2 Samuel Series - Week 24: The Messiah in and Through Samuel

 To the Jewish religious leadership, Jesus said this, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me. (Jn 5:39)”

As disciples of Christ, we need to understand that the entire Word of God displays the Word of God. Every book contained within the Bible, points us to the ultimate revelation of Jesus the Savior. So the books of Samuel, are not just the story of the end of the Judges era, and the rise of the monarchy, but rather a transitional period where God honed in on the work he had been doing since before the creation was spoken into existence.

At the end of summer 2023 we were finishing up our series in the book of Judges. We did this by looking at the book of Ruth, because without Ruth, you end with a sour taste in your mouth from Judges. The book of Judges ends on a single defeated line, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Jdg. 21:25)” Since it ends on such a sour note, we walked through Ruth, because Ruth ends on a upbeat note, as it looks forward to the offspring to come.

So the story contained in Samuel, doesn’t start with First Samuel 1:1. It starts many books before. In fact, the books of Samuel, do not just start in Ruth or even Judges, but have their roots in the very work God had begun to do in since Genesis 3. 

Today, we’re going to walk through God’s overarching plan to bring salvation to the world, and see how the books of Samuel, and David himself, work within that plan. We’re going to look at four aspects that relate to how Samuel fulfills, continues, and sets up the future of God’s work.

The first aspect is: The linage of the Messiah. 

God’s salvation work begins with these words in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

At Adam and Eve’s fall, God set in motion the work of bringing back humanity from eternal death. That work was going to be done through the seed of the woman. Her offspring would be the one who would break the power of sin and death that was brought on by Adam’s sin.

So God starts working. Through Seth, down through Noah, then focusing on Abraham’s family, who birthed the twelve tribes of Israel. Then, as the Israelites wandered the wilderness because of their own sin, God spoke through their advisory Balaam, who prophesied to them, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. (Num. 24:17)” The focus of God’s work narrows from a nation to a king who would eventually rise up in Israel, and that king will be the crusher spoken at the fall of humanity. 

Then Israel takes the land of Canaan under Joshua, but the Judges, whom God would use to fight off threats to his people, became increasingly corrupt. This led to a civil war within the nation. The very fabric of God’s chosen people was being ripped to shreds, and the we read those sour words on the last line of the book of Judges, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Jdg. 21:25)”

But there is hope. As the people of Israel were doing what was right in their own eyes, a Moabite woman, an outsider, chose to follow the God of Israel, and at the end of her story, we read, “Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, ‘We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman. (Ruth 4:11-12)”

The work of God narrowed once again. From the whole world, to the tribe of Israel, and the town of Bethlehem in the tribe of Judah. Then we open the pages of Samuel. Samuel isn’t like the judge before him. From his youth he speaks the words of God boldly and carries himself with godliness. Yet, the people reject him and the Lord, and desire a human king like the nations around them. Though this isn’t God’s intention, he had already been working to bring about his king to the throne. 

Yet, when we meet Saul, he is not the offspring of Ruth, nor from Bethlehem. We quickly realize, as we watch him descend into ungodliness and madness, that he is not the king, the offspring we had been looking forward to.

It is then we meet David, the ruddy you man. He is the offspring of his great grandmother Ruth, and he is from Bethlehem. Finally, we have seemingly come to the offspring prophesied by God himself at the judgment of Adam and Eve. We watch his story play out and as we come to Second Samuel, David is finally established, and we get the crescendo to all of God’s work through human history to save this creation, and yet, God says this to David in Second Samuel 7:12-17, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.”

Wait, so David wasn’t the offspring we had been waiting for. In fact it won’t be his son either, because God’s word implies a linage of kings who will rule on David’s throne. But as we continue the story, we get to the prophet Jeremiah, who, in his day, saw the throne of David break against the might of Babylon. But through Jeremiah, God said this of the throne of David, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. (Jer. 23:5)” So the offspring of the woman, the king on David’s throne has not yet come. 

Then the man Jesus storms onto the scene almost five hundred years later. He dies, and raises from the dead, and as his disciples go out to spread the message of Jesus’ resurrection, Paul recounts the story of the offspring, “Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. (Acts 13:21-24)”

Jesus is the fulfillment of the offspring of Eve, down to Ruth, down through David. Through both his adoptive father, Joseph, and his biological mother, Mary, Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s lineage to bring about the salvation humanity desperately needs.

