Introduction

In this passage, we have the last formal pronouncement that the great David gave. This message from David spoke of the blessing that comes from a godly ruler. Louis XIV was the Sun King of France, and his idea of it was absolute monarchy. David, by way of contrast, spoke of a sun king very differently.

The Text

“Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, And the man who was raised up on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me . . .” (2 Sam. 23:1–39).

Summary of the Text

These are the last words of David, referring to his last pronouncement (v. 1). He was the sweet singer of Israel (v. 1), and God spoke through him (v. 2). A ruler must be just (v. 3), and if he is, then he is a morning sun (v. 4), a cloudless morning (v. 4), and as new grass after rain (v. 4). Though David’s house does not deserve it, God has made an everlasting covenant (v. 5). Sons of Belial, sons of worthlessness, are rulers who must be hedged with weapons, and then burned (vv. 6-7).

We then come to David’s hall of fame roster. Adino was chief; he killed 800 at one time (v. 8). Then Eleazer, one of the Three, who fought until his hand stuck to his sword (vv. 9-10). Then there was Shammah, who fought at the lentil field (vv. 11-12). Then there were the three men who captured a cup of water from the well at Bethlehem (vv. 13-17). Abishai was one of them, and another time he killed 300 men (vv. 18-19). He was like the top Three, but not of them. Benaiah defeated two men of Moab, and also killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day (v. 20), as well as an Egyptian (vv. 21-23). And then a number of the Thirty are named. The chapter ends by saying there were 37 in all, but in this chapter only 36 are named. The missing man was no doubt Joab. Names to note would be Eliam, the father of Bathsheba (v. 35) and son of Ahithophel. And it is surely not a coincidence that the last man named is Uriah the Hittite (v. 39). Uriah’s name meant “YHWH is my light.”

Citations of Bravery

We can see from these descriptions that courage takes a stand in particular circumstances. Eleazar fought until his sword grew into his hand and arm, and that detail was remembered by Israel. Shammah took a stand at the lentil field, while all the other troops fled. He took a hopeless stand, and he prevailed. The Lord wrought a great victory there. The three who got water from the well were doing nothing of strategic value, but wars are fought with symbols as well as with weapons. This was something that David knew, and treated the water with the respect it deserved, and he poured it out before the Lord. Benaiah fought with a lion, in a pit, on a snowy day. Top that.

A True Sun King

Sin is destructive, and men can forfeit great blessings by it. David did lose some immediateblessings through his sin, but he did not lose the great blessing. Jesus, the Son of David, sits on the throne of the universe now. God promised his house an everlasting covenant, and this was all David’s salvation and all his desire. But he adds this comment in v. 5 to show that he knows that he was not the perfect exemplar of the kind of king he describes in vv. 3-4.

That said, the covenant head of every civic order is not a necessary evil. Something that is frequently evil is not necessarily evil. In addition, a godly ruler is not superfluous. It is not as though impersonal market forces do all the good stuff, with the civic head simply serving as kind of an animated logo for the nation. No, there is real authority there. “And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel” (1 Chron. 29:25).

In order for this to happen, God must raise a man up (v. 1), and God must anoint him (v. 1). Seizing power, garnering votes, bribing the right people cannot achieve this. An anointing is a gift. A man who rules other men must be just, and this justice is defined as ruling in the fear of God. A ruler who does not fear God is in some way claiming to be God. If there is no God over the state, then the state is God.

But if a man rules in the fear of God, he brings something to a nation which cannot be obtained in other ways. He is the light of a cloudless morning—clearly not a figurehead. He is the rain on the fresh grass. In short, a godly ruler is not optional if a nation is to flourish as God intended.

Dealing with Bramble Men

What is the alternative? The phrase sons of Belial means sons of worthlessness, and they cannot be persuaded by argument. Neither can they be seized by hand—they are bramble men, covered with thorns.

These thorns must be raked together with weapons, which gives a political force to the metaphor, and then when they have been heaped together, the only thing for it is to burn the pile of them.

This image for worthless rulers, judges, and lawmakers had been used before—Gideon’s son Jotham told the men of Israel a very pointed parable (Judg.9:14-15). He gave them that parable from the top of mount Gerizim (Judg. 9:7)—the mount from which blessings were pronounced. Mount Ebal was the mount of cursing.

