2Samuel 7-9
Sunday Evening Bible Study
April 7, 2002
Introduction
David has finally become King of Israel. He has brought the Ark of the Covenant into his capitol, Jerusalem.
2Samuel 7
:1-3 David wants to build God a house
:1 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;
David had a custom palace built as a gift by Hiram, the king of Tyre (2Sam 5:11).
:2 That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
Nathan – Nathan – “giver”. He is one of the prophets that ministered during David’s reign as king. He’s someone that God uses in order to speak to David.
The Ark was currently in a tent that David had set up for it in Jerusalem (2Sam. 6:17).
Lesson
“No” doesn’t mean it’s evil.
God is going to say “no” to David’s request to build a temple for God. But David’s heart is in a good place.
He is comparing his own house to God’s house, and he feels that he needs to build God a better place.
There would be a day when the Lord would rebuke the people for caring more for their own houses than for His house.
(Hag 1:3-8
NLT) So the LORD sent this message through the prophet Haggai: {4} "Why are
you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? {5} This is what
the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! {6} You have
planted much but harvested little. You have food to eat, but not enough to fill
you up. You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have
clothing to wear, but not enough to keep you warm. Your wages disappear as
though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes! {7} "This is
what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! {8} Now go
up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take
pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD.
What David wants isn’t bad by itself. Sometimes God saying “no” isn’t because the thing is bad. It’s just not for us.
:3 Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.
Lesson
Follow your heart
There is a principle here in living our lives that we can follow as a general rule.
If God is “with you”, if He is the one you are following, then just “do what is in your heart”.
Nathan is giving David advice based on what is normally a good principle.
This was the advice that Samuel had given to Saul as he was teaching him how to act as a king:
(1 Sam 10:7 KJV) And let it
be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee;
for God is with thee.
This was after the Holy Spirit was to have come upon Saul, and Saul was to just “do as occasion serve thee”.
David wrote,
(Psa 37:4 KJV) Delight
thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
If God is your greatest delight, your greatest joy, then you will find that the desires you have in your heart have come from Him, because He has placed them there.
Solomon wrote,
(Prov 3:5-6 KJV) Trust in
the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. {6}
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
If your heart is trusting in the Lord and acknowledging Him, then you will see Him direct your life.
Jesus said,
(John 15:7 KJV) If ye abide
in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be
done unto you.
If you have a living, trusting relationship with Jesus, and His words are living in your heart, then you can ask for whatever you want because you’ll be asking for the kinds of things that Jesus wants as well.
But it is only a general rule, and there will be times that God will direct you otherwise.
:4-11 God responds to David
:4 And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,
God didn’t seem to like Nathan’s advice. God doesn’t always go along with our advice either.
:5 Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
The writer of Chronicles records God’s word to Nathan in a slightly different, more direct fashion:
(1 Chr 17:4 KJV) Go and tell
David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not build me an house to
dwell in:
Initially, it seems that David isn’t told exactly why he isn’t allowed to build the temple. He would find out at some later time one of the reasons why.
David told his son Solomon about it:
(1 Chr 22:6-10 KJV) Then he
called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the LORD God
of Israel. {7} And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind
to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God: {8} But the word of the
LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great
wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed
much blood upon the earth in my sight. {9} Behold, a son shall be born to
thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies
round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness
unto Israel in his days. {10} He shall build an house for my name; and he shall
be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom over Israel for ever.
David was not to be the temple’s builder because he was a man who was responsible for much bloodshed. God didn’t want His temple to be tied to David’s reputation as a bloody man.
David’s life of warfare wasn’t a sin. It was his “ministry”.
Lesson
Sometimes it’s just not our place
David had been obedient to the Lord in fighting the battles of the Lord. You could say that he had a “ministry” of “killing Philistines”.
Because of God’s calling on David’s life, it simply wasn’t David’s place to build the temple. This was something that God would reserve for another, for Solomon.
It’s like this in the church. We all have different “gifts” and different “ministries”:
(1 Cor 12:15-19 KJV) If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? {16} And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? {17} If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? {18} But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. {19} And if they were all one member, where were the body?
Sometimes God says “no” simply because He wants someone else to do it.
