II SAMUEL
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Please turn in your Bibles this evening to II Samuel chapter 21 as we continue our study through the Word of God. As we move into the last 4 chapters of II Samuel we are now moving into a section that is not in chronological order. These 4 chapters are an overview of some of the things that took place during the reign of David. And as we will see, they are some pretty significant stories that I believe the Lord wants us to understand so we can learn from them, so we can walk according to the high calling by which He has called us. So with that said, let’s begin reading this evening in II Samuel chapter 21, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us as we study his Word.
We are told that there was a famine in the land and that
was common in that part of the world. And this famine lasted 3
years and David now comes to think that this famine may have something
to do with sin in the camp of
It is as Trapp wrote, “The first and second year he might look upon it as a punishment laid upon them for the common sins of the land: but when he saw it continuing a third year also, he thought there was something in it more than ordinary, and therefore, although he well knew the natural cause to be drought, yet he inquired after the supernatural, as wise men should do.” I believe he is correct in what he has to say.
As David inquires of the Lord the Lord tells him the reason
for this famine is because of Saul and what he did to the Gibeonites,
he killed them. The story went like this. Joshua was defeating
the enemies of
Now wait a minute, this covenant that Joshua made with the Gibeonites was over 400 years old and God still was holding them accountable to it? You bet He was! A promise, an oath that is made is to be kept, God expects us to keep them. He expects us to keep them even though they may have been made years earlier and if we refuse, God will correct us and that correction may be quick or it may be years down the road as we see here, but not 400 for us!
If you are questioning why God is so strict here, think
about it like this. Has God made a covenant with us? Yes He has,
a covenant of life that is found in Christ. Now how long does
this covenant that God has made with us last? It is an everlasting
covenant and thus, don’t we want God to keep it? You bet
we do and around the throne of God we see an emerald rainbow that
is proclaiming his everlasting covenant with His people! You see,
this emerald or green rainbow around the throne of God is not
just a half circle. That word for “around”
is the Greek word IRIS and it literally means halo. So this
emerald rainbow makes a complete circle around the throne of God.
What does that mean? Again, look at the Scriptures and see
where a rainbow is first mentioned because that is the definition
of the word, biblically speaking, it is called the law of first
mention.
The first time we see a rainbow mentioned in the Bible is when
the Lord put one in the sky after the flood as a sign or covenant
that He will never destroy the world by a flood. The green
emerald is also seen in the breastplate of the high priest representing
the tribe of
So David, in hearing the reason for this famine calls the
Gibeonites in so he can resolve this problem, make it right. We
are also told that “Saul had sought to kill them in
his zeal for the children of
I like what David is doing here. He is not telling them what he will do for them to rectify this problem, but David asks the Gibeonites would they would like. That is a big deal because they could ask for anything and yet, David trusted in the Lord, that He would see this through and the problem would be solved.
The Gibeonites don’t want any money for what was done
to them. They don’t want an eye for an eye and tooth for
tooth retribution or the slaughtering of many Jews to rectify
this problem. All they ask for is seven of the descendants of
Saul to be brought to the city of
Yes, David agreed to the terms that the Gibeonites set
forth but he also spares the son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, because
of the oath he had made to Jonathan years earlier. Here are the
ones that were put to death for what Saul had done. We see that
Rizpah was one of Saul’s concubines who had two sons, Mephibosheth,
not Jonathan’s son, and Armoni, who were going to be put
to death. Also, we are told here that Adriel had five sons by
his wife Merab, even though she was promised to David for killing
Goliath by king Saul. And something must have happened to Merab
for Michal ends up raising her five sons. Remember that Michal
was barren because of her actions towards David as he was bringing
the Ark of God home. She was disgusted the way he acted, singing
and dancing like the common people. (See II Samuel 6:22-23). Also
keep in mind that Barzillai was not one of David’s loyal
friends spoken of in II Samuel 17:27. And so all seven of them
were hung in the city of
The mound of Gibeah, a city where David allowed several of King Saul’s descendants to be executed and displayed in humiliation because of Saul’s slaughter of the Gibeonites (2 Sam. 21:1–9). (Radmacher, Earl D.; Allen, Ronald Barclay; House, H. Wayne: Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary)
Photo
by Howard Vos
What a sad picture this is as Rizpah has this vigil for her two sons and I get the impression she is watching over the other 5 bodies that were left out in the open as a sign of judgment. Day and night she was there for several months, until the late rains had come.
