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David Page Two

In 1 Samuel 30, we see the Amalekites had taken one of the cities of the children of Israel and even taken the wives and children hostage.
1. The hostages were the wives and children of David and his men.
2. God blessed David and his army to successfully attack and defeat the Amalekites.
3. All of the wives, children, and the things belonging to the children of Israel were returned by David and his men.
4. God surely blessed them.
5. However, any time there is war, there is always plunder.
6. Plunder is the taking of the things from the defeated army by the winner.
7. The Bible shows us that there was a lot of plunder.
8. Remember, not all of David’s soldiers went to the battle.
9. Some stayed behind in the camp.
10. The Bible says there was a disturbance regarding the plunder.
11. It says, “21 Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Besor Valley. They came out to meet David and the men with him. As David and his men approached, he asked them how they were. 22 But all the evil men and troublemakers among David’s followers said, “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go.” 23 David replied, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us. 24 Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” 25 David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this” (1 Samuel 30:21-25 New International Version).
12. As you can see, the men who did not go to battle still served a function.
13. They protected the supplies.
14. Thus, they also earned some of the plunder that God blessed all of the children of Israel with.
15. When you get older, you will understand that God gives all Christian different gifts to use to please God (1 Corinthians 12).
16. God does not give us the same job in the church as everyone else.
17. Instead, we are all designed to work together.
18. That way, the work of the church is more powerful as we use all of our various gifts together to make God proud of us!
19. In the end, we will all be victorious and receive the same salvation.
20. We will be eternally joyful in heaven together even through God made all us different and has given us different gifts to serve Him!
In 1 Samuel 31, we see the demise of Saul.

In this chapter, the children of Israel were still at war with the Philistines and they had been badly defeated in battle (1 Samuel 31:1).
The Philistines were chasing Saul and his men.
Sadly they killed three of Saul’s sons.
1. This included the lovable Jonathan; friend of David.
They even shot Saul with an arrow and he was badly wounded (1 Samuel 31:1-3).
At this point in his life, Saul wanted to die.
1. He did not want the Philistines to find him, treat him with abuse, and then kill him.
2. Most likely, he was thinking the Philistines would torture him first and then finally, take him out of his misery.
3. Saul was probably right about the abuse the Philistines would have put him through.
4. Many centuries later, Jeremiah 25 tells us the Babylonians blinded King Zedekiah and killed his sons in front of him before he was blinded.
5. In other words, the cruelty of the Babylonians made the last thing this king saw was the murder of his own sons!
6. That was cruelty indeed.
7. Thus, ancient armies were cruel and this Philistine army was no exception.
8. Since Saul did not want to go through the abuse of getting captured and killed by the Philistines, he wanted his armor bearer to kill him on the spot (1 Samuel 31:4).
9. The sadness of the story gets worse.
10. The Bible says that the armor bearer would not kill Saul.
11. So, Saul took the sword and killed himself.
12. Furthermore, the Bible says the Philistines wiped out all of Saul’s soldiers.
13. Thus, this was the sad end of this first king of Israel (1 Samuel 31:4-6).
14. As God had forewarned Saul through Samuel, Saul’s life was taken from him due to disobedience to God’s Word (1 Samuel 28).
15. The Bible does talk about the brutality of the Philistines toward the dead body of Saul (1 Samuel 31:7-10).
16. They took the body and cut off the head.
17. They then nailed the headless body to a wall to publicly display their victory.
18. The Lord only knows what torture they would have put Saul through if they would have caught him alive.
19. If they would have done these terrible things to a dead body, only the Lord knows what horrors they would have done to a live one!
20. Fortunately, the children of Israel took the body of Saul and his sons down from the wall.
  1. They burned the bodies and gave the bones a proper, respectful burial (1 Samuel 31:11-13).
Before concluding this chapter of our story, we must always remember that the Bible is honest, but the actions of all its characters should not be imitated.
1. As you can see, Saul committed suicide, but God has never said we can commit suicide.
2. This was a flaw in Saul’s character.
3. We must realize that suicide is not the answer to life’s problems.
4. As a Christian, you must realize that it is normal to have good and bad times in life (Galatians 5:22-23; Hebrews 11:6; Acts 14:22; Psalm 34:19).
5. The bad days cannot be avoided.
6. However, we must understand that bad days are only a season the devil creates in our lives (Revelation 2:10).
7. Fortunately, God is always more powerful than the devil and will change your bad days to happy days in this life and/or the life to come (Revelation 21:4).
