2 Samuel 5:1-25

This land is your land.

This land is my land.

From California to the New York Islands,

from the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters,

this land was made for you and me.

So sang Woody Guthrie in the 1940s about the United States,

a land overflowing with promise and worthy of musical adulation.

This song and the vision of America that it captures

have found so much resonance that in 2002,

the Library of Congress deemed the song a national treasure,

worthy of a spot in the National Recording Registry.

In a strange irony,

the family of Guthrie would later report that on trips to Communist China,

they would sometimes overhear little Chinese children singing

in broken and stunted English those same words.

California, New York, Redwood Forest, all of it, all about China.

A deep and strange irony, but perhaps understandable,

for men and women all over the world have often looked upon their own land

with admiration, joy, excitement, and broken into song.

Human beings are creatures of location, of place,

and we tend to think of those places as important,

as having an importance that cannot simply be minimized down to a particular bit of real estate.

There's culture associated with the place.

New Haveners brag about our pizza.

Texans brag about their barbecue.

In fact, all the South argues about their barbecue.

Don't get in the middle of fights about the barbecue.

Paris is synonymous with romance.

New York City is identical with a young man or woman's desire

to leave an old life behind and make it for themselves in the world.

Location matters.

In our text for this evening,

we see God showing the importance of location

by keeping a promise he made to David

to make him king over all of Israel,

which is itself a partial fulfillment of the promise that God made to Abraham.

And this part of the promise is tied to a particular place.

Jerusalem.

The city of David.

The city, indeed, of God.

Think about all of the meaning associated with the city of Jerusalem.

Perhaps one of the most important,

perhaps the most important city in the history of mankind.

Jerusalem.

And in our passage tonight,

we see Jerusalem fall into the hands of the Israelites for the first time.

But just as a way of recap,

let's talk about where we've been.

Through our sermon series in 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel,

which has been going on for a little while now,

we have seen Israel cry out for a king.

And God answers this cry in Saul.

Saul is anointed to fill this position,

but Saul very quickly, it seems,

disqualifies himself.

Just a few years previous to our passage now,

he was killed in a fight with the Philistines,

he and his son.

But there was another one in Israel.

Another one who was also anointed king,

even before the death of Saul.

And this was David.

David had been anointed king over the southern tribes of Judah,

but the northern tribes of Israel

were still having a little bit of a power fight.

Trying to see who would secede Saul.

That power struggle has left both good men and bad men dead.

And that's where we are in our story

when we arrive at our text for this evening.

2 Samuel chapter 5.

2 Samuel 5 · chapter mention

Let's look at that text now.

And as we read it together and try to make some sense of it,

I hope that we'll see one thing.

My main overarching point for this evening is,

the Lord establishes his servant in Zion.

The Lord establishes his servant in Zion.

So, let's read together 2 Samuel 5.

Here's what we'll do.

We'll read a section at a time,

I'll make some brief comments on that section,

and then at the end we'll come back and we'll sum it all up.

Okay?

So, 2 Samuel chapter 5.

2 Samuel 5 · chapter mention

The first thing I want you to see is that

the Lord establishes his servant in Zion

among a united people.

The Lord establishes his servant in Zion

among a united people.

2 Samuel 5, verse 1.

2 Samuel 5:1

Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron.

Let's back up for a minute.

Quick geography lesson.

Okay?

What I want you to do is make a fist like this with your hands.

This is the topography of Israel.

Okay?

On your knuckles, that's the west, that's the Mediterranean.

And then Israel goes up,

and your knuckles right here are the mountain range.

Jerusalem sits right up here,

and then it goes down into the Dead Sea.

Okay?

That's how it goes west to east.

Now, north to south.

Take your hand like this.

This is the south.

This is the north.

You've got Golan Heights.

Jerusalem is right about here.

And this is Hebron down in this area,

and then this desert.

Okay?

Now you can sort of use your two hands like this,

and you've got your map of Israel.

Okay?

Here we go.

All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron.

Tribes of Israel are in the north.

Hebron's down here.

And said,

Behold, we are your bone and flesh.

In times past,

when Saul was king over us,

it was you who led out and brought in Israel.

And the Lord said to you,

You shall be shepherd of my people Israel,

and you shall be a prince over Israel.

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron,

and King David made a covenant with him at Hebron before the Lord,

and they anointed David king over Israel.

David was 30 years old when he began to reign,

and he reigned 40 years.

At Hebron, he reigned over Judah seven years and six months.

And at Jerusalem, he reigned over all Israel and Judea 33 years.

So when you think of Israel,

think of these northern tribes.

When you think of Judah,

think of these southern tribes.

Okay?

What's happening here

is that our passage begins with this brief,

yet tremendously important interaction

between David and the elders of Israel.

The elders of Israel recognized that

even during the reign of Saul,

it was David who led out Israel in battle

and brought them back in in battle.

It was David who had the real Lord's anointing,

even during the reign of Saul.

But this introduced a problem, you see,

both the problem of succession

and now a problem of geography.

The elders want to go over to the side of David,

but his kingdom is way down here in the south.

How is he supposed to rule over these northern tribes

if he's all the way down south?

