The Life of David #8: David’s Final Years
CCEA
School of Discipleship
March
2, 2025
In class
Break into small groups of three or so, share one thing you learned from McGee,
chapter 9 – “David’s Greatest Sin”
My McGee Notes:
Chapter 9 – David’s Greatest Sin
Not Bathsheba, but the counting of the nation
Chronicles doesn’t record Bathsheba – Chronicles is the history from God’s
perspective.
Not just pride, David was delighting in his own might, the size of his army
– contrary to Jeremiah 9:23-24
The sin of unbelief.
David’s sacrifice on Mount Moriah – the place for the temple, the place
where Christ died.
Let’s stand and practice/recite Psalm 23:1-6 together
:1 The Lord is my
shepherd; I shall not want.
:2 He makes me to lie
down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
:3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
:4 Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are
with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
:5 You prepare a table
before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup
runs over.
:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I
will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
David’s Final Years
2Samuel 21-24
21:1-14 Gibeonite Justice
:1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after
year; and David inquired of the Lord.
And the Lord answered, “It is
because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the
Gibeonites.”
:1 there was a famine
Famines come when there is no rain.
It hasn’t rained for several years, the crops aren’t growing, and the
people are hungry.
Lesson
Attention please!
I find that most of the time, it’s some sort of difficulty that is at work
in a person’s life that God will use to get their attention.
Play Video: Budget Direct – Bad Dog
It might be a great tragedy like the LA fires. It might be an illness. It might be the loss of a loved one.
Sometimes God is trying to get our attention.
Illustration
The Bricklayer’s Accident Report
Dear Sir/Madam:
I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In
block number 3 of the accident report form, I put “trying to do the job alone”
as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more
fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient.
I am a bricklayer by trade. On the date of the accident I was working alone
on the roof of a new 6-story building. When I completed my work, I discovered
that I had about 500 pounds of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks
down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which
fortunately was attached to the side of the building, at the sixth floor.
Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel
out, and loaded the brick into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied
the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of
brick. You will note in block number 11 of the accident report that I weigh 135
pounds.
Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my
presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded
at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This
explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone. Slowed only slightly, I
continued my rapid ascent not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were
two knuckles deep into the pulley.
Fortunately, by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able
to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain.
At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the
ground—and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the
bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately 50 pounds.
I refer you again to my weight in block number 11. As you might imagine, I
began a rapid descent down the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This
accounts for the two fractured ankles and the lacerations of my legs and lower
body. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when
I fell onto the pile of bricks, and, fortunately, only 3 vertebrae were
cracked.
I’m sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks, in pain,
unable to stand, and watching the empty barrel 6 stories above me—I again lost
my presence of mind, and I let go of the rope. The empty barrel weighed more
than the rope as it came back down on me and broke both my legs.
I hope I have furnished the information you require as to how the accident
occurred.
Sincerely, Billy Wohlnut
Do you think Billy learned a lesson about not “trying to do the job alone”?
:1 David inquired of the LORD
David asked that great question: “Why?”
There’s no harm in asking
Sometimes God will give us an answer.
Sometimes heaven is silent and we just wonder.
:1 Saul and his bloodthirsty house
There is guilt not just from Saul and his actions, but from his house
as well.
We’ve seen this kind of thing at work in Iraq and Libya when a dictator and
his sons have done bad things to people.
:1 he killed the Gibeonites
Show Gibeon map
As Joshua began the campaign to conquer the land of Canaan, they first
ventured out of their camp at Gilgal and conquered Jericho.
The next city in their conquest was Ai.
After Ai, they had an encounter with people from Gibeon back in their base
camp at Gilgal.
You can read their story in Joshua 9 (or come this Wednesday night when Bob
will be teaching it!)
These were some of the original Canaanites who lived in the land when
Joshua brought Israel in to conquer the land.
Instead of fighting against Israel, the Gibeonites made a deceptive peace
treaty with them, pretending to be a far off non-threatening city.
Even after their deception was found out, God expected Israel to keep their
promise.
The Gibeonites would become part of the nation’s fabric.
Joshua even gave them a job connected to the worship of God:
(Joshua 9:27 NKJV) And that day Joshua made them
woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, in the place which He would
choose, even to this day.
Lesson
Keep your promises
The whole problem of the famine came as a result of Saul breaking a promise,
the covenant between the nation of Israel and the Gibeonites.
God is very serious about us being people who keep promises. (Mat. 5:37)
(Mt 5:37 NKJV) But let your
‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from
the evil one.
Jesus told a parable to the religious leaders…
(Matthew 21:28–31
NKJV) —28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the
first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered
and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and
said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the
two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors
and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.
The religious leaders weren’t
keeping their promises to God while the sinners were repenting and doing good
things.
And in order for us to represent God well to the world, we
need to keep our promises to others as well.
We are God’s representatives.
He wants the world to know that He keeps His promises.
:2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were
not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children
of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his
zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.
:2 Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal
Apparently, Saul had at one time gone on a campaign to kill the Gibeonites.
We don’t have a record of this campaign, except for this mention.
Another word for “zeal” is “passion”.
Lesson
Misplaced Passion
Passion can be a good thing when it’s in the right place.
Jesus displayed “passion” when He tossed the moneychangers out of the
Temple (John 2:17)
(John 2:17 NKJV) Then His disciples remembered that
it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
But sometimes our “passion” is in the wrong place, or demonstrated in the
wrong way.
Before Paul was a Christian, he had “zeal”:
(Philippians 3:6 NKJV) concerning zeal, persecuting the
church…
Paul’s “passion” was persecuting those Christians.
Passion can also be a problem.
James and John had a case of “misplaced passion”
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, and as He went through
a village in Samaria, the people there weren’t too pleasant with Jesus and His
disciples.
(Luke
9:54–56 NKJV) —54 And when His disciples James and
John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come
down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” 55 But He
turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you
are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”
And they went to another village.
There are some things that Christians can get quite passionate about:
I think one of my biggest concerns is about politics.
I do understand the differences between the Democratic
party positions and the Republican party positions.
