Waiting for the Crown

(1) The ideal anointed one is God’s appointed ruler. (2) He trusts in God alone, who protects him. (3) The anointed one leads Israel to victory in battle against the nation’s enemies. (4) He is a just ruler.

but historical research is not sacred Scripture. Rather, the means of God’s grace in our lives is the text of Scripture itself, and when we read the Old Testament historical books, we must be aware of the special concerns and worldview represented there

These episodes are not narrated as Yahweh’s will, but they do illustrate that Yahweh is at work to accomplish his promises to David,

This is a pattern I mentioned in our first lesson, where David shows so much insight and obedience to God…except in the area of women

Intro

The Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard once told a story about a flock of wild geese who migrated south every winter.

On their journey, they would pass over a farm where some tame geese lived comfortably in the barnyard. The wild geese would circle overhead and call down: “Come with us! You were made for the sky! Come fly south!” The tame geese would get excited. They would flap their wings. They would talk about how wonderful it must be to migrate.

The wild geese would come down among them and tell them of the life that awaited them if they but flew with the wild geese.  ‘can you seriously imagine that this barnyard, with great high walls around it, is all there is to existence? I tell you, there is another and a greater world outside, a world of which we are only dimly aware. Our forefathers knew of this outside world—for did they not stretch their wings and fly across the trackless wastes of desert and ocean, of green valley and wooded hill? But alas, here we remain in this barnyard, our wings folded and tucked into our sides, as we are content to puddle in the mud, never lifting our eyes to the heavens which should be our home.’

But then the wild geese would continue south — and the tame geese would stay behind. The corn was plentiful. The barnyard was safe. One wild goose stayed behind you see, and he would preach to the tame geese. Every Sunday, the tame geese went to church. They would waddle in and sit under the preaching of this wild goose who would stand in the pulpit and preach stirring sermons about migration.

He would say: “You are not barnyard birds! You are descendants of wild geese! You were created for the open sky!” And the congregation would honk loudly:

“Amen!” “We were made to fly!” “Tell us again about the glory of the skies!”

They loved hearing about flight. Then they would leave church… Waddle back to the barnyard… But one thing they never did. They did not fly! For the corn was good, and the barnyard was secure!”  

Year after year they heard sermons about migration — but none of them ever left the ground. Eventually they became so heavy and comfortable that even if they had wanted to fly, they could no longer do it then they where eaten.

The tragedy wasn’t that they lacked information. It wasn’t that they lacked preaching. It wasn’t that they lacked inspiration. They lacked obedience.

Sometimes we romanticize the past like those geese “If only I had what Moses had.” “If only I had the faith of David.”

But the greater danger isn’t that we don’t have enough spiritual privilege. The greater danger is that we sit under the proclamation of the finished work of Christ every week… say “Amen”… admire the glory… and then go back to spiritual barnyards.

We don’t lack revelation. We don’t lack the Spirit. We don’t lack the gospel.

The question is: Are we flying — or just honking about flight?

We think Of David and wonder sometimes what if we had it as good as David did, talking to God audibally, being told directly where to go but we fail sometimes to notice the trials that He faced. with that in mind one of the main things we are going to see today as we go through 2 sam 2-3 is that

Facing supreme trial we need to orient our lives around the will of God and patiently wait on His timing. But when we know God’s will we also need to move forward in faith.

Jesus and the Garden of Gesthemene). Jesus fulfills all that David did right.

2:1-7 - David Inquires of the Lord

This idea of patiently waiting on the timing of God and then stepping out in faith can be a tough lesson to learn. Do we ever envy someone like David who heard from the Lord directly? It is easy to be envious osmetimes, but we have the revealed plan of God in the word of God, we have the benifit of seeing how things played out for David, we have the word of God in many languages and in many forms. but what we do learn from David, the first thing we learn here is that in all things we need to inqwuire of the Lord, we need to patiently wait on the Lord we need to step out in faith.