The second aspect is: The look of the Messiah.

When God removed the throne from Saul, he sent Samuel to look for the next king. Samuel was led to the family of Jesse, who’s sons were tall and strong. Any one of them would had the look of a king. Yet, As Samuel peered at the first of these sons, he had this encounter with God, “When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.’ 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.' (1 Sam. 16:6-7)” Through all the sons, God told Samuel they were not the one. Then, the last forgotten son came in from the fields, and we’re told, “And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, ‘Arise, anoint him, for this is he. (1 Sam. 16:12)”

True this young boy was handsome, with nice looking eyes. But he was ruddy, with red skin baked by the days spent out in the fields. To look at him, there was nothing special about this young man. But God knew what lay underneath.

Years later, as the prophet Isaiah would speak of the offspring of David to come, he wrote these words of God, “For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. (v.53:2)”

David looked like some rednecked kid, that wasn’t important enough to his father to be invited to share in the blessing of Samuel. Just like his ancestor, David’s offspring, would have nothing about him that would cry out, “HERE’S THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD!” And so, to most, Jesus was just another Jew born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth. In fact, Nathanael had an offhanded remark about this very thing, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? (Jn. 1:39)” There was no majesty about David, nothing that would make you think, that he could be king. The same could be said about Jesus. Yet after his execution, this son of David, rose from the dead, and is now adored as the Savior as his people recognize that his majesty is that of God himself.

The third aspect is: The Pre-Incarnate Messiah Appears within Samuel.

This is the smallest of the aspects as it is only one moment in time. It happens in the last chapters of Second Samuel. We’ve gone over that chapter. David’s pride and self-satisfaction in himself, has allowed Satan to to gain a foothold and incite him to take a census. God allows this to happen, yet when the numbers come in, David realizes he has sinned. A diving judgment restrained by God’s mercy occurs, and yet, 70,000 men still die from a pestilence that ran through Israel.

As David watched the angle of the Lord carry out the judgment of God on so many because of his sin, he cried out to the Lord for more mercy. It is this angel of the Lord, who appeared to Hagar in the wilderness (Gen. 16), who called to Abraham from heaven (Gen. 22), who called to Moses out of the bush (Ex. 3),who led the Israelites out of Egypt (Jdg. 2), who caused Balaam’s donkey to turn in fear (Num. 22), it is this being, whom the writer of Jude says was the Lord Jesus himself (Jude 1:5) in his pre-incarnate form, stands, carrying out the judgment of God in front of David. 

It’s a blink and miss it moment. But it’s a moment where we glimpse Jesus’ pre-incarnation work, and it’s in judgment. The action of judgment that the pre-incarnate Jesus is taking in the last chapter of Samuel, gives more weight to Jesus’ words in John 3, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. (v.3:16-21)”

Jesus, in his pre-incarnate form, carried out the judgment of God. Yet when he came to us, and clothed himself in humanity’s flesh, his purpose was not to condemn to judgment, but to set us free. Yet, there is judgment on the horizon when Jesus returns and sets all things right once again. We read this in Revelation 19:11-16, “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” We live, as David did, in a time where the mercy of God restrains the judgment of the Lord Jesus. So now is the day when we should seek him in his grace and mercy, because there will be a day when it’s too late.

The fourth aspect is: The Messiah Through David’s Poetry.

Last week we walked through David’s final poetic and prophetic words. One part of those words were David’s own recognition that his poetry was used by God to communicate prophetic words (2 Sam. 23:2).

When looking at the book of Psalms, and its 150 songs, there are about 75 attributed to David. Out of the 150, there are 25 Psalms that are directly linked to the Messiah’s work. Out of those, 7 are written by David himself.

These are the topics that David wrote about his future offspring and Savior of the world:

Concerning his brith, that God was his Father in his childhood (v.22:9), and that he would be called by God from the womb (22:10). 

Concerning his name, he would be called Lord and King (v.110:1a), and a priest like Melchizedek (v.110:4).

Concerning his ministry, infants would praise him (v.8:2), he would reveal the Scripture (v.40:7), he would do the will of God (v.40:8), and he would be angered at the ungodly practices of the Jews (v.69:9).