But don’t make the mistake of letting people think that if
you become a Christian, you must switch your party affiliation to be
Republican.
We have an influence and responsibility in this world, but
our “kingdom” is not of this world, and I would rather that a non-believing
Democrat come to know Jesus than that he switch to voting Republican. Does that make sense?
The Holy Spirit
When a person first experiences the power of the Holy
Spirit in their life, they often want everyone to experience it, and to
experience it NOW.
I remember going around to my friends and telling them
they all needed to speak in tongues.
Some of that passion turned some people off to the things
of God.
Abortion
I understand why Christians are passionate about ending
abortion. We believe that life begins at
conception, and that abortion is the taking of a defenseless human life.
But some people take their passion in directions that
aren’t good – like bombing an abortion clinic.
Gay marriage
The Bible is pretty clear that marriage was intended for
one man and one woman.
But some people in their zeal to keep marriage in America
based on Biblical standards have sent the wrong message.
They’ve given some gay people the idea that God thinks
that homosexuality is the worst sin ever committed and that God hates their
guts.
Homosexuality is a sin.
Like all other sins.
The truth is, God so loved the world that He gave His only
Son, for all of us sinners, for every kind of sin.
In his misplaced “passion”, Saul created quite a mess.
:3 Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And
with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?”
:3 What shall I do for you?
This is important. David is asking the Gibeonites what will make them
happy.
Their answer is not necessarily God’s answer to the problem.
God’s concern is that the offended Gibeonites would be satisfied, and
that’s why the famine has occurred.
The offense here is more against the Gibeonites than it is against God.
:4 And the Gibeonites said to him, “We will have no silver or gold from
Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us.” So he
said, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
They don’t want money.
:5 Then they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted
against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the
territories of Israel,
:6 let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang
them before the Lord in Gibeah of
Saul, whom the Lord
chose.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
:6 seven men of his descendants
This is what the Gibeonites want.
This wasn’t God’s requirement. God is not asking David to perform some sort
of “human sacrifice” so it will rain.
God wants justice for the Gibeonites.
Saul has probably killed way more than seven Gibeonites, but they are only
asking for seven.
Keep in mind back in verse 1, “his bloodthirsty house” was
involved. It was Saul’s whole house that
was behind the unwarranted Gibeonite genocide.
:7 But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,
because of the Lord’s oath that was
between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
:8 So the king took Armoni and (another) Mephibosheth, the two sons
of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, and the five sons of
Michal (or Merab)the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel
the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;
:8 the two sons of Rizpah
This was the gal that Ishbosheth had accused Abner of having an affair
with.
:8 the five sons of Michal
Michal – this raises some problems.
If “Michal” is correct, this would be the gal that was the first wife of
David. And she was childless, at least by David (2Sam. 6:23).
One suggestion is that there was a copyist error here, and so the newer
translations all have “Merab”. This would fit the rest of Scripture a little
better since it was Merab who was married to Adriel:
(1 Sa 18:19 NKJV) —19 But it
happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to
David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.
One other suggestion is that these five were the sons of Merab, who died,
and who were raised by Michal.
:9 and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged
them on the hill before the Lord.
So they fell, all seven together, and were put to death in the days of
harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
:9 into the hands of the Gibeonites
Lesson
Reconciliation
When you’ve wronged someone, it’s important that you do whatever you can to
make things right. Paul calls this
“godly repentance”
(2
Corinthians 7:11 NKJV) For observe this very thing, that
you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what
clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what
vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things
you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
Paul also wrote,
(Romans
12:18 NKJV) If it is possible, as much as depends on you,
live peaceably with all men.
It’s not always possible to do what they ask because some
people ask for too much, yet as much as is “possible” we respond.
But be sure you don’t let your pride keep you from doing
the right thing.
It seems that David has decided that the Gibeonite request was proper.
:10 Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for
herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured
on them from heaven. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them
by day nor the beasts of the field by night.
In those days, crucifixion had not yet been invented. These men were put to
death, and then their dead bodies were displayed. It was a great shame that a
body hung out for all to see and in most cases, bodies were not allowed to hang
for more than a day (Deut. 21:22-23).
To appease the Gibeonites, the bodies were kept out in the open from April
until October.
Rizpah kept the bodies from being eaten by the birds or animals.
If her name sounds familiar, it’s because this is the woman that Ishbosheth
had accused Abner of having an affair with. She was Saul’s concubine.
:11 And David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of
Saul, had done.
:12 Then David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan
his son, from the men of Jabesh Gilead who had stolen them from the street of
Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them up, after the Philistines had
struck down Saul in Gilboa.
:13 So he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son
from there; and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged.
:14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of
Benjamin in Zelah, in the tomb of Kish his father. So they performed all that
the king commanded. And after that God heeded the prayer for the land.
:14 They buried the bones of Saul
Show Gilboa to Zelah map
When Saul and his sons were killed by the Philistines on Mount Gilboa,
their bodies were taken by the Philistines to the city of Beth Shan, where they
were hung up on the city wall. The men
of Jabesh Gilead marched all night and took the bodies back to Jabesh
Gilead. David now brings all these bones
together to the Kish family tomb at Zelah.
Sometimes when resolving a problem we focus only on one side of the issue,
probably the side which seems to have the biggest grievance.
But perhaps we need to think about all the parties involved.
So after dealing with the issues with the Gibeonites, David also deals with
the resentment that might be forming in the family of Saul.
As a response to Rizpah’s show of grief, David does an honorable thing for
the bones of Saul and his descendants by gathering these bones all into one
place.
David shows a measure of kindness to them.
And that’s when it started raining.
Lesson
Ending the drought
It ended when repentance was complete.
David not only dealt with the Gibeonites and their hurt, but he also dealt
with the tribe of Benjamin by honoring Saul’s bones.
God had warned through Moses that when the nation was rebelling against
God’s ways, the consequences might be drought.
(Leviticus
26:19 NKJV) I will break the pride of your power; I will make
your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.