David is told of this vigil this woman had over these bodies that were left out in the open and upon hearing this he seeks to end her grief. Thus, he goes and retrieves the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh Gilead and also takes the bones of these seven men and buries them in the area of Benjamin. And we are told that God had stopped the famine, justice had been met, the judgment was over and we know this because we are told that the latter rains began to fall again!
Now we are told of the battles that David had with the Philistines and over the years he is noticing he is not as strong as he once was. He is not able to do what he use to do. A man who once slew the giant, Goliath, now is growing faint in battle! I can understand what David was feeling because when I was younger I could do anything. I could work well into the night and get up the next morning and go to work again and didn’t think much about it. Now I get tired and that is hard to take. And for David, he was the king and what will the people think when they see this? What will his soldiers think when they see David growing faint in battle? Would they abandon him? Let’s read on and see!
What an encouragement this must have been to David. Ishbi-Benob came against David and this guys spear weighed around 7½ pounds, he was a descendant of the giant, of Goliath, and that word translated “giant” means one of the Rephaim, a people living in Canaan who were noted for their large size, and I get the impression that he almost killed David but Abishai came to his rescue and killed Ishbi-Benob with the sword or made him into Shish-Benob! Sorry. In Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 we are told, “Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Solomon is speaking of the benefit of companionship. Two people working together will get the job done twice as fast as a person working all alone. If a person stumbles his companion is there to lift him up, encourage him, get him back on track. But when you are alone, there is no one to assist you. You see, there is comfort in companionship; it helps to keep you healthy and strong. And lastly, companionship can help you fight against an enemy that is coming against you as we have seen here with David. It is as Clarke wrote, “David is considered as the lamp by which all Israel was guided, and without whom all the nation must be involved in darkness.”
Also, this is very true in a marriage relationship, with a threefold cord being made up of a husband, a wife and of coarse, Christ. The destroyer, Satan, will not break a marriage that is centered in Christ. I think one of the reasons marriages are struggling so much today, that is Christian marriages, is because they are trying to make it without Christ, and that is very difficult to do. A threefold cord is more than three times as strong as three separate cords, and with Christ as the binding force, it will not be broken.
For myself, I am so thankful that one of my sons is able to come over and help me because I can’t do it on my own. I guess I could but it would take me a lot longer than it use to. Also, I am so thankful for the men and women in this church who have stepped up to assist in the work of the ministry. We are blessed because of it and I can’t do it all. And what a beautiful picture that is being painted for us. It is showing us the body of Christ working together for the glory of God and the edification of the body of Christ! And Trapp reminds us, “The body drowneth not whilst the head is above water; when that once sinketh, death is near: so here. Pray therefore for the preservation of good princes; we cannot pray for them, and not pray for ourselves.”
Remember when David went up against Goliath, he went to the brook and took 5 stones out for his slingshot. David only needed one for Goliath; thus, what were the other 4 stones for? First of all they were not in case David missed Goliath the first time, not at all. David was an expert with his slingshot. You see, the other 4 were for Goliath’s four sons, just in case they came after him after he killed their father. They were still alive at this time and we have seen Ishbi-Benob killed by Abishai, and now Sibbechai killed Saph, another son of the giant. Two down and two more to go!
Notice what is going on here. David is not killing these giants but his men are. How can that be? Because God will always raise up giant killers you might say to take the place of those that were passing off the scene as we see here with David. This is the next generation you might say. What are we instilling in people’s lives that they will catch when we are passing off the scene? May they learn from us the power of God working in us and through us that they too might be giant killers!
Now this does not say that this giant was Goliath’s son but his “brother” but please understand that this word was added by the translators for better readability in the English, but to me, it does not make it clearer. You see, there is no actual word in the Hebrew text and thus, it was not in the original text! Also, according to I Chronicles we are told that this giant’s name was Lahmi and Elhanan killed him! Three down and 1 giant to go, at least those that were sons of Goliath!
VERSES
20-22
And now Jonathan, the nephew of David, kills the last son of Goliath. Why do we even need to know this? Because I believe we see a spiritual lesson here. The enemies we can bring down, the giants we can kill will be good for the next generation. Let us not be selfish but let us gain these victories for our children and children’s children!