Concerning his betray and death, he would experience feeling forsake (v.22:1b), he would be in constant prayer (v.22:2), would be Despised and reject by his own (v.22:6), he would be mocked (v.22:7), and a part of that mocking, it would be said of him, “Let God save him” (v.22:8). Blood and water would pour out from him (v.22:14a), his bones would be out of joint, but not broken (v.22:14b), he would cry in thirst while dying (v.22:15; 69:1-3), and given gall mixed with vinegar (v.69:21). Evil people will watch as he dies (v.22:16a). His hands and feet will be pierced (v.22:16c), people will cast lots for his garments (v.22:18), but he will be recognized as the sacrificial lamb (v.40:6-8a). He will be hated and rejected without cause (v.69:4), yet that rejection will be for the plans of God (v.69:7). He will be rejected by the Jews (v.69:8a), and his own family (v.69:8b), and his heart will be broken for them (v.69:20).

Finally, concerning his resurrection and exaltation. First, he would be resurrected (16:9-10a), and his body would not see death’s corruption (v.16:10b). He would ascend to heaven (v.68:18a), where he would be gloried in the presence of God (v.16:11). He would be proclaimed and praised (v.22:22), and finally, he would give gifts to his people (v.68:18b).

These are what David prophesied about the Messiah, whom God would bring about as an offspring of David. And if you heard and thought, that sounds like Jesus, you’re right. The Psalms of David are realized in the person and work of Jesus. This is one part of why we can trust in the word of God, because it has been fulfilled in our Savior, the Lord Jesus. 

More than Thirty-two references over seven psalms, that God spoke prophetically through David concerning the offspring that was spoken about in Genesis 3, who would come into the world to bring it back to God. And Jesus fulfilled them, and many others.

This is where the books of Samuel fit within the work of God. They are a fulfillment, a continuation, and a future look at the Lord’s work from the time of humanity’s fall, to the coming of the Messiah in Jesus, the son of David.

My challenge for you this week, is to read these Psalms of David and see yourself in the plan of God. Look what God has done, and see what God has left to do. There isn’t much left until the return of Jesus. So where are you in that work? Are you at work, serving Jesus until he calls you home or comes back? Each of us should be about our father’s business everyday as we wait for the final fulfillment of his work.

Let us be a busy people, who are growing in our faith, and pointing others to Jesus’ life. Amen.

2 Samuel Series - Week 23: Wise in the Lord’s Eyes

  One of the first things we used to do with our teens when they volunteered to be teen leaders, was to sit them down and ask them to write a “Leadership Epitaph.” For those of you who don’t know, an epitaph is a a phrase, or a few words, written on someone’s tombstone. The reason why we asked them to write their leadership epitaph was to get them thinking about what kind of legacy as a leader did they want to leave. The question we gave them was, “If you died in your sleep tonight, what would you like to have engraved on your tombstone?”

That’s a question for all of us, what would you like your epitaph to say? They would be your last words to the world. 

My family has been to Tombstone, AZ twice, and Boot Hill, is where a lot of people are buried. Some of their epitaphs’ they didn’t get to write themselves. You have the funny one’s like, “Here Lies George Johnson, hanged by mistake 1882, he was right, we was wrong, but we strung him up and now he’s gone.”

Or the equally funny, “Here lies Lester Moore, four slings from a 44, No Les, no more.”

Then you have the historic one’s, “Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, Murdered, on the streets of Tombstone, 1881.” That is from the famous shootout at the OK Coral.

Then there are the more sobering one’s, “Mrs. Ah Lum (China Mary), Born China, died in Tombstone, Dec 6, 1906, Aged 67yrs.” Her whole life summed up in words she didn’t write. The final one is the most sobering, “In memory of Frank Bowles, Born Aug. 5, 1828, Died Aug 26, 1880. As you pass by remember that, as you are, so once was I, and as I am, you soon will be, remember me.”

An epitaph is how the world will remember most of us. They’re our last words in a sense. 

And it’s someone’s last words that brings us back to our semi-concluding week in our Samuel series, where we are looking Second Samuel Chapter 23, verses 1-7, David’s final words. But before we open up to Second Samuel 23:1-7, let’s remind ourselves how we got to this point in Second Samuel. 