Lesson
Don’t let the “no” stop the work
Even though God didn’t want David to actually build the temple, God didn’t prevent David from getting everything ready for Solomon.
David would eventually play a huge role in the temple. In a sense he would provide his son Solomon with a “do-it-yourself”, ready-to-assemble temple kit.
He was the one who drew the plans for the temple.
(1 Chr 28:11-12 KJV) Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, {12} And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things:
(1 Chr
28:19 KJV) All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by
his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.
God gave David the design for the temple. He just didn’t build it.
David also donated most of the materials that would be used for the temple.
(1 Chr
28:14 KJV) He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of
all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for
all instruments of every kind of service:
The writer of Chronicles goes on to describe how David provided the materials for everything in the temple. He just didn’t build it.
It may be that at one time you had a great dream to do something for God, but for some reason it seems that things came to a halt. Perhaps God said that you were not to do this any more.
That’s no reason why you can’t be a part of helping others with the same ministry.
Maybe you can’t go to the mission field, but you can help others go. Maybe you won’t be a pastor, but you can help others to do so.
:6-7 …Why build ye not me an house of cedar?
It’s not that David’s idea of building a temple is wrong, it’s just that God had never complained about the tent thing, and God had never commanded anyone to build a temple.
:10-11 I will appoint a place for my people Israel
God’s view is that the land belongs to Israel.
There would be several times when the nation would be scattered because of their sin. But God always views the land of Israel as belonging to the Jews.
I came across a quote the other day from Yassir Arafat, where he was claiming that his people lived in the land before even Abraham. His point was to try and show how the Jews didn’t belong in the land. What I do not understand is just who does he claim to represent? He apparently claims to be a “Palestinian” born in Jerusalem. Yet apparently his father was a merchant, and he was actually born in Cairo. Before the Jews were given the land of Palestine by the British in 1948, the Jews who lived in the land were called “Palestinians”. But when Israel was born, they became “Israelis”, and then the Arabs adopted the name “Palestinian”.
I just don’t get it.
But God gets it, and He has promised the land forever to the Jews.
:11 Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
Here David has been telling God that he intends to build God a house, but God instead turns things around and tells David that He intends to build David a house. God is promising that all future kings would come from David’s descendants.
Eventually, even the Messiah, God’s ultimate King, would come from the line of David.
Jesus would be the very Savior of the world. He, being God, would one day take on human flesh, being born in the lineage of King David, and would humble Himself by dying on a cross to pay for our sins.
The very best thing in the entire world would come through David. But it wouldn’t come from David building a temple.
All the good would come from what God would do for David, not what David would do for God.
Lesson
It’s all for you
We often get all caught up in what we’re going to do for God, but God is more concerned about what He can do in you.
John F. Kennedy said in his inaugural address, “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”
We might say, “Don’t ask what you can do for God, but what can God do for you?”
God's way is to build us
before we build
(Eph 4:11-13 NLT) He is the
one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the
evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. {12} Their responsibility is to
equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ,
{13} until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that
we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature
of Christ.
First
comes the equipping, then the ministry.
When
Jesus sent out those 11 disciples to change the world, it was only after they
had spent three years living with Jesus, and even then only until the Holy
Spirit had fallen upon them.
We would
like to rush out and conquer the world, but God is more interested in first
building us up.
Edward McKendree Bounds
(1835-1913) wrote several books on prayer. In his book, Power through Prayer
(ch. 1), he wrote,
This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. (pg. 11)
In talking about pastors, Bounds writes,
The man, the whole man, lies behind the sermon. Preaching is not the performance of an hour. It is the outflow of a life. It takes twenty years to make a sermon, because it takes twenty years to make the man. The true sermon is a thing of life. The sermon grows because the man grows. The sermon is forceful because the man is forceful. The sermon is holy because the man is holy. The sermon is full of the divine unction because the man is full of the divine unction. (pg. 12)
Sometimes we get so caught up in doing the work of God that we neglect the fact that God’s greatest work isn’t what we do for Him, but what He does for us.
We can get saddened by what we call “failure” in serving God, but it’s only a failure if we aren’t allowing God to continue to teach us and shape us.
Sometimes the best thing that can happen to us is to experience a time when we go through pain and disappointment, when God says, “no”.