A bad example of not doing this is seen in the life of king Hezekiah, who was a godly man. One day the prophet Isaiah told him that he needed to get his house in order, he was going to die. And Hezekiah did not like that and he cried out to the Lord and the Lord gave him 15 more years. Folk’s, it would have been better for him to die! The reason I say that is that in those 15 years he had a wicked son named Manasseh and he allowed a group of men from Babylon to come into the kingdom, bringing him get well gifts and Hezekiah showed them all the riches of the kingdom, which would be an enticement to future leaders in Babylon to come and take that spoil away!
And God pronounces judgment upon Hezekiah and the nation and we are told in II Kings 20:16-19, “Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: “Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,” says the Lord. “And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”’ So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!’ For he said, ‘Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?’”
Do you see what he is saying here? “Yes, judgment
is coming but praise the Lord it won’t happen in my generation!”
How sad that he feels this way. May we have a heart for future
generations, that we would pass on to them a legacy for them to
grow by. May we live our lives in such a way that giants have
been destroyed so that the next generation can enjoy those benefits.
May we not only be interested in our own lives, but the lives
of others, especially the next generation!
Now this chapter closes by saying, “These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.” How can that be when David was no longer fighting? Because David did play a role in this even though his life was drawing to a close. He was an example to them; he was an influence upon their lives, he helped to guide them in the things of God. You may not be able to fight as you use to but you still can have a powerful influence on those around you as Morgan wrote, “Let those who after long service find themselves waning in strength, be content to abide with the people of god, still shining for them as a lamp, and thus enabling them to carry on the same Divine enterprises. Such action in the last days of life is also great and high service.”
As we move into chapter 22 we are gong to see a song that
David wrote to the Lord expressing thanks for all that God has
done for him.
VERSE
1
This Psalm is very similar to Psalm 18 and thus, I feel that Psalm 18 was probably written shortly after the death of Saul as he battled the Philistines in the area of Gilead. If you remember, in this battle both Saul, the king of Israel and his son Jonathan, the friend of David, were killed in this battle. Now, towards the end of his life I think David is just recounting his life; God’s faithfulness in delivering him from his enemies and it is full of praise unto God! It is as Boice wrote, “The psalm appears almost as David’s final words. Hence, it is a summary thanksgiving for God’s many deliverances of him through his long life of service.” And Morgan puts it like this; “Such convictions - of the absolute sovereignty of Jehovah, of His omnipotent power to deliver, of the necessity for obedience to His law, and of assurance that in the case of such obedience He ever acts for His people - constituted the underlying strength of David's character.”
David is saying that the Lord brought stability to his feet, for he stood on solid ground, the rock of God. The Lord was also a fortress in which David was able to rest in safety behind those walls of protection. And it doesn’t matter how big the enemy is, for if you are standing in the power of the Lord, He is able to deliver you. In regards to these verses, Spurgeon wrote, “It is well to pray to God as to one who deserves to be praised, for then we plead in a happy and confident manner. If I feel that I can and do bless the Lord for all his past goodness, I am bold to ask great things of him.”
As David reflects on his life he remembers those hopeless situations he found himself in. He remembers how dark things looked. He remembers how the enemies had surrounded him. One of those times is found in I Samuel 23:24-29 where we are told, “So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them. But a messenger came to Saul, saying, ‘Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!’ Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape. Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi.”
We see once again that David was fleeing from Saul and he was in the area of the wilderness of Maon. And Saul found his hiding place and began to circle around him. David was a dead man, humanly speaking of course. But God delivered David out of that situation by causing the Philistines to rise up against Israel, and thus Saul had to deal with them before he could go after David to kill him! And over and over again God heard the cry of David and delivered him.
Now as verse 7 tells us, the LORD heard David’s cry and as we move on into verse 8 and on we will see the LORD respond to David’s cry in a very picturesque way. Boice summarizes it like this, “What is most impressive . . . is the magnificent way the psalmist describes God rising from his throne in heaven in response to his servant’s cry, parting the clouds, and descending to fight the king’s battles accompanied by earthquakes, thunder, storms, and lightning.” So let’s read on and see this beautiful and strong picture of the LORD rising up and coming to the aid of David.
