The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying God's providence or divine providence in the lives of David and Joseph and how we can apply His providence in their lives to our lives today.
The providence of God or divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe. He is in control of the physical world. He is in control of the affairs of nations. He is in control of human destiny. He is in control of human successes and failures. He protects His people.
In Session 12 David assumes the throne and rules from Hebron over the tribe of Judah for seven- and one-half years. After war between the supporters of David and those loyal to the descendants of Saul David reigns over the entire nation of Israel, and rules over the entire nation for 33 years. David's total reign as king covers 40 years.
David was a remarkable man. He was a brilliant organizer, a brilliant manager, a brilliant planner,
but he was still a man a human being with faults like all of us. Although David was a “man after God’s own heart” He had some major failures in his life. We talk about some of them in Sesson 12.
For our study we will be using Great Lives: David: A Man of Passion and Destiny, by Charles R. Swindoll, and The Hand of God by Alistair Begg. To study along with us you can purchase the books by clicking the Links here or the images after the notes.
Last week we talked about the death of the man who at first trusted David because of his bravery and his ability as a military leader. Because David was so successful, he became paranoid and afraid of Daivd, and he even knew that one day David would become king.
1 Samuel 24:19-21 NIV When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”
Saul finally admitted that although God allowed him to become king and even blessed him with the Holy Spirit although it was temporary that he had played the fool after that exciting time in his life.
1 Samuel 10:1-2, 9-13 NIV Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance? When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?” ’ As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” A man who lived there answered, “And who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.
1 Samuel 26:21 NIV Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. Because you considered my life precious today, I will not try to harm you again. Surely I have acted like a fool and have been terribly wrong.”
The story of Saul ends with a battle against the Philistines where the Israelites were routed, Saul’s sons killed, and he was wounded. Rather than be captured and ridiculed by the enemy Saul committed suicide.
1 Samuel 31:1-6 NIV Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically. Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.” But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.
Saul’s death opened the door for David to officially become king of Israel although years before God and determined that this would happen.
1 Samuel 13:13-14 NIV “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
1 Samuel 16:1, 11-13 NIV The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.
The death of Saul was a pivotal point in David’s life.
Psalms 78:70-72 NIV He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.
These verses sum up David’s life.
Between the years of seventeen and thirty, David is on the run from Saul. At age thirty he becomes king. He was king for 40 years.
2 Samuel 5:4-5 NIV David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
For the first fifty years of his life, David walked in the integrity of his heart. The last 20 were not so good but we will get to them later.
Suffice it to say that although some stuff happened during those first 50 years that was not so cool, and we will talk about them too, for the most part David life is model of character and integrity. The last 20 years were mostly downhill.
Let’s first talk about this high point of David’s life. He becomes king, the second king of Israel, chosen and anointed by God himself. David was actually anointed three times.
1 Samuel 16:13 NIV So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.
2 Samuel 2:1-5 NIV In the course of time, David inquired of the Lord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked. The Lord said, “Go up.” David asked, “Where shall I go?” “To Hebron,” the Lord answered. So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David also took the men who were with him, each with his family, and they settled in Hebron and its towns. Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah. When David was told that it was the men from Jabesh Gilead who had buried Saul, he sent messengers to them to say to them, “The Lord bless you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him.
2 Samuel 5:3 NIV When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.
Now David knew that he had been anointed king yet for years he was a fugitive. So he may have been a little hesitant even though Saul was dead, so he relied on his vertical perspective and sought God just to be sure.
1 Samuel 31:11-13 NIV When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their valiant men marched through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.
2 Samuel 2:1 NIV In the course of time, David inquired of the Lord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked. The Lord said, “Go up.” David asked, “Where shall I go?” “To Hebron,” the Lord answered.
He didn’t rush to the throne and take charge. He waited patiently on God for further instruction. He doesn’t immediately march into Jerusalem to take over the whole nation. Instead, following God’s instruction, he goes to Hebron, where he has a limited reign over the people of Judah for seven and a half years. He doesn’t complain. He isn’t anxious. He has learned to wait on God.
Psalms 25:1-3 NIV In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.
We often get out ahead of God doing things that we believe or even know that God wants us to do but we do it in our effort on our time schedule and it often turns out to be disaster.
While in Hebron David was becoming stronger and solidifying is position as king.
2 Samuel 3:1 NIV The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.
Unfortunately, however, while waiting for instructions in Hebron David made some bad decisions that affected the rest of his life. We have talked about it before in fact the title of the book we are studying is “Great Lives: David a Man of Passion and Destiny”. That passion is part of him and affected every part of his life including in passion for women. This was actually a weakness in David’s character which affected his reign and his legacy.
We get a hint in the genealogy of David while in Hebron
2 Samuel 3:2-5 NIV Sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; his second, Kileab the son of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; the third, Absalom the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream the son of David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.
This is six children by six different wives. Ahinoam, Abigail, Maacah, Haggith, Abital, Eglah. And that’s not counting Michal, daughter of Saul, who was his first wife who he had to, leave to stay alive. That in itself is unbelievable to me. It’s now so much the number of children it is the number of wives. WHEW!!