So judgment upon wicked rulers is a blessing for the people. “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: But when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Prov. 29:2). When the cause of that mourning is removed, the people rejoice. To curse the wicked in their office is to bless the people.

One of the snares that comes from living in a democratic republic—along with the blessing of regular elections, without tanks in the streets—is that we come to think that everything must be addressed by endless discussion and debate. But when bramble men have gotten themselves established, as they have in our nation, there is no way to address it apart from judgment. That judgment must not be a vigilante judgment, but it must be an actual judgment.

And when it is declared, when it is pronounced, the word comes down as a blessing. It is a declaration from Gerizim.

Introduction

With just a few variations, this chapter is also found in Scripture as Psalm 18. A common feature of ancient Hebrew writing is to conclude an extended narrative with a song, as Deuteronomy does, or as we see with Jacob’s prophecies at the end of Genesis. In this case, we find the narrative of both books of Samuel bookended with Hannah’s song and with David’s. Because I have preached through Psalm 18 before, in this message we will focus on one fascinating aspect of the psalm.

The Text

“And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer . . .” (2 Sam. 22:1–51).

Summary of the Text

The psalm was written in the aftermath of God’s deliverance of David from Saul (v. 1), but it is also appropriately placed here, near the end of David’s life. God is David’s Rock and Fortress (vv. 2-3). No matter the distress, God is there to be called upon (vv. 4-7). When God intervenes, and comes down, He does not do it in a small way (vv. 8-16). But this is not just directionless power; God actually delivers David in real time (vv. 17-20). God delivered David in accordance with his righteousness (vv. 21-25). God uses our own currency in His dealings with us (vv. 26-27). God on high looks down on those who lift themselves up, and He takes them down (v. 28). God enlightens and enables (vv. 29-30). God is the power and strength of the warrior (vv. 31-43). God gives David authority over the heathen (vv. 44-49). He is therefore worthy of all praise (v. 50), and David exults in the final fulfillment of all of God’s kindness in the coming of the Messiah (v. 51).

High and Low

In verse 28, David says that God’s eyes are upon the haughty, and He eyes them because He is taking aim. To walk in the sleekness of your own conceits is to walk along while in God’s crosshairs. This is a similar theme as what we find in Hannah’s great psalm. God throws down the proud, and He lifts up the lowly. Note that when David lays open his life before God, telling God that he has been righteous, this does not automatically place him among the proud.
Pride does not consist in understanding your life. “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3). Pride is when you choose your own assessment over against the assessment of God. It is folly, when God is telling a particular story for your life, to try to shout Him down with your own version. Everyone one of us has a narrative for our own lives. How well does it line up with God’s narrative for our lives?

But when God declares you righteous, is it humility to argue with Him? When God moves to deliver you, as David recounts that God did for him, is it humility to refuse to go with Him? Humility means agreement with God. It does not amount to automatic “worm theology.”

What It Means to Be Blameless

How are we to understand justification by faith alone, in the light of what David says here (vv. 21-25)? How could this possibly fit with sola fide?

We have to recognize that the Bible speaks of righteousness in two different ways—one vertical and the other horizontal. One is absolute, and the other is relative. One is fixed, and the other is comparative. If we don’t grasp this, we will soon be hopelessly confused, and we will be confused on a point that is right near the heart of the gospel.

First, the psalmist knew, as thoroughly as the apostle Paul did, that no flesh will be justified in the sight of God based on our own performance. “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, That thou mayest be feared” (Ps. 130:3–4). And Paul knows, as thoroughly as the psalmist, that there is such a thing as human righteousness. “A bishop must be blameless . . .” (1 Tim. 3:2). Paul knew that his behavior toward the Ephesians was faultless (Acts 20:25-27). He was upright in his dealings with the Thessalonians also. “For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness” (1 Thess. 2:5). The apostle Paul once said, in the book of Romans, something very similar to this sentiment by David.

“Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life . . . But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile” (Rom. 2:6–10).

But Scripture expects us to use, with understanding, two different scales. God is absolute holiness, and to be in fellowship with Him, we need the absolute righteousness of Jesus—David needed that as much as we do, and vice versa. Justification before God is found in Christ alone.

But when this justification happens, does anybody ever notice? And when it is noticed, how does Scripture talk about it? Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations (Gen. 6:9). Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God (Deut. 18:13). And what about the parents of John the Baptist? “And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6). But use your head. The ordinances of the Lord included instructions on how to approach the Lord with your guilt offerings. Zechariah and Elizabeth were blameless because of how they handled their sins.