Solomon would recognize this and when the Temple would be dedicated, he
prayed this:
(1 Kings 8:35–36
NKJV) —35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they
have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your
name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, 36 then hear in
heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may
teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land
which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
An example of how this impacts us as Christians is the issue of illegal
immigration.
I imagine some of us favor one side of the issue over another. So let me offend both sides.
The truth is that illegal immigration is illegal.
There are reasons why countries have borders. There are reasons for laws regarding
citizenship. Illegal immigrants are
breaking the law. We are to submit to those
in authority over us. (Rom. 31:1)
(Romans 13:1 NKJV) Let every soul be subject to the
governing authorities…
As Christians, we also have an obligation to care for poor (and I’m not
sure it requires we check their citizenship)
(1
John 3:17–18 NKJV) —17 But whoever has this world’s goods,
and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the
love of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love
in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
(Proverbs 19:17 NKJV) He who has pity on the poor lends to
the Lord, And He will
pay back what he has given.
(Isaiah 58:7 NKJV) Is it not to
share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see
the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
(James
2:14–17 NKJV) —14 What does it profit, my
brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save
him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and
filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body,
what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it
does not have works, is dead.
(Proverbs 22:9 NKJV) He who has a generous eye will be
blessed, For he gives
of his bread to the poor.
(Galatians 2:10 NKJV) They desired only that
we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.
As believers, we need to be aware of both sides of the equation, and not
just one.
I think as Christians that we look at this concept of a “drought” as being
spiritually “dry”, and I think that’s good. I think at least parts of our
nation are experiencing a spiritual drought (and I’m NOT trying to equate
illegal immigration as the reason for our drought)
I think one answer to a spiritual “drought” is more of the Holy Spirit.
Play Bob Uecker Put Some Air in it video
It’s hard to play the game of “life” when we need more
“air”, or more “Spirit”.
Yet perhaps we also ought to consider that there might be a reason for the
drought, that perhaps we need to make some changes in our lives. Perhaps repent.
And THEN ask for more of the Spirit.
Jesus would say this to the crowds in Jerusalem,
(John
7:37–38 NKJV) —37 …“If anyone thirsts, let him come to
Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the
Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Are you thirsty?
Are you willing to turn from any sin that is hindering you
and causing a drought?
Are you willing to trust God to fill you with His Spirit?
Illustration
THE RED UMBRELLA Retold by Tania Gray
As the drought continued for what seemed an eternity, a small community of
mid-west farmers was in a quandary as to what to do. The rain was important not
only in order to keep the crops healthy, but also to sustain the townspeople’s
very way of living. As the problem became more urgent, the local church felt it
was time to get involved and planned a prayer meeting in order to ask for rain.
In what seemed a vague remembrance of an old Native American ritual, the people
began to show. The pastor soon arrived and watched as his congregation
continued to file in. He slowly circulated from group to group as he made his
way to the front in order to officially begin the meeting. Everyone he
encountered was visiting across the isles, enjoying the chance to socialize
with their close friends. As the pastor finally secured his place in front of
his flock, his thoughts were on the importance of quieting the crowd and
starting the meeting. Just as he began asking for quiet, he noticed an eleven
year-old girl sitting in the front row. She was angelically beaming with
excitement and laying next to her was her bright red umbrella, poised for use.
The beauty and innocence of this sight made the pastor smile to himself as he
realized the faith this young girl possessed that the rest of the people in the
room seemed to have forgotten. For the rest had come just to pray for
rain.....She had come to see God answer.
Are you ready for it to rain?
21:15-22 Giant Killers
In verses 15-22 we have some interesting records of various men besides
David who killed giants, and specifically the giants that were the sons of
Goliath.
:15 When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his
servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew
faint.
David is getting older now. But it
seems that he wants to fight. He got
into trouble with Bathsheba when he didn’t go to war. This time he goes out to the battle. But he starts to get tired.
Play Gath map clip. We think most of these incidents will take place near
Gath.
:16 Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of the giant, the
weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was
bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David.
:16 three hundred shekels
That’s about 7 ½ pounds (a gallon of milk).
Goliath’s spear head = 15 pounds.
This fellow is a son of Goliath. He
wouldn’t mind a little revenge on the old man that killed his daddy.
:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the
Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You
shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”
Abishai rescues David. David is
asked to stay away from the battles.
He’s too old.
:18 Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the
Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was
one of the sons of the giant.
:18 Gob
We think this is another name for the city of Gath, the home of Goliath.
Sibbechai kills another of the sons of Goliath.
:19 Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son
of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the
Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
Another giant killed. I’m not sure
he was the “brother”, but probably another “son” of Goliath.
:20 Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great
stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot,
twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant.
:21 So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother,
killed him.
:22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of
David and by the hand of his servants.
:22 These four … fell by the hand of …
Quiz Alert!!!
Lesson
Raising Up Giant Killers
There was a time in Israel’s history when a single giant named Goliath made
the entire army tremble in their boots.
Until a young man stepped up and took the challenge.
David was that giant killer.
Now as David is older, there are more giant killers.
How did David raise up giant killers?
We don’t have records of any “giant killing classes” offered by David.
We don’t have records of David releasing a best-selling book, “Seven
Secrets of Effective Giant Killers”.
We just have his example.
Paul said,
(1
Corinthians 11:1 NKJV) Imitate me, just as I also imitate
Christ.
Play Video: Values – Holding the Light
We learn from the examples of others.
But we also teach by our example.
Sometimes we get discouraged in our battles with our own “giants”.
We make excuses as to why we can’t conquer this “thing”.
Others see us and follow our example.
When we decide to give up our excuses, and face our “giant” head on, it
gives others courage to see that they can do it too.
It’s not just about “me” and my “giant”. I set an example for others.
22:1-51 Deliverance Praise
David shares a song that he wrote after God had delivered him from all his
enemies. It’s almost identical to Psalm
18.
We’re going to skip on to chapter 23.
There are some slight difference from Psalm 18, but Spurgeon suggests that
this is because David had this song sung on different occasions, editing it
slightly to fit the occasion.
