Thanks, brother. I'm so grateful that God, in His wisdom and love for us, has called us to gather together each week to worship Him. What a privilege it is to know and to love the one true and living God who has revealed Himself through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's continue in worship of Him as we look to His Word now in 2 Samuel 1-11. 2 Samuel 2, 1-11, and I'll be reading from the Christian Standard Bible. But before we get into the text, I want to make a few brief comments about why we're studying 2 Samuel. It wasn't random. The short answer is that at Tapestry Community Church, we love Jesus and we want to learn more about Jesus and his kingdom. And we believe that one of the best ways to do this is to learn about David and his kingdom. And this is because as Jesus taught us, all of the Bible is about Him. And so as we read the stories of David and his kingdom, we must always remember what the great reformer John Calvin said many years ago. He wrote, the earthly reign of David is a token in which we must contemplate the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation of his church to the end of the world. You see, David and his kingdom help us come to better know and understand Christ and his kingdom. Listen to how one commentator, John Woodhouse, explains it. He writes, David and his reign revealed the kingdom that God will finally establish, the kingdom that Jesus came to announce to inaugurate and to finally establish is the kingdom that David's kingdom was introducing to the world. I love how he put that. David's kingdom was introducing us to Christ's kingdom. Jesus is the ultimate son of David who will rule on David's throne forever and ever. And so as we study and think about the reign of David, we must never focus just on David, but we must let David and his kingdom point us forward to Christ and his eternal kingdom, because David and his kingdom are simply introducing us to Jesus and his kingdom. Dear brothers and sisters, 1 and 2 Samuel are in your Bible not simply to record the exciting and page-turning action and adventure of some fascinating characters in ancient history. 1 and 2 Samuel are in your Bible to reveal Jesus to you. And so, as John Kelvin encouraged us, let's contemplate the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ as we study the beginnings of David's earthly reign today in 2 Samuel 2. Well, for those of you who have been with us through our study of 1 Samuel, you know that David has been waiting a long time to become king. It was way back in 1 Samuel 16 that God had chosen him and anointed him to be Israel's next king. And at that time, he was likely a teenager, but now he is 30 years old. For much of the past decade, he has been on the run for his life from King Saul. He's been forced to live in the wilderness. And more recently, he even had to go over to Israel's enemies, the Philistines, to escape from Saul's jealous rage. And as 2 Samuel begins, David is living in Ziklag, or at least what used to be Ziklag, before a band of raiding Amalekites came and burned their homes to the ground. David has just recently learned that Saul has been killed in battle against the Philistines, and as we saw last week in chapter one, David has written a beautiful and moving lament for Saul and his son Jonathan. So now that the Lord has removed Saul from being king over Israel, the path is finally open for David to take the throne. So let's observe what David does. Look with me at 2 Samuel 2 verse one. Sometime later, David inquired of the Lord, should I go to one of the towns of Judah? Let's stop there. Isn't that fascinating? The first thing David does is inquire of the Lord. He doesn't start an ad campaign to announce his new kingdom. He doesn't send out those super annoying political text messages to everyone to announce his kingship. He just humbly inquires of the Lord. He doesn't just assume he knows what to do, he asks the Lord what he should do. Over all these years of wilderness struggle and suffering and hardship, David has learned the importance of seeking the Lord's guidance for his life. Listen to this insightful comment John Calvin makes about this verse. Calvin writes, even though David clearly knew that God had constituted him as king and that Saul had trespassed, even though the time was ripe for him to enjoy the crown, nevertheless, he asked God to tell him what he should do. Why? Because although he was on the way, he still knew that he could err seriously if God did not guide him. Then Calvin goes on to say, let us learn through all of life to go to the Lord, especially when we are facing an important decision. Let us find out what is to be done and let us not be so self-assured that we fail to pray to God to show us what is useful and expedient. I think David provides a wonderful example for us by humbly inquiring of the Lord in this moment in his life. He doesn't just assume that he can figure all this out on his own. Saul's out of the way, I'm going to just take the kingdom now. That's what God wants, right? No, he humbly recognizes his dependence on the Lord and he seeks for the Lord's guidance. Tapestry Community Church. This is what I want to continue to be true of us as a church. I am so grateful for the prayerfulness of our leadership team as we navigate