David

Jesus is Lord

One day Jesus will be king of the earth. He currently reigns in heaven and sits on a heavenly throne, but as David sat on the throne of Israel and reigned over God’s people, so will Jesus reign on earth in the future (Revelation 20:6). The reason why people were confused when Jesus claimed to be the Messiah was they expected him to establish his kingdom immediately (Luke 19:11). Instead, he died on a cross and declared men’s sins to be forgiven (Luke 5:24).

Psalm 97 states, “The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice” (Psalm 97:1). There appears to be a contradiction in this statement. At the present, sin is still at work in every life and although our sins have been forgiven, we experience the consequences of our wrong choices. The only way we are able to rejoice is by focusing on the condition of our hearts.

The Psalmist said, “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright of heart” (Psalm 97:11). On an individual basis, it is possible for God to reign, even in a world filled with sin. When a person submits himself to God, a light or flame is set in his heart signifying the presence of God. Figuratively, it could be said that the LORD is placed on the throne of his heart and Jesus begins to reign as his king.

At its root, the word translated gladness means to brighten up. The Hebrew word “samach usually refers to a spontaneous emotion or extreme happiness which is expressed in some visible and/or external manner” (8055). David was not an ordinary man, nor was his behavior typical of a king. It says in 1 Samuel 18:28, “Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David.” And when the ark was brought into Jerusalem, it says, “so David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into the city of David with gladness…And David danced before the LORD with all his might” (2 Samuel 6:12, 14).

Although David had the privilege of being king of Israel, he submitted himself to God and acknowledged the LORD’s right to reign over his life (Psalm 110:1). It says in Psalm 97, “The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory. Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols” (Psalm 97:6-7).  The word translated confounded, bûwsh (boosh) means to be ashamed or to be disappointed (954).

The word translated idol is eliyl. This word literally means not god or good for nothing (457). God allows us the freedom to choose to worship him or not. When we let God reign in our hearts, the result is gladness. Those who choose to be lord of their own lives will be disappointed because one day they will have to stand before God and answer for their rejection of Jesus Christ (Romans 14:12).

The sleep of death

The title of Psalm 57 indicates that it was spoken by David when he fled from Saul in the cave. Psalm 57 is a prayer and it is possible that David prayed it on multiple occasions, but didn’t record it until the end of his life. It is clear from David’s language that he believed he was near death and even spoke as if he was already dead when he said, “My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire” (Psalm 57:4).

The word translated lie is shâkab (shaw – kab´). “An emphasis of shakab is ‘to die,’ to lie down in death (7901). David’s reference to being set on fire suggests that he was expecting to go to hell when he died and to be among the wicked men that were seeking to kill him. David described them as, “the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword” (Psalm 57:4).

Thinking about the prospect of dying and going to hell, David said, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise” (Psalm 57:7). The word translated fixed, kûwn (koon) means to be readied or to be prepared. Kuwn can also mean to be established or unchangeable. The sense is that David was ready to die as his fate had already been sealed. He knew that he could not avoid what was coming.

When David said, “Awake up, my glory; awake…I myself will awake early” (Psalm 57:8). he was referring to waking up out of the sleep of death (5782). David said, “I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations” (Psalm 57:9). David’s use of the words people and nations indicates he was talking about a time in the future when God would be worshipped by everyone, not just the Israelites.

At the end of Jesus’ ministry, he instructed his disciples to, “go ye therefore, and teach all nations…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Regarding signs of the end of the age, Jesus said, “the gospel must first be published among all nations” (Mark 13:10). It appears that David was talking about worshipping the LORD at the end of the age, after the resurrection of the dead.

David’s insight into the future made it possible for him to accept death as a temporary waiting period. Although David knew that he would live for ever, his soul would sleep until it was awakened at the dawn of a new day, a day when Jesus would be king.

Famous last words

Recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 23 are what are described as the last words of David (2 Samuel 23:1). I think it is interesting that we find in David’s discourse that it is not his own words, but those of the LORD that David is speaking. David said, “The Spirit of the LORD spake by me” (2 Samuel 23:2). The Spirit of the LORD that David refers to is probably the Holy Spirit and his message a prophetic utterance meant to encourage David before he died.

It is possible that the message David received was a response to his psalm of praise that is recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 22. David opened his psalm with the statement, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer: the God of my rock; in him will I trust” (2 Samuel 22:2-3). The message David spoke through the Spirit of the LORD stated, “The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God” (2 Samuel 23:3). In his psalm of praise, David referred to the LORD as his rock with a lower case “r.” In his prophetic utterance, David refers to “The Rock” of Israel using a capital “R” indicating it was a reference to the Rock as God.

