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"A Fitting Retrospective" • 3.13.16 •
Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro
- Chapter 21
affords us a look into the bookends of David's career.
- The first 14 verses reveal how he related to Saul's family, and how God
eventually allowed justice to protect David's reign early on. Today, we begin
with an event toward the end of David's life.
Text
• II Samuel 21:15-17 :
"When
the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him
went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. Then Ishbi-Benob,
who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was
three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill
David. But
Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and
killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, 'You shall go out no
more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.'" : David is in his 60's and the Philistines are
still coming at him! Throughout David's reign, the Philistine's power was
greatly reduced, but their resolve never abated.
- They were a real physical enemy
that never quit. Your enemy will never quit either! It is not unnatural to
continue fighting throughout a Christian life. To his credit, David is leading
the fight.
- Unfortunately, David was losing
the battle, not against the Philistines, but against Father Time! The words
"grew faint" speak of nearly blacking out!
- Ishbi-Benob noticed David's condition
and made a beeline to the man that had killed his Father Goliath. He's younger
and he's well equipped with an 8 pound spear and a new kind of sword.
- He had the best technology to go
with his old grudge. You can almost hear him saying, "You killed my Father!"
If it hadn't been for Abishai, it's possible that this story would have ended
differently.
- With a sigh of great relief, the
men of Israel plead with David not to lead them out into battle any longer.
"Why take the risk?" In essence, they ask that he lead them in a
different way.
- That is a difficult thing for
any man to accept. Transition is necessary because the battles are not only
relentless, but more challenging and nuanced with each new generation.
- To David's credit, he listened
to his men and stepped aside. Verse 18.
•
II Samuel 21:18-22 : "Now it
happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob.
Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the sons
of the giant. Again
there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of
Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the
shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. Yet again there was war at Gath,
where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and
six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the
giant. So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the
son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him. These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the
hand of David and by the hand of his servants." : David could no longer fight his enemies personally but his men
were trained by a giant killer!
-
In the first battle at Gob, Sibbechai bested Saph, another of Goliath's sons.
At Gob II, Elhanan took out Goliath's brother Jaare-Oregim who held a 16 pound,
shot put spear!
-
When the battle went deep into Philistine territory, into Gath itself, David's
brother Jonathan took out the 24 digit man! At the end of the chapter, the
purpose becomes clear.
-
In verses 1-14, most of Saul's
descendants were hung for their genocidal campaign against the Gibeonites.
Here, all of the relatives of Goliath are vanguished.
-
The stones that David had picked up in the Valley of Elah had been meant for
these men. Now with peace on every side, David lays aside his sword and picks
up his pen!
• II Samuel
22:1-4 : "Then David spoke to the Lord
the words of this song, on the day when the Lord
had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. And
he said: 'The Lord is my rock and my
fortress and my deliverer; The God of
my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield
and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold
and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from
violence. I will call upon the Lord,
who is worthy to be praised; So shall I
be saved from my enemies." : This
song was written as a retrospective on the day when God delivered David from
his enemies. David realized he had no one left to fight and it prompted his
praise.
- It fits here nicely given the content of
chapter 21 and it begins with a
declaration regarding what he had learned about God. Notice behind every
description, there is a personal pronoun.
- The Lord is MY rock. My fortress. My
deliverer! David testifies to what he has learned and makes it clear that his
victories weren't truly his. God had saved him and was deserving of praise!
- God can be our rock and fortress. We needn't
take his word for it but it's not a "safe life!"
- When David fled from his enemies, he fled into
the shadow of the craggy rock and behind the walls of God's fortress. God had
been his shield and the power behind his deliverance.
- He was his high tower and his city of escape.
Whatever violence was intended toward David, God saved him from it! God had
shown Himself to be his strength and his Savior!
- When did God act in this way toward David?
When he purposed to "call upon the Lord." The word speaks of summoning
Him, the One deserving of praise and the One able to save!
• II Samuel
22:5-7 : "When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me
afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He
heard my voice from His temple, and my cry
entered His ears." : After declaring God's
character, David moves into describing his distress.
- The waves and the flood and the sorrows and
the traps all came upon him in terrifying succession. David walked a perilously
thin line between life and death.
- The waves are the giant breakers that one
observes at high tide and the flood point to the overwhelming, unstoppable
nature of his circumstance. He mourned and felt trapped at every turn.
- It was from that place where he summoned the
Lord and He heard him from His temple. This is not the earthly temple, but the
place of God's residence in heaven!
- In your difficulties, when the world seems to
encompass you and all you can see and feel in the overwhelming flood, cry out
to the Lord and He will hear you too! How did David know? Verse 8.
• II Samuel
22:8-20 : "Then the earth shook and
trembled;
The foundations of heaven quaked and were
shaken, because He was angry. Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet. He rode upon a cherub, and flew; And He was seen upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness canopies around Him, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before Him coals of fire were kindled. The Lord thundered from heaven, and
the Most High uttered His voice. He sent out
arrows and scattered them; Lightning bolts,
and He vanquished them. Then the channels of
the sea were seen, the foundations of the
world were uncovered, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils. He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; For they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support. He also
brought me out into a broad place; He
delivered me because He delighted in me." :
David called upon the Lord and this was the response. God moved heaven and
earth in his anger!
- When David called to God, His movements were
swift and like a bird unencumbered by distance, God flew into the fray to
deliver him!
- You wonder how many of these phenomena were
employed against Israel's enemies. Thunder and lightning, all natural, but
released at just the right time.
- The entire arsenal of heaven was dispatched
and the end of it was that God snatched him out from the waves and waters that
surrounded him!
- All of his enemies, who were too strong for
him, who were bent upon his destruction, were left in the dust! Verse 19 tells us that his enemies were the
aggressors.