the purchase of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church down the street. What a blessing it has been to be a part of a church where our leaders, like David, are regularly inquiring the Lord and seeking his will for what we should do. This is a huge moment in the life of our church, and we do not ever want to assume that we have this all figured out. The reality is there is never a time in our lives when we should think, it's okay, God, I've got this. You're in trouble if you're thinking that. We don't have this. We are always in desperate need of God's grace and his guidance in our lives. So let's continue to be praying as a church as we move toward closing on this building sometime next month. Let's continue to be a church that recognizes our desperate need for God's help and guidance and so earnestly, humbly seeks his will for all that we do. Well, let's get back to our passage in 2 Samuel. Instead of just assuming that he knows what to do, verse 1 tells us, David inquired of the Lord, should I go to one of the towns of Judah? And the Lord answered him, go. Then David asked, where should I go? To Hebron, the Lord replied. Now, the text doesn't tell us how all this happened. I know some of you probably are wondering like, how did that conversation happen? But that's not what's important. What's important is that it did happen. David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered him. David is looking to the Lord for direction, and God is graciously guiding his anointed king. God tells him to go to Hebron. Now, I want us to just think for a moment about the significance of where God told David to go. Oftentimes in our Bibles it's important to pay attention to where things are happening. Sometimes the place is pretty random and obscure and it doesn't really matter that much, but oftentimes it's really significant. And this is one of those times where it's really significant. It is no accident that God has told David to go to Hebron. Hebron was not just some random city in Judah. It was a city with deep, connections to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And these three guys are incredibly important to God's plan to bring about the redemption of the world through his son, Jesus Christ. God made remarkable, staggering promises to these three men to make them into a great nation and bless them and give them the land and through them to bring God's blessing to all the nations of the earth. And the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, tells the story of these three men. In Genesis 12, God calls Abraham to leave his home and go to the land he will show him. And can you guess where Abraham chose to live when he got in the land? Genesis 13, 18 says, so Abraham moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord. Abraham settled in Hebron. And Hebron became Abraham's home. And later, in Genesis 18, it was while Abraham was living in Hebron that the Lord appeared to him and told him again that his old and barren wife, Sarah, would have a son. Remember that incident? Sarah's over in the tent laughing, that's impossible, and God's like, we'll see. God kept his promise, and even though Sarah was old and barren and well beyond the age of carrying children. God provided her and Abraham a son who they named Isaac. And then years later, when Sarah died, Abraham purchased some land in Hebron to bury his wife. Listen to Genesis 23, 17 through 20. So Ephraim's field at Machpelah near Mamre, the field with its cave and all the trees anywhere within the boundaries of the field became Abraham's possession in the sight of all of the Hittites, who came to the gate of his city. After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. The field with its cave passed from the Hethites to Abraham as burial property. Okay, why am I sharing this with you? Why is this significant? because God had promised Abraham the land of Canaan, and this is the very first bit of land Abraham owned, and really the only bit of land Abraham ever owned. In other words, this was the first part of God's fulfillment of his promise to make Abraham's offspring into a great nation and to give them the land. So this little field in Hebron with a cave for burying people represented the very beginning of Israel's life in the land God had promised to give them. So though it was small, just a tiny little area, it was hugely significant. And after burying Sarah there, Abraham himself was eventually buried there, as well as his son, Isaac, and his wife, Rebecca, and their son, Jacob, and his wife, Leah. And as a result, Hebron became intimately connected with the promises God had made to Abraham. And so, as one commentator, John Woodhouse, notes, David's going up to Hebron in accordance with the word of the Lord links David's story to Abraham. It suggests that David's rise is the continuation of the story that began with Abraham. In other words, David's move to Hebron connects him with the promises that God made to Abraham, and it is an important indication that what God will do through David is of enormous significance. Isn't the Bible amazing? God used multiple human authors over hundreds of years to write it, and yet it is so clear that it is telling one big story of God's plan to save the world through Jesus Christ. There are