SERIES: A Person After God’s Heart
Growing into a Person After God’s Heart
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: Last Lord’s Day we learned that David, after over a decade of running and barely surviving, has finally become king; unfortunately, he is not king over all of Israel yet, but only of the one tribe of Judah. He is, however, negotiating for the loyalty of the other eleven tribes–with Abner, commander of the army of Ish-Bosheth, Saul’s son and the illegitimate king of the other eleven tribes. Right in the middle of these negotiations Abner is murdered by Joab, the commander of David’s army. David had guaranteed safe passage to Abner, so he is extremely angry, not only because such a dastardly deed was done, but probably also because the negotiations might now fall through.
As we come to chapter 4, however, we discover that when Ish-Bosheth hears that his army commander is dead, he loses courage and all Israel becomes alarmed, probably because they fear that David will now attack them militarily and much bloodshed will result. Well, they don’t know David very well. He has demonstrated again and again that it is not his modus operandi to engage in violence and civil war to obtain his desired ends. But if David is not going to fight for Ish-Bosheth’s throne, and if Ish-Bosheth is not willing to abdicate, how is the stalemate going to be resolved? How will David realize the promise of God? Well, God has his ways.
David becomes the shepherd and ruler over all Israel. (4:1-5:5)
In chapter 4 we are introduced to a couple of Ish-Bosheth’s own trusted soldiers named Baanah and Recab, recently returned from some raids. These men go to Ish-Bosheth’s house, and while he is taking his noon-day nap, they stab him and cut off his head. Special note is made in verse 7 that this dastardly deed is done in his house while he is lying on his bed in his own bedroom. This detail becomes important as the story unfolds. These two men bring the head to David at Hebron and speak proudly (verse 8): “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, your enemy, who tried to take your life. This day the LORD has avenged my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”
The problem is again that these guys don’t understand David. If he wanted Ish-Bosheth’s head and throne, he is brave enough and powerful enough to take both, but David’s way is to wait on the Lord and let Him put up kings and take them down. In fact, David gives Recab and Baanah a recent history lesson:
“When a man (this is referring to the Amalekite in chapter 1 who lied about killing Saul to ingratiate himself to David) told me, “Saul is dead”, and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for the news! How much more–when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed–should I not now demand his blood from your hand and rid the earth of you!” (2 Samuel 4:10-11)
Recab and Baanah may have thought themselves bold and daring. But David considers them not strong but weak, not courageous but cowardly, not manly but mercenary. And David orders their immediate execution. He cuts off their hands and feet and hangs their bodies in public view. The head of Ish-Bosheth, on the other hand, he gives an honorable burial. The punishment for Recab and Baanah may seem a bit barbaric, but again the lesson comes through loud and clear that the way to achieve God’s purposes is not through murder and intrigue but through waiting on the Lord.
Now there is one more item in chapter 4 that bears notice. It’s just one verse and it’s put in parenthesis–seemingly totally unrelated to anything before or after–but we will come back to it in a month and devote a whole sermon to the crippled boy mentioned here. Look at verse 4:
“(Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet, He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth).”
Perhaps the author’s point of mentioning this here is to highlight the pitiable end of Saul’s dynasty. Now that Ish-Bosheth’s life is snuffed out in an ignominious way, the only other descendent of Saul remaining is a crippled boy, who is certainly no threat to David. His days of fearing Saul are truly over.
At the beginning of chapter 5 we see the culmination of David’s long wait, as he is finally crowned king of all Israel at the age of 37, perhaps as many as 20 years after first being anointed by the prophet Samuel. Let’s read the first five verses of 2 Samuel 5):
All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’ ”
When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a compact with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
Do you see the point? Because David refused to take things into his own hands, and because he refused to conquer the northern tribes through civil war, they are now coming to him and begging him to be their shepherd and ruler. How much better things work out when we do them God’s way! Had David conquered them militarily, they would have always resented his rule; but instead, they now view him as a savior. David makes a compact with them (some sort of guarantee of civil rights and duties?), and they enthusiastically anoint him as king over Israel. He is now king both by divine appointment and by popular acclaim.
The questions that arise at this point in my mind are, “What kind of a leader will David be, now that he has what God long ago promised him? Will he become like other eastern despots, building a personality cult? Will he rule with absolute power? Will he accumulate palaces and harems?” I think it’s instructive that the elders of the northern tribes quote the Lord’s own words to David, “You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.” Shepherding is David’s first and foremost assignment. Protection, feeding, caring, leading–these are the duties of a shepherd. And David largely fulfills that vision, though the record is somewhat mixed, as we shall see in coming weeks. The measure of his success in every instance is the degree to which he pursues the heart of God.
