Dealing with the Needy — David becomes King of Israel

Text: 2 Samuel 1:22-27; 2:1-7

Theme: David acts wisely to lead his people to national unity through a seven and one-half year civil war.

Date: 08/08/2021 File name: King_David_08 ID Number: OT10-01

In the early 1990s no one knew the name Kurt Warner. No one who knew him when he played for the University of Northern Iowa could have predicted that he would be picked as the most valuable player of Super Bowl XXXIV less than 10 years later. On January 30, 2000, quarterback Kirk Warner completed 24 passes for 414 yards into touchdowns, leading the St. Louis Rams to their first ever Super Bowl championship.

Though Warner had played on Northern Iowa was varsity football squad for four years, his career there was uneventful until his senior year. It was then that is true talent for football began to shine. After college he tried out for a position with the Green Bay Packers, but was cut from the team before the regular season began. Needing an income, he got a job stocking shelves at a grocery store. It seemed as if his hopes for professional football career were over.

But his dream did not die. In 1995 Warner signed with the Iowa Barnstormers, and Arena League Football team and played with them two seasons. It was while he was with the Iowa Barnstormers that he caught the eye of the St. Louis Rams and in a 1998 they signed him to a contract as their third string quarterback. Early in the season Trent Green, the Rams starting quarterback went down with an injury. Paul Justin, the second string quarterback took over and he soon went down with an injury. Warner took over the team and led them to a 13-3 record, took them through the playoffs and ultimately won the Super Bowl championship over the Tennessee Titans.

Immediately after the Super Bowl victory Warner was asked the question by ABC reporter Mike Tirico, “first things first: did you say anything before you guys went out for that play?” Warner’s immediate response was, “first things first: I gotta give the glory to my Lord and Savior up above. Thank you, Jesus!” Kurt Warner understood that the Lord was the true reason he overcame every obstacle to achieve great success.

David’s anointing as king over Israel came after years of adversity.

I. COMMEMORATION

1. the closing chapters of 1Samuel set up the story of the first several chapters of 2 Samuel

a. after his last run in with King Saul in 1 Samuel 26 David and his followers fully to the territory of the Philistines where David reaches an understanding with King Achish

1) David and his men would make raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites and bring the spoils back Achish

2) he would not, however, attack his fellow Israelites although he told Achish that he was indeed attacking his fellow Israelites

a) it was a deception they never caught on to

2. events changed when the Philistines began to prepare to go to war against Saul

a. David and his men were going to act as mercenaries, but the Philistine commanding officers simply did not trust him and refused to go into battle as long as David and his troops were a part of the Philistine army

b. David and his men return to the city of Ziklag where they had made their residence

c. by the time they had returned, however the Amalekites had rated the city, taking captive all the women and children, and then burn the city to the ground

1) David and his men are beside themselves

“Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.” (1 Samuel 30:4, ESV)

3. David and his men go on a forced march after the Amalekites, finally catch up with them defeat them and retrieve all their hostages, and possessions

a. it is a tremendous victory for David

4. but while David is fighting the Amalekites, elsewhere the Philistine army has the Israelite army on the run

a. King Saul and the remainder of his army have made their way to the top of Mount Gilboa — is going to be a “last stand” scenario

b. King Saul and three of his sons will die — this includes Jonathan

c. the Philistines behead souls lifeless body, and then take his and the corpse’s of his three sons and hang them from the walls of the nearest city

A. DAVID MOURNS

1. in 2 Samuel 1:1-7 David learns of Israel’s defeat and salsa death, and mourns

“Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.” (2 Samuel 1:11–12, ESV)

a. during their celebration of victory over the Amalekites news reaches David of Israel’s defeat, and the death of Saul and his sons

b. their celebration turns to mourning

B. DAVID MEDITATES

1. in response to the tragic deaths of Saul and Jonathan, David wrote a poetic lament to meditating on their lives

a. he recounted both men’s military prowess, Saul’s providing for Israel, and the faithful friendship of Jonathan

2. it is called “The Song of the Bow”

a. it recalls key contributions of Saul and Jonathan’s lives

1) it is a lament that David says ought to be forever taught to the people of Judah

“And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, 18 and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said:” (2 Samuel 1:17–18, ESV)

b. David begins by lamenting How the mighty have fallen

ILLUS. It’s an idiom used to indicate the decline or failure of a person, group, or entity who used to be very successful, powerful, important. In our day, it’s often used sarcastically. Just the other day I heard a news commentator say, referring to New York Governor Andrew Cumo, “Oh, how the mighty have fallen!”

1) David uses it to honor Israel’s war dead — Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!