The apostle Paul clarifies God’s purpose in taking the Israelites to the Promised Land via the desert. He wanted to show the Israelites that spiritual sustenance was necessary for their faith to grow. Paul stated:

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)

The statement, “He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God” (2 Samuel 23:3) indicated that David did not measure up to the standard that God required for his king. The ruler that God was referring to was the Messiah, one that would not be made just, but would be just by nature. He was described as follows:

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. (2 Samuel 23:4)

What the LORD was telling David through his prophetic utterance was that his salvation, from a spiritual standpoint, was not yet complete. During his lifetime, God had been David’s deliverer, a rock that could protect him from harm. After he died, David would go to sheol or hell, the resting place of all who died, until Christ came and paid the penalty for his sin. Then, David would be justified and able to rule and reign with Christ for ever according to God’s covenant with him (2 Samuel 23:5).

Conversion

David said, “The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me” (2 Samuel 22:21). The word translated cleanness, bôr (bore) means purity (1252). It is derived from the word bârar which means to clarify or examine (1305). A similar word is zâkak (zaw – kak´) which means to be transparent (2141). The cleanness that David was referring to was the result of confessing or admitting his sin to God.

David knew that he could not hide his sin. After he was confronted by Nathan the prophet about his sin with Bath-sheba, David openly admitted that he deserved to die, but once he had confessed his sin, God pardoned him. Transparency with God made it possible for David’s sin to be removed from God’s record book. From that point forward, David was free from guilt.

The Hebrew word that is translated as recompensed refers to a process called conversion. “The process called conversion or turning to God is in reality a re-turning or a turning back again to Him from whom sin has separated us, but whose we are by virtue of creation, preservation and redemption” (7725). You could say that David was converted at the moment that he said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13), but it wasn’t until much later that David was aware of what the LORD had done for him.

David said, “For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness” (2 Samuel 22:29). The word translated lighten, nagahh (naw – gah´) means to illuminate (5050) and the word translated darkness, chôsek (kho – sek´) is used figuratively to mean misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, and wickedness (2822). David’s comprehension of the salvation he had received wasn’t clear until he saw the outcome of his life. In spite of the sin he had committed, God continued to deliver David from his enemies and kept his kingdom in tact.

At the end of his life, David declared, “God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect” (2 Samuel 22:33). David’s referral to perfection had to do with his relationship with God. One of God’s requirements for the Israelites was that they were to walk in the ways of the LORD (Deuteronomy 10:12). They were to follow the course that God laid out for them and their behavior was to be like that of God. When David said that his way had been made perfect, he meant that through the process of conversion, he had completed the course that God had prepared for him and accomplished all that God had intended him to in his life.

Healing for the soul

As we get older, there is a tendency to reflect on our accomplishments and our mistakes. I think it is easier to see mistakes and regret them when you have several decades of accomplishments to weigh them against. One of the things that older people seem to have more of than younger people is insight, the ability to look at outcomes and determine why they happened.

In David’s later years, he saw that his sin with Bath-sheba had caused many things to happen that he hadn’t expected. Looking at sin as a disease, David knew that he needed healing or eventually it would kill him. David prayed, “LORD, be merciful to me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee” (Psalm 41:4).

One of the meanings of the word translated soul is vitality (5315). David said, “The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness” (Psalm 41:3). David was confined to his bed as a woman when she is menstruating. David was experiencing weakness that he felt was associated with sexual impurity.

The Hebrew word raphah means to heal. It represents a restoring to normal, “an act which God typically performs” (7495). David’s request for God to heal his soul was motivated by David’s understanding that he needed to be transformed or turned back to the way he was before he sinned against God. David’s life was no longer filled with happiness and joy. He could not get things back on track as he once had.

Thinking about his many accomplishments, David said, “When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday” (Psalm 42:4). David knew from many years of experience that the way to fix his problem was to get right with God, to restore the relationship that brought him joy.

David’s statement in Psalm 42:1, as the deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God, is based on David’s awareness that fellowship with God brought refreshment to his soul. Over the years, David had been revived when he connected with the LORD and trusted him for deliverance. David concluded Psalm 42 with the questions, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” (Psalm 42:11). At that point, David realized that the LORD had not left him, but was waiting for David to turn to him for help. David’s belief in God was the real issue. David said, “Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42:11).

