Date: 4.2.18
Text: 2 Samuel 2
Title: The new king
Place: Rhema
File: 2Samuel2(Rhema)
Preacher: Stephen Taylor
Queen Elizabeth II is currently 91 years of age but still hard at work. Despite becoming Queen on 2nd June 1953, some 64 years ago, there is little evidence of her slowing down. Looking at her recent schedule I saw that had visited Grenfell Tower residents after the fire that ravaged it killed many, as well as going to Manchester hospital to see the victims of that terrorist attack there. She entertained the King Queen of Spain on a State visit as well as giving a garden party for charity leaders at her Palace at Holyroodhouse
But the question that has been occupying Australians minds are who will succeed the current Queen. Will it be Prince Charles? Or will it be Prince William, the Queen’s grandson. Or will her death mean that Australia will start the process of becoming a republic, neither having queen or king ever again? Her death then will bring about an important change.
And when King Saul died in battle in or about 1010 BC we also find ourselves asking a similar question. Who will succeed the first ever Israelite king? Will it be his son Ishbosheth? Will it be his son in law David? Or will the country abandon their experiment with the monarchy and seek to implement some sort of republic of their own?
Now you might not think that this is one of the burning questions for today but for us Christians it is still an important issue. Because God about 15 years before Saul’s death had anointed his chosen king, King David, the shepherd boy from Bethlehem town. David was to be God’s chosen king over the people of God. But David was going be more than just a king for he was going to be the forerunner of the greatest king of all, King Jesus. Who would rule the whole of God’s Kingdom forever. And so as we look at2 Samuel and especially King David we are learning also about our part in the greatest kingdom of all.
- New King: consults. (verses 1-4)
So lets us begin by seeing what David does first after King Saul’s death? V1 “In the course of time, David inquiredof theLord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked.TheLordsaid, “Go up.”David asked, “Where shall I go?” “To Hebron,” the Lord answered.
David’s time of waiting is now over. His years on the run seem to have finally ended. He has not treated King Saul as an enemy, even though Saul has treated him shamefully. And now that Saul is dead David should be the one waltzing into Israel to claim his promised crown, shouldn’t he? And yet we see that the first thing he does is consult, consult the Lord.
He doesn’t presume. He doesn’t demand. He prays to God. He asks God what is his next step? For David wants to be obedient to the Lord. His predecessor King Saul had not consulted God early on in his reign and just done what he thought was the right thing. But David will not make that same mistake. This is God’s kingdom, so he consults the Lord.
John Calvin put it this way, “Even though David clearly knew that God has constituted him as king and that Saul had trespassed, even though the time was ripe for him to enjoy the crown, nevertheless he asked God to tell him what he should do. Why? Because although he was on the way, he still knew that he could err seriously if God did not guide him. Let us learn through all of life to go to the Lord, especially when we are facing an important decision. Let us find out what is to be done & let us not be so self-assured that we fail to pray to God to show us what is useful & expedient.”
In the Kingdom of God, God is the one who leads us and guides us. So often, we like Saul think we know what is best. We make our plans, we chart our course, we map our own future. But King David reminds us that our life is not our own, we have been bought by the costly blood of Jesus and so we need to consult the Lord in all we do.
And we need to be more like King Jesus who in Philippians 2 it says “Who, being in very natureGod,did not consider equality with Godsomething to be used to his own advantage;
7rather, he made himself nothingby taking the very natureof a servant,being made in human likeness.8And being found in appearance as a man,he humbled himselfby becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! ”
Jesus, the king over God’s kingdom did not grasp power but took the path of obedience. He spent time throughout his ministry in prayer. And if he is the king of our kingdom then we need to be men and women of prayer. We need to not just rely upon our own intellect. We need to think WWJD? WWJS? Where would Jesus be found? In 2 Samuel 2 we find the new king consults and then we see in the
- New King: Kindness
4“When David was told that it was the men from Jabesh Gileadwho had buried Saul,5he sent messengers to them to say to them, “TheLordblessyou for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him.6May theLordnow show you kindness & faithfulness,and I too will show you the same favour because you have done this.7Now then, be strongbrave, for Saul your master is dead & the people of Judah have anointed me king over them.”
