The Team

2 Samuel 8:15–18 ESV

15 So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. 16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Seraiah was secretary, 18 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David’s sons were priests.

(ESV) —15 So David

Every passage in the Bible has a purpose. These three verses have historical significance. Seven people, actually more when we see David’s sons, are part of David’s government. It is because of them that David administered justice and equity to all his people.

reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. 16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Seraiah was secretary, 18 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David’s sons were priests.

Every passage in the Bible has a purpose. These three verses have historical significance. Seven people, actually more when we see David’s sons, are part of David’s government. It is because of them that David administered justice and equity to all his people.

In every presidential and gubernatorial election, the first job of the leader is to choose his or her team. The team will either make or break the leader.

On this Memorial Day, we remember those who have served our country. Many of our soldiers came home from the battle field only to sign up to go back to the conflict. Why did they do this? Why did they leave their families, their friends, their safty to go back to battle? There are many reasons, but one that you will hear is that their brothers, their team, established a close bond and they wanted to help them and support them. So they went back because of their love for their fellow soldiers and their commitment to helping them.

Why did David administer justice and equity to all his people? He did so because his team was on the same page with the same goals…for the most part.

Seven Men

This morning I want to look at what we know about these seven people. Then we want to highlight what there was about them that made David’s reign as king such a good reign.

Who were the seven people and what can we learn from them?

Joab

Joab was David’s nephew. His sister, Zeruiah, had three sons: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Joab was a self-designated hit man for David. He killed people that David did not want killed, yet their death made the throne more secure for David.

He became the commander of the army. This was an important task in the government.

His father is unknown. In an unusual setting, he is mentioned here as David’s sister’s son.

Solomon killed him on David’s orders and because he supported David’s oldest son, Adonijah, as king.

Jehoshaphat

Jehoshaphat was a writer, a recorder, a secretary in David’s court. Theologians are not quite sure what the recorder did. He may have recorded the history of the king from a very privileged position inside the court.

He may also have been the one who helped set the king’s schedule. The word in the Hebrew means “rememberer.”

Jehoshaphat may have been a priest, though not listed here. He served with Solomon as well.

Zadok

Zadok was a priest during the times of David, Absalom and Solomon. He was David’s spy when Absalom took over Jerusalem. He was one of the people David sent to anoint Solomon as next king when David was on his deathbed.

Ahimelech

Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, is different than the Ahimelech that helped David when he was running from Saul. He may be his grandson or he might have been called by his father’s name. Abiathar was Ahimelech’s son, the priest who died for helping David. It would not be surprising that he names his son after his father who died. It might even be that Abiathar was called by his father’s name. There is some confusion on this issue.

Because he sided with Adonijah, David’s oldest son, against Solomon, Solomon had him banned to the Levitical city of Anathoth. He fared better than Adonijah and Joab as they were both killed.

Seraiah

Seraiah is called Shavasha in . He is a scribe or secretary to David. He may have worked under Jehoshaphat. No further mention is given about him.

Benaiah

Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was in charge of David’s bodyguard. On Solomon’s orders, he killed Adonijah, Joab and Shimei. He faithfully served Solomon.

David’s Sons

David’s sons are called priests here and chief officers in 1 Chronicles. David is called a priest after the order of Melchizedek in the Psalms. His children might have carried on some of that function. They may have offered some sacrifices for people and served as senior advisors to their father. This role of family was well accepted in Biblical times, though we are seeing real division in the United States with the close roles played by members of the Trump family.

These are the seven people. What caused them to help David succeed? What traits did they have that helped David to rule wisely?

This is important to me because my success as pastor is predicated on these very traits. This is important to our ministries. The Trustees, Elders, Deacons, Fellowship Ministry, Sunday School, youth programs, and other ministries are much stronger when these traits are present.

Four Traits

The traits are competence, faithfulness, loyalty, and perseverance.

Competence

Competence means that people are doing work well. To ask an accountant to design spacecraft is not a good idea. All though accountants have varying degrees of expertise, accountants are capable of accounting.

Look at the list of people. Joab was a great military mind. Jehoshaphat must have been good. Solomon kept him on after David died. Zadok was qualified as a priest. Ahimelech or Abiathar came from a family of priests. The rest of the seven were competent to do the work.

