, reading from verse 1:
“Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, ‘Behold, we are your bone and flesh. 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, and you shall be prince over Israel.’’ 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. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.”
We praise God for His holy, inerrant and inspired Word. Amen.
Well as of 2 Samuel chapter 1, the passage that we read this evening, it’s been about fifteen years since the Lord rejected Saul as Israel’s king and had Samuel anoint young David as the future king of Israel. On that day, we’re also told in 1 Samuel chapter 15 and 16 that the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and came upon David from that day forward. And if you’ve been tracking David’s life, you’ll know that between then, when he was anointed and where we are in our text, David has actually lived quite a full life. Just a few snippets – He single handedly, you remember, killed Goliath. When no other military trained expert would step on the field of battle, here’s young David stepping on, knowing that it’s the Lord who goes ahead of him to fight the battle. And then on countless occasions, he leads and he fights in battles, knowing again that this is in the Lord’s hands. And then of course there’s numerous attempts on his life that he evades, many of them from the hands of King Saul.
But it’s only after the death of Saul, and that’s at the end of 1 Samuel – go and read that for yourself – after the death of Saul and after David has taken time to grieve and to lament Saul’s death, he has received this news, you remember, from a rather unlikely source – this unnamed Amalekite – who in some sense, arrogantly and pridefully comes into the presence of David to announce the death of the King of Israel and his son, and of course countless others. We are not told in Scripture as to whether he was thinking David might celebrate and rejoice at the death of Saul, but there’s none of that in the text. Immediately David is struck and he tears his clothes along with everyone else that’s in the room with him and he is grieving, he’s weeping, and he’s lamenting the death of the king of Israel, an image bearer of God together with the countless others from the massacre that day.
And so in 2 Samuel chapter 2, we read of how David begins the process of asking God where does he need to be going to. Now that he is free, he can come out of hiding; where can he go to? Where is he to go to in the tribe of Judah on the land of Judah? Now Judah – you ask the question, “Why Judah?” Well that was his people; that was his home. That was the people that he was familiar with and so it would have been a natural transition for him to be accepted and of course for him to land. And so in 2 Samuel chapter 2 we read of how the Lord directs David to go to the city of Hebron in Judah. And it’s here that the men from across Judah, they gather in the city of Hebron to anoint David as king over the house of Judah. That which Samuel had prophesied way back when was beginning to unfold, and yet had not yet reached the fullness of what was intended. And yet it’s a new season, isn’t it? It’s a new season that is filled with wonderful opportunities of peace and flourishing and prosperity – or is it?
Now if you go and read chapters 2 through 4, you’ll see a rather different story that unfolds between his anointing at Judah and of course his anointing over Israel. In chapters 2 through 4, there’s tremendous amount of intrigue that’s going on. There’s conniving. There’s power grabbing between the family and the house of Saul and some of the military experts that were under Saul at the time. And then of course there are the alliances that are made. There’s murder and there’s lots of death and there’s new alliances that are formed in light of the deaths and the murders of the leaders at the time. And all of this is part of – and this is a critical verse in 2 Samuel chapter 3; 2 Samuel chapter 3 verse 1 – all of this is part of a protracted civil war between the house of Saul and the house of David where David grew stronger and stronger and the house of Saul became weaker and weaker. Ultimately, it details God bringing people to the end of themselves and it details God bringing people to the place where they acknowledge, where they submit, and where they bow before the Lord’s anointed, King David. God’s patient grace is clearly working out the purpose and plan that had been spoken of many years earlier.
Now I certainly hope that you understand that this is not just about Israel, is it? This is my story. This is your story. This is the story of every single Christian as God patiently waits and works in us. He is working powerfully by His Word and by His Spirit to get us to the place where we cease fighting within ourselves and we get to the place where we acknowledge our need, we acknowledge that we are sinners, He brings us to the place where we repent and that we submit and bow before the Lord’s anointed. In this case, it’s King Jesus. And so everything that is transpiring here in these chapters between what we read is actually pointing us to what is fulfilled and finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. And so we see in our text how God works all things to humble us before His almighty hand until at last we come to 2 Samuel chapter 5 verse 1, the passage that we read, where all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron to make him king at Israel. And there’s two points that I want us to consider, that I want us to draw out of these five verses. I want us to consider, firstly, the reasons offered by the leaders of Israel to David as to why they wanted him king. So the reasons offered. And then secondly, I want you just to notice the reign commences. He is enthroned and the reign commences.