David shows what sort of king he wants to be. Instead of seeking revenge on a group of people who showed kindness to Saul the one who was persecuting him. David shows favour, he shows kindness, he shows grace. They had gone out of their way to look after Saul’s body after the Philistines had killed him and strung him up on the wall of one of their cities. And so David goes out of his way to show them kindness in return.
Now in a way David is mixing politics with faith. He is reaching out to one of the key people
in the other 11 tribes of Israel, which would be a good political move but he is also trying to find a way around bloodshed, around taking the kingdom by force. Instead he will build a bridge to some people who are at present in the opposition. And by doing that he is showing something of God himself, who is always showing his people grace and kindness.
And isn’t that what God’s ultimate King, King Jesus did to those who had opposed him? When they were throwing insults at him, demanding that he prove himself the Son of God, that they show his power by coming down from the cross? And didn’t Jesus say “Father forgive them they don’t know what they do?” Didn’t he say to one of the thieves on the cross, “today I will see you in paradise?”
We who have had our allegiances with God’s enemies. We whose lives used to serve Satan have been offered grace, have been offered kindness by King Jesus. And isn’t that what the followers of Jesus should do? Not return evil for evil but return evil with good. Not give people what they deserve, but have our words full of grace and seasoned with salt? We were once God’s enemies & he turned us into his friends. Shouldn’t we want to show kindness to those who are currently God’s enemies, in the hope that God may want to bring them also into his kingdom? But that sort of behaviour leads to
- New King: Opposition.
Now we don’t hear how the people of Jabesh Gilead respond. But we do hear how Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army responds. He knows that God promised David the crown, we hear him say that with his own words in the next chapter. “May God deal with Abner, be it ever so severely if I do not do for David what the Lord promised him on oath and transfer the Kingdom from the house of Saul & establish David’s throne over Israel & Judah.”
Abner knows that God wants David to be king. But he has been the most powerful man in the army up until that time and he doesn’t want to lose his power base especially if as he suspects David will make one of his loyal generals head of the army. So he makes the eldest of Saul’s sons Ish-Bosheth king of the tribes of the north. But he doesn’t do it straight away.
Look at verse 10. “Ish-Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. The tribe of Judah, however, remained loyal to David.11The length of time David was king in Hebron over Judah was seven years and six months.”
There is a gap of seven and a half years from the coronation of David, king of Judah to his coronation as king over all Israel and yet Ish-bosheth only reigned in Israel for 2 years? Who was in charge for the other 5 ½ years. I think it is safe to say it was Abner who became the most powerful war lord. He is the power behind the throne. He sets Ish-bosheth up as a puppet king. And by doing that he opposes David as the true king over God’s people.
God’s appointed king will never rule unopposed. There are always men & women who love their own power. Who want to do it their own way.Who have other agendas to what God wants to put on the agenda. Even as we read this part of God’s word we see Abner and Joab
will continually to do things their way, not David’s way, not God’s way.
In our world there will always be men and women fighting over what they want. And for most of them, they don’t want God’s kingdom to grow. And so when the son of David comes into this world and offers a chance for all people to become a part of the Kingdom of God what do the powers to be do to him? But crucify him. But seek to get rid of him. But oppose him. And Jesus says if they treat me this way they will treat my followers exactly the same.
Friends we have to realise that God’s kingdom will always have opposition. Jesus says in Matthew 10 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves...17Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councilsand be flogged in the synagogues.18On my account you will be brought before governors and kingsas witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.”
To be a friend of God means that you will be the enemy of the world. Do we realise that? Are we willing to accept that? What they did to our King Jesus, they may well do to us. We need to be like David, like Jesus who was opposed and yet still shows kindness and grace. And this is a combination that leads to success for the new king, but only over time!
- New King: Success
Because in the way were two powerful men, Abner and Joab. Abner leads the armies of Israel. Joab leads the armies of David. And both have their own competing agendas which delays the success of David’s kingdom. So we read in verse 12 that 12“Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. 13Joabson of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side”.