(Psa 119:67 KJV)
Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
(Psa 119:71 KJV) It
is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
(Psa 119:75 KJV) I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
God can teach us when He says “no”.
(Heb 12:11 KJV) Now
no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are
exercised thereby.
If I will learn the lessons of the “no” times in my life (am “exercised”), God will produce “peace” and “righteousness” in my life.
God isn’t finished with you.
(Phil 1:6 NLT) And I am sure that God, who began the good
work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that
day when Christ Jesus comes back again.
:12-17 Messiah
:12 I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
This is a promise of God that David’s kingdom will continue after he dies.
One of his offspring will become king after him.
This is fulfilled in Solomon.
This would ultimately be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
Solomon would build the temple.
David’s dream of building a temple would happen, but it would happen with his son.
Jesus will establish a kingdom and reign for ever.
:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
Jesus was God’s Son.
Jesus did not commit iniquity, but Solomon would. Solomon wouldn’t be above God’s chastisement.
(1 Ki 11:6-12 KJV) And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. {7} Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. {8} And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. {9} And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, {10} And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. {11} Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. {12} Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
Lesson
God chastens His sons
The fact that God would “chasten” Solomon proved that Solomon was His child.
(Heb 12:5-10 KJV) And ye have forgotten the exhortation which
speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of
the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: {6} For whom the Lord loveth
he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. {7} If ye endure
chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not? {8} But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are
partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. {9} Furthermore we have had
fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we
not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? {10} For
they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for
our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
We may not like this fact, but the truth is that if we go through difficult times, “chastening”, it shows we are God’s children.
God only chastens us because He loves us.
:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
Even though Solomon and his descendants would sin, God still would keep the throne tied to the line of David, at least for the southern kingdom of Judah, “for David’s sake” (1Ki. 11:12).
:18-29 David’s Response to God
:18 Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?
Lesson
God’s grace
David knows exactly what he’s come from. He knows that he’s only been a shepherd. He knows that he isn’t “qualified” to be a king.
(1 Cor 1:26-27 KJV) For ye see your calling, brethren, how that
not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
{27} But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise;
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty;
It’s all in God’s choice, in God’s equipping, in God’s empowering that things happen, not in us.
Pastor Chuck said, “It is interesting when God first began to bless Calvary Chapel. We were outgrowing our little church and having to move. Another man who was pastoring a church in Costa Mesa that started out about the same size as our church was encouraging his people as they were watching the growth of Calvary Chapel, and as exciting things were happening, and he was telling his people, “If God can do it for Chuck Smith, He can do it for anybody.” The man was right. That’s why God did it for Chuck Smith to encourage anybody. God can do it for you.”
:19 thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come
David understands that this prophecy would affect things far into the future.
:22 for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee
Lesson
There is none like God
David is in awe of God. He is blown away with God’s answer.
David has it right. There is none like God. Even though the Mormons might teach that we can become gods, we can’t. There is none like Him. The New-Agers might tell us that we are all gods, but we aren’t. There is none like Him.
:23 whom God went to redeem for a people to himself
For the people of Israel, it was God who did all the work.
:24 For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever
Some would say that God no longer cares about the Jews. But they are wrong. God said “forever”. He meant it. God is not “finished” with the Jews.
:29 Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant
Lesson
Receive it
God wants to bless our lives.
We need to receive God’s blessings.
(Luke 11:9-13 KJV) And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be
given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
{10} For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to
him that knocketh it shall be opened. {11} If a son shall ask bread of any of
you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he
for a fish give him a serpent? {12} Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer
him a scorpion? {13} If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask him?
Ask for God’s blessings. Then receive them.
:29 let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.
Did you notice a word that is repeated over and over and over in David’s response to God?
Nine times David refers to himself as a “servant”. He doesn’t call himself “THE KING”, but he calls himself a “servant”.
servant – ‘ebed – slave, servant
Lesson
The best is being a servant
Here is this king that God is promising wonderful things to. God is promising to make David’s lineage the lineage of the Kings of Israel. God is promising an everlasting kingdom to the Son of David. God is promising to David that he would be the ancestor to the Messiah. Jesus would have David’s genes in Him.
