The Book of Samuel: David’s Unyielding Throne

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The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.

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Even victory can be bitter. How can there ever be a clear victory when there’s a war between a father and a son? To be sure, this one was a short war. It was only one battle. And David’s son Absalom? Well, no one knows for sure, but a suspicion lingers that David might have been willing to give up his kingdom rather than see his son Absalom killed. I have a feeling that’s the reason why he ran when Absalom rebelled. Because David was a fighting man. He was surrounded by fighting men. They were some of the highest caliber fighting men anyone would ever encounter. He could have put down that rebellion. But to have done so, he would have had to have killed his son. Now he has fled. They have come after him, and he has no choice. And so he sent his men out to do battle against Israel. And he told the young men going out there in the battle to preserve Absalom. I can’t imagine what he thought he might do with that treacherous young man. But any victory for David’s men had to lead to Absalom’s death. And yet he told them, oh, oh, please be careful. Don’t kill my son. Save Absalom. Absalom and his army were defeated in the field, put to flight. And as Absalom rode through a wooded area, his hair got caught in the branches. He had a very full head of long hair. And he hung there, alive, between the tree and the ground. No one else would do it, so Joab, David’s general, drove three lances through Absalom, cut him down, and his guard finished the job. Word came to David, and while he was grateful for the victory, he was stricken in his soul for the loss of his son. And the Scripture tells us the king was very much moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, Would God I had died for you, O Absalom, my son, my son. Terribly poignant words, and apparently David in the Middle Eastern style, he mourned at the top of his voice. It’s so hard to understand. And yet, when we remember that David in the Bible is a type of Christ, Paul says, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. While we were enemies of God, he sent his son to die for us. Well, everyone looks to the king, and his mood quickly turned the victory sour. And it was told to Joab, the general of David’s armies. This is 2 Samuel chapter 19. Look, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom. And the victory that day was turned into mourning to all the people because the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son. And the people got themselves by stealth that day into the city like a people who were ashamed to steal away when they flee in battle. They were acting like people who were ashamed. like they had run away from a battle, like they were deserters, when in fact they had gained a great victory that day. The king covered his face, and he cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son. And these words echoed down through the chambers around the gate. And Joab came into the house to the king and said, You have shamed this day, the faces of all your servants, which this day have saved your life, the lives of your sons and of your daughters, the lives of your wives, the lives of your concubines. You’ve shamed all these today in that you love your enemies and hate your friends. For you have declared this day, you’ve made it very clear to all of us, that you have no regard for either princes or servants, This day I perceive, if Absalom had lived and all we had died this day, then it would have pleased you well. And David could not deny it. Joab continued, said, Now you’d better get up and go out and speak comfortably to your servants. For I swear by the Lord, if you don’t go forth, there will not tarry one with you this night, and that will be worse to you than all the evil that has befallen you from your youth until now. Joab was no man to mince words. Again, he was a warrior. He spoke the truth, every word. And what may be more important, David knew it. So the king arose. and sat in his place in the gate. And they told all the people, Oh, look, the king is sitting in the gate. And all the people came before the king, for Israel had fled every man to his tent. This expression, every man to his tent, in our terminology we said every man had gone home. And all the people were at strife through all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies. He delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines. And now he has fled out of the land from Absalom. He’s run away from Absalom. And Absalom, whom we anointed over us to be king, is dead in battle. Okay, now, why is it you’re not speaking a word of bringing the king back? Incredible ferment all up and down Israel from one end to the other. King David then sent to Zadok and Abiathar the priest, saying, Speak to the elders of Judah and say this, Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? Seeing the speech of Israel has come to the king, even to his house, You are my brethren, you are my bones, you are my flesh. Why then are you the last to bring back the king? And say to Amasa, Are you not bone of my bone and of my flesh? God do so to me and more also, if you be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab. He says, Look, I’ll make this deal with you. I will put you into Joab’s job as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. You’ll be the head of the military. And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man. So they sent this word to the king. return you and all of your servants. So the king returned and came to Jordan, that river which plays such a huge role in the history of Israel. And Judah came to Gilgal to go and meet the king to conduct him over Jordan. And Shemai, the son of Gerah, a Benjamite, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. Now Shemai was the fellow who who, when David was fleeing Jerusalem for his life, followed him through dust in the air, cursed him roundly, threw stones at David and his servants as David was running away from Jerusalem. And David would not allow his men to hurt him. Now Shammai, who hated David, called him a bloody man and said, ìGo on up. Go on and get out, you bloody man.î Now he realizes his life is on the line. He had backed the wrong horse. There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba, the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons, and his twenty servants with him. And they went over Jordan before the king, and they went over a ferry boat to carry over the king’s household, so as to do what he thought good. And Shemai, the son of Gerah, fell down before the king as he stepped off the ferry crossing the Jordan. And he said to the king, Please let not my lord impute iniquity to me. Don’t remember what your servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart. For your servant does know that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I am come, the first this day of all the house of Joseph, to go down to greet my Lord the King. But Abishai, son of Zebariah, brother of Joab, said, Shall not Shemai be put to death for this, because he has cursed the Lord’s anointed? And David said, What am I going to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be adversaries to me? Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel? It’s not a time for vengeance. It’s not a time for execution. This is very wise of David, because by himself, refusing to take vengeance on this man who really deserved to have it taken, showed that no one else should be doing that sort of thing in this day of peace. Stay with me. This story gets even more interesting as it goes along.