The Lord’s Table

God is a tower of salvation. God shows mercy to His anointed—David, and David’s great Son were the anointed of God. But as God’s anointed, David was a recipient of mercy.

In the salvation that God brings, therefore, never forget that justification and sanctification have met, and they have kissed each other. Mercy and truth have met, and they have kissed (Ps. 85:10).

Introduction

We have concluded the main narrative of Samuel, and have now come to an a-chronological coda, tying up some loose ends from the David story. The fact that the “appendix” is deliberately thought through can we see in the fact that the coda is a chiasm. That chiasm is straightforward—we have A. deliverance from a natural disaster in Israel (21:1-14), B. giant-killing (21:15-22), C. then a song of David (22:1-51), C’ then David’s last words (23:1-7), B’ then the heroics of the 33 (23:8-39), and last A’ deliverance from another natural disaster (24:1-25).

The Text

“Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites . . .” (2 Sam. 21:1-22)

Summary of the Text

There was a three-year famine in the land, and when David inquired of the Lord, he was told that it was because of bloodguilt that Saul had incurred against the Gibeonites (v. 1). So David summoned the Gibeonites (v. 2), and asked them what he could do (v. 3). The Gibeonites did not ask for money, but did hint about the need for blood (v. 4). They charged Saul with a crime (v. 5), and asked for seven of his descendants to be killed (v. 6). David spared Mephibosheth from this (v. 7). But the king turned over two sons of Rizpah, and five sons of Merab (vv. 8-9), and they were all hanged. Rizpah made a lean-to out of sackcloth and stayed near the bodies from April to the following fall (v. 10), protecting them from birds. When David heard of this (v. 11), he arranged for an honorable burial (vv. 12-14).

We now are reading exploits off the giant-killer plaque. So another time, the Philistines went to war with Israel, and David grew weak in the fight (v. 15). Ishbi-benob, a giant, almost killed David (v. 16), but Abishai saved him (v. 17). As a result, the men of David said that he would not go out to fight with them anymore. Another time Sibbechai killed Saph, another giant (v. 18). Yet another time Elhanan killed Goliath the Gittite (v. 19). Elhanan is likely another name for David. There was another giant from Gath, and Jonathan, David’s nephew, killed him (vv. 20-21). In sum, these four were born to “the giant in Gath,” and were all dispatched by David and his men (v. 22).

That Bloody House

The Gibeonites were that Canaanite tribe that tricked Joshua (Josh. 9:15), and Joshua plainly said that to violate this covenant would result in wrath upon Israel (Josh. 9:20). At first blush, the whole episode feels like scapegoating, plain and simple. This does not appear to be a simple criminal justice case because the language of expiation and atonement is used (v. 3, 6).

At the same time, the text plainly commends David for what he does here. A famine afflicts Israel for three years, and God says that it is because of Saul’s treatment of the Gibeonites (v. 1). We don’t have the record of what particularly Saul did to the Gibeonites, but presumably he did not do it single-handed. The most reasonable explanation here is that the men who were killed were complicit in whatever it was that Saul had done. God calls Saul’s house a bloody house (v. 1). The law explicitly forbids punishing a son for his father’s crime (Dt. 24:16), and so this means that these men were apparently not innocent bystanders. Since the Gibeonites were “hewers of wood and drawers of water” for the tabernacle (Josh. 9:23), it is possible that they were massacred when Saul attacked Ahimelech at Nob (1 Sam. 21).

Nevertheless the Gibeonites took their vengeance far beyond appropriate bounds by refusing an honorable burial to the executed men—which in the ancient world was an appalling thing to do. Because of this, Rizpah acts the part of a Hebrew Antigone, and takes care of the bodies. When David hears of this, he has the remains of Saul and Jonathan brought back to the tomb of Kish, and he buries these men together with them. At this point, God relieves the land from the blight of famine.

A Quick Side Note

The Authorized Version says that five of the men were sons of Michal, David’s wife. The manuscripts are divided on this, some saying Michal and some referring to her sister Merab. But Merab is the one who married Adriel (1 Sam. 18:19), and Michal is said to have had no children (2 Sam 6:23). So we should go with Merab here.