2) David gives a dramatic description of the Gilboa battlefield where many of Israel’s finest warriors lay dead on the mountain slope

c. David lionizes Saul and Jonathan

““Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions. 24 “You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.” (2 Samuel 1:23–24, ESV)

1) despite Saul’s descent into paranoia and madness Saul had — for the most part — ably ruled Israel for almost forty years

a) during his reign Israel prospered

b) David reminds the daughters of Israel that because of his faithful rule they were clothed luxuriously with ornaments of gold

c) Saul obviously had his spiritual problems between him and the Lord, but from a worldly view, he wasn’t a bad king

2) they were patriots who were loyal to Israel and ready to defend the nation like eagles and lions

d. David gives a special, heart-rending tribute to his friend Jonathan

““How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! “Jonathan lies slain on your high places. 26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.” (2 Samuel 1:25–26, ESV)

1) in Biblical Hebrew, the word rendered extraordinary (wondrous in some other translations) emphasizes that something is so extraordinary as to be beyond explanation

2) David feels that, given all the circumstances, Jonathan’s friendship toward him was something beyond explanation

II. CORONATION

“After this David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” 2 So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3 And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron.”” (2 Samuel 2:1–3, ESV)

1. some time later we find David praying for God’s wisdom in officially claiming the throne of Israel

a. even during a season of great loss and grief, life does continue to move on

b. though mourning Saul and Jonathan’s deaths, David is responsible for 600 warriors and their families

2. David knows that Samuel had anointed him as the next king over Israel years before, but now he need discernment about where, when, and how to claim the throne

a. back in chapter one, we’re told that David and his followers are still in the city of Ziklag, but there are two issues

1) it’s on the very southern boarder of Judah and thus the southern boarder of Israel — not a strategic central place to rule from

2) the Philistines had burned it to the ground

3. and so David inquired of the Lord ...

A. JUDAH PROCLAIMS DAVID KING, but ...

“And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. ... ”” (2 Samuel 2:4, ESV)

1. God specifically leads David to the town of Hebron which is about twenty miles southeast of Jerusalem

a. it was a rich agricultural area with an abundant water supply

b. we know it today because ...

1) it is where the tombs of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rekekah, and Jacob and Leah are located

2) it is a Palestinian city on Israel West Bank area and a center of anti-Jewish sentiment

c. David arrives there with his two wives and the 600 warriors and their families

d. there are a number of reasons why God leads David to Hebron, but suffice it to say that Hebron is geographically, geopolitically, and spiritually important place in Israel

2. while in Hebron, God’s providential plan of a Davidic dynasty is put into place

a. the men of Judah come to Hebron and they anoint David as King of Israel

b. it’s been ten years since Samuel announced God’s choice of a young shepherd boy as Israel’s next king

1) David is now about thirty years old

3. God does not reveal to us the schedule for fulfillment of his promise but expects us to follow faithfully

a. David was anointed king of Israel but did not know how or when he will become king

b. he accepted the anointing as God’s promise and became king later following God’s schedule, though the schedule was not revealed to him or any other person

4. not all of Israel is accepting of David’s rise to the throne

“But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim, 9 and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel. 10 Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. 11 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.” (2 Samuel 2:8–11, ESV)

a. as we shall see in the weeks ahead, David’s control over the land of Israel was not uncontested

b. Saul’s surviving relatives continued to stake their claim over the nation as well — Abner being chief among them

1) Abner will attempt to install Saul’s last remaining son, Ish-Bosheth, as king

c. essentially, Israel will find itself in a civil war that will run hot and cold and hot for the next seven years

III. LESSONS

1. We Need to Honor Our Heroes Even When They are Imperfect Heroes

a. in his lament David honors and extols the very king who had repeatedly attempted to kill him

1) even the very best of leader have feet of clay, meaning their human and don’t always live stellar lives

2) that doesn’t mean we cannot honor them

ILLUS. Our nation is experiencing something of an orgy of dishonoring virtually anyone and everyone who have been honored by a statue in the public square. Statues taken down include Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, and Francis Scott Key. Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Columbus, Teddy Roosevelt, and Sacagawea have all found their way to the scrap heap or the museum basement. Even the statue of abolitionist Hans Christian Heg, was torn down and thrown into a lake. His crime? He’s an old, dead white guy, so he must be guilty of something. In Texas even a statue of a Texas Ranger — a law enforcement officer — was deemed as inappropriate. Some of these statues have stood for more than a century in some places.

b. the Bible is very honest about Saul’s character and spiritual short-comings, and yet he was the anointed of the Lord and David honored him

2. We Really Do Need to Pray about Our Decisions

a. big decisions, small decisions and everything in between ought to be a matter of prayer

b. Jesus was a man of prayer, and if Jesus need the Father’s wisdom and discernment, how much more do we need it

3. We Need to Remember That Even When We Are in the center of God’s will we will still face adversity

a. I’ve always wondered what David must have thought when as a teenage boy Samuel comes and says, “You’re Israel’s next king!”

1) did David picture a life of ease in the palace until Saul died and he assumed the throne?

2) if he did, it was not to be

ILLUS. Robert Leighton, 17th century Scottish pastor and university professor, once said, “Adversity is the diamond dust with which heaven polishes its jewels.” This is certainly true of David’s life.

4. A Period of Preparation Is Often Involved Before God Brings You into the Ministry He Has for You