open your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 2. As you are turning there, I'd like to make some preliminary comments. I've talked about resources in the past, but I believe it's good for you guys to know some of the resources that I find very helpful. For a contemporary, I do like Ralph Davis a lot, but I would say in 2 Samuel can be very difficult, and some of the older guys are just my best friends. And so Matthew Poole is very helpful. Gil is very helpful. There's a set. Jameson Fawcett Brown also is very helpful. And so these resources I commend to you as you think through 2 Samuel. Typically, I do like to go a little bit higher altitude when it comes to our Sunday school lesson, but I do see it being necessary to break chapter two into two parts. So I'm only going to cover the first 11 verses, and I'm gonna tell you why. We're gonna come against a contrast, and I think it's really important to see the contrast. And I've asked the question, even in 1 Samuel, in regards to what kind of king is David going to be? And in regards to being a usurper, or is he going to be truly the king after God's own heart? Is he going to be that king of peace? Ultimately, we know that he's a man. We know that he points to Christ. You guys know this. But in particular, when I look at 2 Samuel 2, what I want you to be mindful of is as he's about to ascend the throne, there's going to be a civil war. And I want you to see in the manner and the way that he handles himself in light of another person that we'll talk about here in a little bit. But once again, it's a heavy chapter. I believe it's a very encouraging chapter. And I say that to warm your heart for our lesson this afternoon. We have a lot to cover, so I would like to direct your attention now to God's Word, 2 Samuel 2, beginning in verse 1, we'll be reading. 1 through 11. Let's give our attention to it. After this, David inquired of the Lord, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said to him, Go up. David said, To which shall I go up? And he said, To Hebron. So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David brought up his men who were with him, every one with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. When they told David it was the men of Jabesh-Gilead who buried Saul, David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead and said to them, may you be blessed by the Lord because you showed this loyalty to Saul, your Lord, and buried him. Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. Now therefore, let your hands be strong and be valiant, for Saul your Lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them. But Abner, the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and brought him over to my name, and he made him king over Gilead, and the Asherites, and Jezreel, and Ephraim, and Benjamin, and all Israel. Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was 40 years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. And the time that David was king in heaven over the house of Judah was seven years and six months." This is God's word to us. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Gracious and heavenly Father, we are so grateful for today. We thank you for the meditation that we had in Matthew with Pastor Larry. We thank you for the word that was declared and spoken with Pastor Price this morning. And now, Lord, we ask, would you attend your word this afternoon? Would you take this word right here out of 2 Samuel and encourage us in the faith? As we look at David, allow us to see Christ, our King, our shepherd warrior brings unity and peace, and he does so by way of the gospel. So warm our hearts, renew our minds, in the name of Jesus we pray, amen. Throughout history, when a new king takes the throne, they have a big challenge. It's often this, securing and holding on to power. You see, just wearing a crown doesn't automatically make them safe or ensure a smooth reign. Newly crowned kings have to navigate all sorts of obstacles. There might be rival claimants trying to take their place, rebellious nobles stirring up trouble, There's internal unrest or even threats from foreign enemies. How they handled these challenges really depended a lot on the era, as well as the political setup of their kingdom. Some kings, as you know all too well, would use brute force to assert their new authority. This could mean executing or exiling anyone who posed a threat. They're to their dominion, even if these threats came from their own families, their own household. Others took a more strategic approach, forming alliances through marriage, skilled diplomacy, or making key appointments like rewarding loyal followers with positions of power. Winning over important groups like the military or nobility was also very crucial. These were the people who could make or break a king's rule. So earning the support often made a huge difference. A king's ability to consolidate power and navigate these early challenges usually determined how stable, how successful their reign would be. Well, here we are at chapter two. And we remind you real quick that in chapter one, we see Saul. this beautiful lament. We saw that Saul was dead