8. So do not give up so quickly.
9. God will never leave you!
10. Hard times are not a sign that God has left you like He did Saul due to Saul’s disobedience (Matthew 28:18-20; Hebrews 13:5).
11. Bad things do happen to good people, but God eventually delivers these good people!
12. Hang on.
13. You will see a difference if you allow God to work with you and your circumstances until your change comes like He did for Job (Job 14:14; 42:11-17).

We see David’s story continued in 2 Samuel 1 where he is mourning the death of Saul, Jonathan, and the defeat of the nation of Israel.
1. Unfortunately, the way David found out about Saul’s death was very disturbing.
2. An Amalekite man came and told him that Saul was dead.
3. However, this Amalekite lied and said he killed Saul.
  1. We know he was lying because the Bible says that Saul actually committed suicide in 1 Samuel 31.
    1. Unfortunately for the Amalekite man, David had him put to death for the murder of Saul.
4. What do we learn from this event?
  1. First, we learn not to be happy when an enemy falls.
    1. When we do that, we are not loving our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 7:12).
    2. We should be saddened like David was when his enemy, Saul, was killed.
    3. We never want to see bad things happen to others.
    4. We certainly do not want anyone laughing at us or celebrating when bad things happen to us.
    5. Thus, we should imitate David’s love for Saul when bad things do happen to our own enemies.
  2. Second, we learn not to take credit for things we did not do, because it can have consequences we never intended to come true!
    1. This is nothing, but lying.
    2. Lying is something that we keep us out of heaven if we do not repent (i.e. change) (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:7-10).
    3. Thus, lying has consequences.
    4. We can suffer for our lying in this life like the Amalekite man did and/or the next life.
    5. God takes dishonesty very seriously.
    6. In fact, He talks specifically about them not going to heaven.
    7. The Bible says, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).
    8. So, as you can see, we must tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!
    9. This is because lies will eventually catch up with us no matter how well planned out we may think they are!
In 2 Samuel 2, we see David and his men going to Hebron in the territory of Judah in Israel where he is appointed king of Judah!
1. Even though it was God’s plan to make David king, some within the children of Israel had their own idea of who should be the next king.
  1. They chose Ish-Bosheth.
    1. He was the son of the late Saul and made king over many territories in Israel outside of Judah.
2. So, for awhile, the children of Israel had two kings.
  1. The Bible says that Ish-Bosheth reigned for two years.
3. Unfortunately, having two kings in the land started a civil war in Israel.
  1. The Bible shows that David’s men killed 360 of Ish-Bosheth army while losing 19 of his own.
In 2 Samuel 3, we start to see Ish-Bosheth empire begin to crumble from within.
1. The Bible says that King Ish-Bosheth accused Abner of sleeping with one of Saul’s concubines.
  1. Abner was a powerful man in Ish-Bosheth’s kingdom and the military general.
  2. Abner was so offended by the accusation that he became a traitor to Ish-Bosheth and started working for David instead.
  3. He even began to turn other people in Ish-Bosheth’s kingdom unto a loyalty to David.
2. Joab was David’s general.
  1. However, Joab had a very serious gripe against Abner.
  2. Abner reluctantly killed Joab’s brother in war back in 2 Samuel 2.
  3. Abner did not want to kill Joab’s brother, but he had to in order to survive.
  4. Of course, Joab wanted revenge.
  5. Even though Joab knew that Abner was now an ally to David, he murdered Abner anyway.
3. David grieved the loss of Abner and attended the funeral.
  1. He grieved so severely that the children of Israel knew he was innocent of the murder of Abner.
  2. In other words, Joab killed Abner without David’s knowledge and permission.
In 2 Samuel 4, we see the sad ending to Ish-Bosheth.
1. The Bible says that he had two military commanders under him named “Rechab” and “Baanah.”
  1. They were untrustworthy men and would soon betray Ish-Bosheth.
  2. The Bible says they stabbed Ish-Bosheth to death while he was lying in the bed.
  3. After stabbing him, they took his head and escaped.
2. Rechab and Baanah thought they would win favor with David as they brought Ish-Bosheth’s head to him!
3. However, they were sadly mistaken.
  1. David had his men execute Rechab and Baanah, because he believed that Ish-Bosheth was a righteous man and did not deserve to be assassinated.
4. What do we learn from the bad decision of Rechab and Baanah?
  1. Well, we learn that hurting others often backfires.
  2. In other words, we do not have to do evil things to get ahead in life.
  3. Many people try to take short cuts in life that end up hurting them more in the long run.
  4. So, do things honestly.
  5. Do not seek rewards for evil deeds.
  6. Eventually, the evil deeds will catch up to you as they did with Rechab and Baanah.
  7. Evil never prevails!
In 2 Samuel 5, we find the children of Israel appointing David as king over the entire nation.