It seems that this is not something that chronologically follows the
previous chapter. This is a Psalm that was tacked on to the end of the history.
This was written earlier, towards the beginning of David’s reign, after the
death of Saul, perhaps somewhere after 2Samuel 8.
:1 Then David spoke to the Lord
the words of this song, on the day when the Lord
had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.
:2 And he said: “The Lord is
my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
:3 The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of
my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from
violence.
:4 I will call upon the Lord,
who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.
:5 “When the waves of death surrounded me, The floods of ungodliness made
me afraid.
:6 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
:6 Sheol – the place of the dead.
This is an example of Hebrew parallelism.
The next phrase speaks of “death”, being a parallel to “Sheol”.
In a Hebrew poem, things are often in pairs, sometimes in threes. They will either describe the same thing, or
describe opposite things. Sometimes the
best way you can understand a phrase you don’t understand is to see what it is
matched with.
:7 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry entered
His ears.
David prayed when he was in distress.
Look at how God will answer David’s prayers.
:8 “Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven quaked and
were shaken, Because He was angry.
:9 Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
:10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.
:11 He rode upon a cherub, and flew; And He was seen upon the wings of the
wind.
:12 He made darkness canopies around Him, Dark waters and thick
clouds of the skies.
:13 From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled.
:14 “The Lord thundered from
heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice.
:15 He sent out arrows and scattered them; Lightning bolts, and He
vanquished them.
:16 Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world
were uncovered, At the rebuke of the Lord,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
:16 the blast of the breath of His nostrils
David is describing a storm. David prayed, and God answered through the
weather with a storm.
Lesson
Miracles in our midst
Sometimes God answers our prayers in ways that we don’t expect.
In fact, sometimes when He answers, we don’t realize that it’s God behind
the situation.
There will be some people who will look at what David is writing and say
that David is just a primitive man who looks at a storm and mistakenly thinks
that “God” is behind it.
David knew better. He knew that God
WAS behind it.
:17 “He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters.
:18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; For they
were too strong for me.
:19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support.
:20 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He
delighted in me.
:21 “The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has
recompensed me.
:22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
:23 For all His judgments were before me; And as for His
statutes, I did not depart from them.
:24 I was also blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.
:25 Therefore the Lord has
recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in His
eyes.
:25 recompensed me according to my righteousness
Keep in mind – it seems that David wrote this before his adultery with
Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah the Hittite.
Lesson
It pays to be good
I know we are saved by grace and not by works (Eph. 2:8-9). I know that we
could never be saved by our own good works because all our best works are but
filthy rags to God (Isa. 64:6).
Though it may sound like boasting on David’s part, there is something of
value here.
There is benefit in living your life the right way.
I remember having a friend of mine criticize me because I lived in a nice
house and while he lived in his mom’s garage.
But I think that comes from the fact that I haven’t spent money on
alcohol, prostitutes, and drugs. And my
wife and I have had steady jobs all of our adult lives.
God promised Israel that if they walked in His ways, He would bless them
and protect them. (Deut. 28:7)
(Dt
28:7 NKJV) “The Lord will cause
your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall
come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
:26 “With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless
man You will show Yourself blameless;
:27 With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You
will show Yourself shrewd.
:28 You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the
haughty, that You may bring them down.
:27 pure … devious
Lesson
Views of God
God will respond to people based on their hearts.
Some people speak of how “cruel” God is, when they are the “devious” ones,
and they keep getting caught.
If people are not willing to come to God humbly, they will not know God’s
mercy.
:29 “For You are my lamp, O Lord;
The Lord shall enlighten my
darkness.
:29 You are my lamp
We saw this on Sunday:
(1 Jn 1:5 NKJV) This is the
message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and
in Him is no darkness at all.
We read it again this week:
(Col 1:13 NKJV) —13 He has
delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom
of the Son of His love,
:30 For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.
:30 by You I can run against a troop
Paul wrote,
(Php 4:13 NKJV) I can do all
things through Christ who strengthens me.
Illustration
Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, said, “Many Christians
estimate difficulty in the light of their own resources, and thus they attempt
very little, and they always fail. All giants have been weak men who did great
things for God because they reckoned on His power and His presence to be with
them.”
:31 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a
shield to all who trust in Him.
:32 “For who is God, except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
:33 God is my strength and power, And He makes my way
perfect.
:34 He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high
places.
:35 He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of
bronze.
:36 “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness
has made me great.
:37 You enlarged my path under me; So my feet did not slip.
:34 my feet like the feet of deer
Play “En Gedi Oryx” clip. This is En
Gedi, an oasis along the coast of the Dead Sea in Israel. There are little deer, called “Oryx” that
live there and walk the steep canyon walls.
God can teach us to conquer the heights.
Places we used to be afraid of.
:38 “I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them; Neither did I turn back
again till they were destroyed.
:39 And I have destroyed them and wounded them, So that they could not
rise; They have fallen under my feet.
:40 For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued
under me those who rose against me.
:41 You have also given me the necks of my enemies, So that I destroyed
those who hated me.
:42 They looked, but there was none to save; Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
:43 Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I trod them like
dirt in the streets, And I spread them out.
:38 pursued my enemies and destroyed them
Lesson
Conquering enemies
First identify who the real enemies are.
(Eph 6:12 NKJV) 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.
For us, our enemies aren’t people. It’s spiritual enemies.
With God’s help, we will conquer.
The people we often relate to as our “enemies” are only prisoners of war:
(2 Ti 2:24–26 NKJV)
—24 And a
servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach,
patient, 25 in humility
correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them
repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to
their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken
captive by him to do his will.
Keep standing against the real enemy:
(Eph 6:10–11 NKJV)
—10 Finally, my
brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil.
:44 “You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people; You have
kept me as the head of the nations. A people I have not known shall serve me.
:45 The foreigners submit to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me.
:46 The foreigners fade away, And come frightened from their hideouts.
:44 A people I have not known shall serve me
In David’s mind, he is talking about how he has conquered the non-Israeli
neighbors on each of his borders.
But wait, there’s more!