so many of these amazing little connections all throughout the Bible. Abraham and David are both significant characters in God's story, and so it is no accident that God connects their lives together through their time in Hebron. Hebron was where Israel's life in the land began, and in Hebron is where God's king will begin to reign. And so for those familiar with the significance of Hebron, there should be a growing excitement as we hear God tell David, go to Hebron. God is connecting David to his promises to Abraham to bring his blessing to the world. Well, let's see how the Lord's anointed king responds to God's instruction. Look at verse two. So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. In addition, David brought the men who were with him, each one with his family, and they settled in the towns near Hebron. So unlike King Saul, who repeatedly made a habit of disobeying God's word, David obeys. He packs up the U-Haul, and he moves his entire family and all of his men and their families to Hebron. This is a huge act of faith and obedience for David. He had left the land of Israel because he was a wanted fugitive, and he had escaped to the land of the Philistines where he had found shelter and protection from Saul's obsession with killing him. But now, in packing up the U-Haul and moving his entire family and all of his men and their families to Hebron, he is officially cutting ties with the Philistines. He is putting all of his eggs into the basket of God's promise to him. And so as he put Ziklag in the rear view mirror, David is once again entrusting himself to God and God's word of promise to him. Like Abraham before him, David is going to the land God has called him to go to. So now the big question hanging in the air is, how will the people respond to the coming of God's anointed king? Will they embrace him as their king or will they reject and rebel against him? Look at verse 4. Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. The men of Judah are exemplary in their response to the coming of God's anointed king. They willingly embrace him as their king. They desire to submit their lives to him and to entrust their futures to him. They anoint him as king over them. And don't miss the significance of what happened that day in Hebron. God's chosen king has begun his reign. I love what Dale Ralph Davis, another commentator, says about this. He writes, it is a small beginning, but it is the kingdom of God, concrete, visible, earthy. It certainly doesn't look like much. Just one tribe out of 12 came to anoint him as king. It's very unlikely that any newspapers outside of the Hebron Herald even would have reported on it. No one's Twitter feeds are blowing up about news about it, but nevertheless, here in Hebron, we have the very beginnings of the kingdom of God on earth. God's promises are beginning to be fulfilled. The young shepherd boy who all those many, many years earlier God had chosen to be king has finally begun his reign. It's a small start, but it's hugely significant. God's king has begun to reign and the men of Judah have embraced him as their anointed king. Well, it doesn't take long before the new king's character is tested. Look at the rest of verse 4. They told David, it was the men of Jabesh Gilead who buried Saul. So in David's first briefing as king, he is told about those who acted valiantly and loyally toward the former king, King Saul. And in 1 Samuel 31, we learn that these men, at great risk to themselves, had rescued the dead body of Saul from where the Philistines had hung it on a city wall to celebrate their victory. They then had properly buried Saul so that no further dishonor could be done to him. So now the question is, what is David, the new king, going to do with these brave and loyal supporters of Saul? Will he punish them for supporting the man who made his life so miserable for all these years? How will the new king respond? Look at verse 5. David sent messengers to the men of Javish-Gilead and said to them, the Lord bless you. The Lord bless you because you have shown this kindness to Saul your Lord when you buried him. Now may the Lord show kindness and faithfulness to you, and I will also show the same goodness to you because you have done this deed. Therefore, be strong and valiant, for though Saul your lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me king over them." What a beautiful and gracious message from God's anointed king. David begins by commending them for the kindness they showed to Saul in rescuing his body from the Philistine humiliation and burying him. David knows that they didn't have to do this. No one else did. They alone were the ones that made this dangerous trek to rescue Saul's body. And they chose to do so out of their deep love and appreciation for Saul. And David honors them for that. He thanks them for that. They have shown, he says, a remarkable kindness to Saul. And David then goes on in verse 6 to ask the Lord to show them kindness and faithfulness. He wants them to experience the faithful and steadfast, the hesed love of the Lord. This is a beautiful prayer of David on behalf of the people of Jabesh Gilead. He is wanting God's very best for them. But not only does he pray for God to show them kindness and faithfulness, he says, I will also show the