[0:00] 2 Samuel chapter 4 is where we will be at this evening. We're going to start in verse 1 of the 4th chapter. We'll read all of the 4th chapter. We're going to the 5th chapter and get to verse 5. So 2 Samuel 4 verse 1 through chapter 5 verse 5.
[0:15] Not as many verses as it sounds, but I believe it would be very becoming of us to kind of see it together. So 2 Samuel 4 verse 1 is where we will start, and we'll make our way to the 5th chapter and go down to verse 5.
[0:30] Before we get into it, let's go ahead and pray. Lord, so thankful for the opportunity. Lord, thankful for the great privilege it is of being here, having the opportunity to come to be with the people of the Lord and to look at the Word of God.
[0:44] Pray, Lord, that you speak to us, continue to mature us and grow us and help us to come to a greater understanding of both who you are and who we are. We thank you for our study in the Old Testament, Lord, that we can see how you move in the history of your people, how your plans and your purposes are consistent, and, Lord, how you work things out perfectly according to them.
[1:08] Lord, we pray as we study that we come to this greater understanding. Lord, of the sovereignty of God and the leading of God, and, Lord, that that draws us to worship and adoration.
[1:19] Lord, that our hearts and minds will be committed to you for your glory, and we ask it all in Christ's name. Amen. If you remember where we're at up to this point, David has been proclaimed an anointed king of Judah.
[1:34] He is in Hebron with his men. He's living in the cities. He's there. Ishbosheth has been made king over the other 11 tribes by Abner. Abner has since got upset at Ishbosheth, decided he was going to transfer the kingdom over to David, which we will see being played out here in just a few moments.
[1:54] It's always amazing to me how man thinks they can help the plans of God along. So Abner realized that he was going to just transfer the kingdom or came up with the idea that he would just help transfer the kingdom of all of Israel over to David.
[2:08] Joab murders Abner. It's just a plot of vengeance and scheming, and that's kind of where we left it. So we don't want to forget that because what we have this evening in the fourth chapter is really just taken into context with that.
[2:22] So let's start there in the first verse of the fourth chapter. Now when Ishbosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was disturbed.
[2:34] Saul's son had two men who were commanders of bands. The name of one was Banna, and the name of the other, Rechab. Sons of Ramon the Berethite, of the sons of Benjamin for Beroth, is also considered part of Benjamin and the Berethites, fled to Gittim and have been aliens there until this day.
[2:54] Now Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the report of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame, and his name was Mephibosheth.
[3:10] So the sons of Ramon the Berethite, Rechab and Banna, departed and came to the house of Ishbosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest. They came to the middle of the house as if to get wheat, and they struck him in the belly, and Rechab and Banna, his brother, escaped.
[3:27] Now when they came into the house as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him and beheaded him, and they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night. Then they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, Behold, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life.
[3:46] Thus the Lord has given my lord, the king, vengeance this day on Saul and his descendants. David answered Rechab and Banna, his brother, sons of Ramon the Berethite, and said to them, As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress.
[4:03] When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. How much more when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hand and destroy you from the earth?
[4:23] Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.
[4:35] Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and in.
[4:47] And the Lord said to you, You will shepherd my people, Israel. You will be a ruler over Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them before the Lord at Hebron, and they anointed David king over Israel.
[5:03] David was 30 years old when he became king, and he reigned 40 years. In Hebron, he reigned over Judah seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem, he reigned 33 years over all Israel and Judah.
[5:16] Here we have the third and final anointing of David. He is now the sole king in all the land of Israel. As we move into the sixth verse of the fifth chapter, we will begin looking at the city of David as he gets ready to go into Jerusalem and set up his capital there and set up his place of authority and reign.
[5:37] And really just so many important parts and portions as it really comes around and centers around the work and person of Christ. And we see this. But I want you to see this evening, the man for the time.
[5:50] The man for the time. Now, as always, we understand that we're not putting David on a pedestal. Rather, we're studying this because we know the implications, right? We know the rest of the story.
[6:02] We know that the throne of David, which is mentioned for the first time in the third chapter, really is pointing to one who was set up on that throne, who is Jesus Christ. We are looking for the fulfillment of David being the final king of kings and lord of lords.
[6:17] We have here the beginning of the Davidic dynasty or the Davidic rule and the Davidic covenant, which will ultimately and solely point to one, and that is Jesus. When we get into the fifth chapter, it is really as we read on and we begin to see when David moves into Jerusalem.