The first section of Samuel, we called the Good Days of David, where we saw everything going well for him. We summarized this section that David was the undisputed king over Israel, yet there were seeds of sin that began flowering. 

We saw those seeds of sin flower in the second section, which we called the Dark Days of David. We summarized that section with, David allowed his sin to fester, which led to the destruction of the people around him. Yet through it, he grew in his faith. 

When we entered the third section of Second Samuel, what we’re calling David’s Descent to Death, we looked at three conflicts he had: the rebels in his kingdom, the ripples of his predecessor’s sins, and the enemies on his borders. From these conflicts we walked about with the understanding that, God calls us into his refuge, not just for conflicts we cause, but for the conflicts brought on by others.

Following that, we looked at David’s Song of Deliverance, where he spoke about what its been like to be in God’s refuge. From David’s song we walked about with the understanding that, God wants us to understand that faith is belief in action through thick or thin.

Finally, last week, we looked at one more conflict that the book of Samuel gives us where David’s self-satisfaction leads to a nationwide turning away from God’s refuge and focusing on their own power. This leads to a divine judgment of pestilence where David realizes that his sin has cost the nation and to fix that it would cost him something as well. We walked away from last week with the understanding that, God wants us to know that there is a cost to following him, that each person must account for.

We could summarize this final section with, David found that their is a cost to having God as your refuge.

With all this in our minds, we can see that David has had his ups and downs. Some really high highs, and some really low lows. His righteousness in following God led to great victories, while his sin has led to horrific judgments. David has grown in his faith, mostly through God’s correction of his sin. He has let his desires overtake him, only to realize his errors. David is like any of us who ride the cycle of sin and repentance. Yet it is that attitude of repentance that makes David a man after God’s own heart. A heart and attitude of repentance is the state of being God desires from his people. We can see how this worked out in David’s life, and so we can say, if God can forgave David, he can forgive me as well. 

It is within this cycle of sin which leads to conflict, which leads to repentance, which leads to restoration, that the author of Samuel places David’s last words. Let’s read them together.

1 Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel: 2 “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. 3 The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, 4 he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.” 5 For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire? 6 But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away, for they cannot be taken with the hand; 7 but the man who touches them arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear, and they are utterly consumed with fire.”

David’s last words seem strange, he speaks of God speaking through him. He speaks of ruling, and God’s prosperity, and finally he speaks of worthless men. So what is happening?

Well, first off, when taking into account David’s words in 1 Kings 1 & 2, and 1 Chronicles 22-29, we know that there’s a lot that happens following the last issue with David, which we covered last week. David goes on to talk a lot more. 1 Kings 2:1-10 we’re given some of David’s final words that are directed towards his son Solomon, while in 1 Chronicles 29:10-20 David’s final words that are given, are a blessing to Israel. So what is going on?

The key to understanding what’s happening is verse 2. David is recognizing that God has spoken through him in the songs that the Lord has inspired. It’s some of these that we will talk about next week. Unlike the other places where we are given the last words of David, this one zeroes in on the prophetic. Whereas in 1 Kings it focuses on David’s last words to Solomon, and his last words to all of Israel in 1 Chronicles, here the focus is on the work of God through David beyond his position as king. 

Let’s walk through the song together.

v.1 - Verse 1 begins, not with David’s words, but the author of Samuel giving us an introduction to them. David is an oracle, he speaks the words of the Lord. Through him, the Lord brings sweet songs for Israel to sing back to God. David was not just a king, but used as a prophetic voice by the Lord.

v.2-3a - It’s in verses 2 through the first half of 3, that David recognizes that God has spoken through him. The Psalms not only come from a place of humanity responding to God in song, but by the Holy Spirit to bring people closer to the Lord. These are not just songs to sing, but communications from the God of Israel to his people that they may know his work, both the present and the future. And God has one more thing to say through this prophet.

v.3b-4 - David states that a ruler who is just and rules in the fear of the Lord, is a blessing to the people. When the ruler exercises godly wisdom, the people’s lives become unhampered with the chaos of never knowing where the king stands. His rule is like a clear cloudless morning where you can see everything and not worry if a storm is brewing. A ruler who rules with wisdom brings life to the people and not destruction, like rain on the ground that brings life, not a storm which brings destruction.