- They had attacked him at his weakest and
lowest point, but the Lord was David's support.
- The word refers to something that can be
leaned upon. God held David up and moved him over from the narrow place of his
distress to a broad and secure place where he could walk in safety.
- Why did God do this? Why did he save him?
Because God delighted in him. There was no other mitigating factor in the mind
of David that could effect God's action, save His own desire to act!
• II Samuel
22:21-28 : "The Lord
rewarded me according to my righteousness; According
to the cleanness of my hands He has
recompensed me. For I have
kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His judgments were before me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore the Lord has recompensed me
according to my righteousness, according
to my cleanness in His eyes. With
the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them
down." : Many scholars have pointed a verse
21 as a reason to consider an
earlier date for this writing. David isn't saying that he was completely
faultless or sinless. That would be ridiculous.
- His righteousness and cleanness pertains to
his actions related to his predicament.
- He did not provoke his enemies in an unjust
manner nor broken with proper protocol as King.
- He hadn't gone away from God's ways or
deserted from the Lord. He was steadfast in keeping God's Word. This was true
even after his sin with Bathsheba.
- David didn't fight with God concerning his
sin. He eventually righteously confessed and repented of his sin. Being
blameless doesn't mean that a person is sinless.
- It's that he has properly dealt with what had
come between he and God. This was why God dealt with him this way. God responds
to the character that His people demonstrate.
- God will be faithful to the faithful. He will
respond with integrity to those with integrity. Where there is clarity and
wholeness of heart, God will be seen as the same.
- But it's not the same for those who are
twisted, who pervert their ways before God. To them, God will continue their
twisting.
- God saves humble people, but watches the ones
who attempt to lift themselves up by twisting and perverting their way. He
seeks to bring them down.
• II Samuel
22:29-43 : "For You are my lamp, O Lord; The Lord shall enlighten my
darkness.
For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? God is my strength and power, and He makes my
way perfect. He makes my feet like the
feet of deer, and sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your gentleness has made me great. You enlarged my path under me; So my feet did not slip. I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them; Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
And I have destroyed them and wounded them, so that they could not rise; They have fallen under my feet. For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You
have subdued under me those who rose against me. You have also given me the necks of my
enemies so that I destroyed those who hated
me. They looked, but there
was none to save; Even to the Lord,
but He did not answer them. Then I beat
them as fine as the dust of the earth; I trod
them like dirt in the streets, and I spread
them out." : Over the last several verses, you
would think that David merely stood near his enemies and watched God bring His
thunder down upon them.
- And yet, these verses indicate that David
participated alongside of the Lord. God lit the way before David in the dark
paths that he had to traverse.
- By the Lord's help, David took on a troop and
jumped over the protective wall of a city. It wasn't by his own strength. God
supernaturally carried him in these exploits!
- God led David by the perfect way. His word of
instruction to David was tested and proven to be authentic and affective. The
Lord covered him and all who trust in Him, like a shield!
- Notice all the action. God caused him to be
able to fly like a deer upon the rocks, safe from all predators, secure in
every step, no matter how perilous!
- It's amazing how many times the righteous
have reported God's providing and protecting hand with the smallest of margins
for error!
- When the King had to stand and fight his
enemies, he found that his hands were trained for war and his tired arms were
strong enough to bend even the bronze bow.
-
He continues on and on of having vanquished all of his foes, standing in dominance
over them. None were delivered, even those that called upon the Lord as Saul
had.
- There was nothing left of them to attack
again. All were ground to powder and spread thin.
- God had done it all, but David had also done
it all! David fought and strategized and agonized, but at the end of the day,
he recounted that God had done it through him!
• II Samuel
22:44-51 : "You have also delivered
me from the strivings of my people; You have
kept me as the head of the nations. A people
I have not known shall serve me. The foreigners submit to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me. The foreigners fade away, and come frightened from their hideouts.
The Lord lives! Blessed be my
Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation! It is God who avenges me, and subdues the peoples under me; He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles,
and sing praises to Your name. He is the tower of salvation to His king, and shows mercy to His anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore.'" : Politically, David battled his own people as well, who stirred
up controversies or joined themselves to them, as in the case of Absalom and
Sheba.
- God brought him out from there and made David
the head of the nations! David, as the King of Israel was the King of God's
land! In that way, David was governed the greatest nation on earth!
- The nations around Israel were subservient to
him! He dominated the region. All surrendered themselves to him in treaties or
offered their friendship.
- David couldn't take any credit for this. God
had chosen him. Let his Rock be lifted high! He's the One who had avenged
David, subdued the nations and delivered him from his enemies!
- I love the way the NLT renders verse 49: "You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies." What a
beautiful picture! David is out of reach. Even his most violent foe is
powerless.
- The King brings it all to a climax by giving
thanks to the Lord among the Gentiles or nations! He will sing his praises to
His Name!
- He is the tower of "Yeshua" to His
King and shows mercy to His "Mashiach," to David and his descendants
forevermore.
- I'm sure it was difficult for
David to put aside his sword and embrace the pen, but I for one am grateful
that he did. What a powerful song and testimony of a life lived before God.
Conclusion
- David's declaration can be ours as well. God will
be our Rock and fortress. Whatever distressing circumstances we face cannot
compete with the resource of heaven!
- He will deliver you when you call and He will
be your shield as you trust in Him through the provision of His Son, the True
King of the Universe, Jesus Christ!
- God's own people strove against Him and
called for His crucifixion. When Jesus rose from the grave, He rose above their
striving and was exalted to the highest place.
- Today, His church, largely made up of
foreigners, Gentiles, submit to and obey His voice.
- Through His Spirit, He invites all that
oppose Him to leave their hiding places and surrender to Him.
- The Spirit calls upon all to add their voice
to the chorus of praise due to their Father God and their Savior King!
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