The Shepherd King Established

Some of you might remember the old VeggieTales episode where the walls of Jericho fall down. In the story the people march around the city, blow their trumpets, and suddenly the great walls collapse.

what are you doing, we are going to know your wall down, by going around in circles? keep walking, but you won't knock down our wall, Keep walking, but she isn't gonna to fall! It's plain to see your brains are very small To think walking will be knocking down our wall You silly little pickle, you silly little peas You think that walking round will bring this city to its knees? The awesome power of this wall, we've clearly demonstrated Ah! But out here in the hot, hot sun, perhaps you're dehydrated?

Now as kids we laugh at the vegetables singing, but the point of that story is actually very serious: the strongest walls in the world cannot stand against the purposes of God.

David faced something similar in Jerusalem. The Jebusites looked down from their fortress and mocked him. They said even the blind and the lame could defend the city. In other words, “David, this city is impossible to take.”

But David understood something they didn’t. When God has determined something, even the strongest fortress is only temporary.

The walls of Jericho fell, and later the fortress of Jerusalem fell. Not because Israel was stronger, but because God had willed it.

It is amazing what God can do when you are following His will, sometimes God provides over and above, sometimes it is just enough and comes last minute. But In following God’s will, though it may seem crazy sometimes God will provide. Joshua in Jericho say this even though it probably seemed crazy and yet he followed God and God did His will through Him. And we are going to see the same thing through here in David. People even look at our little church and wonder how on earth we can run a bible camp and yet God has always provided. Siometimes it is just enough and we wonder where the money and staff will come from, sometimes it is in abundance.

HBI - When a person is walking in the will of God, they can move forward with humble but unshakable confidence.

The call of Scripture is to obey the word of God, and answering that call depends on consulting what God has told us when we have questions. so let us look to 2 samuel 5.

5:1-5 - King of all Israel

We have arrived at the Zenith of the rise to power of King David. next we are going to se the consolidation of that power. Sauls family is gone, mostly anyways. so the nation of Israel is going to come alongside David and annoint him as king over them.

2 Samuel 5:1–2 CSB

All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood. Even while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led us out to battle and brought us back. The Lord also said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.’ ”

These few first verses are what we have been building to for a while, Dcavid has been made king over Israel. With Ish-bosheth gone, no one is left to challenge David and they come to David and admit that He was king.

They declare that David is their flesh and blood. Though this may not really make sense to the world how this all came about but what we do know is that God was in control of it all.

His rule is recognized by the people in a few ways. His kinship with his people. he is one of them. His service to his people in saving them many times from their enemies. And his divbine election as a shepherd king of the people.

2 Samuel 5:4–5 CSB

David was thirty years old when he began his reign; he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

David waited a long time for God’s plan to work out and and He reigned for a long time, sin is going to take him down as well, but for now he experiences the blessings of God in His life.

This looks forward to Jesus, who is the one true king.

How does Jesus fulfill these things which was called for in David? We must remember that the promise was not just for David but someone who would come after Him.

Jesus was born a man so he to is our flesh and blood. This allowed Jesus to take our place on the cross, to be our intercessor. The only way he could do this as flesh and blood is to have lived a perfect sinless life, which he did. David may have been a shepherd king but Jesus is the one true great shepherd, the only one by which we may be spiritually saved.

Because Jesus is our one true king, w ecan have hope in following God’s will because we are saved by thje blood of Jesus. David looked to God for His will, we have a relationship with God and look to his will through the death oand resurrection of Jesus.

5:9-12 - Taking of the Jebusite city

This is where the taking of the Jebusite city comes in. During the reign of Saul, the capitol city is near the tribe of benjammin, where he came from. But DSavid being from the tribe of Judah picked a place near his home territory.

There was a place near both territories that was nueteral you could say, a place called Jebus.

2 Samuel 5:6 CSB

The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites had said to David, “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you” thinking, “David can’t get in here.”

The history of this city was a long one going way back to when the land belonged to the Caananites.

Genesis 10:15–16 CSB

Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, as well as the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,

The Israelites where supposed to take over the land back during the time of the Exodus but they thought it was considered to be to strong to be conquered. Joshua 15:63; Judges 1:21

Joshua 15:63 CSB

But the descendants of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem. So the Jebusites still live in Jerusalem among the descendants of Judah today.

Here is a artist depiction of what Jeruselam maybe looked like at the time. Seemingly impossib;e to take over, no one had been able to do it for generations because even the water source was within the city. But David knew that God was on His side. In v.6 David brings his fighting men to the walls of Jebus to inform the Jebusites he will conquer them. The Jebusites mocked David’s ability to take their city. Yet their city became the capital of Israel and the center of worship. What they thought was their secure fortress became the place where God established His kingdom through David.

The Jebusites believed their city was impossible to conquer. They had cliffs on three sides, massive walls, and a protected water system hidden inside the rock. From their perspective the city was secure. But the very tunnels they built to protect themselves may have been the path David’s men used to enter the city.

Keep in mind that over the past five centuries, the Jebusites had seen army after army come threatening to invade their city And each time, the city walls held, so of course this time they expect the result to be the same They shout down from the walls to David and his men saying they shall not enter the city. The place they trusted most became the place they were most vulnerable. That’s often how human confidence works. We build our security in things we believe are unshakable—strength, position, defenses, reputation. But when God purposes something, the strongest fortress may already contain the crack that will bring it down.