It also speaks prophetically of the Gentiles being a part of God’s family
and serving the Jewish Messiah, Jesus. (Is. 55:5)
(Is 55:5 NKJV) —5 Surely you
shall call a nation you do not know, And nations who do not know you
shall run to you, Because of the Lord
your God, And the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”
(Eph 2:19 NKJV) —19 Now,
therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with
the saints and members of the household of God,
(Ro 9:25 NKJV) —25 As He says
also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her
beloved, who was not beloved.”
:47 “The Lord lives! Blessed be
my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation!
:48 It is God who avenges me, And subdues the peoples under me;
:49 He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who
rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man.
:50 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.
:51 “He is the tower of salvation to His king, And shows mercy to
His anointed, To David and his descendants forevermore.”
God is good. All the time.
23:1-7 Last Words
We’re just going to look at the next two verses in this chapter…
:1 Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the
son of Jesse; Thus says the man raised up on high, The anointed of the
God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel:
:1 the last words of David
Lesson
Final words
It’s not unusual for a man’s final words to be fairly important.
This is what is really important to David. After living some seventy years,
this is his last chance to get a message across of what is important.
Note: His message isn’t, “He who dies with the most toys wins”.
Famous Last Words
I am in the land of the dying, and I am soon going to the land of the
living.
Who: John Newton,
Anglican preacher, abolitionist, and writer of “Amazing Grace.”
How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?
Who: P. T. Barnum,
circus entrepreneur
I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis.
Who: Humphrey
Bogart
I just wish I had time for one more bowl of chili.
Who: Kit Carson, American frontiersman
Solely by the merits of Jesus Christ, Our Savior.
Who: astronomer Johannes
Kepler
The best of all is, God is with us.
Who: John Wesley
What’s important to you? What do you
wish your “last words” would be?
:2 “The Spirit of the Lord
spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.
:3 The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules
over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God.
:4 And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun
rises, A morning without clouds, Like the tender grass springing
out of the earth, By clear shining after rain.’
:2 The Spirit of the Lord
spoke by me
Even though David regularly inquired of God through the priests, and even
though he had other “prophets” around him (like Nathan and Gad)…
David is saying that he too was a prophet.
We see it in many of the Psalms (he wrote over 70 of them) like these…
The priestly nature of the Messiah:
(Psalm 110:4 NKJV) The Lord has sworn And will not
relent, “You are
a priest forever
According
to the order of Melchizedek.”
Speaking of the crucifixion:
(Psalm 22:16 NKJV) For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced
My hands and My feet;
The resurrection:
(Psalm 16:10 NKJV) For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You
allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
Even the betrayal by Judas:
(Psalm 41:9 NKJV) Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my
bread, Has lifted
up his heel against me.
God also gave David the blueprints of the Temple and the organization of
Temple worship:
(1 Chronicles
28:11–13 NKJV) —11 Then David gave his son Solomon the
plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its
inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat; 12 and the
plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of
the Lord, of all the chambers all
around, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the
dedicated things; 13 also for the division of the priests
and the Levites, for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the articles of
service in the house of the Lord.
In Abraham’s day, worship involved a simple altar made of stones. Moses
elevated worship with the Law, the Ark, and the Tabernacle…
David took worship to a whole other level with his design for the Temple,
the organization of the priests and Levites, and his psalms.
We may call it “Solomon’s Temple” because he oversaw the construction, but
it was David’s design.
It was his house that would give birth to Messiah.
:3 He who rules over men
Lesson
Godly leaders
David is painting a picture of how people will be blessed when a ruler is
good – ruling with “justice” and “in the fear of God”.
I’ve been going for walks in the early morning, and I love walking eastward
as the sun is coming up. It’s beautiful
and powerful and you have a sense of God’s presence.
When leaders rule well, people flourish like a garden that’s regularly
watered.
Are you a leader in some respect?
Do the right thing – being “just”.
Keep your eyes on who is Bigger than You – God.
(Col
4:1 NKJV) Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that
you also have a Master in heaven.
:5 “Although my house is not so with God, Yet He has made with me an
everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things and secure. For this is
all my salvation and all my desire; Will He not make it increase?
Some of the translations give almost the opposite idea:
(2 Sam 23:5 NASB)
"Truly is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting
covenant with me, Ordered in all things, and secured; For all my salvation and
all my desire, Will He not indeed make it grow?
:6 But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns
thrust away, Because they cannot be taken with hands.
:7 But the man who touches them Must be armed with iron and the
shaft of a spear, And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their
place.”
:6 the sons of rebellion
David knew what it was like to have people challenge his leadership.
Lesson
Good king / Bad king
You have a choice as to how you will rule your life.
You can be a person who refreshes others by doing what’s right.
You can be a pain in the neck.
Choose to be a good king.
One of the keys to ruling correctly is to be “ruling in the fear of God”
(vs.3)
23:8-39 Mighty Men
The rest of the chapter lists the “Mighty Men” of David. I’m afraid we are
going to skip this for the sake of time, but perhaps you should read through
their names on your own and get familiar with them for when you meet them in
heaven…
As always, there will be lots more in my notes than I have time to share.
It seemed that David had a sort of “all-star” group of men. We call them
David’s Mighty Men.
There seems to be different levels within these mighty men.
The top group is called “The Three”
These were the guys who helped make David king.
(1 Ch 11:10 NKJV) —10 Now these were
the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with
him in his kingdom, with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of
the Lord concerning Israel.
As mighty and great as we see David, he didn’t do it alone.
He had help.
What are the things that characterize the “Mighty Men”?
We’ll look at some of the characteristics of these fellows.
:8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had:
Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among the captains. He was called Adino
the Eznite, because he had killed eight hundred men at one time.
:8 mighty – gibbowr –
strong man, brave man, mighty man
Lesson
Big things
What made these men “mighty” are the things they did.
They were ordinary men who did extraordinary things.
We believe most of them started with David at the same time, in the same
condition, when David himself was running for his life from Saul:
(1 Sa 22:1–2 NKJV)
—1 David
therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his
brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to
him. 2 And everyone
who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who
was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there
were about four hundred men with him.