I would think that David should be referring to himself as “God’s King”, or “God’s Man of the Hour”. But instead, he calls himself a servant.
(Mark 10:35-45 KJV) And James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us
whatsoever we shall desire. {36} And he said unto them, What would ye that I
should do for you? {37} They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one
on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. {38} But Jesus
said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink
of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? {39} And they
said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the
cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be
baptized: {40} But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to
give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. {41} And when the
ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John. {42} But
Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are
accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their
great ones exercise authority upon them. {43} But so shall it not be among you:
but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: {44} And
whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. {45} For even
the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his
life a ransom for many.
We read this passage a lot in our church. I think it’s very, very important.
James and John weren’t even asking to sit on a throne, they just wanted to be on Jesus’ right and left hand. They didn’t see themselves as kings, just as a king’s right-hand-guys.
Jesus pointed them back to being servants.
Even He was a servant.
It’s always about being a servant.
2Samuel 8
:1 David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
Methegammah – Metheg ha-’Ammah – “mother city”. This is Gath see map
The writer of Chronicles records,
(1 Chr 18:1 KJV) Now after this it came to pass, that David
smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the
hand of the Philistines.
Apparently, Gath was considered the “mother of all cities” to the Philistines. It had been the home of David’s first conquest, Goliath. It had been the place where David had run to when he was hiding from Saul. It was where David had befriended and served the king of Gath, Achish.
By taking this city, it seems that David is in control of the Philistines.
:2 And he smote Moab… even with two lines measured he to put to death
Moab – These were
the descendants of Lot's incestuous relationship with his eldest daughter
(Gen.19:37). see map
The nation was located on
the east of the Dead Sea. Notice how
David is conquering the nations that sandwich him in.
At one time, David had
been on good terms with the Moabites.
I Samuel 22:3-4 And David
went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father
and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, [and be] with you, till I know what God
will do for me. And he brought them
before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was
in the hold.
David's great
grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite.
When David conquers the
Moabite army, he takes two-thirds of the army and puts it to death.
Jewish writers assert
that the cause of this particular severity against this people was their having
massacred David’s parents and family, whom he had, during his exile, committed
to the king of Moab.
:3 David smote also Hadadezer …king of Zobah … the river Euphrates.
Hadadezer – Hadad‘ezer – “Hadad is help”
Zobah – Tsowba’ – “station”; the name of a portion of Syria which formed a separate kingdom in the times of Saul, David, and Solomon; located northeast of Damascus see map
Euphrates – P@rath – “fruitfulness”; the largest and longest river of western Asia; rises from two chief sources in the Armenian mountains and flows into the Persian Gulf see map
Notice how far the river
Euphrates is from Israel.
Why is David doing all
this conquering? Isn’t he getting a
little carried away?
(Gen 15:18 KJV) In the same
day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given
this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
God promised the land
from the Nile to the Euphrates to Abraham and his offspring.
(Deu 11:24-25 KJV) Every
place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the
wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the
uttermost sea shall your coast be. {25} There shall no man be able to stand
before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of
you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
God again reiterates the
borders to Moses. From the Nile to the
Euphrates. see map -
the people that made the map drew David’s border only to the edge of the Sinai
because there is a dried river bed called the “Wadi el-Arish” sometimes also
called “the river of Egypt”. But the
Nile is THE river of Egypt.
:4 David hocked all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.
hocked (houghed) – ‘aqar – to pluck up, root up; to cut, hamstring. The practice is to cut the hamstring of the horses, making them unusable.
This is what the Lord had commanded Joshua to do to his enemies’ horses:
Jos 11:6 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Be not afraid
because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain
before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots
with fire.
This might not seem to be very smart. Why not just keep all the horses for yourself?
(Psa 20:7 KJV) Some trust in chariots, and some in horses:
but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
:5 And when the Syrians of Damascus
Syrians – Or,
Arameans, were the nation just to the north of Israel, with Damascus as
its capital. see map
The Syrians from Damascus come to help Hadadezer, but David conquers them as well.
:7 And David took the shields of gold …brought them to Jerusalem.
shields of gold –
It seems that gold
shields seem to be a picture of God's blessing and protection.
Here we see David
capturing and taking gold shields.