And so firstly, the reasons offered, and we see this in verses 1 and 2 of the text, chapter 5. One of the beautiful things and the features of holy Scripture is its marvelous interconnectedness. And I love the fact that the day that is before us, the events that are transpiring in these five verses, these were already alluded to by Moses way back in Deuteronomy chapter 17. In Deuteronomy 17, if you go and read it, you’ll read there that even then God, through Moses, He laid down some very clear and very strict guidelines for when Israel chooses a king over themselves, and we’ll pick up on that and speak to that in just a little while. In other words, God was very clear that these things will take place, and if that’s going to take place, well here’s the guidelines.
And so we read in verse 1, “Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron.” Now I’m sure you understand that that does not mean that every single person that was living throughout the nation of Israel, in all the tribes, that they all descended on Hebron to be part of this celebration that was taking place, but rather, that they were there via their representatives. Look at verse 3. “So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron.” Now you should be quite familiar with this. This is the principle of representation. In other words, the elders of Israel represented the people of Israel as they came to Hebron to anoint David as king over the entire nation. And of course, the reason you should be familiar with this is because that’s an integral part of Presbyterian church government – that the elders represent the members, having been elected by the members, to serve in that capacity.
At any rate, the elders of the northern territory of Israel, they came down to Hebron in Judah and they offer three reasons, three reasons why they want David to be their king. The first reason is this – they want David because of their kinship with him, their relation to David. You see it in verse 1b where the elders say, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh.” Now this picks up on what we mentioned in Deuteronomy 17. The elders were there primarily because they had already identified David to be part of the broader nation of Israel. In other words, that he was one of them. In Deuteronomy 17 it says this. “You may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose, one from among your brothers, not a foreigner.” In other words, that’s a clear stipulation and these elders who had descended from Israel upon Judah to the city of Hebron knew that David was one of them. He was from the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the twelve tribes. And part of the reason for that is that they are interconnected. They know that David has their back. He has a vested interest in his own people. And so that’s part of what is transpiring here.
But I want you to notice what they say. They say, “We are your bone and flesh,” not, “You are our bone and flesh,” but, “We are your bone and flesh.” Now that’s the language of Genesis 2, isn’t it? It should be taking our minds back to the very beginning where you have Adam and Eve and one of the first things Adam says when he sees Eve is, he says, “This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” There’s a sense in which, “This is the one I am going to care for, that I am going to look after, I am going to lead.” And of course that’s part of the mandate within the bounds of marriage. I love what Matthew Henry has to say in this regard. He says this, taking on the voice of the character, he says, “David, we know that you consider us your bone and flesh for you have shown concern for us as a man has for his own flesh.” In other words, “We have watched how you have interacted, how you have protected us, how you have led us, how you have looked after us. You’ve had our best interest, but you are our bone and flesh which actually implies we now want to submit to you. We are submitting to you. We’re coming under you for you to take care of us, to lead us, to protect us and to take us on the way that God has ordained.”
Friends, let me bring this a little bit closer to home. This is what we get to plead as believers. This is what we get to plead when we take Christ as our King. “We are Your bone and flesh.” Hebrews chapter 2 verse 17 reminds us that “Christ was made like us in every respect that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest.” He took on human flesh. He became like us so that having accomplished what we could never accomplish, and to be seated at the right hand side of God the Father Almighty, as we submit to Him we can identify and know that He is going to lead us, He is going to care for us, He is going to have compassion and mercy and grace on us, and He will lead us all the way home. Pretty much what these elders were saying to David in terms of their expectations of him. That’s good news as we lay down our lives and as we entrust it to our beloved Savior, not just the Savior but also our King. So that’s the first reason is their kinship, their relation to David.
The second reason for wanting David as their king is his track record. His track record. We see that in verse 2 where they say, “In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel.” There’s a sense in which you know that when they are saying this they have been watching David for a long, long, long, long time and they’ve been observing particularly how he has performed as a leader in battle. He has been fighting and leading the people of God and in bringing the majority of them back home. David led them out against their enemies and he brought them back safe. That is what a king is meant to do. That is what David has been doing without the title of king. And that was all part of his training and shaping and his preparation for this moment that is before us. And they recognize it. One commentator said that they recognize that he has been there, and I quote, “their savior,” and that’s what they want from here on out.
Now again, let me bring this closer to home because for each of us as Christians, each of us as Christians, I want to encourage you to remember all that God has done for us in Christ Jesus in His life and in His work. Remember the track record. That’s what they were looking back on for David and that’s what we as Christians are to look back on with regard to what Christ has accomplished in His life and in His death for us. And so what we see is that Jesus Christ took on our humanity. He humbled Himself and He perfectly obeyed the law, both active obedience and passive obedience. He did it perfectly because we could never do that. And then of course He willingly laid down His life without sin. And as He laid down His life on the cross of Calvary, it was that final death nail from the malevolent evil opposer of our souls that ultimately, it put Him in the grave but it could not keep Him in the grave. And three days later, there was this victory cry as the resurrected King emerged from the tomb. And of course forty days later He would ascend and He would be seated at the right hand side of God the Father Almighty. That’s why we can say, “We are Your bone and flesh” as we submit to Him, knowing that His track record is perfect as He has been at work in each of our lives.