[6:35] And then he gets everybody together and there's this random mentioning of, and he had other sons while he was in Jerusalem. And you get this listing of his sons. In that listing, we have one son who is named there and only there, and nowhere else in all of the Old Testament, and that is the son Nathan.
[6:52] And that's important. We pay attention to that because that's the lineage of Christ. Why else would he be mentioned? Because if we follow the Old Testament, we find that of the lineage of David, Jeconiah, also known as Coniah, ends up reigning upon the throne pre-Babylonian deportation.
[7:07] But because of his sin, God made the great declaration and said, no descendant of Jeconiah will ever sit upon the throne of David. Yet when you open up the pages of Matthew, you find that you can trace Jesus' lineage, or Matthew traces Jesus' lineage through Jeconiah, because he's tracing it back through David.
[7:26] More than likely, it's the lineage of Joseph. But when you open up the other gospel accounts, you turn to the gospel of Luke, you find that Mary is of the lineage of Nathan. Nathan is a descendant of David.
[7:39] You'll hear this again when we get into this chapter. It's just one of those things that excites me, because I love it when the Bible is coherent, and I love it when the Bible is very clear in what it says, and I love it when the Bible is without doubt, because many people can point to the genealogy of Matthew and say, well, Jesus has no right to the throne, because Jeconiah had a curse placed upon him.
[7:57] But the wonderful news is, is that's the lineage of Joseph. And Jesus is not the seed of man, he's the seed of a woman. So when you go turn over to Mary, you find that Mary is a descendant of Nathan, of which the only mention in this just random mention that he was a son of David.
[8:13] This is why these things are so important, right? This is why when we get to the Old Testament, we see these things that are so important. But we are excited because this starts that, right? This is the beginning. Now the man of the time is on the throne that God has promised.
[8:26] Some ten years prior to this, God had anointed and appointed that David would be the king, and finally he is the king, and he is here on his throne, and he is preparing to reign. And I want you to see just a few things, and we'll have some other things I want you to hear tonight, but with just a few things of what it looks like to be the man for the time, okay?
[8:44] Because it's a very specific time, and there's some things going on, and I'll probably make my way through this really quickly for you, but I want us to understand exactly what's going on. Number one, this is a time of sorrow.
[8:55] This is a time of sorrow. Okay, being a time of sorrow, because it seems as if since we have heard of the news of Saul and his three sons dying, since we have heard of the news, it seems that there's been death after death after death after death after death.
[9:12] We've seen Saul, Jonathan, and Jonathan's two brothers die at the foot of Mount Geboa. We have understood that there was a man who brought a false record and came to David and said that he was the one who, out of mercy but happened to be there, was the one who stuck Saul through, which was a lie, and this man dies.
[9:31] We get that recorded for us in the first chapter of 2 Samuel. And then we see that there's this civil war that breaks out, that Asahel, and he dies. So Joab's brother dies.
[9:42] We find later that Joab kills Abner, and then we see that there are some nearly 400 men that die in this battle, 360 men of the rest of Israel, and 19 men, not counting Asahel.
[9:54] So 20 men of David as they go into this civil war when they're sitting here fighting one another. We see that it seems to be death after death after death after death after death, and we're only at the fourth chapter, and this is really just a time of sorrow.
[10:07] Because ever since the king has died, there has not been any good news. Sure, David has moved back with his men. They're living in the city of Hebron, and they come and they make him king.
[10:18] But even with the arrival of David, there seems to be sorrow upon sorrow upon sorrow upon sorrow because things just aren't right. The nation is in confusion right now.
[10:29] They're in the midst of civil war for seven years. David reigns about five years. Before Ishbosheth reign is ever established, it took about five years, evidently, for Abner to make Ishbosheth king.
[10:40] He is king for about two years. You have seven and a half years there of unrest, uneasiness, and sorrow. We have national mourning.
[10:51] It seems everywhere we turn, ever since this battle with the Philistines, at the end of 1 Samuel, there's always a funeral procession. Always. It's a time of sorrow.
[11:03] On top of this sorrow, we're introduced for the first time to Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth. We will meet him again in the ninth chapter of 2 Samuel. But we're introduced to the reality that other than Ishbosheth, there is one other descendant of the family of Saul.
[11:20] But sorrow upon sorrows, he's not fit to be king. He can't be king because he's disabled. The only other living descendant other than Ishbosheth to the reign of Saul is not worthy of the kingship.
[11:35] And you say, well, you'd be in judgment. No, it's because God had set a standard. Right? That those who would rule would be right and perfect and whole. And that he is disqualified from reigning.