The Glory of Giant-Killing

Just as one of the themes of Scripture is dragon-slaying, as we saw last week, so also another theme is the theme of giant-killing. The fact that both of these motifs are common in our folklore, from St. George to Jack and the Beanstalk, indicates that more is going on than over-active imaginations. Just as the gospel is the good news of the dragon-slayer, so also is the gospel the good news of the giant killer. Incidentally, because it is easy to dismiss this kind of thing as the stuff of fairy tales, it is important to note that we know more about this than we think we do. One Robert Wadlow of Illinois (d. 1940) was 8 feet 11 inches. He is the tallest person on record about whose height there is no dispute.

The rebellion that God quelled at the Flood was a rebellion of giants (Gen. 6:4). When the children of Israel were first confronted with the task of conquering Canaan, they were confronted with the fact that the land was filled with giants (Num. 13:33). Great giants of the Bible were Anak (Josh. 15:14), Goliath (1 Sam. 17), and Og (Josh. 12:4; Deut. 3:10). David first made his mark in the history of Israel by killing Goliath of Gath with his sling and a stone. Because a cubit varies, Goliath was somewhere between 9 and 11 feet. Incidentally, this was not a little rubber band slingshot, but was rather a weapon of war (Judg. 20:16), the stone of which was about the size of a modern softball. Here, at the end of David’s career, we see that he and his men were conducting the final mop-up operations. They killed these last four giants.

What about the New Testament? The gospel of Luke compares the Lord Jesus with a strong champion who defeats the strong man, and who takes his panoply (his armor). The language is strongly reminiscent of David’s defeat over Goliath. And so what does this mean for us? The invasion of Canaan is a type for the antitype of the Great Commission. Canaan was full of giants, and so is the unbelieving world today. The greatness of the opposition is part of the point. This must never be used as an excuse on our part for whining about how big they are. They are supposed to be big. They are giants. Instead of worrying about how big they are—too big to fight—we should be rejoicing in the fact that they are too big to miss.

The Panoply of God

“Yea, truth faileth; And he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him That there was no judgment. And he saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor: Therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; And his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, And an helmet of salvation upon his head; And he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloke” (Is. 59:15–17).

This theme is picked up by Paul in Ephesians . . .
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:13–18).

We are told to put on the armor of God, but we are also told to put on Jesus Himself.
“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:14).
Tie truth around your waist—and the Lord Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). Strap on the breastplate of righteousness—and the Lord Jesus is our righteousness (Jer. 33:16). Put gospel shoes on your feet—and the Lord Jesus is the gospel (2 Thess. 1:8). Take up the shield of faith, and the Lord Jesus is our faith (Gal. 3:22). Put the helmet of salvation on your head—and the Lord Jesus is your salvation (1 Thess. 5:9). Take the sword of the Spirit into your hand, which is the word of God—and the Lord Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1).

When we put on the Lord Jesus, we are not doing it for a fashion show. We put on the Lord Jesus at the armory of God, which is the gospel of grace. And we do it because there are giants in the land.

Introduction

At the conclusion of chapter 19, hot words were exchanged between the men of Israel and the men of Judah—with the men of Judah being the harsher of the two. This created an opportunity for a demagogue to arise, and history shows us that such opportunities are seldom neglected.

The Text

“And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel . . .” (2 Sam. 20:1).

Summary of the Text

For most of this chapter, this account is structured in a chiasm:

A. Tents and trumpets (2 Sam. 20: 1-2);

B. David orders the rebellion be dealt with (2 Sam. 20: 3-7);

C. Joab takes out Amasa (2 Sam. 20: 8-13);

B’ Joab deals with the rebellion (2 Sam. 20:14-22a);

A’ Tents and trumpets (2 Sam. 20:22b).

A worthless man named Sheba reverses the claims of Israel, moving from “ten parts” in the king to “no part” in the king (v. 1), and this son of Belial initially got quite a following (v. 2). David returned to Jerusalem, and that return is simply marked in the pathetic story about the concubines (v. 3). David then told Amasa to muster the troops within three days in order to go after Sheba (v. 4), which Amasa failed to do (v. 5). Remember that Amasa had been Absalom’s commander, and David would have to have been none too sure about him. So David commanded Abishai to pursue Sheba (v. 6). But in the next breath we see the pursuit is taken up byJoab’s men (v. 7), along with David’s personal bodyguard. When they got to Gibeon, they met Amasa (v. 8). Joab had arranged for his sword to be loose and available in an unusual place. He greeted Amasa treacherously (v. 9), and then struck him in the fifth rib (v. 10). He didn’t have to strike him twice, and Amasa died in a welter of blood. One of Joab’s men then rallied the troops in the name of Joab and David, with Joab’s name tellingly first (v. 11). But the body of Amasa was hindering the pursuit (v. 12), and so he was pulled out of the road and covered up (v. 13).