But it doesn’t stop there. He doesn’t just bring us out of darkness. This is also the Jesus who equips us in the battle that we face from day to day. He equips us to be able to put sin to death and to be able to withstand the temptations of evil that come our way. He’s also the one who reminds us of the promises that are laid down in Scripture. These promises that we can hold onto because they are firm and steadfast and they will come to pass at the appointed time. The greatest promise of all is that God protects us and He is continuing to lead us until we breathe our last breath here and we cross over into the home that has been prepared for us. Friends, Christ is the rightful King. He is our glorious Savior and He is the one that we desperately need. And so again this evening, you’ve heard this countless times, but come again, lean upon Him as the King eternal but also as the glorious Savior. And as you lean upon Him, let Him lead you as you submit to Him and give your life away for the cause of Christ. So that’s the second reason. The second reason that they offer being one of his track record. And as you look at the track record of Christ, it’s perfect. You can lean and you can rest upon Him.
Thirdly, the third reason for wanting David as king is the divine appointment. You see that in the second part of verse 2. The divine appointment. They say, “The Lord said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel and you shall be prince over Israel.’” Now just as a quick aside, I’m not going to spend too much time on that notion of prince, but all the commentators are more or less in agreement that the reason that it doesn’t say “king over Israel” is because they understood, Israel understood that the ultimate king over Israel is the Lord God Himself. And so here is a designated authority who is serving in a human capacity over the nation of Israel.
Now let’s just consider that notion of “the shepherd of my people Israel.” Almost 23 years have passed since Samuel anointed the young shepherd of Bethlehem. And he was anointed to be the future king, as we have already mentioned. And here their elders, they finally, they affirm God’s divine appointment for David to be their shepherd and king. Now this image of a shepherd, you’re probably very familiar with it – “The Lord is my shepherd,” Psalm 23; of course there’s many other references throughout Scripture. But the image of the shepherd is one of the most important and powerful images of leadership in the ancient Near East. It’s well documented as such. And the shepherd was someone who was to provide guidance for the animals. Now we’re not talking about animals that simply obey at every moment. We’re talking about rogue animals. And he had the responsibility to guide them safely through the valleys and over the mountains to fresh pastures and of course to fresh water. But another part of the shepherd’s role was that of protection. He was to guide them and he was to offer protection, even putting his own life at risk to protect them under their care. You think of David and his battle with the lion and with the bear. He did that in order to defend and to keep the animals safe.
It was well documented in ancient Near Eastern documents that the qualities of a good shepherd – that of caring and serving and protection and loving – they also made for a good leader in a nation. Do you see the hand of God who started many years ago in the shaping and the forming of young David in preparing for where he is now? It’s all about character. It’s about the heart. That’s an encouragement for us, wherever we may be and whatever is happening in our lives at this moment to keep pressing on. God is at work and He is doing what needs to be done in preparation for the next stage in the journey.
In a sermon preached way back in the 16th century, Martin Luther, he speaks into this situation here in 2 Samuel chapter 5, but he offers a warning. And I want you to hear this warning. He says this. “There are in our day” – and this is back in the 16th century – “There are in our day people in our communities of excellent standing, high and mighty princes who rule well. But they revel in themselves. They parade and they prance around proudly, idolizing their own persons. Such idolatry, such presumption, such pride, such haughtiness negates all good qualities.” That’s not what we are seeing here with David. He has been through the mill over many years and the Lord has used that to shape and to form him to be this humble, servant-hearted, loving individual that is in the right place to now serve the people of God. He will protect them. He will continue to guide them under the hand of God. And in addition, the last seven and a half years of his life, when he was anointed ruler of Judah, and between now, the anointing for Israel was also a time when his character and the qualities to lead the people of God was shaped and formed.
Can you look back on your life and see how the Lord has allowed moments that were difficult, maybe even tremendously stressful and He used that to shape you in preparation for where you are even today? As He has done it in the past, He will continue to do that in the way forward too until we see Him face to face one day. Now friends, ultimately as good a shepherd and king over Israel that David was, he still fell short, didn’t he? In fact, we’re going to see this in weeks to come, that David will sin in some monumental ways. And some of us know what those were. And really it’s not about David, is it? It’s about David’s greater Son. All of this is pointing us forward. David primarily serves as the forerunner to the ultimate Good Shepherd, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. John 10, “I am the Good Shepherd. I lay down My life for the sheep.” A little bit later on in John’s gospel, Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life for His friends,” for the sheep. That’s the Shepherd that we look to. That’s the Shepherd that we want to rest in.