[11:46] He will be rewarded later. He will be enriched by the presence of David later. We understand. We'll get to that. But it just seems to be everywhere we turn around, there's sorrow. And this is a time of sorrow.
[11:58] But there was one man. Yet there's one. Who is King David. Who is waiting. That would lead the nation. We know. And you say, well, he's not perfect.
[12:09] Right, he's not. But we're not focusing on his perfection. Because if we tried to look for perfection in him, we would fall woefully short. Because it does not. But yet in the midst of this sorrow, there is one man who is waiting.
[12:21] And that is David. Who will lead the nation to a time of prosperity like they've never had. A time of security like they've never had. A time of advancement like they've never had. He will cause them to forget their sorrow and he will lead them to a place of stability and comfort.
[12:36] Only to be exceeded in the expanse of his kingdom by his son Solomon who will very quickly expand militaristically and end up crumbling later after his. But yet with David we find the security that the nation is longing for because this is a time of sorrow but the answer to their sorrow is in waiting.
[12:56] Because he will lead them. He will bring them to this place. He is the man for that time that time of sorrow. Stay with me. Second thing we notice is that this is a time of sin.
[13:09] Now we almost did these in the reverse order sin and sorrow because sin always produces sorrow. And that's true. But if we want to read the text as we're seeing it we see that the sorrow comes first because it says Ish-bosheth saw a son heard that Abner was dead.
[13:26] Sorrow has come upon him. Now we understand the fear that they must have brought to Ish-bosheth because the only reason that he is king is because Abner had made him king.
[13:36] The people had not made him king. Abner had made him king. And Abner had already begun to hand the kingdom over to David. Therefore Ish-bosheth is really on thin ice if never before.
[13:46] Really now he is because the only security and comfort and confidence he had is now gone and the sorrow is there and that sorrow that is in the nation is going to just lead to greater sin because we're introduced to two brothers.
[13:59] Something else that we see repeated throughout this time are men trying to do things according to their own power and their own design and their own abilities. And we meet these two brothers. It says that they were Berethites.
[14:13] They're sons of Benjamin of Ramon. They are Bena and Rechab. These two men come it says into the house of Ish-bosheth.
[14:23] Now you need to understand they were leaders of bands which means they were kind of really small or low ranking officials in his army. Really nothing of grand design. But all of Israel knows because Abner before his death had went around discussing to the people hey let's make David king of all of us.
[14:41] So it's already kind of been put into motion and we understand that they know that David needs to be king but Ish-bosheth is in a way so they want to help the plan of God along. They want to speed the process up.
[14:54] By the way it's just as sinful to try to speed the process up as it is to try to make our own plans. God doesn't need any help. David later testifies that he did not need this because the Lord had sustained him and had been perfectly good to him and had caused him to have security in all of this period of waiting.
[15:15] God doesn't get in a hurry. You say yes but God did use this to bring about the kingdom of David. You're right he did but it doesn't excuse the sin. It doesn't remove the sin. It says that God is working all these things out according to his will and purposes and plans and all these things.
[15:30] Most of the time it's not because of man's actions it's in spite of man's actions yet we meet sin. These two brothers who come into the house of Ish-bosheth in the middle of the day he has his midday rest there which is nothing wrong with that.
[15:42] He decides to take him a midday rest. They walk into his house with the pretense of getting grain and food for their soldiers and they murder him. I mean it's just unabated murder.
[15:58] And not only do they murder him if you remember one of the great tragedies for the people of Israel was to the defamation of the body then they behead him. And they take his head and they travel all night through the Araba which is a southern portion of the land of Israel and they go to Hebron.
[16:14] And they come with this what they think is good news to King David. They say oh the enemy your enemy those ones who are standing in the way of God's purpose and plans have been removed and they wrongfully ascribed their deeds to the work of God because it says when they brought the head of Ish-bosheth in verse 8 to David Hebron they said to him behold the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul your enemy who sought your life thus the Lord has given my Lord the king vengeance.
[16:44] They ascribed their sinful actions to be in the work of the Lord God bringing vengeance for David. God doesn't need any help.