What a picture David is painting for us. And, obviously the language used here is strong, and it is difficult to find a time when God did this for David. But again not everything about David is written down for us. And God does use nature to carry out his plans and I think that is what is being implied here. In Judges chapter 4 we see Sisera come against Israel with his chariots and God caused torrents of rain to come down which made the chariots stick in the mud, and made them useless. Thus, God gave Barak and the children of Israel the victory. Also the long day of Joshua, where God caused the sun to remain up for almost a whole day, as Joshua needed that extra time to defeat the Amorites. And we must also keep in mind that David is describing how he sees the Lord deliver him from these impossible situations he was in.
Again, he was painting a picture for us to see and as you read this, we all probably see it a little differently but I think we all see the power of God, the love of God for His people, the hatred of God towards those who want to destroy His people and-so-on. When you are going through a tough time, this is how you want to see God. You cry out to Him, He hears from His holy temple and rises up to come to your aid! That is our God!
Now this may also be looking at a future event. I think this could be a picture of the Tribulation Period and as the Antichrist goes into the rebuilt temple and demands to be worshiped as God, the Jews flee for their lives realizing that this is not their Messiah. And as they flee to the rock city of Petra the Antichrist comes against the nation of Israel. And God causes the earth to open up and swallow up the army that is coming against them. And for the last 3½ years God will protect the Jews that have escaped to Petra until He returns to set up His kingdom and the first place that Jesus comes to is this rock city of Petra!
As you read this you have to come to the conclusion, you have to believe that David wrote these words long before his sin with Bathsheba, because after his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah his hands were not clean, he was not blameless, he was not righteous. But prior to this sin, David was feeling pretty good about himself, almost to the point of self-righteousness. And because of that, David felt the Lord was blessing him.
But after David sinned with Bathsheba, his eyes were opened to the truth of what his heart was really like - EVIL! Thus, in Psalm 51 we see David cry out to God “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and may sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight . . .” Psalm 51:2-4.
Now we know that as soon as David confessed his sin before
God that God was standing there with forgiveness, so in a sense,
God cleansed David’s hands because they were dirty. That
is also true of us. You see, we are all sinners that have fallen
short of the glory of God and God has cleansed us by the sacrifice
that His Son, Jesus Christ made for us. His shed blood cleanses
us from all our sins; past, present and future sins! It is not
because of what we have done. Paul, in I Corinthians 1:30 tells
us and this is from The Amplified Bible, “But it is
from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made
our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine
plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our
Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right
standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy],
and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty
for sin].” And in II Corinthians 5:21 and this is
from The Living Bible, “For God took the sinless Christ
and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God's
goodness into us!” That is what God has done for
us and we must receive Him into our lives by faith!
It is as Boice wrote, “If we were to remind David of his sin with Bathsheba, he would claim it as an illustration and a proof of this principle since he suffered in a variety of ways as a consequence of that great sin. But even though that happened, just as similar transgressions are committed by us all, on the whole he was nevertheless a man after God’s own heart and was greatly blessed by God.”
Now, if we relate to God according to our good works, the law, we will be on a roller coaster ride with our faith. When we are doing well, when things are going the way we want, we are ridding high, but when we fail, we come crashing down, feeling totally unworthy and distant from God. Folk’s, we don’t relate to God by our good works but through His grace. Thus, our faith will not be high and low but resting on God’s faithfulness to us. That does not mean we should not strive to be holy, for we should. But don’ let God’s grace make us self-righteous, but only fall upon the grace of God. In fact, David wrote, “I kept myself from my iniquity” and that is not arrogance or pride on David’s part, for we are to do the same! Paul reminds us in II Timothy 2:21 and again this is from The Amplified Bible, “So whoever cleanses himself [from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences] will [then himself] be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work.”
And listen to what Paul said in Hebrews 12:4, “You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.” And The Amplified Bible puts this verse like this, “You have not yet struggled and fought agonizingly against sin, nor have you yet resisted and withstood to the point of pouring out your [own] blood.” Folk’s, this is not for salvation but sanctification, that God is working in us and our part is we must walk, we must surrender to Him and thus, we strive against SIN!