He needs to get up and move.

The most strategic city for ruling over

this entire kingdom of Israel

had to be a centrally located, well-fortified city.

Ah, but there was a problem.

For precisely such a city existed

and unfortunately it was inhabited by enemies.

Don't you hate when that happens?

This city, city of the Jebusites,

existed right in the heart of Israelite territory

in a city surrounded by mountains

and difficult to lay siege to.

A city so well defended and so fortified

that none of the previous conquests

were able to dislodge its inhabitants

who were called Jebusites.

Joshua 15, 63.

Remember Joshua is, he comes in

and he does the conquest over all of Israel

or almost all of Israel.

Joshua 15, 63 says that Judah

could not dislodge the Jebusites

who were living in Jerusalem.

To this day, the Jebusites live there

with the people of Judah.

So they take over the whole area

except this little citadel of the Jebusites.

They stay surrounded by Israelites.

Their presence there represented

not only a threat to the safety

of the Israelites in the area,

but also the fact that God's promise

to give that whole area to Israel

was still unfulfilled.

Now the people were united

and that promise had to take a step forward.

Unfulfilled until now.

Let's keep reading and see what happens.

And the king and his men

went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites.

Verse six.

The inhabitants of the land

who said to David,

you will not come in here.

The blind and the lame will ward you off.

Thinking David can't come in here.

Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion.

That is the city of David.

And David said on that day,

whoever would strike the Jebusites,

let him get up the water shaft

to attack the lame and the blind

who are hated by David's soul.

Therefore it is said,

the blind and the lame

shall not come into the house.

And David lived in the stronghold

and called it the city of David.

And David built the city all around

from the millow inward.

And David became greater and greater

for the Lord, the God of hosts,

was with him.

I want you to see here

that the Lord establishes his servant in Zion

in keeping with his promise.

In keeping with his promise.

The promise was that he would give

all of the land of Israel

to the people of Israel.

But they hadn't had this little bit yet.

And insofar as it didn't have this little bit,

the promise was still unfulfilled.

So, David goes to take the city of the Jebusites.

And indeed, David's triumph over Jerusalem

is so swift that the narrator

doesn't even give any lengthy account of the battle.

Often you'll read verses and verses

about how the battle went.

These guys are smack talking

and they don't even get a recounting of the battle.

It's that decisive.

We just know that David set a strategy.

The strategy was quickly followed,

precisely followed,

and with devastating effect.

Now, these passages here

about the lame and the blind,

they've vexed some.

It seems that David really has it out

for lame people and blind people.

That's problematic, it seems.

Let's see if we can give some explanation

for what's going on here.

Here's what I think is happening.

I think what's happening here

is that the Jebusites,

emboldened by their generations

of unbroken security,

have gotten a little overconfident.

And like a few cocky kids

on a city basketball court

who don't realize an NBA star

is in their midst,

they start smack talking David.

The blind and the lame will ward you off.

Which is something like

the 11th century BC equivalent of

you play ball like a girl.

In response,

David adopts the same language

to describe the Jebusites,

the lame and the blind,

and he calls their bluff

by soundly defeating them.

So, it's not that David hates

people with physical handicaps.

He's just smack talking back

to the Jebusites.

Someone should write a theology

of smack talking.

I think it would be very interesting.

You can read a lot of what Paul says

about death

as smack talking with death.

Where is your victory?

Where is your sting?

Nana, Nana, Nana, Nana.

You play ball like a girl.

That's what Paul is saying to death.

It's a beautiful thing.

Can't get into that now.

So, the promise that God made

to Abraham to give his descendants

this land is one step closer

to fulfillment.

David now makes his own abode

in the fortress city

that he just conquered,

and his resounding victory

attracts attention

from his international neighbors.

Let's keep reading here.

Hiram, king of Tyre,

sent messengers to David

and cedar trees,

also carpenters and masons

who built David a house.

And David knew

the Lord had established him

king over Israel

and that he had exalted his kingdom

for the sake of his people Israel.

And David took more concubines

and wives from Jerusalem

after he came from Hebron

and more sons and daughters

were born to David.

And these are the names of those

who were born to him in Jerusalem.

Shemua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

Ibar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,

Elishema, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

David now controls

a strategic fortress city.

And he's demonstrated his ability

to wage war against those

who stand in his way.

But we see here

the Lord establishes his servant

in Zion for the joy of the nations,

the joy of the nations around him.

The king of Tyre, you see,

in Lebanon,

wisely decides to make peace

with the man of David's stature

and strength.

And this peace is solidified

by the king of Tyre,

bringing the wealth

and riches of his country

into the service of David.

This is the third mention

in this text

of the fact that the Lord

was with David.

It was becoming more

and more evident.

The Lord is on David's side

and everyone is realizing it.

However, there is a dark shadow

in this particular section as well.

Another way that David

will attempt to make

his own power known

is by taking lots and lots

of foreign wives,

which was a natural thing

for a leader of the time to do

to make alliances

and sort of keep his fingers

in the alliances

in the countries around him.

But it's also something

that Deuteronomy explicitly

prohibits the king from doing.

The king shall not acquire

many wives for himself,

lest his heart be turned away.

