When dark men smell
weakness or vulnerability in others, they pounce.
It happened in heaven too,
although God’s weakness was also his greatest strength.
Because the Lord was
absolutely incorruptible and would not do evil, Satan used that to tie God’s
hands until the cross, thousands of years later, could undo his wrong.
That is the theme of this post.
Sheba was a son
of Belial or son of the Devil, a bad man who saw David’s vulnerability over
Absalom and took full advantage, claiming that the king was ineffectual.
Actually, in spite of
everything, David remained regal. His Psalms confirm it, but
he also worried about the details by putting the concubines that Absalom violated, into protective
care.
David was still then
leaning towards Amasa, having not been able to forgive Joab for killing his
son, so he told him to assemble an army out of Judah.
Meanwhile Sheba had
gathered a lot of support and the threat was growing. After an allotted 3 days,
Amasa had still not brought relief from Judah and David felt the initiative was being lost.
David then chose
to task Joab’s brother, Abishai, but Joab went with his brother and absorbed the
king’s disdain. He was fiercely loyal.
Amasa joined the armed
column, but Joab killed him, as was right. The man was treacherous and had once
again put the king at risk by delaying the relief of Jerusalem.
They pursued Amasa to the
city of Abel and prepared to assault the city, but a wise woman intervened to
prevent harm to her city. Instead, she persuaded the city to deal with Amasa and
his head duly flew from the parapets to end the standoff.
Only then was Joab
restored to ultimate authority over all of David’s forces.
Yet peace was denied (2 Samuel 21)
A great dearth fell on
Israel. It was a judgment of God and a peculiar one at that.
Joshua swore to the
Gibeonites, despite their deception, that they could dwell in the land of
Israel, peaceably, but Saul killed many of them anyway. It meant he had attacked when their guard was down to gain a cheap victory.
God brought the famine
on the land because Saul’s actions were a violation of an oath, something he
could not permit. It was simply offensive to the Lord.
So David, having
inquired of God, went to the Gibeonites to put matters right. They honorably
declined financial compensation and simply asked for 7 of Saul’s descendants.
It was eye-for-eye
justice that saw the five sons of Michal (by another man) and two of Rizpah, hanged
by the Gibeonites. It really was just, as it saved a nation from a drought and
allowed a few to pay for the sins of many.
David then gathered
all the bones of Saul and his descendants and buried them in their homeland, in
Benjamin. Thus he fulfilled Samuel’s prophecy about Saul and he purged the land
of his memory.
Then a series of
battles with the Philistines, erupted, all led by the Anakim, the giants of
Gath, recorded as sons of Goliath. It was another long outstanding issue.
They should have been
completely annihilated by Joshua, but Joshua failed to get them all and that had
caused a lot of trouble for the Israelites from then on. That is why God always
insisted on utter annihilation, because like a weed, if you leave any root, it
will regrow.
The uprisings were put
down quickly.
The Anakim were finally purged.
However, David very
nearly lost his life in one of the engagements and so his men refused to let
him go into battle again, lest the light of Israel dim. They had come to love
their king deeply.
David celebrated a series of breakthroughs (2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18)
Psalm 18 is recorded
in 2 Samuel 22 - it is a Psalm of spiritual breakthrough. It opens in verses 2-3 with an affirmation of God as his only rock and fortress, for (vs 6), having called on God in his distress, God had heard his voice and answered.
Note, however, that although it is reintroduced in 2 Samuel 22, it was evidently written when David triumphed over Saul. Some even say it followed the fall of Goliath. The point is that the Psalms became part of popular culture and were, still are used for different circumstances.
Note, however, that although it is reintroduced in 2 Samuel 22, it was evidently written when David triumphed over Saul. Some even say it followed the fall of Goliath. The point is that the Psalms became part of popular culture and were, still are used for different circumstances.
He finally felt secure in his reign. The trials against Absalom and Sheba were part of removing
an undercurrent in Israel and it consolidated his position.
The people were
finally behind him and accepted that God was surely with him. It was the start of the
golden phase of David’s golden age.
Thus he saluted his
God as his ultimate fortress. Never once in all of the preceding stories did he
turn to physical strongholds or rely on them. God had fought with him and
sustained him.
It is such a powerful
story of hope and triumph. I have said a few times that David had a sentimental
blind-spot, but his weakness was also his strength: for he was a true statesman,
a diplomat of note, who sustained peace across his realm and the region, for
most of his reign.
He finally opened up
about the waves of death that came at him in his anni horribili or dreadful
years. He had felt it all, but God had been faithful.
In his prophetic eye
he sensed the earth shake when he called out in his distress. We never see that
and today just feels like yesterday, but in the spiritual realm there is great
shaking when God judges.
He pictured a fearsome
visage of God, with fire and smoke pouring from his mouth and nostrils, as he
rode through the heavens on his cherubim. It confirms that far, far more was at
stake in his struggles than what was seen and recorded.
I have alluded to how devilish
the actions of Absalom and Sheba were and how much those actions echoed the
past rebellion of Satan. As such, I see the trials of David as a concerted
attack on his reign, designed to usurp his throne as Satan once tried to usurp
God’s throne.
He had sensed the
thunder of God and the hand that reached out to draw him from the waters, a
metaphor also used by Jesus and echoed in Psalm 22 to describe the entangling
weeds of hell.
He finds, at last, the strength to run through a troop and leap over a wall (vs 28-29), for the Lord was his buckler who fastened a girdle of strength about him.
He felt the vindication
of God and saw divine recompense for his righteous conduct through the years. Despite moments of indiscretion, I must agree that David was
a remarkable king of immense integrity, even in the face of terrible
injustices.
He knew that where
there was none to save, God had looked and found David, raised him up and used
him to subdue God’s enemies: to pound them to dust.
He reached his climax
with “The Lord Lives and blessed me the rock of my salvation”.
Thus he retreated to his
tower of refuge and praised God as he sensed the enlarging of his realm and the
dawning of a time of prosperity and peace.
Significantly, a dark
spot that Satan exploited in line with spiritual
principle, was resolved when he put things right over Saul and removed the old
man once and for all.
It will be the same
for you – and then your giants will fall and the rains will return and the things
that have so long held you back and frustrated your faith, will fall away.
(c) Peter Missing @ bethelstone.com