Later, Solomon would make 300 shields of gold, the pinnacle of the
kingdom.
(2 Chr 9:16 KJV) And three
hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to
one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
Under Solomon's son
Rehoboam, the nation began its decline, as pictured with the gold shields being
taken away.
(2 Chr 12:9-10 KJV) So
Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of
the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all: he
carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. {10} Instead of
which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of
the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king's house.
Brass is
cheaper than gold, but it can be made to shine just as brightly. But you have to put a lot of elbow grease
into it to keep it shiny. Gold just
stays shiny on it’s own.
:8 And from Betah, and from Berothai
Berothai – see map
:9 When Toi king of Hamath
Toi – To‘uw – “wander”
Hamath – see map
:10 Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless him
Toi is pretty happy with David. David has defeated Toi’s enemy.
:11 Which also king David did dedicate unto the LORD
David would take all these spoils of war and use them to build the temple.
:12 Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon …
Syria – or, “Aram” see map
Ammon – see map
:13 smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men
valley of salt – see map
The writer of Chronicles says that Abishai was in charge at the time –
(1 Chr 18:12 KJV) Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew of
the Edomites in the valley of salt eighteen thousand.
Syrians – or, “Aram”. The Septuagint and some of the other translations of the Old Testament say “Edom” here, and this is in the area of Edom. This may be a copyist error since there is only one letter difference in the Hebrew between “Aram” and “Edom”.
:14 And he put garrisons in Edom…the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.
Edom – see map
Lesson
Victory isn’t always easy.
It seems that David wrote a song around this time:
(Psa 60 KJV) To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand.
Shushan-eduth – Lit., the lily of the testimony, apparently a tune
Michtam – meaning is uncertain
Perhaps the difference between 18,000 and 12,000 has to do with the Joab leading part of the army and Abishai leading another part of the army.
O God, thou hast cast us
off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us
again. {2} Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the
breaches thereof; for it shaketh. {3} Thou hast showed thy people hard things:
thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. {4} Thou hast given a
banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth.
Selah. {5} That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear
me. {6} God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem,
and mete out the valley of Succoth. {7} Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; {8} Moab is my
washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of
me. {9} Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
{10} Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which
didst not go out with our armies? {11} Give us help from trouble: for vain is
the help of man. {12} Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that
shall tread down our enemies.
If this was written near this time, it would seem that things weren’t just “hunky-dory” for David. It seems that the nation was under attack. David cried out to God for help, and God gave them victory over their enemies.
Sometimes we can look at others and see the victory they’ve had in the Lord and think it must have been easy for them.
Yet sometimes victory comes through much tears and crying out to God.
2Samuel 9
:1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?
Jonathan knew that David would one day become king, so he made his friend David make a promise:
(1 Sam 20:14-17 KJV) And thou shalt not only while yet I live
show me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: {15} But also thou shalt not
cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off
the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. {16} So Jonathan
made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it
at the hand of David's enemies. {17} And Jonathan caused David to swear again,
because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Notice that the promise even mentioned when David had cut off all his enemies. That time has come.
kindness – checed – goodness, kindness, faithfulness; loyal love
:2 And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba.
Ziba – Tsiyba’ – “statue”
:3 Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet.
We first met Mephibosheth in –
(2 Sam 4:4 KJV) And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was
lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan
out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as
she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was
Mephibosheth.
Perhaps Mephibosheth back or legs had broken when he was a young boy. But he is no longer young, he even has a son of his own.
:4 he is in the house of Machir … in Lodebar.
Machir – Makiyr – “sold”; he was a wealthy man.
Lodebar – see map located just on the eastern side of the Jordan River.
Lesson
Kindness pays back
Later on, David would find a rebellion on his hands. His own son, Absalom would rebel against David and almost succeed in killing David.
David would find himself once again a “man on the run”.
He would run and hide out on the other side of the Jordan.
(2 Sam
17:27-29 KJV) And it came to pass, when
David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the
children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and
Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, {28} Brought beds, and basins, and earthen
vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and
lentiles, and parched pulse, {29} And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese
of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they
said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.
It would seem that Machir had been impressed with David’s kindness towards Mephibosheth, and when David needed help, he found a friend in Machir.