same goodness to you because you have done this deed. David is committing, has the anointed king to be like God in showing faithful love and goodness and kindness to them. Instead of them needing to fear David's retaliation for their kindness to Saul, David assures them of his kindness and goodness to them. David then finishes his message with a clear call to action. Verse 7, he says, therefore, be strong and valiant. For though Saul your Lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me king over them. So notice both the kindness and the clarity of David's message here. David has been incredibly kind and gracious with his words to them. but he is also crystal clear in his invitation to them. The king they loved and served is dead, but David says there is a new king who has begun to reign, a king who is kind and gracious and who is inviting them to submit themselves to him and to his kingdom. In issuing this call to them, David is inviting them to join with Judah in acknowledging him as king. Even though his kingdom is small, it is the kingdom of God's promise. And so David graciously, winsomely invites them into it. Now, the text doesn't tell us how the men of Javish-Gilead responded to this gracious message. But in sharing this message with us, the biblical author gives us a glimpse into the heart of God's anointed king. He is full of kindness and love, but he also unashamedly calls for people's allegiance. And doesn't this remind you of the Lord Jesus Christ? The message of Jesus Christ is a message of love and grace. He came to rescue people from their sin by dying on the cross. And yet, Jesus' message is also a call to submit your life to him as king, to turn from your sin and to give him your full and ultimate allegiance. Jesus is good and gracious. Yes, amen. But he is also your king. So the question to all of us, the question that I think 2 Samuel is holding out to everyone is, how will we respond to God's anointed king? Will we submit our lives to him? Will we embrace him as our king? Or will we reject him? and make a king for ourselves. You're going to serve someone. So who will it be? So this is the choice that David lays before the men of Jabesh Gillian. And this was the choice that really all of Israel faced after the death of Saul. Who will be our king? So let's continue reading. And let's observe another response to the news that David is king in Hebron. Look at verse 8 and following. Abner, son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Saul's son Ish-bosheth and moved him to Mahaniel. He made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, over all Israel. Saul's son Ish-bosheth was 40 years old when he became king over Israel. He reigned for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. The length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. Well, unlike the exemplary men of Judah, instead of embracing David as king, Abner rejects David and chooses a king for himself. He does not want David to rule over him. He wants a king of his own making. And so he sets up Ish-bosheth as king in Maanaim. And interesting, Mehaniah means two camps. And it was named by Jacob back in Genesis 32 when he divided his people into two camps before meeting with his twin brother Esau. But with Abner moving Ishbosheth to Mahaniah, the irony here is unmistakable, isn't it? Abner is effectively dividing the nation into two camps, those with David and those with Ishbosheth. And we're going to see a bloody civil war that follows this. But why do you think Abner is doing this? Do you think it was because he really liked Ishbosheth and thought that Ishbosheth would make a great leader for God's people? I don't think so. Notice the verbs the narrator uses to describe what Abner did. Abner took Saul's son, Ish-bosheth, and moved him to Mahanaim. He made him king over all Israel. Ish-bosheth may be wearing the crown, but who's really in charge here? It's not Ish-bosheth. He's entirely passive. Everything is just happening to him. He is just a pawn in the hand of Abner, the one who is really calling the shots. It's a puppet kingdom. For Abner, making Ishvosheth king is all about securing his power and his influence. Abner is in it for Abner, and he will not have David as his king. Instead, Abner wants a king of his own making, a king that he can control and manipulate, a king who gives him what he wants, who allows him to keep his power and his position. But there's something even more sinister going on here than just an army commander trying to keep his power. Abner is not just fighting for his power and his position. Abner is, listen, knowingly and intentionally rebelling against God and God's anointed king, David. The fact that God had chosen David to be king was no secret in Israel. Even Saul himself publicly acknowledged it in 1 Samuel 24-20. After David had spared his life, Saul said, now I know for certain you will be king and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. Saul said that. Abner knew David was God's chosen anointed king. And in fact, in the passage we're going to look at next week, Abner himself admits as much. In 2 Samuel 3, 9 through 10, Abner and Ishbosheth, spoiler alert, they have a falling out, and Abner says to Ishbosheth, may God punish Abner and do so severely if I don't do for