[16:55] and we see their sin their sin of murder and their sin of disdain for human life but yet there's one the man that they bring this supposedly good news to that reminds them that there was also another man who came to him at Ziklag speaking of the death of Saul and said the reward that I gave him for his news was I took his life so we find one that is David who calls Ish-bosheth righteous if you thought about that he calls him a righteous man think of this one man that when Saul and Jonathan die he writes a funeral song for them he esteems them the last thing that we ever hear spoken of of the man Saul is esteem from whose mouth the mouth of David and then when Abner is killed he writes another lament for Abner and the last thing we hear coming out of anyone's mouth concerning Abner is an esteem from David and then Ish-bosheth is killed and yet what we find is David referring to him as a righteous man so we find one who will not use his power who will not use his position and will not use his might to sinfully gain what
[18:07] God had promised him we also find him being one who renders righteous judgment now I have to wonder why he didn't render judgment upon Joab that's just for me to wonder yet when these two men come they come with this sin on public display he is righteous in his judgment and that he declares that they should die and then he brings disgrace upon the two of them much like they had done to Ish-bosheth he honors Ish-bosheth by burying his head in the tomb of Abner he disgraces and defames their bodies by cutting off their hands and feet and hanging them publicly which is just really a public declaration of open shame again we're amazed I mean look at this David did not rejoice because the opportunity had finally come he did not see this as an opportunistic moment in which okay now I can declare my reign and my throne again we read and this is why we read into the fifth chapter David doesn't go out on this great campaign trail telling everybody well now that Ish-bosheth is dead
[19:12] I'm here the people come to him so we understand that what we see is David's innocence and his righteousness and his judgment every opportunity that he would have had to claim what he knew he should be doing he doesn't he's waiting he's content so during this time of sorrow and during this time of sin he's the man who has the answer he will sin as a king he will pay greatly and the nation will pay greatly for his sins but one thing that we find in this man after God's own heart he openly confesses those sins and he makes a public display of his confessions we see that over and over and over again something that is very unique to the individuals so you have a time of sorrow time of sin and the third thing I want you to see is a time of searching that's where we get to the third chapter I mean the fifth chapter a time of searching then all the tribe of Israel came to David at Hebron and said so now during this tragic time time of sorrow and time of sin people are looking for an answer they know where the answer is the answer is in
[20:24] Hebron he's the king of Judah at this point the throne of David has been established he's been there for seven and a half years they've went their own way they've done things the way they thought they should do them they've had their king and Saul and then they've had the king or a king and Ish-bosheth and now they're searching for an answer for their time so they go to Hebron and they come to him and say behold we are your bone and your flesh now here's the reminder David was of the tribe of Judah he was reigning over Judah right he's not of the tribe of Benjamin Saul's of the tribe of Benjamin but David's of the right tribe so he's of the tribe of Judah but yet all of the nation of Israel comes to him and reminds them of their kinsmanship to him we are of your bone and your flesh so they remind him we are the same right we are the people of God and they remind him of their nearness to who he is that you are one of us stay with me in this by the way it's great application later they remind him of that and then they remind him that not only are they just coming to him they're coming to him because he has validated this searching because it says that when Saul was king over us you were the one who led Israel out and in so they make this declaration that not only are we the same but we also know you are worthy we don't have to wonder we don't have to question when Saul was made king they looked upon him and said behold no one looks like
[21:52] Saul I mean no one looks like Saul he's head and shoulders taller than everyone else surely he's the king he's the man nobody had known anything about Saul nobody had seen Saul fight now he wins his first battle he validates it later here when they're searching they're searching for one that is like them bone and flesh and has already validated himself to them so they know he is worthy they are very aware of his deeds because they have sung songs David has slain his tens of thousands and Saul his thousands so they were searching for the one it tells us in first chronicles chapter 12 verse 38 which is the parallel to this passage and I love the way it says it in first chronicles chapter 12 verse 38 there are a number of soldiers who come to Hebron it's not that they sent all the people it's not that all the Jewish people of the nation of Israel go there there are a number of soldiers thousands and thousands of soldiers valiant warriors people people who went out and fought battle these are the ones the 12th chapter tells us in first chronicles come to
[22:55] David at Hebron and they come to him with a purpose and it says it like this they came to him with a perfect heart think about that just for a moment these soldiers it says in the 37th verse of the 12th chapter that there were enough soldiers that they could mount together and battle array and go out and fight a battle so you literally have men of warfare but it says but they came to David with a perfect heart that is they had a desire a desire set in their heart for one thing to ask David to be their king and they came to him not only with a perfect heart but it also says and with a settled mind they asked David to be king over Israel so think about this just for a moment in their searching it was a matter of the heart and the mind a matter of the heart and the mind I had someone talk to me this past week who said you know pastor wasn't a church member they were just talking to me they're really getting in the word very new believer they said pastor I really I just want to know that I can intellectually believe the things that I accept by faith they had been non-believer they had actually ascribed to many other things other than Christianity come to Christianity they said I want it to be so much more than feelings I want to know and I said well you're on the right track because
