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.