v.5 - It is here, in verse 5, that David recognizes and is communicating God’s covenant with his own house. Though David has had several years where his sin has caused massive amounts of pain and suffering, we must remember that he ruled for forty years (1 Kgs. 2:11). So for the most part David ruled well, and when he didn’t, there was repentance and reconciliation. It is because of this that David recognizes the everlasting covenant God has with his house. A covenant, that will have its fulfillment in the Messiah. Due to this covenant, God will bring prosperity, to David’s house, and all the houses of the world.

v.6-7 - Then, in verse 6, David switches from the good things, to speak about worthless men. He says they are like thorns, that need to be thrown away. However, to deal with thorns, you can’t just grab them and pull them out. They will cut you, and make you bleed. Worthless men are like thorns in that they will cause you pain and suffering if you let them stay, but without taking precautions, dealing with them may cause you just as much hurt.

So David calls for people to prepare with the best of preparations, in verse 7. Iron was the best military alloy that was just coming into use in David’s day. Only the greatest kings, and warriors had iron weapons. David’s last prophetic words, was to prepare one’s self with the best of preparations, only then will a person be able to combat the worthless man.

David’s final words speak both to the future King Solomon, to rule wisely for the people’s sake, and to prepare himself to deal with the worthless men that will surely come against him. 

Yet, the Lord is speaking to a larger scale than David had been thinking. For God is speaking to all of his people. Each of us is to utilize the wisdom of God in our lives, that we may unburden the people around us as much as possible. Foolish use of money, of time, of resources because of unwise decisions can create unneeded hardships. So where do we find the wisdom? By seeking the Lord. James 1:5 states, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” There is a treasure trove of wisdom through the Scriptures. If we truly desire to be wise, then a good place to begin would be to commit to reading one proverb, from the book of Proverbs, a day, for thirty-one days.

Wisdom is not simply having knowledge, but the ability to put that knowledge into practice. We might know that someone is acting in bad faith, but then to not be prepared to stop them from their actions in our lives, is not being wise. And so preparing our lives to stand against the worthless people who have no desire for God but only to satisfy their own desires, is wisdom in action. 

God is calling his people to be wise, and to walk in righteousness. That walk means that when we stumble, we go back to him, not way. It’s putting his words into practice, and standing against anything that doesn’t. Everyone of us will falter in our walk with God, but the wise among us will realize that a stumble need not be the end, because if David can see the work of God in his life, with all his failures, then let us seek the Lord to overcome every failing in ours. 

I want to challenge you this week, to read James 1:5 every morning, and afterwards ask God for wisdom to get through that day. 

The Lord has spoken through David, that his people are to be wise in how they handle the world around them. That wisdom is gained by seeking the Lord and putting his words into practice. So let us be a people who are wise in the Lord’s eyes. Amen.

2 Samuel Series - Week 22: Recognizing the Cost

  There’s a phrase that is use when people in the western world complain about things that have been unheard of in previous centuries. When someone complains that their internet is slow, they might hear the phrase, “First world problems.” The idea comes from the fact that we should be grateful that we have internet at all. When the line at the grocery store is taking long, and we complain, it’s a “first world problem, because there are places in this world that do not have the abundance that we do, so we should thankful that we get to stand in a line surrounded by food we are not desperate to eat. 

In a society that has been the most affluent in all of history, it is easy to become self-entitled to where the slightest inconvenience is world ending. There’s another saying that has gained ground in the last decade, “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times (G. Michael Hopf, Those Who Remain).”

In a society built on the backs of hard work, the good times roll in, but the generations that get to enjoy that hard work take for granted what got them there.  

It’s this idea of taking for granted what one has, that brings us back to our series in the book of Second Samuel, where we’ll be picking it back up in Chapter 23, verse 8. And as we open up to Second Samuel 23:8, let’s review where we are, because we’re coming to the end of our series.

As we entered into our third and final section of Second Samuel, David’s Descent to Death, we have seen David experiencing the three more conflicts of his reign. He had to deal with the rebels inside Israel, Sheba and Joab, he had to make right the sins of Saul against the Gibeonites, and in his old age, he still had to defend the land against the Philistines. From those conflicts we walked away with the understanding that, God calls us into his refuge, not just for conflicts we cause, but for the conflicts brought on by others. Over the course of David’s life, he realized that only in the Lord would he find rest.