David is not willing to take the kingdom by force. But Abner decides it is time to force the issue. He marshals his troops, crosses the Jordan & goes to Gibeon within 5kms of Jerusalem Now this is a provocative move and it leads to Joab taking David’s army and meeting with Abner on either side of a pool. Where there is a Mexican standoff. As one commentator puts it “Abner starts the fire but Joab stirs the pot that was to boil upon its coals!”
Now there is a good reason for this standoff. Because its mate against mate, state against state. If these two troops go to war it will be brother against brother. It will be civil war. So is there some way around this? Maybe there is. Verse 14.Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us.”“All right, let them do it,” Joab said.15So they stood up and were counted off—twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-
Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David.16Then each man grabbed his opponent by the
head and thrust his daggerinto his opponent’s side, and they fell down together.
This battle of champions, this time to settle an issue with minimum losses doesn’t go well at all. All 24 combatants are killed at just the same time. It seemed wise at the time but it didn’t lead to peace but war. Instead hundreds are killed. And Joab’s brother Asahel has fallen at the hand of the sword of Abner and Joab will be looking to avenge his death.
Politically the situation is hopeless. The best plans of mice and men had failed. The use of the sword had only made things worse. So all the events at the time seemed to point to the fact that David’s kingdom will not progress, cannot progress. Human wisdom and military might have failed to bring about the establishment of David’s kingdom. So what hope is there now? Well there is one word at the end of the chapter that hits us with a ray of hope in the darkness. That word is in verse 32. Bethlehem.
Slide 16
As Sydney Anglican preacher John Woodhouse says to us “Do not be surprised that the best human efforts achieve less than we hope for. Often much less. Do not be disillusioned when what we do achieve is weak and fragile. It is God’s work to bring in his kingdom. Only when he establishes his kingdom will we know the peace that we long for. Only when we remember Bethlehem will we pray authentically “Your kingdom come.”
Bethlehem. “They took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem.” God’s kingdom will come but not through politics, strategy, military might but through God sending his son to be born in Bethlehem. In Bethlehem God will place a seed in the ground the size of a mustard seed that will grow into a tree that will fill the earth.
Yes right now this seed of David only has one tribe in a far off country in a provincial backwater. But David’s kingdom will grow. And then will die again but the seed will remain. And Jesus Christ will be born in Bethlehem and he will build a kingdom that will cover the whole earth. And he will establish a kingdom that will last forever. And he will bring about a kingdom where righteousness will reign not bloodshed. Where grace will rule not revenge.
- New King: waits
But like a mustard seed, God’s Kingdom doesn’t come speedily or straight away. There are
many twists and turns along the way. And we see that in the next couple of chapters as Abner and Joab tussle it out to see who will be the top dog militarily. But in the midst of it all David patiently waits for God to give him the kingdom. He waits for God to act.
Friends God’s timetable is different to our timetable. We want God to fulfil His promises to us now, quickly and in a neat and tidy way. No detours and no delays. Give it to us now! We have been taught to prize speed today. We want to take the shortest route and the quickest way. We eat fast-food and instant noodles, we microwave dinners, we use instant messaging; we want everything fast. In fact, being slow is almost seen like a sin.
But David is willing to wait, wait for God to do his work. Wait for God to bring about his kingdom and when you look at it David is a better man by having to wait. David is more godly in this part of his life than in any other. Because he learnt to wait on the Lord. David knew that the joy was in the journey not in the arriving. That God’sgoal was not primarily in transporting David to the kingship but transforming him into the right sort of king.
When you think about it God often does his work while we wait. God never seems to be in a hurry to achieve his plans promises. God promised Abraham & Sarai a child but they had to wait 25 years to get Isaac. God promised Noah there would be a flood but he spent the next 100 years building his ark. God made Jacob wait 14 years for his wife. God converted the apostle Paul & sent him into the wilderness for 14 years. Waiting is no accident.
Slide 20
Jesus too had to wait. Peter says “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly”. And if we are part of God’s kingdom we too will have to wait. Wait for God’s promises to come about. Wait for our prayers to be answered. Wait and entrust ourselves to God. God’s aim for us is to not just to transport us to heaven but to transform us and make us more and more like Jesus.