Session #17

II Samuel 1
“The Hand Of Preservation” • 1.15.08 • Autonomy, Authority & The Man Of God, Session #17

Intro.
- 2 Samuel begins 3 days after David raid on the Amalekites. He has returned to Ziklag and
is awaiting news from the battle between the Philistines and the Israelites. He won’t wait long.
• II Samuel 1:2-5 : “on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. So it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself. And David said to him, ‘Where have you come from?’ So he said to him, ‘I have escaped from the camp of Israel.’ Then David said to him, ‘How did the matter go? Please tell me.’ And he answered, ‘The people have fled from the battle, many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.’”
- David, wanting to ascertain the truth, discovers through this man’s testimony that he was an eyewitness to Saul’s death, supposedly even helping speed along the process at Saul’s request.
- This passage seems to contradict what we saw in the end of I Samuel, where Saul died when he fell on his spear. We’ll talk a bit about this in a moment, but this was the man’s report.
- At this news, David and his men responded in a very surprising way.
• II Samuel 1:11,12 : “Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.”
- This seems a peculiar response to you and I, but the fall of the King is the fall of the Kingdom.
- This was, after all, their King and their people. David though was not done with this man.
• II Samuel 1:13-16 : “Then David said to the young man who told him, ‘Where are you from?’ And he answered, ‘I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.’ So David said to him, ‘How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?’ Then David called one of the young men and said, ‘Go near, and execute him!’ And he struck him so that he died. So David said to him, ‘Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the Lord's anointed.'”
- After this time of mourning, David composes a beautiful tribute to Saul and to Jonathan.
- There are a few things I would have us take note of today, as we begin to cut apart this portion of David’s life. We have a story of God’s preserving hand over David’s life.
- David is presently still a fugitive. He doesn’t know that his story is about to take an incredible turn for the better. He is about to go from being a fugitive to a free man.
- When we go through difficult times, it’s not only possible, but highly probable that we will speak ignorantly, both about God and our situations.
- God is the one however, who brings us, preserves us through these circumstances that would otherwise break us. We will notice how God preserved.

I. David’s Life (v.1)
II. David’s Heart (v.11,12)
III. David’s Standard Of Righteousness (v.14-16)

Text

I. David’s Life (v.1)

• II Samuel 1:1 : “Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag,” : Saul is dead, the Amalekites defeated, David is still alive.
- The slaughter of the Amalekites happened just about the same time as Saul was dying on the battlefield at the hands of the Philistine archers.
- David is back in Ziklag, unaware that the tide has turned in his life. I am sure that he was relieved and thankful to have his wives back, but the thought must have occurred to him that he was still living in enemy territory.
- When could he leave? When would he get his life back? When would he start living in his destiny? The answers were about to present themselves.
- God had preserved David’s life, delivered him from the very shadow of death.
- Just to serve the context, let’s back up and look at the statement that David made just about 14 months earlier.
• I Samuel 27:1 : “And David said in his heart, ‘Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.’”
- David, it didn’t happen! God preserved you and saved your very life!
- David knew that this was the case and writes about it thoroughly in Psalm 37. I want to point your attention to a few selected verses.
• Psalm 37:1,2 : “Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.”
• Psalm 37:12-15 : “The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword And have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay those who are of upright conduct. Their sword shall enter their own heart, And their bows shall be broken.”
• Psalm 37:23-27 : “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand. I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants are blessed. Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell forevermore.”
- These words we have read are earned by living and watching God’s story play out over a lifetime. God is the preserving agent, keeping those who belong to Him.
- How many times has He preserved me from an accident that would have taken my life? How many times has He prevented a relationship from blossoming that might have destroyed my soul? How many times has the check come in the mail just in time?
- We are prone to forget that we are not the makers of our destiny! It is God preserving, His hand protectively covering and providently moving our life in the direction that He is calling us toward.
- He is the Author of our faith, but let us never forget that He is the finisher as well, promising to finish that good work that He has begun in us.