There are two major events recorded in chapter 5 which indicate to us what kind of a king David is going to be. The first is his conquering of the city of Jerusalem; the other is his defeat of the long-time enemies of Israel, the Philistines.
David establishes Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel. (5:6-16)
It is hard to over-emphasize the importance of what occurs in verse 7 as David and his men march against Jerusalem: “David captured the fortress of Zion, the city of David.” Jerusalem is the most important city in the Bible, mentioned over 800 times. It will become the seat of God’s kingship, a powerful symbol of God’s rule over the earth; and in fact, the New Jerusalem will eventually be the capital city of the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Hebron served well as David’s headquarters while he was king of just the tribe of Judah, for Hebron was in the heart of Judah. But now that he is king of the whole nation, a more central headquarters is essential. The only problem is that Jerusalem is occupied. The Jebusites have lived there for centuries, and they are not about to surrender it to David. In fact, when David threatens them, they respond, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” That’s a good line–memorable words–unless one has to eat them.
Now I want you to notice that “the blind and the lame” are mentioned three times in this passage, and the second and third times the phrase is put in quotation marks, indicating that the translators suspect this is a technical term for something. Look at verse 8:
On that day, David said,
“Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies. That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”
Allow me to read you a fairly long story that may explain what is going on here. It comes from Eugene Peterson’s Leap Over a Wall.
“It sat there squat and grotesque, a small fortress city on a rock out-cropping. It was a cheerless place. Travelers avoided it. It was virtually unassailable. To the east and south the ground fell away sharply into deep ravines, an impregnable natural defense. Anyone ascending the slope of plains from the other direction would be stopped by the sight of two huge, demonic figures–misshapen bodies, distorted faces–set on the north and west walls of the city. One was an evil parody of limping Jacob, who had been lamed in his all-night wrestle with the angel at the Brook Jabok. (Gen. 32:31). The other was an equally evil of parody of blind Isaac, who in his sightless old age had been hoodwinked by his wife and son (Gen. 27:1). When anyone approached those walls, the figures would slowly begin to move–jerky, lurching movements–while at the same time huge belches sounded from deep within, then shrieks of terror. It was an evil place. People stayed clear of it.
Nobody bothered the Jebusites. They lived unvisited and unattacked for centuries. Philistines, Amalekites, and Hebrews waged war with one another in battle after battle, up and down the countryside, back and forth, but the Jebusites were exempt from it all, their demon images threatening supernatural evil to anyone who dared approach too close. Parents scared their children into obedience with stories of the Jebusite demons. Young people, gathered around summer campfires, scared each other into a huddled coziness with stories of the Jebusite demons.
Ironically, the Jebusite walled city was named Jerusalem, “City of Peace.” And in fact, the Jebusites lived quite peaceably, let alone by the world as a black widow spider is let alone, as a water moccasin is let alone. Nobody bothered the Jebusites. Nobody, that is, until David decided to make it his capital city. It was a perfect location for his purposes, sitting as it did on the spine connecting the northern tribes of Israel with the southern tribe of Judah, and unclaimed by either side.
David had just been made king over Israel as well as Judah, uniting the separated tribes, and he needed a center for his new government. His present base was Hebron, but that was far to the south and wouldn’t attract the allegiance of the northern tribes of Israel. But if he went to the north, he would leave out the southern tier. He needed a non-Israelite, non-Judaic site. Jerusalem was just the ticket; a small, fortified city set right along the border between Israel and Judah, and never occupied or in the possession of either.
David wasn’t easily intimidated by displays of evil. He had become adept at dodging the evil rages of Saul; he had survived the evil of Doeg; he had put up with the evil-minded schemes of the sons of Zeruiah for years. He wasn’t now about to be put off by the evil idols of the Jebusites, these cruel parodies of his ancestors in a God-devoted life, lame Jacob and blind Isaac.
And besides, he knew something about these fearsome figures. During the years of his fugitive life in the wilderness, he had picked up bits and pieces of information regarding the reclusive Jebusites. He had good reason to suspect that those huge fixtures on the walls weren’t demons at all, but mechanical forms hooked up to a neat piece of hydraulic engineering. Someone had only to move a lever and the force of water from the Spring Gihon, piped into place through an ingenious system of plumbing, would set lame Jacob and blind Isaac spookily moving, lurching, while a contrivance of bellows produced the belches and screams. He knew that it was a fraud, that there was nothing to it but pipes and pulleys, hinges and smoke. Occasional Jebusite outcasts or runaways through the years had told him enough for him to put two and two together and figure it out.