God uses ordinary people, people who struggle, and He does great things
through them.
Adino the Eznite – “his ornament is his spear”
He kills 800 men in a single battle.
Probably with a spear.
He was the Rambo of the group. Or maybe the Jackie Chan
Play Forbidden
Kingdom Teahouse clip.
:9 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, one
of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who
were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated.
:9 Dodo – Dowdow – “his
beloved”. This is apparently kind of a nickname for the name “David”.
:10 He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his
hand stuck to the sword. The Lord
brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only
to plunder.
:10 his hand stuck to the sword
Apparently this was not an unusual occurrence in ancient days when people
fought with swords. A warrior’s hand could lock onto the sword and you would
have to run warm water over the hand to get it to release the sword.
:11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The
Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of
ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines.
:12 But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and
killed the Philistines. So the Lord
brought about a great victory.
Lesson
Perseverance
Eleazar’s hand stuck to his sword.
Shammah stood his ground and defended it.
This might be seen by some as “stubbornness”, but what can seem like
stubbornness can be turned into perseverance when we are being “stubborn” for
the right things.
The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish believers who were being greatly
persecuted for their faith. They were
being persuaded that they needed to let go of this “Jesus” stuff. We don’t need to let go of Jesus, we need to
hold on and stand our ground.
(Heb 3:12–14 NKJV)
—12 Beware,
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,”
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have
become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast
to the end,
(Heb 12:1–2 NKJV) —1 Therefore we
also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us
run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God.
:13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came
to David at the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in the
Valley of Rephaim.
:14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the
Philistines was then in Bethlehem.
:15 And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of
the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
:16 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew
water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and
brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it
out to the Lord.
:17 And he said, “Far be it from me, O Lord,
that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy
of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by
the three mighty men.
:16 brought it to David
Play Adullam to Bethlehem map clip
David and his men are hiding at the Cave of Adullam, while the Philistines
are up in a valley that runs Jerusalem and Bethlehem. David’s men make it all the way up through
the Philistine outpost, into Bethlehem, and back again.
They heard their friend David make a comment about the water in Bethlehem,
and they decide to do something about it.
Lesson
Others
The “three” were concerned about others.
They were interested in David’s “longings”.
David in return was concerned about their welfare and shuddered at the idea
that they had risked their lives for a stupid cup of water.
Greatness is not determined by how many people there are who serve you, but
how you serve others.
(Mk 10:42–45 NKJV)
—42 But Jesus
called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are
considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones
exercise authority over them. 43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become
great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 45 For even the
Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a
ransom for many.”
:18 Now Abishai the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of another
three. He lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them,
and won a name among these three.
:19 Was he not the most honored of three? Therefore he became their
captain. However, he did not attain to the first three.
:20 Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from
Kabzeel, who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab.
He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.
:21 And he killed an Egyptian, a spectacular man. The Egyptian had a
spear in his hand; so he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out
of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear.
:22 These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name
among three mighty men.
:23 He was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first
three. And David appointed him over his guard.
:20 killed two lion-like heroes
Lesson
Facing the giants
Benaiah had a reputation of facing big opponents.
He didn’t make what would seem to be obvious excuses about the size of his
opponent, he just faced them.
Men who do great things don’t necessarily live without fear.
The secret to facing giants is not to let your fear stop you from doing
what you need to do.
That’s what real courage is about.
I wonder how much more we could accomplish if we didn’t let our excuses or
our fears stop us from doing what is before us.
Sometimes fear is our friend because it warns us to stay away from places
where we don’t belong.
But sometimes fear keeps us from doing what we ought to be doing.
Like Brock, we are “afraid” we can’t do any better. And that “fear” keeps us from even trying.
We need to learn to walk by “faith” and not by “sight”.
(2
Co 5:7 NKJV) For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Sometimes I wonder if we wouldn’t do better blindfolded
because we wouldn’t be stopped by what we “see”.
:24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the
son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
Now we see a listing of “the thirty”, different than the previous groups of
“three”.
:25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,
:26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
:27 Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,
:28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
:29 Heleb the son of Baanah (the Netophathite), Ittai the son of Ribai from
Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,
Gibeah was Saul’s town. This Ittai
came from Saul’s city.
:30 Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai from the brooks of Gaash,
:31 Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,
:32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite (of the sons of Jashen), Jonathan,
:33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite,
:34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son
of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
:34 Eliam the son of Ahithophel
Eliam was a son of David’s friend Ahithophel, who eventually betrayed David
and joined forces with Absalom.
We believe this Eliam had a famous daughter:
(2 Sa 11:3 NKJV) So David
sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not
Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
:35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,
:36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,
:37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite (armorbearer of Joab the son
of Zeruiah),
:38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
:39 and Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.
:39 Uriah the Hittite
This is the fellow who had been married to Bathsheba. This is the fellow that David had killed so
he could marry Bathsheba.
He was part of David’s inner circle.
David not only knew what it was to be betrayed, but he did his own bit of
betraying.
24:1-9 The Census
:1 Again the anger of the Lord
was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number
Israel and Judah.”
:1 the anger of the LORD …
The parallel passage tells us:
(1
Chronicles 21:1 NKJV) Now Satan stood up against Israel,
and moved David to number Israel.
We aren’t told the reason why God was angry with Israel. But because of His
anger, God allowed Satan to move David towards numbering the people.
Why? Some have suggested that this took place after Absalom’s rebellion and
Sheba’s rebellion and that God was angry with Israel for rebelling against
David.
:1 Go, number Israel
The purpose for taking a
“census” was not to know your population’s “demographics”. The purpose was to
raise an army. The people that were counted were the men who were able to
fight.
We see this in the book
of Numbers. Twice there was a census taken, one at the beginning of the forty
years in the wilderness, and one at the end. Who was counted? Men who could
fight. (Num.1:1-3; Num. 26:1-2)
God had a law regarding
the taking of a census.
(Exodus
30:12 NKJV) “When you take the census of the children of
Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, that there
may be no plague among them when you number them.