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The book of Samuel includes so much valuable history and lays the foundation for understanding the rest of the Bible. The entire series of programs on Samuel and the book of Kings is available for a special price this week only. Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE-44 and tell us the call letters of this radio station.

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So the king swore to Shimei that he would not die. And here came another man. I visualize him as walking along with a cane in both hands. This was Mephibosheth, the son of Saul. He was the one who was hurt back during one of the occasions where his family had to flee. His nurse dropped him, and both of his feet were lame. He came down to meet the king, had neither dressed his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes from the day the king departed to the day he came again in peace. This was a man who could have been left out altogether. But David, because he was the son of Jonathan, and because of the covenant he had sworn with Jonathan, David invited him in, gave him back his father’s land, and let him sit at David’s table as a part of his court. So it came to pass that when David came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said, Why didn’t you come with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For I said, I’ll saddle me an ass that I can ride on and go to the king because I’m lame, as you know. And he has slandered me to my lord the king. But my lord the king is an angel of God. Do therefore what is good in your eyes. For all of my father’s house were nothing but dead men before my lord the king. Yet did you set me among them that ate at your own table. What right have I therefore to cry any more to the king? And David brushed all that aside and said, no, let’s don’t talk anymore about that. I have said, you and Ziba, Ziba, remember, was a servant of Saul, a steward. You and Ziba divide the land. And Mephibosheth said to the king, yea, let him take everything, because my lord the king has come again in peace to his own house. Ziba had been only a steward and had been given Saul’s property. Then he had to turn it over to Mephibosheth. In all of this, he acted faithfully. He was a good and honest man. And as David came up to Jerusalem before they went over Jordan, a man named Barzillai the Gileadite came down and went over Jordan with the king to conduct him toward Jerusalem. This Barzillai is a favorite character of mine. He is a very old man, 80 years old. And all the time that David was out there in the field, this man, with his servants and his sustenance, he provided David and all of his men food and supplies all the time they were at Mahanaim. He was a very great man. And the king said to him, come over with me, and I’ll feed you with me in Jerusalem. You know, come be a part of my retinue. Eat at my table. Stay in Jerusalem. Now, Barzillias is an old man. And what I really enjoy about the exchange between these two gentlemen is the courtliness, the generosity, the depth of the friendship between them. And Barzillai said to the king, how long do I have to live that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? I am this day 80 years old. I can’t even discern between what’s good and bad. I can’t taste what I eat. I can’t taste what I drink. I can’t hear anymore the voice of singing men and singing women. David, I can’t enjoy the food. I can’t enjoy the wine. And I’m half deaf, and I can’t enjoy what the people are singing about. Why then should I be a burden anymore to my lord, the king? So your servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king. And why should the king recompense it me with such a reward? Just let me turn back again that I may die in my own city and be buried by the grave of my mother and my father. But look, here is your servant, Chimham. This is a young man that he is giving and commending to David. Let him go over with my lord the king, and you do to him whatever seems good to you. And the king said, Jimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which will seem good to you. And listen to this. Whatever you shall require of me, that I will do for you. Now, how many people on the face of God’s green earth do you know that you’d be willing to say that to? Whatever you require of me. I’ll do it. I mean, how many men would even tell their wives that? Whatever you want, just tell me what you want, I’ll do it. Or vice versa, for that matter. The courtliness of these gentlemen, the way they make these open-ended promises to one another, means that they trusted one another completely. Implicit in this is that there was a covenant between David and Barzillai. And whatever one asked, the other would do. And all that time that he was over there, this man of his wealth gave David and his army food, sustenance, all the way, everything they needed. Well, all the people went over Jordan, and when the king came over, the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him. And Barzillai went home to his own place. And the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him. And all the people of Judah conducted the king, and half the people of Israel conducted Behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and they said, Why have our brethren, the men of Judah, stolen you away? And they brought the king and his household and all David’s men with him over Jordan. And the men of Judah answered the Israel, Because the king is our nearer of kin, what are you mad about? Have we eaten at all the king’s cost? Has he given us any gift?” And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, says, We have ten parts in the king. We have more right in David than you. Why then did you despise us that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king, our king? Boy, things have changed. Things have really changed from the time David fled until now the time he came back. And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. There were, of course, 12 tribes. Judah and Levi are two, leaving the 10 other tribes. Hence the claim, we have 10 parts in the king. What I think is interesting is that even at this early date, there is tension between the two houses, the house of Judah and the house of Israel. These divisions will become much deeper and more powerful after the death of Solomon. 2 Samuel 20. There happened to be there a man of Belial. That word, Belial, basically means worthless. And you’ll see people call sons of Belial, which is really the equivalent of an SOB in their language as it is in ours. This guy’s name was Sheba, a Benjamite. He blew a trumpet and said, We have no part in David, neither have we an inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel.” Oh, that expression, to his tents. Go see to your own stuff. Go home. Let’s all go to our place. Now, this is as inevitable as tomorrow’s sunrise. Absalom’s rebellion had created a temporary power vacuum, and Sheba saw his chance and grabbed it. So every man of Israel went up from David and followed Sheba, the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah, they claved to their king from Jordan all the way to Jerusalem. So David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house. He put them in ward and fed them and took care of them, but he didn’t go in unto them. Basically, he means he did not have relations with them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood. These ladies are the victims of David’s sin with Bathsheba. None of this was their fault, but they paid the price. After David’s affair with Bathsheba, one of the things God told him was that others, his neighbor, would sleep with David’s wives. You’ll find it back in 2 Samuel 12. That means Absalom. I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor. He will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun, for you did it secretly. I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. Absalom did precisely that. He set up a pavilion on the top of the palace and publicly went in to the concubines David had left to keep the house. Now, David could not return to these women. But he did take care of them. Then said the king to Amasa. Remember, Amasa, he had promised to be chief of staff in Joab’s place. Put together the army. Within three days you’ll be here. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah, but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. There’s one thing about David. David was not a man to temporize. He didn’t wait around. He made up his mind. He acted. And anyone who knew him, having been given three days to get something done, would have had it done in three days. But finally, when nothing got done, action had to be taken. And David said to Abishai, Now Sheba the son of Bichri is going to do us more harm than Absalom. I want you to take your Lord’s servants and pursue after him, lest he get in fenced cities and get away. So they went out after him, Joab’s men, and the Carathites, the Pelathites, all the mighty men, a whole gang of them, they went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba. When they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa went before them. And Joab’s garment that he had put on was girded to him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath. And as he went forth, it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, Are you in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. Now remember, Amasa had been made chief of staff in Joab’s place. What Joab’s role was, I don’t know at this point. But he put on the robe, he put on all this stuff, and without him noticing it, a sword fell out as he walked. Joab apparently walks up and picks up that sword. He says, Are you in good health, my brother? He took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. And Amasa paid no heed to the sword in Joab’s hand. So he smote him therewith in the heart and shed out his bowels to the ground. He didn’t have to strike him twice, and he died. Rough times, rough men. Stay with me and listen to this important message. I’ll be right back with more of the story.