That was just in Hebron David had more children and wives when he later went into Jerusalem and king over the entire nation. The only wives named in scripture is the six mentioned earlier and Bathsheba who we will talk about late, but we know from scripture that he had more wives and also a number of concubines who also had children.
2 Samuel 5:13-16 NIV After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.
His son Soloman who succeeded him apparently had the same problem of an appetite for women.
1 Kings 11:1-6 NIV King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
Obviously, God “allowed” both David and Solomon to have these wives, but allowance is not the same as approval. Their decisions were in direct violation of God’s Law, and there were consequences.
David had a total of twenty sons and one daughter, Tamar. Sheis listed among the children of Maacah in Hebron, who was also the mother of Absalom. There is a story about Tamar Absalom and their half-brother Ammon but that is for later.
While David was king his reign while in Hebron was limited because some of Saul’s military leadership apparently didn’t accept David as king.
2 Samuel 2:8-9 NIV Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel.
But there were issues between Abner and Ish-Boseth which caused Abner in the end to align himself with David and end the division in Israel read 2 Samuel chapters 2-4.
2 Samuel 5:1-2 NIV All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’ ”
Now with the nation unified David can do what God had purposed him to do a king of His people. He made Jerusalem the capital and then begin to solidify the nation
2 Samuel 5:6-12 NIV The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David. On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies.” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.” David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inward. And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him. Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
David expanded the boundaries of Israel from 6,000 to 60,000 square miles. He set up extensive trade routes that reached throughout the known world. Wealth came into Israel like the nation had never known before.
David unified the nation under Jehovah God, creating a national interest in spiritual things. He was not a priest; he was a king . . . but he lifted up the role of the priesthood so that Judaism could operate openly and freely in the land. He destroyed the idol altars.
David was a remarkable man. He was a brilliant organizer, a brilliant manager, a brilliant planner.
But he was still a man a human being with faults like all of us. I mentioned earlier that although David was a “man after God’s own heart” He had some major failures in his life.
First, he became so involved in public pursuits that he lost control of his family. The man had too many wives and too many children to lead and read properly.
He had undisciplined children. As we’ll see in chapter 18, Absalom rebelled. He deceived his father and pushed him from the throne. Tragically, David fled like a wounded animal. Another son, Amnon, raped his own half-sister, Tamar. In his later years, when David was an old man, his son Adonijah, like Absalom, also tried to usurp the throne.
1 Kings 1:1-6 NIV When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our Lord the king may keep warm.” Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her. Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, “I will be king.” So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. (His father had never rebuked him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.)
The key is in verse 6, His father had never rebuked him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?”
David’s second failure was that he indulged himself in extravagant extremes of passion. Whatever he did, he did it with all his heart. When he fought, he fought to the bitter end, completely vanquishing the enemy. When he loved, he loved with all his heart, and the numerous wives and concubines were examples of this passion.
David’s third tragic failure was that he became a victim of self-sufficiency and pride. In simple terms, David began to believe his own track record.
2 Samuel 24:1-4 NIV Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.” So the king said to Joab and the army commanders with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.” But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my Lord the king see it. But why does my Lord the king want to do such a thing?” The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.
This was not as a consequence of the numbering of the people, but in consequence of that which ultimately led to that act. We are not told why the anger of the Lord was kindled, but doubtless because He saw both in king and people that rising spirit of earthly pride and reliance on earthly strength which led to sin.
Joab said, “Why do we want to do that?” And in so many words, David told Joab, “Don’t be insolent with me. Don’t be insubordinate. You do as I say.” So Joab did, and 70,000 died as a judgment from God—judgment against the king’s pride.
THREE LASTING LESSONS LEARNED AT DAVID’S EXPENSE
1. Prosperity and ease are perilous times, not merely blessings. Most of us have hit the middle-aged strides where you don’t have to worry too much about the things that used to take a lot of time. Take heed! Prosperity and ease are more often than not, perilous times.
2. Gross sin is a culmination of a process, not a sudden act. Back in 2 Samuel 3, you’ll remember, David was already amassing his fortune along with a number of wives. But when was enough enough? When he had a harem full of them and he was still not satisfied, driven by lust for more? Gross sin isn’t a sudden action, it’s a process that culminates. And one who commits it says to himself in the morning hours that follow, “I can’t believe I did that.”
3. Confession and repentance help heal a wound, but they will never erase all the scars.
If we’re honest enough to admit it, there are times that we sin, saying, “Well, I can do this now and then confess and repent, and God will forgive me.” And that's true. But I must warn you, you can never erase the scars. He will heal the wound, but
He will leave the scars. And your children may suffer as a result, and their children after them. That’s the heartache of it all. Sin has terrible wages.
The only hope we have is daily dependence on the living Lord. It’s the only way we can make it. He’s touched by our feelings of infirmity, our weaknesses, our inability in the dark and lonely times to say no. He’s touched by that. And He says, “I'm ready with all the power you need. Call on Me and I’ll give you what you need.”
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