David what the Lord swore to him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish the throne of David over Israel from Judah, from Dan to Beersheba. Abner is not ignorant of God's promise to David. Abner knew that God had promised to give David the kingdom, but Abner didn't care. He rebelliously, stubbornly refused to submit himself to God's chosen king, and instead he went and he took and he made Ish-bosheth king. He chose a king for himself. instead of embracing the man God had chosen to be king. In doing all of this, I think Abner stands as a representative of all of us who foolishly rebel against God's anointed king, the Lord Jesus Christ. Sadly, the spirit of Abner lives in all of us. left to ourselves outside of God's gracious work in our lives, none of us would embrace Jesus Christ as our king. Our natural tendency is to reject and to rebel against God and his anointed king. Like Abner, we do not want to give up control over our lives. We want to maintain our power and our influence. We want to remain in charge. And so the thought of submitting our lives to Jesus is revolting to us. And even though we may know that Jesus is God's anointed king, we know it intellectually, the Bible says it, we still don't want him as our king. We would rather have a king of our own making, a king we have chosen for ourselves. So maybe that's where you're at today. Maybe you know about Jesus, but you haven't brought yourself to submit to his rule over your life. You know the Bible says he is God's chosen king, and you may even believe that he is good and kind, but you just don't want to hand over the keys to your life. You want to remain in the driver's seat. You don't want him telling you how to live your life. Like Abner, you're wanting a king that you can control. But let me encourage you, plead with you really, to heed God's warning to you today. Do not reject God's good and gracious anointed king for an ishvosheth. The name Ishbosheth literally means man of shame. Now, of course, this wasn't his actual name, right? No parent is that cruel. Oh, look at our cute little man of shame, right? No, in 1 Chronicles 8.33, we learn that Ishbosheth's real name is Ishbaal, which means something like man of the Lord or man of the master. But our narrator has chosen this derogatory nickname for him as a warning to all of us who would choose to set another king over us other than the Lord's anointed king. And the warning is clear, this king will not be good or trustworthy. He will be a king of shame, a king who is weak and pathetic, ultimately not worth following, and Ishvosheth. And this is exactly what we're going to see next week. Abner and Ishvosheth's kingdom will grow weaker and weaker and weaker, while David's kingdom will grow stronger and stronger and stronger. So right now, David's kingdom looks small and unimpressive, Only one out of 12 tribes of Israel are following him, but his kingdom will triumph. Why? Not because David's better, more holy, smarter, wiser, but because God is with David and God has promised to establish his anointed king's kingdom. And so the question this text forces us to wrestle with is which kingdom will you devote yourselves to? The kingdom of God or the kingdom of man? Will we, like the men of Judah, submit ourselves willingly to God's anointed and chosen king? Or will we, like Abner and really the rest of the nation of Israel, stubbornly rebel and instead commit ourselves to the kingdom of man, to an ishvosheth? So my encouragement to you is to choose wisely. One king is chosen by God and promises goodness and kindness to those who will have him as their king. One king is a man of shame, who though he provides a sense of power and control for you now, in the end, his kingdom is going to crumble and fail. It is only Christ's kingdom that will endure forever and ever. So please, don't get caught on the wrong side of history. Even though Christ's kingdom may look weak and unimpressive to you today, looks can be deceiving. The little kingdom that began in Hebron will one day be the kingdom that will swallow up all other kingdoms. Revelation 11, 15 says that at the end of time, the kingdom of the world, every ishvosheth and world leader and power that has ever been will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his anointed one. And he will reign forever and ever. So how will you respond to God's anointed king? Will you embrace him as your king, or will you rebel against him? Will you choose the kingdom of God, or will you choose the kingdom of man? Let's pray. Gracious Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for how it reveals Jesus Christ to us. I pray that you would give all of us hearts to embrace Jesus as our king. I pray for any here who, like Abner, are rejecting your anointed king and choosing a king for themselves right now. I pray that in your mercy and kindness, you would show them the foolishness of rejecting Jesus as their king. Oh God, give them grace to embrace Jesus and to give their lives to him and to willingly and joyfully submit to his authority over them. And Father, for those of us who have embraced Jesus as our King, please strengthen our commitment to love and obey him. overwhelm us once again with the goodness and the kindness of King Jesus. We ask these things in His name. Amen.