Money was to be collected
for each person counted. This was to keep Israel from a “plague”. The amount of
the ransom was to be ½ a shekel per person. The money was to go towards the
upkeep of the Tabernacle (Ex. 30:11-16).
Note the mention of a
“plague” if they don’t do this correctly.
This eventually grew into
the custom of the “temple-tax” that was used to pay for temple expenses.
The Jewish historian
Josephus records (Antiquities, 7:12:1),
Now king David was desirous to know how many ten thousands there were of
the people, but forgot the commands of Moses, who told them beforehand, that if
the multitude were numbered, they should pay half a shekel to God for every
head.
Josephus’ suggestion is that
the trouble that’s about to take place was because David didn’t have the people
pay the “ransom”.
I wonder if there isn’t another problem as well.
Lesson
Dangerous Pride
I can’t help but wonder why David is doing this at all.
There is no enemy on the horizon.
Why would David need to raise an army?
Perhaps David wants to be able to puff out his chest and brag about the
size of his army.
Perhaps after all the rebellions, David feels that if he pulls the entire
nation into a massive army recruitment, it will remind them of just who’s in
charge.
Joab will hint that David seems to want to rely on his army instead of God.
David himself wrote,
(Psalm 20:7 NKJV) Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will
remember the name of the Lord our
God.
God doesn’t like us doing things out of pride.
(Proverbs
11:2 NKJV) When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the
humble is wisdom.
(Matthew
23:12 NKJV) And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and
he who humbles himself will be exalted.
:2 So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with
him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and
count the people, that I may know the number of the people.”
:2 from Dan to Beersheba
This is from the farthest northern town to the farthest southern town.
:3 And Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times more than
there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my
lord the king desire this thing?”
Joab thinks there’s a problem with David wanting to know “how many”?
:4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the
captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from
the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.
In vss. 5-9, Joab and the “recruiters” will take nine months, starting in
the east, moving northward, then south along the coast, then back to Jerusalem.
They will count 800,000 men from Israel and an additional 500,000 men from
Judah.
:5 And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side
of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward
Jazer.
:6 Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to
Dan Jaan and around to Sidon;
:7 and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the
Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as
Beersheba.
:8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at
the end of nine months and twenty days.
:9 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And
there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and
the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
:6 they crossed over the Jordan
The recruiters start off in the east, move to the north, then down the
coast southward, and back to Jerusalem.
:9 the sum of the number
There is a difference between the numbers given here and those in the
parallel passage.
(1 Ch 21:5 NKJV) —5 Then Joab
gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had one
million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah had four
hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword.
We are told in 1Chr. 27
that David had a standing army of 24,000 men from each of the twelve tribes,
rotating each month. This is a total of 288,000 men. If you add that number to
the additional 800,000 counted during the census, you could come up with a
number that could be rounded off to 1,100,000 men. The tribe of Judah is
mentioned in Chronicles as 470,000, which could have been rounded here in
Samuel to 500,000.
24:10-17 The Judgment
:10 And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So
David said to the Lord, “I have
sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done
very foolishly.”
:10 David’s heart condemned him
It took David ten months, but finally his heart gets the message.
But I think this is why he’s the “man after God’s heart”, because he
responds.
Lesson
Heart warnings
It’s not a bad thing to pay attention to some of those warnings that your
heart gives from time to time.
John wrote,
(1 John 3:21 NKJV) Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence
toward God.
Paul was writing about whether or
not to eat food that was sacrificed to idols when he said,
(Romans 14:22–23
NLT) —22 You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but
keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for
doing something they have decided is right. 23 But if you
have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if
you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do
anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
If you are unsure about something, sometimes it’s better to wait, pray it
through, and be sure, rather than cause a mess like David is going to do.
:11 Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s
seer, saying,
:12 “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord:
“I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may
do it to you.” ’ ”
This is still the Old Testament, and Jesus has not yet died to take away
our sins.
David’s sin has to be taken care of. Somebody has got to pay.
:13 So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven
years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before
your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in
your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent
me.”
:14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into
the hand of the Lord, for His
mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
:14 His mercies are great
If David has to choose between God’s mercy and man’s mercy …
He chooses God’s mercy every time.
He has learned how cruel men can be.
Lesson
Who is more merciful?
Do you think that God is cruel to you?
Who would you rather be at the mercy of?
:15 So the Lord sent a plague
upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba
seventy thousand men of the people died.
:15 the people died
If the “sin” involved was the pride in the “number” of people, it’s
interesting that the consequences of the sin involved lowering that “number”.
Lesson
Sin’s consequences
If we confess our sin,
God will forgive us.
But sometimes the earthly
consequences still remain.
You may still have to
face the Trunk Monkey.
If I rob a liquor store,
I can ask God for forgiveness, and He will forgive me. But I still need to pay the earthly
consequences of having robbed the liquor store.
Sometimes Satan says,
“Just give in and all this temptation pressure will be over with. You can confess to God and no one will be the
wiser!”
...but sin is a bad deal
no matter how you look at it. It is much better to just not give in.
Remember
the Trunk Monkey.
:16 And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it,
the Lord relented from the
destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is
enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
:16 the Lord relented from
the destruction
The word for relent (naham) can also be translated “be sorry”, or
“regret”
:16 It is enough
God asks the “angel” to take a break. God is going to give David a chance
to do something here.
:16 the threshing floor
(play Sifting Winnowing
video in background)
Threshing floors are
usually located on top of a hill, where the wind would blow frequently and the
wheat could be separated from the chaff in the winnowing process.
:16 the angel of the
LORD
This is a phrase used in
the Bible to identify a unique, specific Old Testament person.
He has made many
appearances to many different people. (more details in my notes)
Hagar met Him
(Gen.16:7,13); Abraham met Him (Gen.22:11-12); Gideon met Him (Judg.6:12-14,
22-23); and Samson’s dad, Manoah met Him (Judg.13:21-22).
When you piece things
together, you find that this person is also called “God”.