By the time Sheba got to the fortified city of Abel in the far north, he didn’t have nearly the following he had at the beginning (v. 14). It becomes apparent by this point that he was not the real threat. Joab and his army besieged the city (v. 15), and a wise woman of the city cried out to Joab (v. 16)—in poetry. She confirmed his identity (v. 17), and then spoke to him about what he was doing. She told him that Abel was known as a city of wisdom, not a city of rebellion (vv. 18-19). Why would you destroy such a city? Joab denied the accusation (v. 20). The problem here was Sheba, he said (v. 21). The wise woman was clearly one with authority, and she promised that the rebel head would be thrown over the wall immediately. She then went and had it arranged (v. 22). Good to his word, Joab blew a trumpet, and every man returned to his tent (v. 22).

In the new consolidation, the roster of authorities is then given, and Joab is at the head of the list (v. 23). Benaiah was commander of the bodyguard (v. 23). Adoram was in charge of the corvée, or forced labor (v. 24), with Jehoshaphat as the recorder (v. 24). Sheva was scribe (v. 25), and Zadok and Abiathar continued as priests in the public worship (v. 25). A man named Ira apparently replaced David’s sons as a private priest, as a private chaplain of sorts (v. 26).

The Blood of Gibeon

Joab killed Amasa at Gibeon by stabbing him in the belly. Gibeon was the same place where civil war had broken out originally, when there had been a choreographed combat between 12 champions from both sides (2 Sam. 2). As you recall, all 24 had died the same way—and in the same way that Amasa dies here. Joab kills Amasa by a similar method to the one he had used on Abner (2 Sam. 3:27).

The Joabite

As this history unfolds, we see how Joab—a highly skilled and competent man—placed his foundational allegiance. Joab was, at the end of the day, a true blue Joabite. And the structure of the narrative shows us that Joab, although he dispatched the threat posed by Sheba, was in fact himself the threat posed by Sheba. Joab succeeded in hamstringing the king, and there wasn’t a thing in the world that David could do about it. In fact, this amounts to an almost coup. This is why David leaves the problem of Joab to his son, Solomon.

The Wise Woman and the Head Wound

One of the great redemptive themes of Scripture is given to us in the first pages of the Bible. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
heel” (Gen. 3:15). We are given a number of glimpses of this throughout Scripture. A woman throws a millstone from a tower, and it crushes Abimelech’s head (Judg. 9:53). Jael, the wife of Heber, nails Sisera’s head to the ground with a tent peg (Judg. 4:21). Esther arranges to have Haman hanged by the neck until dead (Esther 7:1). We have this incident, where a wise woman arranges to have the head of a son of Belial thrown over the wall—yet another deliverance via yet another woman who administers a head wound. When a wise woman kills a foolish man, you can expect it to be a head wound. And never forget that godly women aresly.

In the New Testament, we have the same promise discussed in terms of its ultimate fulfillment. We, the congregation of Christ, are the bride of Christ, and we are that wise woman. “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen” (Rom. 16:20). This is a head wound, and it is administered by the bride of Christ, by the woman of faith.

Introduction

We saw in the previous chapter that the death of Absalom was a reverse type of the death of the great son of David. We will see in this chapter another set of related contrasts—the attitude and response of the respective fathers involved.

The Text

“And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom. And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son . . .” (2 Samuel 19:1-43)

Summary of the Text

Joab was told that David was in mourning (v. 1). The victory of the people was consequently turned into mourning (v. 2). The troops crept back into the city, as though they had been defeated (v. 3). The king covered his face, and cried out loudly (v. 4)—meaning that he could not see or hear. Joab came in and rebuked him bluntly (vv. 5-6). He tells him to get out there and review the troops (v. 7). Word spread that the king had come out, and the troops appeared before him (v. 8).

But things were still very unsettled politically (vv. 9-10). Israel wanted bring him back, so David sent word to Judah—why should you be last to bring back the king (vv. 11-12)? And David offered Amasa command of the army instead of Joab (v. 13), which would be like Lincoln offering a post-war command to Robert E. Lee. And so Judah, which had been with Absalom, came back to David, and so the king came back to them (vv. 14-15).