and the passing over of the baton now of David. But here we are, and I would like to ask this question, how will David ascend the throne? For the day has finally come where he can go home to Israel. More than that, it is the day for him to become king of Judah. Now, it is not mentioned here in chapter two, but I would like to mention to you guys in chapter five, verse four, it tells us something very interesting. And is this that David was 30 years old on this day when he became king. Now, I want you to think about this. Way back in 1 Samuel 16, when Samuel was first anointed, when Samuel first anointed David, he was a young lad. Now we're not told the age at this point, but everything pointed to him being a young teenager, maybe as young as 14 or 15 years old. Think about that now with me. That's 15, possibly 16 years that he has waited for this moment, for this day, and that's a long time. David didn't even have his driver's permit when he was anointed. He was out guarding the sheep, immediately following, day by day, and all of a sudden, Here he was, called to the family feast, and what a treat. He normally did not get invited to such special occasions. And he shows up, and some old man pours oil on his head and said he would be king, and then he leaves. And you gotta imagine, I mean, I love when I see these redemptive narratives. You gotta put yourself in these shoes, right? So this guy pours oil on your head, says you're gonna be king. He leaves, and what happens now? Nothing. Not yet. He goes back and he begins to shepherd. Now you can imagine his head is just as spinning. He went right back to tending the sheep. Another word was spoken. At least the text doesn't show us, you know, in terms of his family saying anything. If anything, it became a family secret, which was kind of awkward. We don't talk about the runt being anointed that day. But then at that moment, things really did start to change for David. He got a part-time gig as a court musician. Almost by chance, he got to face off with the giant Goliath. And as we all know, through the power of the Lord, he won. And this really set off his career. David was quickly promoted within the ranks of the army. He even got to marry the king's daughter. But then at this point, we see things turning for the bad, don't we? King Saul started throwing spears at him and he had the accuracy of a storm trooper. He sent David on those most dangerous of missions, hoping he would die. And at the end, the king, that is Saul, put out a hit on David. Brothers and sisters, I'd like to remind you, and we've covered it, David had nothing but admiration and respect for Saul, but for some reason, Saul wanted David dead. Things got so bad for David that he had to go on the run, the run for his life. And so of all things, David goes into exile. You see, since 1 Samuel 22, the text has made clear that David was on his own personal exile. Like his forefathers before him, David found himself wandering, sounds wandering, wandering in the wilderness. Not only was Saul and the entire army after David, but his fellow tribesmen turned against him. That is, the Ziphites readied him out more than once. Nabal would not even share food with David. You see, David was starving in the desert, and he couldn't even get a cup of cold water from one of his own tribe members. Talk about rejection. And so at this point, David just didn't feel like he had a choice. He had to leave, and of all places to go, where does he go? He goes and lives with the Philistines. Think about that. He detested this group. This would have felt like going back to Egypt for David. He even ended up serving, think about this, King Achish. This was the king over Goliath. You slay the giant and you end up serving the giant's king. It appears that David might have won the battle, but at the moment he's got to be thinking, man, have I lost the war? And as long as Saul is king, David feels a little stuck. He can't go home, and here he is in this foreign land serving a foreign people. You can just imagine how discouraged he must have felt from time to time. Indeed, the Psalms about this time, when you look at the Psalms, his life expressed this during this time. Discouragement, fear, pain, Rejection, here he is in exile. I mean, how sick his hope deferred would have made him. Ah, but now, with Saul's death, everything is about to change. For now, David can go home. The door is wide open for him to become king. Now, after all this waiting, and we're talking about a decade plus, after all this running, the day has come, After you've been waiting for a very long time for something, let me ask, what is your tendency? Like when you've been waiting patiently a long, long, long time, let me give you an example. If you guys have ever done like an extended fast, and I'm not talking like for spiritual reasons, I'm talking about just, you know, an OMAD, like one meal a day, okay? And you've gone without that meal. You skip breakfast, you skip lunch, it's six o'clock and then your wife puts that ribeye in front of you. What do you want to do? You want to pounce, man. You just want to throw down, right? You hastily grab what you've been waiting for, is my point. And