They think “David cannot enter here” but David is led by the confidence of a man walking in the will of God -

But we know that when we know we’re walking in the Lord’s will, we can move with courage and confidence that believes mountains will move

In 1867, Sir Charles Warren was excavating near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem when he discovered a shaft 230 ft long It connected the Spring of Gihon in the Kidron with a settlement on the hill above, which was the location of the city of David This is now believed to be the shaft that David’s men climbed to reach inside the city

1 Chronicles 11:6 CSB

David said, “Whoever is the first to kill a Jebusite will become chief commander.” Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became the chief.

2 Samuel 5:9–10 CSB

David took up residence in the stronghold, which he named the city of David. He built it up all the way around from the supporting terraces inward. David became more and more powerful, and the Lord God of Armies was with him.

We can have confidence as we are walking in the will of God because of what Jesus has done for us, because we can have a relationship with God and can know seek His will for our lives. This is what allows us to take bold steps of action in our lives. I believe this part is the key passage and one of the supporting passages for one of the main themes running through the book. When we humble ourselves before God and seek Him above all else then we can know and follow the iwll of God in faith even when it seems crazy.

his life was itself a testimony to God’s control over all events And even the timing of David ascent to the throne and the length of his service reflects God’s sovereignty 

Seeing God in control to that degree gives us confidence to acknowledge that control in our lives And to live with the same patience and humility that drove David.

David took the city, and had built for himself a great palace in the new capitol Jeruselam.

2 Samuel 5:12–13 CSB

Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. After he arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.

But it was not all roses, at least leading up to this point. David realizes the Lord has done what he said he would do, and then David goes and takes more wives. As we addressed in an earlier lesson, the Bible records that David takes additional wives to be descriptive, not prescriptive. We are reading a description of what David did, however we are not reading a prescription for what we should do. And it’s safe to assume that David’s habit of taking additional wives when it pleased him was largely responsible for his most serious sin.

Yet even through this sin, God blessed the results. Not an excuse to sin but a reminder that God shows us grace even when we sometimes dont deserve it.

5:17-25 - Victory over the Philistines

And with that we move on to the success of David in his following the will of God. But what it has to do with the united kingdom. A United Israel would not have been desireable for the nations enemies, if divided God decimated some of their enemies, what would He do through them with them all together. The Philistines came against the Israelites again when they heard they had united and chosen David as their king.

So David’s military successes set the stage for tremendous economic growth which led to population growth and the expansion of the tribes As the tribes expanded, they took over more land, which led to more production, which led to more prosperity When drought and other disasters hit one part of the land, other parts could compensate with greater production The nation was able to stabilize its economy, drive out competition and enemies.

But it is what happened before the battle I want to focus on. 2 sam

2 Samuel 5:18–19 CSB

So the Philistines came and spread out in Rephaim Valley. Then David inquired of the Lord: “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord replied to David, “Attack, for I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you.”

David knew God heard and answered prayers so even as he followed the will of God.

Success came from seeking God in prayer.

So based on David’s military success having trusted in the Lord and having taken His counsel, the people and the land are safe and prosperous

So What?

David’s rise to power was nothing if not a testimony of God’s grace

David was the youngest shepherd boy of an insignificant family, and yet God selected him to be king

David continues to grow his household, and this too he does through unwise compromise. even though David was wrong to have multiple wives, God blesses the result, but that doesn’t give us license to do as many bad things as we wish. The first thing we learn from this is that

The life of David points to Jesus being the true Shepherd king

Jesus is the one true king, born in the flesh so that he could die for our sin. One of the main themes of the books of Samuel is that the promsie of David looked forward to something greater then Himself, a messiah that was to come. God was going to raise up a messianic king. The mesisah part has come and the king of glory is going to come.

who is this king of glory that pursues me with His love And haunts me with each hearing of His softly spoken words My conscious, a reminder of forgiveness that I need Who is this King of glory who offers it to me

His name is Jesus, precious Jesus The Lord Almighty, the King of my heart The King of glory

Because Jesus is the true shepherd king

we must learn to follow the will of God.

The call of Scripture is to obey the word of God, and answering that call depends on consulting what God has told us when we have questions

But that requires studying and remembering what we learn, and many believers resist doing that work We find it easier to substitute our own ideas or our intuition for study Or we expect God to tell us personally what to do in prayer or otherwise rather than consulting what He already gave us This is lazy discipleship: expecting the Lord to deliver every instruction we need for life just in time, when we need it, automagically 

We are supposed to pray and ask God for help, but we sometimes forget that the help of the Lord God is written in His word. We even now can dig into the word of God even before we are in need of help. Blessed are those who hear the word of the Lord and do it we are told.

And if you reject the answer given in God’s word, you will not receive a different answer in your prayer time or in your heart Playing games with God or ignoring His word won’t be an acceptable excuse when we fall into sin We will be forgiven for our sins by Christ’s blood, but that doesn’t mean our sin won’t bring consequences David was ultimately forgiven for his sins too, but his mistakes often cost him dearly

When a person is walking in the will of God, they can move forward with humble but unshakable confidence.

The call of Scripture is to obey the word of God, and answering that call depends on consulting what God has told us when we have questions and before we have questions. The Loprd has instructed us, will we follow Him?