The word translated health is yeshuw’ah. It means deliverance or salvation and is a synonym for the word yasha’, which means to be saved (3467). The name Jesus is a Greek form of the word yeshu’ah indicating that David was looking to his Messiah for restoration of health to his soul. The word countenance refers to the face or the look on one’s face (6440). David may have been thinking about the time when he would see his Savior face to face and would praise him for his gift of salvation and the completed work that would provide deliverance from his sin.

A cry of distress

God, the creator of the universe, has made it possible for everyone to know him and to have access to his strength. All that one has to do is call upon his name and the LORD answers. Even babies with very little intellectual capability are able to access God’s power and defeat their enemies.

David said, “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightiest still the enemy and the avenger” (Psalm 8:2). The word translated still, shabâth (shaw – bath´) means to repose or desist from exertion (7673). In other words, stillness is the opposite of work, the effort to accomplish a task.

It may be hard to imagine that a baby has enemies, but from the day a person is born, there is a battle going on in the spiritual realm for the soul of that person. In the most basic form of communication, a baby is able to call on the name of the LORD and receive God’s protection. The baby that cries out in distress is not only heard by her mother, but by her heavenly father, the one who created her.

A bitter ending

In Psalm 5, David reveals his attitude toward Absalom and makes it clear that he did not want Absalom’s life spared, but believed that it was God’s responsibility and not his own to punish Absalom for his wicked deeds. In reference to Absalom’s deceitful tactics, David said, “Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: The LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man” (Psalm 5:6).

David was able to differentiate between the feelings he had for his son and the contempt he felt for the man that stole the hearts of David’s followers. Although David loved his son Absalom, he did not want God to go easy on him. David prayed, “Destroy thou them, O God: Let them fall by their own counsel; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee” (Psalm 5:10).

I believe the reason David commanded that Absalom’s life be spared (2 Samuel 18:5) was so that he would have the opportunity to confront Absalom as Nathan the prophet had confronted him(2 Samuel 12:7). It is possible that Absalom would have repented and restored his relationship with his father. The conflict between the two men was never resolved and as a result of Joab killing Absalom, David didn’t get the chance to tell his son how he felt about him (2 Samuel 18:33).

Family conflicts are complicated because of the feelings that are involved in intimate relationships. Although David probably didn’t fully understand why Absalom rebelled, he knew that the young man was angry about how his sister’s rape was handled. Absalom loved his sister Tamar and had tried to honor her by killing the man that had raped her. Unfortunately, David’s leniency toward Absalom’s act of revenge opened the door for him to gain an advantage and attempt to dethrone the king.

He will lighten my darkness

During a battle with the Philistines, it is recorded that “David waxed faint” (2 Samuel 21:15). Although it isn’t exactly clear what this phrase means, it is probably a metaphor that refers to David being weak and unable to fight as he once was. At this point in David’s military career, he was probably in his 50s, maybe over 60 years of age, so it makes sense that he would be losing his strength, except that there were other men, such as Caleb, that were fighting battles after they had reached the age of 80 (Joshua 14:10).

One explanation for David’s loss of strength is spiritual warfare. Sometimes the unseen battle we are engaged in as believers takes more of a toll on us than physical warfare. An indicator that David’s problem was spiritual rather than physical is the definition of the word translated faint. The Hebrew word ‘ûwph (oof) means to cover (5774). It is associated with dimness or the covering up of a light.

In response to David’s weakness, it says in 2 Samuel 21:17, “Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shoult go not more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.” David’s men believed that keeping David alive was a matter of national security. So fragile was the peace that, it appeared the nation of Israel might crumble if David was to die.

What David’s men failed to realize was that God was the one that provided the light. Spiritual strength comes as a result of connection to God. Rather than trying to keep David alive, the people needed to turn to God and worship him as David did. In David’s psalm of praise, it says, “For thou art my lamp, O LORD: And the LORD will lighten my darkness” (2 Samuel 22:29). The word translated lamp is this verse is the same word translated light in 2 Samuel 21:17.

When David said, “the LORD will lighten my darkness” (2 Samuel 22:29), I believe he was talking about the LORD fighting David’s spiritual battles for him. Darkness is used figuratively to represent misery, destruction, sorrow, and wickedness (2822). Evil and darkness are often contrasted with goodness and light in order to portray the spiritual realm where warfare determines future events. In David’s time, Satan had not yet been defeated and the battle for control of the world was still being fought.