John Chrysostom, he was one of the early church fathers, he contended and he said this, he said, “He best knows himself who accounts himself as nothing.” “He best knows himself who accounts himself as nothing.” And as we come to Jesus, we come with the understanding and acknowledgment that we are nothing but yet He is everything. That’s what the New Testament teaches – “I must decrease and He must increase.” At the end of the day, what must be on the lips of people that we encounter is Jesus Christ – His life, His death, His work. So those are the three reasons, and the three reasons actually point us to our lives in the arms and in the hands of a Savior, in the hands of a king.
But that really just brings me to my second point for this evening, and this is much shorter – it’s a couple of minutes! I could hear those gasps! We see this in verses 3 through 5. And I want you just to recognize and I want you just to be aware of the reign commencing. The reign commences. Because after giving David the three reasons why they want him – because he has shown himself faithful in little and now he is being given the opportunity, obviously he is entrusted with more – but we read in the second part of verse 3, “And they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.” Notice that David’s advances were gradual through the course of his life so that his faith might be tried and tested, so that his faith might be tried and tested.
And really that beautifully typifies our perception of the kingdom of our Messiah, doesn’t it? What do I mean by that? The kingdom of God is advancing but it advances and it expands by degrees over time. How many times do we sit back and we think, “Evil just seems to be flourishing. It seems to have the upper hand.” But we don’t see what’s going on in the hearts and in the lives of men, women, boys and girls as God is getting a grip of their hearts and He is bringing them to Himself and uniting them to His beloved Son. The promise is, “I am building the church.” The kingdom is advancing but it advances steadily and it’s expanding by degrees over time. We may not see it, but we are called to be faithful in the proclamation of the good news and being faithful witnesses of the kingdom that is not of this world. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 8 reminds us that even though we do not yet see all things that are put under Him, there will come a day when we shall see it more fully and more completely. And of course that will be the day when we are in His presence where we will see the tapestry that has been woven throughout the course of human history. It will be at the resurrection, as 1 Corinthians 15 tells us.
David’s dynasty will continue. Amidst all it’s ups and downs, God is the one that sustains David’s line until, at last, one of David’s line, He will be born King. He will be born King in Bethlehem and He will be named Jesus. Matthew chapter 1. The genealogy that is given to us in the opening of the New Testament is this. “The book of the generations of Jesus Christ.” What’s next? “The son of David,” and then the son of Abraham, and so it continues. Friends, David’s enthronement, the events that are transpiring here in these five verses, David’s enthronement and his subsequent reign of forty years, will ultimately bring forth the one who is the Messiah.
Just as a quick aside, you’ll notice that David was anointed king of Judah at the age of thirty. It is well known, and commentators make much of this, that Levites, when they went into the practice and the administration in the temple, in the tabernacle, that which they had been trained for, they were released into that service at the age of thirty. Jesus Himself in Luke chapter 3 verse 23 we are told that He was about thirty years old when He began His public ministry. Again, you just need to see the interconnected, the interwovenness of Scripture itself.
But David’s enthronement and his reign, every day of David’s life, every day in my life, every day in your life, every event that transpires, I want you to look at verse 3 right in the middle. See that phrase in the middle? It says that it happened “before the Lord.” It happened in the presence of God. He makes this covenant with the elders in the presence of God. His enthronement was in the presence of God. Your life, my life, every event is in the presence of God. David’s greater Son, the resurrected and ascended Son of God, He is the one that sovereignly rules and reigns at the right hand side of the Father at this very moment in time. Friends, His kingdom is advancing and He is subduing our lives, every minute, every second He is subduing us as He is shaping us and forming us to be more and more like His beloved Son, to be faithful witnesses. All that we do, all that we say, all that we think is in the presence of God. It’s coram Deo – before the face of God.
So as we look to Jesus as our ultimate Shepherd and as our ultimate King, we do well to be mindful and to live with the attitude that we live before Him. But we don’t just live before Him, but in actual fact that He is with us as we live before Him. And on top of that, He then calls us to go and live for Him. So live before Him, with God with us, and then we go and live for Him as we proclaim Him as we live it out in the witness of our lives. May God give us the grace to be able to be encouraged by this as we keep resting upon, as we keep looking to the one who is the King of kings and our glorious Savior.
Amen. Let’s pray.
Our Father in heaven, we do rejoice in Your kindness, in Your grace in bringing us to Yourself. Father, we thank You that we have a King on the throne and that our lives are lived before Him. Father, help us to be faithful witnesses, faithful followers, people who submit and humbly give our lives to You for the cause of the kingdom. And so Father, be with us and go with us we pray, and we ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.