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So the pursuit of Sheba continued on to the north with Joab and Abishai, his brother, after him. One of Joab’s men stood by and called for everyone that favors Joab, he that is for David, let’s go, let’s follow Joab. Problem was, poor Amasa’s body was lying wallowing in the mud in the middle of the highway. And when the men saw, people stopped when they saw it. He dragged him off the highway, cast a cloth on him, and everybody then moved on down the highway after Joab. They went through all the tribes of Israel to a place called Abel. to Beth Mekah, to all the Berites, and they gathered everybody together, and they went after him. I mean, the whole gang now is on his heels. So they came and besieged him in Abel. They cast up a bank against the city, besieged it, and it stood in the trench. And all the people that were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down, an ancient siege. But there was in this city someone that the author of Samuel calls a wise woman. And she came up on the wall and says, here, here, say, I pray you, here, Joab, come near here that I can talk to you. When he came near to her, the woman said, are you Joab? He said, I’m the man. She said, well, hear the words of your handmaid. He said, I hear you. And she spoke, saying, They were wont to speak in old times, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel. And so they ended the matter. In other words, it’s generally thought that in this town there was wisdom. I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel. And you seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. I mean, why do you want to tear down this town, which is the source of wisdom? And here I am, a wise one. Why are you doing this? Why are you going to swallow up the inheritance of the Lord? And Joab said, Oh, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy. That’s not what this is about. A man of Mount Ephraim, Sheba by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David. Just deliver him, and I’ll go away from the city. And the woman said to Joab, Okay, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall. Ah, grim stuff, kind of sobering. And the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And apparently there wasn’t a lot of conversation. They cut off Sheba’s head and threw it over the wall to Joab. And Joab had the trumpet blown, and they retired from the city, and every man went to his tent, which is the way they said it in those days. They all went home. All it took was the head of a man thrown over the wall. So Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king. And Joab is now again over the entire armies of Israel and Judah. A man named Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, is over the Karathites and the Pelthites. Adoram was over the taxes. Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahalad, was the recorder. Sheva was the scribe. Zadok and Abiathar was priests. And Ira the Jerite was a chief ruler about David. In other words, he was a chief of staff there. Right there, taking care of details day by day for David. Basically, what we have here is a description of David’s administration. The Karathites and Pelathites were foreign mercenaries, but they were very strong fighters. And apparently, they formed a kind of palace guard. The Karathites, they say, came from the island of Crete. The Pelethites’ name meant couriers, so you can kind of begin to get the picture of what David drew up around him. There’s much more to the story of David, but you’ll have to wait till next time.

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