From this understanding we then read his Song of Deliverance. Through this song, David showed that he recognized that everything he had came from God who listened and acted to do great things through him. From David’s song, we understood that, One of the greatest lessons we could learn, is that faith is belief in action through thick or thin. No matter what the situation, or how we got there, we need to trust the Lord and walk where he has us. This lesson seems so elementary, and yet, it is at the heart of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. 

With the last two week refreshed in our minds, we can open up to Second Samuel 23:8. Today, we’re going to skip David’s final words in Chapter 23:1-7, and instead cover the last two chapters. The reason for this is because it will help us bridge David’s final words with what God prophetically did through him. 

Also we’re not going to read through Chapter 23, because the purpose begins in verse 8, and there are so many names that we’d be bogged down in understanding the purpose behind all the names. So we’re actually going to just read the first part of verse 8, and then jump to Chapter 24, where we’ll read parts of the last chapter.

Verse 8 of Chapter 23 reads, “These are the names of the mighty men whom David had …” This verse let’s us know that the rest of chapter 23 focuses on the thirty-seven mighty men of David. Why does the author of Samuel want us to know that David and these mighty men? One reason may be because they did amazing exploits. Another reason might be so that we understand Uriah, Bathsheba’s murdered husband, was one of those mighty men. However, as we read through Chapter 24, I think the reason for why the list of mighty men comes at this point, and not early, reveals itself.

So let’s drop down to Chapter 24, and read verses 1-4. “Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.’ 2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, ‘Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.’ 3 But Joab said to the king, ‘May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?' 4 But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel.” 

From verse 5 to verse 9 we’re told how the census happens and the number that came out of it, which was about 1.3 million strong men ready for battle.

Then verse 10 hits, “But David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.’ 11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, 12 ‘Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’ 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, ‘Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.’ 14 Then David said to Gad, ‘I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.’ 15 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men.”

We need to stop and address what’s happening here. After David hears the number from the census, he realizes that he had sinned in ordering the census to be taken. But the question should be asked, why? Why was it a sin, when God himself told David to do it? Let’s walk through, what we know so far.

The chapter begins, and we’re told that God’s anger “… was kindled against Israel … (v.1)” And because of this, the Lord “incited David” to take a census. No reason for what God’s anger was kindled is given outright in the text. However, Joab is the one who pushed back on the king’s decision to take the census. Why? A census in and of itself isn’t wrong. A census was taken in Numbers Chapter 1 and 26. So what’s the issue here?

Joab says, “May the Lord your God add to the people …” The idea here is that Joab is saying, may there be greater numbers than we could count, because God has increased us beyond what we could known. Then Joab gives us a hint at what’s going on when he asks, “… why does my lord … delight in this …?” Joab’s asking, why is David putting his delight in numbers, rather than in God. This actually flys in the face of David’s song of rest. 

We talked last week that David realized that everything he had, whether that was the kingdom or his own abilities, all of it came from the Lord. But now, as he is growing older, he is delighting in the strength of the people’s numbers, rather than in the Lord’s ability. 

If we remember back to Gideon, in the book of Judges, God decreased his numbers to win the battle (Jdg. 7). Numbers mean very little to God, trust is more important. In this moment, David has allowed his trust to shift from God to numbers. David’s sin of trusting the might of his numbers rather than God is why we’re given the list of the mighty men. David has allowed the feats of his warriors to pull his heart away from God.

So that explains David’s thoughts, but it doesn’t explain why its tells that it was the Lord who incited David. If it was the Lord who incited David, how can David be guilty for the action?

This is a deeper and layered theological issue. For the author of Samuel, the focus is on the Lord. God is sovereign over all things in. There is nothing that happens that isn’t allowed or done by God itself. So when an evil spirit fell on Saul, it was said to have been sent by the Lord (1 Sam. 16:14, & 18:10). The author of Samuel isn’t making a full theological breakdown, but rather focusing on one aspect, which is the sovereignty of the Lord. David’s desire is already there, so the Lord “incites” him to follow through. Yet, that’s not the full story. We get the primary inciting force in 1 Chronicles 21, where the parallel passage states, "Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. (v.21:1)”

It is Satan who is seeking ways to break Israel as a nation, who sees that David is becoming increasingly satisfied in the strength of his military, rather than in the Lord, and so incites him to take the census. For the author of Samuel, this can only happen because God allowed it. Going back to Saul, in the context of the evil spirit, the Spirit of God had been removed, and so Saul was empty and primed to be filled with something. God allowed this, as part of his divine judgment. When a person experiences the work of God, and then rejects that work, evil has a greater foothold in that person’s life. God allows these situations to occur, for the purpose of repentance.