Boldly then, as everyone thought, David commanded the capture of the Jebusite stronghold of Jerusalem. His instructions were simple. First smash the waterpipe; that would disengage the demonic figures from their power source. Then tear the Jacob/Isaac figures to bits, “the lame and the blind” (2 Sam. 5:8), and throw the pieces over the wall. And that’s what David’s men did. They found the secret entrance to the waterpipe at the base of the ravine on the east side and destroyed the plumbing; then they tore apart the anti-Jacob and anti-Isaac cloth-and-wood statues and left them a pile of rubble. It was over almost before it had started. The Jebusites were mice, as it turned out…. It was the easiest victory David had ever achieved.” [i]
This somewhat imaginative account is based largely on the writings of a 14th century rabbi named Gersonides, whose views were followed by many Jewish interpreters of the Middle Ages. We cannot be dogmatic, but the account fits the text at least as well as any other view.
Now let me take a short theological rabbit trail. It’s interesting to me that whereas David refuses to use violence against Saul or Ish-Bosheth or his own countrymen, he has no compunctions against driving out these pagan Jebusites from their stronghold, or for that matter, using capital punishment against Recab and Baanah.
That brings up an interesting fact that many tend to overlook–the Bible doesn’t forbid killing; it only forbids private killing and the killing of the innocent. Our society has largely gotten that backwards. The liberal establishment today despises capital punishment and will oppose it for even the most heinous of crimes, but they will defend the right to abortion with every ounce of energy they can muster. That is, they protect the guilty and leave the innocent unprotected. Furthermore, many of the same people will go to incredible lengths to protect turtle eggs and yet demand unrestricted experimentation on human embryos on the ephemeral promise that stem cells might someday help fight spinal injury.
That’s just the opposite of the principles the Bible teaches. God says, “Thou shalt not murder,” not,“Thou shalt not kill.” He allows, and even commands capital punishment for certain crimes. He even permits aggressive war when the victims have forfeited their right to peace through gross and despicable behavior. Please understand, I am not arguing here for wars of conquest today; we don’t live in a theocracy, so we have no right to assume a manifest destiny for our nation, as David did for Israel. But before we criticize David for driving out the supposedly peace-loving Jebusites, we had better study their history and realize that they were a Canaanite group that practiced child sacrifice and other evils that are almost unimaginable. If God was justified to bring a flood to punish the wickedness rampant in Noah’s Day, then He can also justly allow, even command, David to drive out the Jebusites.
And the fact that God is involved in the conquest of Jerusalem is made clear in 2 Samuel 5:10. Immediately after noting that David took up residence in Jerusalem and called it “The city of David,” we read, “And he became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him.” There is one ultimate explanation of David’s power–it is not military, it is not administrative, it is not intellectual–it is God sovereignly working in his behalf.
Even David’s building of a palace, with the help of Hiram king of Tyre, is attributed to God’s hand of blessing, verse 12: “And David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.” The verb “knew” in that verse is in a form that means “came to realize.” Because of the gift of the palace, David came to realize that the Lord had blessed him.
But there is just a hint of trouble ahead with the mention of one unfortunate fact in verse 13: “After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.” Back in chapter 3 we were told that six sons were born to David while in Hebron, fathered by six different women. Now he adds to his harem. Later we are going to see how devastating David’s lack of control in this area of his life is going to be. You see, God had made it clear that kings were not to multiply wives to themselves. In Deuteronomy 17:17 the kind of king the people were to choose is described: “He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.” The story is honest enough to indicate that even David compromises and mars the kingdom over which he rules; ultimately, the kingdom is only safe in the hands of the Son of David who always does what pleases the Father (John 8:29).[ii]
David defeats the historic enemy of the Israelites, the Philistines. (5:17-25)
In the last half of chapter 5, the Philistines hear about David’s consolidation of power and his conquering of Jerusalem. They decide they’d better act now or he will become too powerful for them to deal with later. So, what is David’s response to this threat? Not surprisingly, (verse 19), “David inquired of the LORD, ‘Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” And the Lord responded positively the He would hand them over.
Let me comment here that I don’t know the mechanics of David’s inquiring of the Lord. Did he go to the high priest and inquire by use of the Urim and Thummim? Did God speak to him in a dream? Did an angel carry messages back and forth? We cannot answer these questions, but the fact is clear that he inquired and God answered him. Today, and ever since New Testament times, the primary means for inquiring of the Lord is prayer, and the primary means by which God speaks to his people is through His Word.
I’m not suggesting that God never uses other means, but these are the primary means. In fact, if someone thinks he is getting direction from God that doesn’t agree with His Word, he’s fooling himself and going down a very dangerous path. The prophet Isaiah writes,
“When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” (Isaiah 8:19-20).