2 Samuel 2:1–3 CSB

Some time later, David inquired of the Lord: “Should I go to one of the towns of Judah?” The Lord answered him, “Go.” Then David asked, “Where should I go?” “To Hebron,” the Lord replied. So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. In addition, David brought the men who were with him, each one with his family, and they settled in the towns near Hebron.

David appeared to learn his lesson for the time being, before he moved he asked directly of the Lord,

David asked of the Lord for everything. should I go? where should I go? in the beginning of his success and blessing, he asked of the Lord for everything.

Do we seek God for everything in Our lives?

David followed faithfulkly where the Lord led.

The Lord led David to Hebron near Judah and the people their annointed David as king over them, the southern kingdom of Judah or what would later become the southern kingdom.

After David Was annointed as king he found out about the people that Buried Saul, so He showed kindness to them.

2 Samuel 2:5–6 CSB

David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “The Lord bless you because you have shown this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him. Now, may the Lord show kindness and faithfulness to you, and I will also show the same goodness to you because you have done this deed.

Be encouraged he told them, because He was now king of Judah. But as we where going to see, Gilead was part of the kingdom that was still sympathetic to Saul and hios followers. Over His enemies David showed compassion.

David showed compassion to the people that followed saul.

As we seek the Lord God for all things do we treat those around us in humility. This is part of what it means to orient ourselves around the will of God.

David had patiently waited on the timing of God to be king and it would appear God was acoomplishing this, but things seemed to go sideways.

2:1-3:5 - The Civil War

One of the key verses we see in

Key Verse - 2 Samuel 2:11 “The length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.” Patiently wait on the Lord.

2 Samuel 2:11 CSB

The length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

waiting patiently on the Lord. after all the time with Saul The severe trial is going to come. Long civil war is what happened. There are a few key characters

1. David

As we know is the divinley appointed King

Represents the rising, divinely chosen dynasty.

2. Ish-bosheth

Saul’s surviving son.

Made king over Israel (the northern tribes) by Abner (2:8–10).

Weak and dependent on Abner.

His accusation against Abner (3:7) triggers the collapse of his own regime.

3. Abner

Saul’s cousin and commander of Saul’s army.

The true power behind Ish-bosheth’s throne.

Initiates hostilities at the pool of Gibeon (2:12–17).

Kills Asahel (2:23).

Later defects to David after being insulted by Ish-bosheth (3:6–21).

Murdered by Joab (3:27).

4. Joab

David’s commander.

Brother of Abishai and Asahel.

Leads David’s forces against Abner.

Murders Abner in revenge for Asahel’s death (3:27).

Politically shrewd and fiercely loyal—but dangerous.

5. Asahel

Brother of Joab.

Known for his speed.

Pursues Abner and refuses to turn aside.

Killed by Abner (2:18–23), sparking blood vengeance.

6. Abishai

Brother of Joab.

Fights alongside Joab in the conflict (2:18).

You get a bit of a glimpse into what was going on, long civil war. Extreme trials based on Sauls remaining army and child not wanting to give up, They went and annointed their own king, own of Saul’s sons. He was king over Israel, David over Judah.

Then started a civil war, in which David was getting stronger and stronger They likely would have know David was God’s choice for King yet they refused to give up.

During the civil war, Saul’s son made an error which caused one of his generals Abner, to go to David’s side and make a covenant with Him. Abner was assassinated in revenge by Joab, David found out and cursed Joab.

David’s price for accepting Abner was to get the daughter of SaUL THAT HE WAS PROMISED. The problem was that she was married already and he had to take her from her current husband. This wekaness for wives is going to be the downfall of David. central weakness in David’s life, taking women when he wanted for any reason, and his conversations with God go conspicuously silent at this time

It is a long drawn out story of fighting and war between the people of David’s side and Saul’s side but there is something we need to know,

Key verse - 2 Samuel 3:1 “During the long war between the house of Saul and the house of David, David was growing stronger and the house of Saul was becoming weaker.” God Grace was with David, even in the midst of war

On a side note tghere is something to be said about what was going on here, did God condone the war that they got into? Could god’s working through the war that hapopoened here be more a case of the grace of God then God condoning what happened?