1. What do we learn from this scene in 2 Samuel 5?
  1. We learn that God’s Word cannot be changed.
  2. Remember, God told Samuel to anoint David as king back in 1 Samuel 16.
    1. Man tried to change this by putting in Ish-Bosheth in as king instead.
    2. Man’s plans are always defeated by the power of God and His Word.
    3. So be encouraged and know that whatever God says and promises will come true.
    4. This scene of anointing David as king is just one small piece of evidence that God is always truthful, trustworthy, and reliable!
    5. Put your trust in Him at all times!
2. Also, within 2 Samuel 5, God shows us that David took the city of Jerusalem from the Jebusite people who lived there.
  1. In other words, God gave him victory in battle over them!
  2. Thus, David moved his capital from Hebron to Jerusalem.
  3. Remember, Jerusalem is also called “Zion” and the “City of David” in the Bible.
  4. Knowing these names will help your studies later on in the Bible.
In 2 Samuel 7, we see David sitting in his palace in Jerusalem.
1. The Bible talks about David’s conversation with Nathan the prophet.
  1. David did not like the fact that his living standards were better than the Ark of the Covenant’s housing conditions.
  2. In other words, he was living in a nice home made of cedar wood while the Ark of the Covenant was being kept in a tent.
  3. Remember, the Ark of the Covenant was the place where God would reside.
  4. In other words, it contained the presence of God in David’s day.
  5. David wanted some better accommodations for God.
    1. He wanted to build a nice house for the Ark of the Covenant instead of the tent it was in.
  6. Nathan advised David to do whatever he thought was best.
2. However, God spoke to Nathan after night fell upon them.
  1. The Bible says, “4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. 7 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. “‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” 17 Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation” (2 Samuel 7:4-17 New International Version).
  2. Notice, there are two main points that God was stressing to David.
    1. First, God was pleased with David, but would not let him build the earthly temple to house the Ark of the Covenant, because he had killed too many people (1 Chronicles 22).
      1. Most likely, God did not want David’s name associated with the Temple, because of the many wars David fought in the land.
      2. He probably wanted a man who was known for peace to build the Temple instead.
      3. That way, more people would be comfortable coming there to worship.
      4. This is a mystery, but a possibility.
    2. Second, God would allow David’s son, Solomon, to build the earthly Temple instead (1 Chronicles 22) (Barnes, 1870).
3. What do we learn from God’s rejection of David’s request to build the earthly Temple to house the Ark of the Covenant?
  1. Well, we learn that sometimes God denies our requests, because He wants someone else to do it.
  2. This does not mean God is displeased with us just because we do not get everything we want.
  3. God has a plan that He is following and it does not always use us to do everything.
  4. So, do not be disappointed when God denies some of the things we want.
  5. His “no” does not mean He is always displeased with us, because He just may have another plan in mind.
In 2 Samuel 9, we see David honoring his promise to his late best friend, Jonathan.
1. Remember, back in 1 Samuel, David promised to always show kindness to Saul’s family even though Saul had mistreated him (Coffman, n.d.).
2. He made this promise to Saul’s son, Jonathan, long before the events of 2 Samuel 9.
  1. In fact, many years had gone by between David’s and Jonathan’s agreement and 2 Samuel 9.
3. Regarding 2 Samuel 9, the Bible shows us that David called Mephibosheth, which was Jonathan’s son.
4. David made sure that all of Saul’s land was returned to Saul’s family by giving it to Mephibosheth.
5. He also made sure that Mephibosheth always ate at his table.
6. This was the same as treating Mephibosheth like David’s own son.
7. What is this short story in 2 Samuel 9 teaching us?
  1. It is teaching us to always honor our word.
  2. In other words, no matter how much time elapses in our lives, if we have made a promise, we must keep it.
  3. Jonathan was already dead in 2 Samuel 9; so, technically, David would not have to answer to Jonathan for not keeping his promise but he did any way out of the integrity of his heart.
8. Honesty is the characteristic of God, Himself (Titus 1:2).
  1. God cannot lie and neither should we!
  2. We were born to imitate all the characteristics of God, Himself (Matthew 5:48).
  3. So, to be like God is to be honest and this is always pleasing and acceptable in God’s sight!
In 2 Samuel 11, we start to see the low point in David’s life.