David was met by Shimei (v. 16), and then Ziba (v. 17). As the king was ferried across Jordan, Shimei pled for mercy (vv. 18-20). Abishai, true to form, wanted to execute Shimei, but David refused (vv. 21-23). Then Mephibosheth came—he had been in mourning the entire time (v. 24). He reported how Ziba had slandered him (vv. 25-28). David divided the land between Ziba and Mephibosheth (v. 29). Mephibosheth responded with great grace (v. 30). Barzillai, although old, met David, who offered to bring him back to Jerusalem. He declined being too old, and requested a blessing for Chimham instead (vv. 31-40). Judah escorted the king, along with half of Israel (v. 40). All Israel objected to the king (v. 41), and the men of Judah responded angrily and defensively (v. 42). The men of Israel retorted, but the men of Judah were harsher (v. 43).

David Restored, But Rattled

When David was in mourning, it was extravagant mourning, and inarticulate. When Saul and Jonathan had died, he had composed a moving elegy. When Abner was killed, he did the same thing. When his son by Bathsheba died, his words were sober and composed. But here, he just disintegrates. He covers his face and loudly cries, trying to shut out the world. Joab successfully rebukes him, but when David goes out to the troops, he does not speak to them as Joab had demanded. His subsequent behavior indicates that this episode did not endear David to Joab.

When David decides between Mephibosheth and Ziba, this is likely another indication that he does not have the strength or clarity of mind to cut through the competing claims. It is possible that his decision was a final test for Mephibosheth. If so, he passed, but it is more likely that David is simply weary.

On top of this, when David comes back to Jerusalem, he does not have the moral authority to keep the tribes from breaking out into a quarrel right in front of him. And Absalom had gotten much of his influence by complaining back in chapter 15 about how there was unequal treatment between tribes. There was a simmering discontent there that has not been addressed. There is an indication here that David was favoring rebellious Judah, much as he had favored rebellious Absalom.

Sons of Satan

When Shimei pleads for mercy, David gives it to him. Shimei is plainly more than just a private citizen here— he comes with a thousand men from Benjamin, and also represents to a certain extent “the house of Joseph.” David grants mercy, and fiercely rebukes Abishai, who claimed he wanted to defend David’s honor with blood.

Shimei is a stand-in for Absalom, and David forgives him. Note that he uses the plural in his rebuke—you sons of Zeruiah. This means it is likely that he has found out Joab’s role in the killing of Absalom. He calls Abishai a satan (adversary). When David appointed Amasa as commander, he was doing two things. He was demoting Joab (or so he thought), and he was consolidating the nation again. But this was a satan that would not go away readily.

Ascending Loyalty

As David comes back to Jerusalem, he is met by different kinds of people, and there is an ascending order of loyalty in it. First is Shimei, who confesses his treason. Then there is Ziba, who was a political friend, but who had falsehood in his heart. Then came Mephibosheth, who was true to David, but was falsely represented as a traitor. Last, David meets Barzillai, whose loyalty was unquestioned. David comes back into power, but after this insurrection, his hold on things is pretty tenuous.

Two Fathers

Joab rebuked David for preferring the life of Absalom over the lives of the people. The Father of Jesus Christ, by way of contrast, preferred the lives of His people over the life of His Son.

David saw himself in Absalom, and wanted to die in Absalom’s stead (2 Sam. 18:33). This can be a godly impulse, as we see in both Moses and Paul (Ex. 32:32; Rom. 9:3), and both those godly examples happen in the midst of conflict, just as here. The desire of Moses is expressed right after the Levites had been sent to slay the idolaters, and Paul’s desire is expressed concerning those who were trying to kill him—his enemies. But in David’s case, there is something misplaced, something wrong with it. He was not living in a world with just two people in it. As Joab pointed out, to love Absalom in the way he did was tantamount to hating the people who loved him as their king. Joab was right about this, and David accepted it—but Joab was right in the wrong way. God the Father acted quite differently. David would have sacrificed all his people for the sake of his son, on Joab’s account. But God sacrificed His Son for the sake of His people “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). God the Father does not cover His face and wail over your salvation. It was His settled purpose and intent. God gave up His Son willingly, and David most unwillingly.