David’s attempt to establish peace in Israel was the first step toward conquering Satan. In the same way that the lamps in the tabernacle were to burn continually as a sign of God’s presence, so David’s life became a symbol of God’s presence in the nation of Israel. Until the Messiah came, the LORD would not let David’s light be extinguished. At the time of Solomon’s death the LORD spoke these words through the prophet Ahijah. “And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there” (1 Kings 11:36).

Power gone sour

Power is a force that can be used for good or evil. Typically, power can be obtained from a position that is held or a relationship that entitles an individual to use another’s power. In an effort to obtain power, some are willing to kill or usurp the power that belongs to another. The easiest way to get power is to develop a relationship with someone that already has it, for instance a relationship with Jesus Christ entitles you to use the authority of his name to conquer the devil (Acts 4:7).

Joab, the commander of David’s army, had power because of the position he held and because of his relationship with David. After Absalom revolted against David, Joab killed Absalom even though David had commanded him not to. As a result, David replaced Joab as the captain of his host (2 Samuel 19:13). Because of the power he had as the commander of the Israelite army, Joab was able to retain his position in spite of David’s attempt to replace him. Joab did so by killing Amasa, the new commander (2 Samuel 20:10).

In this situation, it could be said that Joab had too much power. Although he worked for David, David was unable to fire him. At the root of the problem was the conspiracy between David and Joab to kill Uriah. When Uriah refused to have sex with his wife after being brought home from the battle field, David wrote a letter to Joab. “And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die” (2 Samuel 11:15).

David used his power over Joab to force him to commit murder. Joab was merely following David’s command when he retreated and left Uriah to die. Therefore, his decision to kill Absalom was in a way a sign that he no longer trusted David’s judgement and he would decide for himself who should live or die by his sword.

Although it may have been better for Joab to follow his own conscience, he did not have the right to use the power of his position as commander of the army to undermine David’s authority. When Joab killed Amasa, he was attempting to come between David and the LORD, who was ultimately responsible for David’s actions, suggesting that David was not fit to be king. David’s position as king made him more powerful than Joab. David could have had Joab killed in order to remove him from his position, but he didn’t. David let Joab alone and didn’t attempt to replace him again.

Divine intervention

“And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man: so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants” (2 Samuel 19:14). David’s return to Jerusalem after the death of Absalom was the result of a sovereign act of God. The word translated bowed, nâtâh (naw – taw´) means to stretch or spread out (5186). It is a picture of God extending his hand in order to accomplish something.

God does not always intervene in the lives of men, but he does control the outcome of events over time. God’s involvement in the affairs of men is a sign of his power (5186). As the creator of the universe, he does not just watch or oversee what is going on, he engages in activity that keeps the process going until a particular goal is achieved.

David’s return to Jerusalem was a sign that all was well again. The conflict was over. The word translated return, shûwb (shoob) means to turn back. “The basic meaning of the verb is a movement back to the point of departure” (7725). Although it is clear that David was returning to the city he had left sometime earlier, the significance of his return was greater. I believe his return signaled a return or restoration of his life from the point in time when he sinned against Uriah (2 Samuel 11:15).

The death of Absalom marked the end of a chapter in David’s life that had caused conflict in his family and in his country. Even though things had not reach the point of chaos, there was a great disturbance when Absalom attempted to take the throne from his father. The people of Israel lost confidence in David and were unsure of God’s will for their nation (2 Samuel 19:9-10). God’s involvement was necessary to restore order.

It says in 2 Samuel 19:9 that, “all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel.” The word translated strife, dûwn (doon) means to rule (1777). This word is comparable to the words adon and adonay which mean sovereign, Lord, and master (113, 136). If you think of strife in terms of conflict or a fight amongst people, it marks the point when an umpire is needed to settle the dispute. In Israel’s case, it marked the point when God needed to step in and make it clear that David was still his chosen leader of their nation.

Unfortunately, only the tribe of Judah was given the opportunity to welcome David back into the country and the other tribes of Israel did not appreciate being left out. “And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king?” (2 Samuel 19:43). In spite of David’s return to the throne, there was not a complete restoration of peace to the nation of Israel. The damage that was done by Absalom’s revolt left a permanent mark on David’s reputation as king and a crack in the foundation of Israel as a nation. The peace the nation experienced when David was at the peak of his career (2 Samuel 10:19), seemed to be lost when Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel (2 Samuel 15:6).