God has gifted people in the church. We all have gifts, talents, education, unique personalities and experiences. It’s good to have Elders who have a working knowledge of the Bible, Trustees who have some familiarity with building needs, Deacons who have compassionate hearts, Sunday school teachers who love children. It’s good to have people who care in the Exchange and people who have experienced the trials and victories of life at Celebrate Recovery.

Faithfulness

Closely aligned with competency is faithfulness. In other words, the competent people need to show up, do what is asked, and follow through.

What happens when a Sunday school teacher or Junior Church worker decides not to prepare or show up? Our children get short-changed. Someone steps in who is not prepared or ready. They may be competent, but are not being faithful. The choice for the competent person is not to quit, but to repent and give your best for God.

The Bible says that a new believer should not be elevated to an elder. Why? They may show some competency, but pride will step in and ruin their ministry

God wants us to be faithful. He wants us to step up to the plate, do what we say we will do, and do it as well as we can.

Paul writes,

1 Corinthians 4:2 ESV

2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

ESV2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

(ESV) —2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

We don’t need people to be great, we need them to be faithful.

We don’t need people to be great, we need them to be faithful.

Competent, faithful people helped David rule his kingdom. Competent, faithful people make any ministry strong.

The next two traits are loyalty and perseverance.

Loyalty

When we read the Old Testament, we find that kings often faced assassination attempts.

David spent much of his life on the run from Saul. If it hadn’t been for Jonathan, Saul’s son and Michal, Saul’s daughter, David would have died.

Abner betrays Ishbosheth and then Joab kills him. Later Recab and Baanah killed Ishbosheth, David’s rival as king. Mordachai was honored in the book of Esther because he uncovered a plot to King Ahazaraeus.

If David had people in his inner circle who were out to get him, the leadership would have been divided and it would have been difficult for David to reign with justice and equity.

Another way of looking at loyalty is to use the common expression, “to have another person’s back.” In other words, what do we say and do when another person isn’t around. These men supported David. They had his back.

Ministries and committees do well when people provide support for one another. Backbiting and back stabbing are all words that describe someone who doesn’t have your back. I remember listening to a conversation several years ago. Someone came up and talked to another person. They had a great conversation. The person acted friendly and looked like they were in full agreement. When one person walked away, the other person said, “What a jerk.”

We can disagree on issues without running down the people with whom we disagree. When a group meets together as a ministry or committee to discuss business, things need to be laid out on the table. A local pastor told his church that there would be no parking lot conversations. Parking lot conversations for him occurred when people expressed views in the parking lot that they were unwilling to discuss in a meeting.

Loyalty means that people work together for the good of the whole without doing so to the detriment of anyone in the group.

Perseverance

The last trait is perseverance. Perseverance is the Holy Spirit given ability to make it through hard times.

Some of these men had been with David as he ran from Saul. They slept on the hard ground, went without food, were separated from their family and friends and in danger. Joab, Zadok, Abiathar, and Benaiah had all been through the hard times with David and never quit.

Many marriages fail because people don’t want to face hard times. They are looking for escape from the stress of difficult situations.

Many ministries fail because people bail out when the going gets tough. When children misbehave in Sunday school, they walk away. When hard decisions have to be made in a meeting, they don’t want to be a part of it.

I am so glad that Jesus didn’t quit when the chief priests, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians attacked him. I am glad he didn’t quit when Judas betrayed him, when Peter denied him, when his own people jeered him and demanded he be put on a cross.

I am so glad that Paul didn’t quit when he was put in a basket and led down the city walls. I am glad he kept going when even the apostles didn’t trust him when he was first converted. I am glad he didn’t give up after the stoning, being forced out of two cities, his shipwreck and his time in prison.

Someone once preached a message at Easter entitled “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.” The death of Jesus on Friday was overridden by his resurrection on Sunday. Hebrews tells us that for the joy set before him, he endured the cross…

If we go through trials and difficulties in our own way, we will face problems. But if our desire is to please God and to follow him, we will use our competencies, be faithful, loyal and persevere for the glory of God.

How are you doing with this? How are you doing with this in your relationship to God? How are you doing with this in your family relationships? How are you doing with this in your church relationships?

Are you using your competencies or are you holding back?

Are you faithful, can you be trusted to do what you say and do it as well as you can?

Are you loyal? Are you supporting those you are with or are you tearing them down behind their backs?

Are you persevering? Are you sticking with it or are you ready to quit?