Well, following God’s approval, David defeats the Philistines and gives God total credit for the victory. But the Philistines don’t give up easily. They come back again in verse 22, so again David inquires of the Lord. This time God gives him a military strategy to follow. Part of it is this: “As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam tress, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” I think what this means is that God is planning to send his angels to fight for David, and their marching will sound like troops in the tops of the trees. God protects by His guidance and protects by His power. He’s still doing that.
Oh, we don’t have many sightings of angels today. By their very nature, they are hidden from view most of the time. But please do not think they are not active or that God cannot and does not pull off miracles like this occasionally in our day and time. I want to read a story that was aired on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 on New Year’s Eve in relation to the awful tsunami that hit southeast Asia. I have checked out the story and found that it was also in both the Washington Post and Focus on the Family, so I am fairly sure of its validity:
Cooper: “It bears repeating that each night, we’ve been moved by the stories of people, people who have literally reached out and saved strangers’ lives. Dayalan Sanders is a U.S. citizen who sold his townhouse near Washington D.C. 10 years ago, and moved back to his native Sri Lanka, to build an orphanage, the Samaritan Children’s Home. When the waves came on Sunday, he gathered all 28 children, put them in a boat, and raced the waves to safety.
He joins me now on the phone from Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Thanks very much for being with us, Dayalan.
You know, we talked to a lot of people, and when they first saw the waves, they instantly thought to run to higher ground, but not you. What made you think your best chances were at sea in a boat?”
Dayalan Sanders, founder and director, Samaritan Children’s Home: “Because there are no words in human speech to describe what we saw. It was a 30-foot wall of sea, just bearing down on us like an angry monster. And it was coming at us at such speed, I knew that there was no place on ground where we could be safe. So I knew–there was something in me that told me that instantly, that we’ve got to get on top of this wave if–to stay safe.
“So I came out, I called out for the children. They all came. We rushed. We had just 10 seconds to get into the boat, and that day the outboard motor stayed hooked to the boat. Usually, we take it off every night. And we got into the boat. It just demolished everything that stood in its path. It came with such force. It just hit both of the garages. The garages just splintered in every direction. It lifted up my Toyota pickup and another vehicle. We had a three-wheeler, a motor bike. Everything–it just pulverized. And then when we got into the boat, it was just about 15 feet away, and we were eyeball to eyeball with the wave. And immediately, a scripture popped into my mind. It said, ‘When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall raise up a standard against it.’
“And I know from there, I got the courage. I just stood up in the small boat, and I lifted both my hands and I said, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to stand still.’ And I thought I was imagining at the time that the massive wall of water, it stood. I’m not one given to exaggeration. I saw, as if something holding back, some invisible force or hand. It just stood.
“And this was confirmed, because later on, when I met some of the villagers who had climbed on top of palmara trees and coconut trees and had survived this onslaught. They told me–they called me father. They said, Father, we didn’t stand a chance because the sea, when it got down to the beach and it crushed into the village, it came with the same speed and the same furry, and it just wiped us all out.
“But when it got on your land, at one point, it stood still. It just slowed down. And that gave you the chance. What made it? Was it the density of the trees or the buildings? I said, there was no power on Earth that could have held it back but the power of God. I said, I called upon God, and I commanded it in the name of Jesus, who 2,000 years ago commanded the waves, and they obeyed. He commanded the sea, and they obeyed. And this very same God did the same to us and gave us those precious few seconds that we needed–the engine just sputtered into life.”
Cooper: “And Dayalan, I know your gamble paid off (the media just don’t get it!). You were able to take your boat really directly through the wave and rescue all the children in your orphanage. The orphanage itself, the buildings, the structures were destroyed. But it’s a remarkable tale. Dayalan Sanders, thanks for joining us.”
Conclusion: David is growing into a person after God’s heart. The one who was once a shepherd of sheep is becoming a shepherd of people, guarding their hearts and lives with his own. Though still young, he is becoming more and more powerful because the Lord God Almighty is with him. The boneheads in his life are being removed one by one, and his enemies are in disarray. It hasn’t happened by accident. He is growing; he is maturing; he is becoming more like the One whose heart he is pursuing.
What is your growth rate? I’m not talking about your height or your weight or your age–I’m talking about your growth as a Christ-follower. Are you handling the trials of life better today than you were five years ago? Is sin becoming more distasteful and undesirable to you? Are you inquiring of the Lord more often before acting than you used to, rather than just asking Him to mop up the mess afterward? Are you testifying more freely of the Lord’s blessings in your life? Are you catching a glimpse more often than before of God’s glory in the ordinary rhythms of life?
Are you just growing older or are you growing more godly?
DATE: January 16, 2005
Tags:
Murder
Spiritual growth
[i] Eugene Peterson, Leap Over a Wall, 131-133.
[ii] Dale Ralph Davis, 2 Samuel, Out of Every Adversity, 57.