We believe that this
person is none other than Jesus Christ (the Son of David), appearing on earth
before His birth in Bethlehem.
:17 Then David spoke to the Lord
when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have
sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let
Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”
:17 Surely I have sinned
David has the marks of a great leader.
He’s already admitted he was wrong after his conscience bothered him.
Now as he sees the consequences of his sin, he again owns his
responsibility and is willing to bear the brunt of the sin.
24:18-25 The Altar
:18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar
to the Lord on the threshing
floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
:19 So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.
:20 Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward
him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.
:20 Araunah looked
Araunah is also called “Ornan” in the parallel passage in 1Chronicles.
The parallel passage says he saw more than just the king coming…
(1
Chronicles 21:20 NKJV) Now Ornan turned and saw the
angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves, but Ornan
continued threshing wheat.
We have a short description of what David and Araunah saw:
(1
Chronicles 21:16 NKJV) Then David lifted his eyes and saw
the angel of the Lord standing
between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over
Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
:21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And
David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be withdrawn
from the people.”
:22 Now Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up
whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt
sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood.
:23 All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.” And Araunah said to
the king, “May the Lord your God
accept you.”
:24 Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it
from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me
nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of
silver.
:25 And David built there an altar to the Lord,
and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was
withdrawn from Israel.
:24 offer burnt offerings … cost me nothing
Lesson
The Sacrifice Principle
A sacrifice should cost you something.
When a child puts a dollar into the offering basket that their parents gave
them, that’s not really much of a “sacrifice”.
In a sense, we no longer practice sacrifice, because Jesus has paid for our
sins once and for all.
Yet there are other “sacrifices” we make as Christians.
(Romans 12:1 NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is
your reasonable service.
We learn to give our bodies to the Lord.
But that’s not always easy. Sometimes I want to do what I want to do with
my own body. And learning to say “no” to
myself isn’t fun. It can be costly.
(Philippians
2:17 NKJV) Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink
offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice
with you all.
Some of Paul’s ministry to others was like a
“sacrifice”. And sometimes serving
others can be costly to us – we have to give of our time, sometimes even our
dollars to serve others.
(Hebrews
13:15 NKJV) Therefore by Him let us continually offer the
sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving
thanks to His name.
Sometimes we just don’t “feel” like praising God, but it’s
what we ought to do, so we do it anyway and it “costs us” emotionally.
It’s not a sacrifice if it doesn’t cost me “something”.
:25 the Lord heeded the
prayers
The parallel passage tells us just how God “heeded” or responded to this
sacrifice –
(1
Chronicles 21:26 NKJV) And David built there an altar to
the Lord, and offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings, and called on the Lord; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of
burnt offering.
There are only three
other occurrences where God sends fire to consume an offering:
1. Moses and the
Tabernacle (Lev. 9:24)
2. Solomon and the Temple
(2Chr. 7:1)
3. Elijah on Mount Carmel
(1Ki. 18:36-39)
Something special has
happened. Something bigger than just this story has happened.
Lesson
The Treasure in the Trash
Araunah’s threshing floor
would become a special place.
Again, in the parallel account in Chronicles, immediately after this story,
we read:
(1
Chronicles 22:1 NKJV) Then David said, “This is the
house of the Lord God, and
this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
David somehow considered this location to be “the house of the LORD God”.
2Chronicles tells us more about this location.
(2
Chronicles 3:1 NKJV) Now Solomon began to build the house
of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount
Moriah, where the Lord had
appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the
threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
This will be the place where Solomon would build the
temple.
The threshing floor was also in the same place where
Abraham had offered Isaac (Gen. 22:2), on Mount Moriah.
God was able to take David’s sin of pride and turn the entire situation
around so that this place became not just “a place” of worship, but “THE place”
of worship.
God spoke to Moses that there would one day be a special place in the land,
a place to seek God.
(Deuteronomy
12:5 NKJV) “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your
tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.
Up to the time of David, that “place” bounced around
wherever the Ark and/or Tabernacle was in the land.
But NOW it would be in Jerusalem, on this threshing floor.
If the idea of David’s sin being that he didn’t collect the “ransom”, it’s
interesting that in the end, the very thing the “ransom” would have gone for
was taken care of. The “ransom” would go toward the upkeep of the Tabernacle,
and David has now purchased the site for the temple.
Strange idea:
I came across a reference that gold was considered 12
times the value of silver (Gill; 2Sam. 24:24).
If David paid 600 shekels of gold for the entire property,
that would be the equivalent of 7200 shekels of silver (600 x 12).
If the “ransom” was ½ shekel per person, then David only
paid enough for 14,400 people (interesting number).
However you look at it, David did pay a price, but he
didn’t have to pay the full price. He should have had to pay 1,300,000 x ½ =
650,000 shekels of silver. He only paid close to one hundredth of the price.
I find it very interesting that Jesus (the angel of the LORD) was there
with David in Jerusalem, watching David pay the price for his sin.
Jesus would pay the price for our sin at that same place.
The place of crucifixion is thought to have been to the
north of the Temple Mount, but still considered on Mount Moriah.
This is where we’re going to end our study on the Life of David.
David had been thirty years old when he began to reign as king.
He would rule a total of forty years before handing over the throne to his
son Solomon, the son of Bathsheba.
You can read about the transition from David to Solomon in 1Kings 1-2.
Quiz
From the lecture (10pts):
Fill in the blank:
1. ______________ Up Giant Killers
Final
(If you’re doing this class online, share Psalm 23 to someone you know, and
let me know who you share it with. You
don’t have to be perfect in reciting it to them, just email me their name)
1. Does anyone want to recite Psalm 23 on their own before the whole class
(you don’t have to do this to pass the final, only volunteers)
2. Have you signed in on the attendance sheet? That’s my way of knowing who
to give credit to…
Have everyone stand and slowly recite Psalm 23 together.
Homework
No homework this week!
But if you want to take my next class “The Life of Abraham”, be sure to
sign up for it online. The class will
start March 16 and run through May 18, with taking the weeks of Easter and
Mother’s Day off.
Blessing