We see this theology play out in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, where he tells the Church, “you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns. (1 Cor. 5:5)” 

Both parts are true: God is sovereign over all things, and there are times when he allows the footholds we allow in our lives, to be used by the enemy to bring about distancing from him. The purpose of which is to bring us back. 

So the context of the passage gives us the state of David’s and Israel’s heart: they were self-satisfied, and the Chronicler zeros in on the direct inciter of David wanting the census. David had already allowed a foothold in this life of self-aggrandizing, even though he knew everything had was from God. Satan took the opportunity to incite David, and God allowed it to wake David up.

And it did, David recognized in verse 10 that it was a sinful thing to take a census, because it came from a place self-satisfaction.

So then, God gives David three options for judgment: three years of famine, three months fleeing, like with Absalom, or three days of pestilence. And, to David’s credit, he makes an important statement in verse 14, “Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great.” David asks for the Lord to choose in his mercy. So the 70,000 deaths, were the most merciful of the judgments. Think about how bad these others would have been.

Now, in verse 16, the angel of the Lord is carrying out judgment, and the Lord stays his hand from striking Jerusalem. Then in verse 17, we get another good move by David. We read, “Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, ‘Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.’”

David takes ownership of the sin once again and pleads with God to put the judgment on himself and his house. So through the prophet Gad, the Lord tells him to build an alter on the threshing floor of a man named Araunah (a-raw-na). 

So David goes to Araunah, and asks to buy the mill from him. We pick up this interaction in verse 22, “Then Araunah said to David, ‘Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.’ And Araunah said to the king, ‘May the Lord your God accept you.’ (v. 22-23)” 

Araunah wants to give the mill to David without cost. However, here’s another point in David’s favor. David responds in verse 24, “But the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.’” 

David recognizes that there is a cost to following the Lord, and David doesn’t want someone else to pay it. This is where the book ends, not with the death of David, but with a final theological thought for the reader, “Are you willing to pay the cost of following God?”

Jesus, in Luke 14:27-28, would actually bring up this very concept when he told the people, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”

The gift of salvation is free, but that doesn’t mean it won’t cost us something. Following Jesus means that we will lose things like our self-focus, selfishness, the concept that we have our own say. We might lose finances, friends, jobs, our life. There is a cost to following God, however, that cost leads to great gain. Eternal life with the Creator of the universe is the ultimate gain. It is a gain that dwarfs any lost we experience and any cost that was incurred. But there is still a cost.

Billy Graham is quote as saying, “I have never known a man who received Christ and ever regretted it.”

Every person has to decide what cost is greater, the cost of losing in this life to gain the next, or to gain in this life to lose the next. In my estimation, the choice is clear. There is no short term gain worth enough to spend eternity apart from God.

But this the last thought the books of Samuel place on the reader. Through everything that has happened: from Hannah giving up Samuel to the Lord, to Samuel giving up his position as Judge, from Saul losing his kingdom, to David paying the cost of his sin, we are now asked, “Reader, are you willing to pay the cost that comes with follow the Lord?”

Today, as we only have one week left in our series on Samuel, let’s take a moment and think about the cost of following Jesus. We don’t have to pay for our sins, that cost was burdened by Jesus on the cross, but their is still a cost. So right now, I want us to think about the cost of follow Christ, have you accepted that cost? You might lose many thing sin this life, are you prepared for that?

If not, the enemy will use that thing that you desire, health, wealth, influence, stability, friends, family, whatever it is, as a place to naw at you so that you’ll turn away from God. The cost is high, but only for a little bit. The payoff however, is more than we can imagine. Right now, as I pray, I’m going to give us a moment of silence for you to spend speaking with Jesus about the cost. Then as you determine to follow, if you can, stand up as we sing our last two songs.

Let us be a people who have counted the cost, and look forward to the day, when the payment of Jesus is seen in full. Amen.