It can be said that historical research is not sacred Scripture. Rather, the means of God’s grace in our lives is the text of Scripture itself, and when we read the Old Testament historical books, we must be aware of the special concerns and worldview represented thereThe lesson does not state that God condones, approves, commands, or directly sanctions the civil conflict or violence. It portrays these events as arising from human actions—tribal rivalries, power grabs (e.g., Abner's installation of Ish-bosheth), and poor decisions—rather than divine mandate.The violence and war are presented as tragic consequences of division and sin, not something God endorses.

God is shown guiding David personally: David inquires of the Lord before moving to Hebron, and the Lord directs him, highlighting David's maturity in seeking God's will even when decisions seem obvious.

We must remember what the main idea is here.

Facing supreme trial we need to orient our lives around the will of God for God is sovereign and His grace is greater then our flaws

We need to learn to see Yahweh’s faithfulness to His annointed even in the trenches and the everyday affairs. We need to stop blaming God and let what goes on drive us to Him.

This is why we wait patiently on God and His timing

Even ABner started to see that David was the annointed of God, even though he was assassinated for it.

2 Samuel 3:17–18 CSB

Abner conferred with the elders of Israel: “In the past you wanted David to be king over you. Now take action, because the Lord has spoken concerning David: ‘Through my servant David I will save my people Israel from the power of the Philistines and the power of all Israel’s enemies.’ ”

But in the end we learn a few things from all that was going on.

Faced with extreme trials even in the midst of his mistakes David orients His life around God’s will.

So What?

There appears to be a lot going on here. wars and treachery and people switching sides. David falling for women again, which we see will be his undoing. He never sought the Lord on that decision. But through it all as David did seek the Lord, the Lord strengthened Him and blessed Him. It makes me think of the story of those geese again. How they romanticized the past and what they know thjey used to do or where meant to do but never took the step of faith they needed to do it. It takes courage to walk forward and do what God wants them to do.

Sometimes we romanticize the past like those geese “If only I had what Moses had.” “If only I had the faith of David.” But the greater danger isn’t that we don’t have enough spiritual privilege. The greater danger is that we sit under the proclamation of the finished work of Christ every week… say “Amen”… admire the glory… and then go back to spiritual barnyards. We don’t lack revelation. We don’t lack the Spirit. We don’t lack the gospel. We have all that we need.

Seek God in all things, orient our lives around His will and move when he calls us to move

David sought the will of God, asked what God wanted of Him and listened. We have the benifit of the revealed word of God, to see the revealed word of God, we do not need much more. But we still need to seek God in all things of our life, and when He calls us to move we move.

This also means we need to patiently wait on the timing of God sometimes. Some people need to be told to hurry up, some people need to be told to slow down but we all need to move togetehr.

Facing supreme trial we must orient our lives around the will of God wherever he calls us

This pooints us to Jesus and the Garden o Gesthemene. Jesus when faced with His most extreme trial of all did a few things that we can learn from, as David did here Jesus went to God for help.

Jesus asked for the cup to pass from Him

He seemed to want to do anything but what He wasssupposed to do, but he never the less aligned Himself under the will of God. Mark 14:36 “And he said, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.””

Jesus surrounded Himself with friends who he asked to pray with Him

we do not need to do this alone. We face tirals, we turn to the Lord but we can also ask our brothers and sisters in Christ to pray with us. The disciples struggled with this as we know, they didnt exactly do the best at this, they fell asleep. But he asked people to join with Him and lift Him up in prayer.

It is not easy to do this, it will take more strength then we have sometimes. We need brothers and sisters to help us.

David still received God’s grace and blessing though he made mistakes

But those mistakes brought their own misery and God often allows those consequences to come so that we might learn

That’s David’s story…incredible blessing because of the grace of God

And troubling consequences as a result of his own missteps

But the effect of great grace and great consequences in David’s life was to make him a great man