1. The Bible says that David was attracted to a woman named Bathsheba.
  1. There is nothing wrong with attraction as long as it is not to a married woman.
    1. Unfortunately, Bathsheba was a married woman.
    2. So, the attraction was forbidden by God as this will amount to the sin of adultery later on in the story.
2. The Bible shows us that David was spying on her while she was bathing (2 Samuel 11:2).
3. What was the first mistake David made that we can learn from?
  1. What David was doing was no different than pornography today.
  2. Pornography does nothing but build up lust in the one looking at it.
  3. It creates wicked thoughts and intentions in the mind of the participant.
  4. Eventually, the things seen are the things one desires to do.
  5. Pornography is also an addiction just like a drug.
  6. It holds one captive and causes one to forget about the priorities of life.
  7. As a result, in order to please God, avoid addictions, and not feel dirty, a Christian should never participate in any type of pornography.
  8. It is dangerous no matter what people may tell you to the contrary.
4. Moving on with the story, after seeing Bathsheba bathing, he inquired as to who she was.
  1. He was told her name and that she was married to a man named “Uriah.”
  2. However, David’s lust for the woman was so strong that the knowledge of Bathsheba’s marriage did not stop him from pursuing her.
  3. As a result, he set up the meeting with her.
  4. Unfortunately, they had sex and she was impregnated by David (2 Samuel 11:3-5).
5. What was the second mistake David made before sleeping with Bathsheba?
  1. Well, it is the mistake of selfishness overruling one’s love for God and his/her fellow man.
  2. The Bible says the following, “34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:34-39 New International Version).
  3. David’s love for God should have stopped him.
    1. He should have thought before sleeping with Bathsheba, “This is not something God would be pleased with. So, I will not do it!”
  4. David’s love for Uriah should have stopped him.
    1. He should have thought before sleeping with Bathsheba, “I am also a married man. I would never want another man to cheat with my wife. So, I will not treat Uriah that way!”
  5. Before we do anything wrong, we should think about how we would offend God and our fellow man.
    1. If we do, then we would make far less mistakes in life!
6. Unfortunately, David tried to cover up his wicked deed of adultery.
  1. He summoned Uriah.
  2. He tried to act as if he was Uriah’s friend by allowing Uriah to have a night away from the war that was going on.
  3. Remember, Uriah was a soldier.
  4. David sent Uriah home to Bathsheba and a gift was sent to Uriah’s home.
  5. However, Uriah did not go home to Bathsheba.
    1. Instead, he slept at the entrance to the palace.
    2. This meant that there was no chance of Uriah going home to have sex with Bathsheba so that the pregnancy could be blamed on him instead of David (2 Samuel 11:6-9).
    3. Remember, this was before DNA testing data was available.
    4. It was a lot easier to blame a pregnancy on someone else in those days!
7. David asked Uriah why he did not go home to Bathsheba.
  1. Uriah did not believe it would have been right for him, as a soldier, to leave his fellow soldiers out in the battlefield while he was in the comforts of his own home (2 Samuel 11:10-11).
8. Uriah stayed with David two more days.
  1. David was very friendly to Uriah; even feeding him and getting him drunk.
  2. However, no matter what, Uriah would not go home to Bathsheba, but stayed at David’s palace (2 Samuel 11:12-13).
9. Instead of confessing his sin of adultery, David’s wickedness became worse.
  1. He ordered that Uriah be put in the worse point of the battle and then abandoned by the rest of the army so he would be killed.
    1. This is exactly what happened!
    2. Uriah was killed.
    3. Bathsheba mourned over her husband.
    4. However, in time, she became David’s wife and their child was born.
    5. The Bible says that God was upset with David for his sins (2 Samuel 11:14-26)!
10. What do we learn from David’s actions in having Uriah murdered?
  1. We learn that when we do not repent of our sins, we become worse and worse.
    1. Remember, in order to gain the forgiveness of our sins as a fallen Christian, we must repent (i.e. change) of our sins, confess our fault to God, and ask for forgiveness (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:7-10).
    2. David did none of these things.
    3. As a result, he was a servant of the devil and was persuaded by Satan to try to cover up his sins more and more.
    4. This sinful mentality went from lust to adultery to lies via a cover up to murder!
    5. As you can see, sin multiples itself.
    6. This is why it is important to change immediately and come clean with God before we get worse and worse in our evil deeds!
  2. We also learn that we must watch out for the flattery of others.
    1. David was acting as if he was Uriah’s friend, but this was far from the truth.
    2. Be careful in believing what everyone says!
    3. Instead, watch out for everyone and everything carefully in life and then time will tell if someone is a genuine friend or not!

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