here we have the door wide open. And so we would expect David to rush in. I mean, there is, if you think about it, a major power vacuum with Saul's death. Shouldn't David grab the steering wheel quickly before someone else does? I mean, this would be a worldly thinking and tendency, right? You would think from a geopolitical standpoint, David, you've got a moment. You've got to get on it. But this is not what David does. Rather, David stops and he prays. Before David does anything else, let me say it this way, he inquires of the Lord. He calls for Abathar the priest to determine God's will more than likely. Here, David shows the fortitude to put God's will over his own desires, even now after waiting so long. Of course, this is what the king of God's covenant people is actually supposed to do. His food is to do the will of the Lord over his own. And sure enough, in him inquiring of the Lord, the Lord says yes. The Lord gives David the green light, go up to Judah, return home. This must have been music to David's ears. But now David wants to make sure that he does exactly what the Lord wants him to do and so he asks, Lord, what city? Note at the end of verse one with me. David said, to which shall I go up? And he said, the Lord said, to Hebron. Now, brothers and sisters, let's not let our historical, let's just not brush over this quickly. You can't ask for a better city. Not only is Hebron the most significant city in Judah, it's basically its capital. But Hebron really does have a more distinguished history than that. You may actually recall Hebron was where Abraham made his home base. Heaven was where Abraham purchased that cave to bury his wife, Sarah. He bought that cave in faith. So one day that his descendants would possess the land. And it is this city that David now returns home. He returns, think about this, after being away, he returns to the burial plots of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. A reminder to him. even now that God is faithful to His promises. Additionally, you may remember that during the time of Moses all of Israel rebelled and they died in the desert. Well, with the exception of two. Do you guys remember who? Thank you, Joshua and Caleb. And for their obedience, these two took possession of the land. Now, during the conquest, this would have been during Joshua, Caleb conquered Hebron, and it was granted to him to be his inheritance. That is, Hebron is the city earned by Caleb's obedience. That is it stands as a testimony that God's land ultimately must be earned. Put a pin in that statement. Now we don't earn it, but somebody else does. Now the Lord tells David, go to heaven. Leave the land of your exile, return to the land of your fathers, to the city earned by Caleb. Brothers and sisters, This is the exodus of David. And what is significant, and this, I believe, is not lost on David, for he doesn't just go up, in fact, I'm not sure what New King James says, but here in the ESV it says, but he brings up. Dr. Ranney, what does it say in New King James? Yes. Three. He brought up, this sounds familiar, at least it should when you think about this. I'm gonna read it and you can just take notes. Exodus 3, 16 and 17, listen to it. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob has appeared to me saying, I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt And I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Pezarites, yeah, Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey. David brings up his men, the wives and the children. He leads all his people out of the land of service. Now this is one of the great images of God's salvation for us, his people, that is to bring his people home out of Exodus, to lead them out, let's say it this way, to lead them out of exile, back to the promised land, to God's land. And this is what David does. After David's victory over the Amalekites, David will bring God's people home. In fact, he even settles them in homes, and this is the great return of David. And finally, the people of Judah, they wake up. Now I want to remind you of something, okay? David sent them all gifts after this defeat of the Amalekites over when he did this victory. And all the Judeans now, they have received the gifts of the spoils of war. They look out their window and now they see this procession of David coming out from the Philistine territory. And they see David marching with the men, the women, the children, and their eyes finally recognize, that is our king. In fact, David's exodus march concludes with an enthrallment. Note the beginning of verse 4. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. Here the elders come and anoint David over Judah. You may recall that it wasn't too long that they rejected him and they kicked him out of their land, but now they bend the knee to their king. The man they once scorned is now their king. They embrace him with fealty and they embrace him with devotion. But they don't just make him king, they anoint him with oil. Now, once again, Matthew Poole and Jameson Fawcett Brown, these commentaries assist us here by saying something about this anointing. They tell it a sign of the covenant. That is, David and Judah make a covenant. He swears to be their king, and they swear to be his people. For oil not only consecrates David as king, but it also reveals that they are bound together. Now, these two were once at odds, But this is the important part I want you to think about. They're now at peace. More than this, they are united together in covenant devotion. Surely this is a great day. After all these years of rejection, of dryness and service to a foreign land, the most beautiful thing I can think of is the shepherd staff has now become The king's scepter. A royal scepter. That private anointing by God through the prophet Samuel. Fifteen, sixteen years have passed, and now the people publicly anoint their king. This is the enthronement of the Lord's anointed over His covenant people. So I have a question for us. If you were David right about now and you've just been anointed king, what are you gonna do next? What would be your first act as king? Now remember, at the beginning we talked about the many ways that new kings would assert their authority when they would establish the throne. I mean, there's an opportunity here to throw a big party. They might even have a statue commissioned. But in particular, they begin to solidify their reign. And the key ingredient in this is to wipe out your rivals. You come to power after a prestigious Previous regime, you want to squash anyone that might have represented that old way. And in fact, if David was your garden variety worldly king, this is probably something he would have done. He should have corralled anyone loyal to Saul. The last thing you would expect for a new king to do is to honor someone that you just replaced. But that's exactly what David does. There's not a single mention of a party that he throws for himself. There's not one moment of David patting himself on the back and saying, hey, look what I did. Rather, his first order of business is to find out who honored Saul, who buried him. His first concern is an honorable burial for Saul. And so David here is putting his lament of the first chapter of 2 Samuel into action. Once he was told that it was the men of Jabesh Gilead who buried Saul, what does he do? But he pins a letter and he sends it by way of messenger. And what a message it is, what a gesture. Note verses five and seven. David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead and said to them, may you be blessed by the Lord. because you showed this loyalty to Saul, your Lord, and buried him. Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you, and I will do good to you because you have done this thing. Now therefore, let your hands be strong and be valiant, for Saul, your Lord, is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them. Here we see that David blesses Jabesh, and he does so in the Lord. And he calls their burial of Saul, listen to this, an act of loyalty. That is, David commends them for the mercy they showed to Saul. He essentially says this, hey, when everybody else abandoned the king, you didn't. And for that, may the Lord bless you. David even asked that the Lord reward Jabesh. Note again the beginning of verse six, may the Lord show you steadfast love and faithfulness to you. You see, whatever you do for the Lord's anointed, you do for the Lord. So Jabesh honoring of Saul was their devotion to the Lord as well. David calls to the Lord to bless their obedience. And it is their steadfast loyalty that causes him to be loyal to them, to give his care and protection. Since they cared for Saul, the Lord now will reward Jabesh for caring for them. But what David says next shouldn't be missed on us. It's noteworthy. The end of six says this. I will do good to you because you have done this thing. David is saying, look at me guys, David is saying this, I will be the agent of God's blessing. As the anointed one of God, I will be the one that blesses you. As you know, when the Lord cares for you, He uses means. Other people to work that good towards you. And so as the anointed one, David self-consciously offers to be the Lord's agent of blessing to these people. That is, he will protect them with the protection given by God. In fact, this good here that is used by David is actually a technical term for a covenant of brotherhood. A covenant, get this, you'll love this, a covenant of peace. This is why he tells them to be strong and valiant in verse seven, because you've got to think about this. Saul's death leaves Jabesh, Gilead kingless, which means that they are now vulnerable. They're unprotected. But now David promises, you are faithful. I'll be your protector. He's sitting there, and the best way I can think about this is you've just lost your father. And so now you're an orphan. And David goes to him with this beautiful message and says, I'll be your dad. I'll be your dad. I'll protect you. Because Jabesh Gilead and the house of Saul are family. And I believe that this is significant. They go way back. And my point is this, that anyone is going to stay loyal to Saul, it would have been this family. And yet David extends this olive branch. Rather than going and taking his mighty men and wiping them out because they showed honor, he shows them love. Their love for