[24:22] I said I'm just studying the Bible and I just want to know I said the word won't fail you because we don't throw our brains out when we come to faith sure we walk by faith and not by sight but it's not an ignorant faith right it's not a dumb faith either it's well grounded well found it you need to know what the word of God says because it answers every question every longing I say get into the word I said there's so many things I could tell you I said I'd love to sit down and talk to you and I'd love to sit down and walk through things with you and I said but I won't do it now it's kind of looked at me I said because I want you to read the word first and I want you to know what the word says and then we can talk about it later because I don't want to be one who tries to persuade you of anything because the thing that convinced me was the word of God it's a matter of the heart and the mind these people had a perfect heart and a settled mind and they were looking for an individual and that individual was David he was the man for the time and we see the fourth and final thing is he's a shepherd to lead them he's a shepherd to lead them notice what it says it says that when they came to him they made this declaration and the
[25:32] Lord said to you back in second Samuel chapter five and the Lord said to you look at what God's declaration was you will shepherd my people Israel and you will be a ruler over Israel first declaration that God makes is you will shepherd you will shepherd my people Israel and you will be a ruler over my people Israel at this time of sorrow sin and searching they desperately needed a shepherd not one who would just go stand out in the field with the sheep but one that would lead them by example one that would lead them with character and integrity one that would lead them and rule them not just rule them but would lead them and rule them we know that David gets in trouble when he fails to lead because in those days when kings went out to war David was at home he should have been leading his people rather than sitting at home without his people but we understand the calling and the thing that they had a longing for was a man that would be a shepherd over them David is that man for that time but the wonderful thing is is that what David points to is a man who is the man for all times because no matter the time of sorrow no matter the time of sin no matter the time of searching there is a shepherd of our souls who longs to shepherd his people and rule over them he is pointing to one that is greater than them listen my friend we live in a time of sorrow like no other there's more sorrow in the world today than there's ever been there's more disconnect there's more upset there's more separation I don't care how well they try to paint it on the TV screen the movie screen or in anything you read the sorrow of today's time is greater than it ever has been in a time of sorrow which leads to more rampant sin because not only is this a time like no other sorrow this is a time like no other sin because things which used to be unheard of now are acceptable things which used to be taboo are now really publicized and really not beyond acceptable they're expected this is a time of sorrow and sin but this is also a time of searching people are searching and the wonderful news is is that people are beginning to search with their heart and their mind like no other time people are searching and the reason they're searching is because the sorrow and the sin can only take you so far and the longing of the heart leads you to search the good news is is that when the heart and the mind are engaged in the searching there is a shepherd waiting just like David was positioned and available and ready at that time Jesus is ready for this time the good news is is there is a man for all time David was the man for that time but we know the man for all time and guess what he is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh because God became man and dwelt among us we have no other kinsman redeemer like unto him he is just like us we have one that has proven his worth we don't have to doubt if he can win the battle because the Bible already tells us he has won the battle he has validated himself he has proven himself and he has already went out before them others may have been king of our lives at some point we may have had a Saul who wrote ruled over us at one time or another also known as Satan but there was another king who had proven himself already there waiting see there is a man for all time and that man is Jesus because what we see with David is he was the one at that time but he was pointing to the one that would be for all time and what a wonderful thing it is that during times of sorrow sin and searching there is a shepherd who's waiting and they came to him and they came to him people
[29:35] came to him with a settled heart a perfect heart and a settled mind may we constantly run to the shepherd the grand shepherd and guardian of our souls with a perfect heart and a settled mind knowing that he's the man for our time knowing that he's the one who has the answer for all time let me pray with you and as I get done praying with you we're not going to be dismissed okay because I'm going to let Hunter Smead come and share with you something that's going on in his life but you're on the spot right now I know brother because I had talked to you for just a minute but let me pray with you Lord we thank you so much for this word thank you God for every portion of scripture thank you Lord even as we open up the Old Testament we see Christ over every page because we are reminded of sin we are reminded of mankind's failures we are reminded of the sorrow that creeps in so unaware is it time but Lord Jesus we thank you for being the shepherd of our souls for being the one who is positioned and powerful enough not only to rule but to lead us so we depend upon you we lean upon you and Lord like no other time in history we trust you
[30:45] Lord Beal says as a church be glorified and honored in all we do and may it bring you praise and we ask it all in Jesus name amen all right Hunter why don't you go so so so Thank you.