God will deal with us according to how we treat others. Look at Jacob and how he deceived his brother Esau. God turned the tables on Jacob and Laban deceived him. All the deception that was carried out by Jacob, came right back to him. Why? Because God was working on Jacob’s heart, changing him. No longer would he be called Jacob, or “supplanter”, but Israel or “God rules.” But before Jacob was changed, he needed his eyes to be opened to what he was doing and God used Laban to help that process.
Now I think it is easy to see that if a man is pure towards God that God will be pure to him. The trouble comes with the devious and that God will show Himself shrewd to him. We have touched on that a little, but keep in mind that God can’t be wicked, it is not in His nature, there is no darkness in Him at all.
Thus, what is David saying here? I think Boice makes it clear as he wrote, “David expresses the second half of the parallel by a somewhat ambiguous word, the root meaning of which is ‘twisted.’ The verse actually says, ‘To the twisted (or crooked) you will show yourself twisted (or crooked)’ . . . The idea seems to be that if a person insists in going devious ways in his dealings with God, God will outwit him, as that man deserves.” We saw that with Jacob and we even saw that with David as God was convicting him to draw him back, David was outwitted you might say by God but in a good way where the wicked who refuse to come to God will be outwitted in a bad way. They think they are good, they will be in heaven or paradise or whatever they think and the reality is, they won’t apart from Christ!
Keep in mind that David and his men were warriors and they were use to being in battles, they were use to living out in the wilderness but a strong as they might have been, David tells us that his strength came from the Lord and he rested in the promises of God! How could David do that? Because God’s promises stood the test, he saw them come to pass and thus, what God had done in the past gave David confidence in the present situations that he faced!
I don’t know if you have heard the story of the two elderly women who loved the Lord and served Him. And in time one of them died and as her family were going through her possessions, they found her Bible. And as they leafed through the pages they found the letters TP on many of the pages next to certain verses. And they were very confused and could not figure out what that meant. And so they went to this woman’s friend and asked her. And she told them that those letters TP, meant, “tried and proven.” You see, as God brought various experiences in her life, she too saw the faithfulness of God and marked next to that scripture TP! Your faith grows as you see God work in your life, for His words are not empty but living and powerful, and what God has spoken, will come to pass.
Here is what David knew and it is what we should know, that God gives us stability in our lives as we place our feet upon the rock and He also gives us the strength to fight and defeat the enemy. Remember what Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:10-13, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” May we not forget that because as Zechariah 4:6 tells us, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.”
VERSES
36-43
David reminds me a lot of James and John the sons of Zebedee, who wanted to call fire down from heaven to destroy the people of Samaria for rejecting Christ. David says in Psalm 58:6, “Break their teeth in their mouth, O God! Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!” And in Psalm 3:7 we read “Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the check bone, You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.” Now that seems pretty harsh but also note that David says that, “Your gentleness has made me great.” How can both be?
Keep in mind that we too are to destroy our enemies, not by killing them but by winning them over to Christ, for an enemy becomes a friend when that occurs. Yes, David killed the enemies, but we are to win them to Christ, and so that still remains. And of course, gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit; it is an attribute that flows from love, that AGAPE love of God! There is that balance and I think that is what the Lord is showing us in these verses. Destroy our enemies with the love of God; show them gentleness that they may come to Christ!
VERSES
44-46
God had placed David as the king over the nation of Israel and David recognized that the throne was not his, it was the Lord’s and the Lord would sustain him and protect him, watch over him and even with the strivings of his own people, God would be the one to sustain David! What a great lesson for us to learn and apply to our lives!
As David is finishing up this Psalm of thanksgiving and deliverance he just explodes with praises unto God, the One who is actively involved with His people! Our God is the one who not only hears our hearts cry but answer our hearts cry! I like the way that Spurgeon summed this up as he wrote, “To be saved singing is to be saved indeed. Many are saved mourning and doubting; but David had such faith that he could fight singing, and win the battle with a song still on his lips.” May we be saved singing!
Let me close this evening with these words from J. Vernon McGee who wrote, “This beautiful song of praise is not only great literature, it opens new vistas for us and lets us see something that is much more glorious than a sunset or the rising of the moon. It speaks of the marvelous relationship one man had with the almighty God. How we need that today!” May we be men and women who have hearts for God and manifest that love by what we do and what we say! May we have a song in our heart that explodes from our lips, a song of praise and thanksgiving unto our GOD!