Saul, and he shows his love for them. He commends them for loyalty. And he says this, let's have peace. Let's be united. While most new kings in this spot would have absolutely wiped out the rivals, he offers peace. His first act of king then is a peaceful act of healing. Now presently in our text, David is only king of Judah. You understand this, right? And we read just a portion. The rest of Israel has not sworn filthy to him. This means that the house of Israel currently is divided. And brothers and sisters, a house divided will not and cannot stand. And so David's first act as king is to show peace, that he is the one that desires. As king of Judah, reconciliation, he desires restoration. He desires unification. And he does so for all of God's people. David's not a king that forces loyalty by the tip of a sword. Rather, he is the shepherd king that earns the people's trust. He's a true shepherd. He earns their trust. And he offers peace, and he offers protection. And it's at this point that I'm going to at least introduce, for the remaining of our time, this contrast. because we have a new character with our redemptive narrative, and it's Abner. You see, where David offers peace and brotherhood, Abner consolidates power. As Saul's general and cousin, Abner takes the last remaining royal heir, and he makes him king over Israel. it's noteworthy to observe that the people are not involved in this coronation. In fact, look at it with me, this is not the decision of the people. Verses 8 and 9 says, "'But Abner, the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim. And he made him king over Gilead, Asherites, and Jezreel, and Ephraim, and Benjamin, and all Israel. Brothers and sisters, this was Abner's doing. He makes Ish-bosheth king. He declares that all Israel belongs to Ish-bosheth. Boy, if he is not your classic general, no one is. I mean, he has all the power as this general, but now what does he do? He wants a figurehead that he can put in and make a little puppet. He's not ready to bow the knee. to the anointed one. He's not. Rather, he will not give up power. He will not give up influence. And you can bet your bottom dollar that he will not relinquish this power to some redneck from the south. And with this action, a dividing line is drawn in Israel. This general has just divided Listen to me, the one people of God. And as you know, God redeemed His people to be one for us to live in unity, for us to live in harmony. As the psalmist says in Psalm 133, it says this, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. Abner has split the unity of Israel like a stick. He took a little branch and he just broke it over his knee like it was nothing. So as king, can David bring unity? Will David remain the king of peace to bring Judah and Israel back together? Can David do the work? of reconciliation. And how will he do this work? Will he do it with cruelty? Or will he do it with compassion? This, brothers and sisters, this afternoon for us is the enthronement of David. And I want to submit to you for the remainder of time that as we have looked at this narrative this afternoon, we're given a pattern for David's greater son. For here we see David returning from exile, leading his people home, being enthroned as the king of peace. We are given a foreshadow of the work of Christ. When Jesus was born, what did the angels say? They sang, glory to God in the highest and peace on earth. Yes, Jesus came to bring peace to God's people. His mission was to make God's people, listen to me, one. Paul says it this way, Ephesians 2.14, for he himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in the flesh the dividing wall of hostility. He himself is our peace who made us both one. Brothers and sisters, through Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself. The division that Christ came to heal is much deeper than to divide over the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. No, the division that He healed is one of Jew and Gentile. Christ came to take us Gentiles who were alienated from the nation of Israel And he came and he made Israel one man, Jew and Gentile, by abolishing the wall and bringing a people together. And to do this, to make us one, he had to endure his exile. Jesus had to pass through his exodus ordeal. The only path for David to the throne was through the land of the Philistines. But I want to remind you that Jesus was also rejected by his people, and he endured the exile of the cross. Yes, the cross was Jesus' exodus rejection. The only way that he was going to bring two together is by his blood. The wall of vision could only be broken down by the crucifixion of Christ. And if the cross, brothers and sisters, is his exile, then the resurrection is his enthronement. Romans 1-4 says it this way, Jesus was declared the Son of God in power, listen to this, in his resurrection. Yes, David returning home with all his people shows what Christ did for us in his resurrection. This is his enthronement. He freed us from slavery to sin and death, when he delivered us from condemnation, when he delivered us from wrath, when he made us the one people of the living God. And this is why Jesus earned the title, and