II. David’s Heart (v.11,12)

• II Samuel 1:11,12 : “Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.” : David has heard for the first time that Saul, Jonathan, indeed the entire house, was dead.
- This provokes an interesting response, that I would not have expected.
- David rips his clothes as a sign of mourning. The Jewish people today do the same thing, which is meant to symbolize the grief that is being expressed inwardly.
- Traditionally, this is to last about 7 days for the first degree relatives.
- The men mourned here for Saul, Jonathan, the people of the Lord and the house of Israel.
- They mourned their enemy. The man that had hunted David and his men and caused them to live on the run, in caves and out in a foreign land.
- Here, instead of celebration, these men are focused on commemoration.
- I would have expected otherwise. Instead, these men mourn! What happened here?
- The Lord preserved the heart of David, and kept him right in the way He faced this circumstance.
- This seems poignant in that another man may face similar circumstances, but have an entirely different response in a moment like this.
- In a justifiable rage, another man might let out a hearty laugh and speak of how the man deserved at least what he got, and probably then some.
- What is the difference? God’s preserving hand, and the choice of that man not to make the circumstance dictate his emotional palette.
- In the book of Ephesians, Paul is instructing the people of the church about just how they are to live as redeemed people in an evil world.
- As the Spirit dwells among them, certain attitudes which the world entertained and even encouraged, were now totally inappropriate among the believing community.
• Ephesians 4:30-32 : “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.”
- My former Pastor used to say, “Bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping that the other guy gets hurt!”
- David, it seems, did not allow bitterness, wrath or anger to fester in his heart toward Saul, even though Saul had treated him in a cruel and unfair way.
- Bitterness, anger, wrath, clamor and evil speaking then, is a choice. We can react that way or we can choose to allow the Lord to preserve our hearts in a righteous way. It’s our decision.
- Jesus calls us to something higher, greater and certainly impossible for an unredeemed man.
• Matthew 5:43-48 : “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

III. David’s Standard Of Righteousness (v.14-16)

• II Samuel 1:14-16 : “So David said to him, ‘How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?’ Then David called one of the young men and said, ‘Go near, and execute him!’ And he struck him so that he died. So David said to him, ‘Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’” : The Amalekite came to David with thoughts of receiving honor.
- He was an alien, meaning that he was living in Israel as a foreigner. However, it’s clear that living in the land did not change his own Amalekite standards.
- David looks at him and is dumbfounded at how this man could do the unthinkable.
- David himself had resisted the urge to take Saul’s life, which was particularly strong, especially since he was on the run from Saul.
- It’s more than likely that the Amalekite was lying in order to ingratiate himself to David. More than likely, he had taken the stuff and thrown dust on his forehead to look as though he were sad.
- After David had mourned, it was time to deal with the Amalekite. David, now the highest authority in the land pronounces his first judgement. He calls a young man forward to execute the Amalekite.
- Why did he execute the Amalekite? Because he confessed to a murder that was not related to a war, self-defense, or criminal justice. It was a confession to unjustifiable homicide.
- David in this action shows that the law, his standard of righteousness is intact, protecting even those who are his enemies.
- David’s heart is not turned from righteousness. He does not overlook the sin of this man in order to reward him for his “good” deed done for David. David instead makes a statement that his judgments, his rule will be based in righteousness.
- When facing trying circumstances, it does not have to follow, that our standards for righteousness change to fit our feelings of ill-will.
- In all the Bible, the greatest example of this is the Lord Jesus.
- Peter the Apostle, wanting his hearers living in the world and under the world system, calls the Lord’s people to live in a way that the Lord exemplified through His life.
• I Peter 2:21-24 : “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.”
- Jesus did not allow, nor should we allow ourselves change our commitment to God’s law simply because it has not been meted out to us in like manner.
Conclusion
- David shows us that we don’t have to believe the worst case scenario. Most of the time that does not happen.
- His life exemplifies a man who is committed to letting his heart be like His Master’s teaching us that we don’t have to let bitterness rule our lives.
- Finally, in spite of what unlawful things happen around us, we must never waver from our commitment to His righteousness.
- Because of God’s hand of preservation, we can live in this as well.