it's a beautiful one, the Prince of Peace. For through your justification, through your adoption, he reconciled us one to another. Yes, in Christ, we, think about this, we get to enjoy the blessing of dwelling together in unity. This is Christ's ministry of the gospel to you and to me. It is one of reconciliation and peace with God and one another. Now this happens as the gospel goes forth to gather the elect through missions and evangelism. And I do need to say this, missions for us is church planting. The ministry of Christ's reconciliation should spread. A great example at the local level is our own church plant that we just sent out. Praise the Lord. He's meeting this afternoon. Pray for David. Pray for the church. But I want us, I want to challenge us as a people. I want to challenge heritage. I am not an elder. Everybody knows that. But can I preach to you for a minute? Listen to me. May we send more churches out. May we plant more churches. May missionaries come from our own congregation. May the heart of the gospel to reach the lost become infectious for us. The ministry of Christ. Reconciliation should spread. But I also want to mention another thing. ongoing edification of us as a congregation through the gospel. The church today hardly can be recognized as a place of peace and unity. Brothers and sisters, there are a myriad upon myriad of denominations, and we have times where we don't get along as a church. And so the regular work of the gospel, please hear me, The regular work of the gospel is for us to build unity and peace among one another. It's the gospel that fosters love for one another. And it is the love of one another that proves our bond of peace in Christ. So then, week after week, Christ is our King of Peace, and He continues to apply His mercy and His peace upon us so that we can live in greater unity and harmony with one another. How can you say you love a God that you don't see if you can't love the people that you do? And so we wait on the Lord. For yes, Christ has come into his kingdom, and he has already risen from the dead, ascended on high, and is at the right hand of the Father. And as a result of his work in us, we are already members of his kingdom. But we have not yet come into the fullness of this, have we? We do suffer. We do hurt. We do offend. We do sin. But we wait. relying upon the work of the gospel and of our lives, depending upon the means of grace that we do every single week and the power of the spirit through those means of grace. And we're waiting to see our King and glory. Yes, Christ has given us hope and brothers and sisters, it indeed will happen. It will happen. But as you know, right now, hope is deferred. Like David, we, And I want to remind you of this, we are exiles and we live as exiles. And this time can be long for us. I can only imagine, David wondered if it would ever happen, if he would ever be king. And so sometimes we do the same, but in the other way, it will be this, will Christ really return? And brothers and sisters, he will. He's coming for us. You may be asking, will we ever see the glory that He has promised? And yet as the Lord proved through David and especially through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord is not slow in keeping His promises as some count slowness. Our Lord and King is faithful and brothers and sisters, His promises are certain. He always keeps them. Just as He saved us from sin and death, He will take us home. He will take us to our heavenly home. At that point, our faith becomes what? Sight. And so now for us, it is good for us to wait upon the Lord. Wait upon Him in faith. For in Christ, brothers and sisters, your faith will not be put to shame. Rather, your faith in Christ will receive the greatest of gifts, that we will be brought to our heavenly home for the resurrection of the dead and the privileges to behold our King in glory, to worship Him forever and ever. This is our home. So let's wait in faith until it becomes sight. Let us place our faith on our coming King who is on the throne, who directs every single providential thing that we go through because He loves us and He cares for us. And even now He applies sanctification to us. We will not be perfect on this side of heaven, but boy, He is cleaning us up and He is doing a magnificent work and He gets all the glory for it. Let's pray. Gracious and heavenly Father, we once again come grateful. Grateful that you have brought us together and you have done so because of the work of your son. We thank you. For the work of Christ. His obedience. His righteousness applied to us. And so Lord, now we ask Once again, that as we grow in our love for you because you first loved us, that it would be expressed in our love for one another. Allow us to die to ourselves, to our flesh, to our self-centeredness, and to truly embrace the peace that has been purchased by your son's blood. I thank you for every member that we have in our congregation, for our guest, for our own family members, Lord, that have not even bowed the knee yet. Lord, have your way. As this body, as Heritage Baptist Church, have your way with us. And we pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.