Deuteronomy 17, 17.

This would be a problem

for David's reign.

Notice that one of the sons

here is Solomon

and all of David's sinful scheming

surrounding his taking

of Bathsheba, Solomon's mother,

is skipped over here

in this story.

It's going to be a problem

that he takes these wives,

but the greater problem

will be for David's son Solomon,

who follows in his father's footsteps

and comes to ruin because of it.

Following your father's footsteps

and you come to ruin.

It's a bad fatherly example.

Nevertheless,

it is now beyond a doubt

to all that would pay attention

that David's is a kingdom

that is anointed by God,

even though it still has

the sinful shadow

of having taken too many wives.

However, there's still work to do

in pacifying the land,

which is the last portrait

provided to us in our story.

And we'll turn there now.

Verse 17.

When the Philistines heard

that David had been anointed

king over Israel,

all the Philistines went up

to search for David.

All the Philistines.

But David heard of it

and went down to the stronghold.

Now the Philistines had come

and spread out in the valley

of Rephaim.

This is right around Jerusalem,

by the way.

Did David inquire of the Lord,

Shall I go up against the Philistines?

Will you give them into my hand?

And the Lord said to David,

Go up,

for I will certainly give

the Philistines into your hand.

And David came to Baal-Parazim

and David defeated them there.

And he said,

The Lord has broken

through my enemies

before me like a breaking flood.

Therefore the name of that place

is called Baal-Parazim.

And the Philistines

left their idols there

and David and his men

carried them away.

The Philistines came up yet again

and spread out

in the valley of Rephaim.

Same place.

When David inquired of the Lord,

he said,

You shall not go up.

Go around their rear

and come up against them

opposite the balsam trees.

And when you hear the sounds

of marching the tops

of the balsam trees,

then rouse yourself.

For then the Lord

has gone out before you

to strike down

the army of the Philistines.

And David did

as the Lord commanded him

and struck down the Philistines

from Geba to Gezer.

So then,

the last way

that we see the Lord

establishes his servant in Zion,

the Lord establishes

his servant in Zion

by defeating his enemies.

The Lord establishes

his servant in Zion

by defeating his enemies.

Now that David

has captured

the city of Jerusalem,

he's in an important position

to begin making

military incursions

against the Philistines

who were just marauding

across the northern parts

of Israel

whose leaders

had just anointed

David king over them.

The Philistines

were a seafaring people

that came from

the Mediterranean coast

and they were coming in

and they were waging war

little by little

against the tribes of Israel

who had just signed

their allegiance

over to David.

Now it's David's problem.

And he goes

to wage war against them.

And he

consults the Lord

for his war plan

and drives them out

consistently.

David's really,

really good

at killing Philistines.

He's incredibly good at it.

One of the strange things

about David

is when you read

all these beautiful,

romantic,

glorious,

emotive psalms,

you should think of them

as being written

by a man

with enormous biceps

who probably can kill

people with his hands

in dozens of different ways.

He's an incredibly

complex figure.

But notice what happens.

In all of his war

for and against

the Philistines,

the Lord is with

David.

The Lord is with David

and the Lord being

with David

shows the Philistines

and all those

who are around

who the true God is.

Notice this insertion

in verse 21.

The Philistines

left their idols there.

Why?

Why did they bring

these idols?

Presumably because

they would support them

in the war effort.

Presumably because

they would give them

the victory.

And as they were

being routed,

they quickly realized

these aren't so important

to us anymore.

Let's leave them behind.

And the Israelites

captured the foreign gods

showing that they are

in fact nothing

but sticks and stones.

So then the conclusion

of our passage,

we see the Lord

is with David

in at least

four different ways.

And the Lord

has established

his servant

in Zion.

Now,

now that we have

a greater sense

of what this passage

is talking about,

does it have anything

for us

beyond simply

a fascinating

and perhaps even

encouraging

history tale?

I think it does.

I think David

himself

thought so.

Turn with me

over to Psalm chapter 2.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

The second Psalm.

I have said

that this passage

shows us

God establishing

his servant

in Zion.

Zion,

Mount Zion,

Jerusalem.

Look what David

says

in Psalm 2,

6.

As for me,

speaking in the voice

of God,

I have set my king

on Zion,

my holy hill.

So if you were

to read this Psalm,

you could immediately

see a lot of parallels

here.

The Lord

is protecting

his people Israel

against the nations

all around them

and the result

of this

is that he has

placed his king

on Zion,

his holy hill.

But as you

continue reading,

you see,

for example,

I will tell

of the decree.

The Lord said to me,

you are my son,

today I have begotten you.

The ends of the earth

shall be your possession,

etc., etc.

It goes on and on

and quickly it becomes

clear that if this is

referring only and simply

to David,

it's a good bit

of hyperbole.

There seems to be

something else

going on here.

And indeed,

writers in the New Testament

would see this Psalm

as applying

not only to David,

but indeed even

to Jesus.

So then look at

these points again

in regard now

not only

to David,

but to the Lord

himself.

The Lord

establishes

his servant

in Zion

at the head

of a united people.

David

here stands

in in some ways

for our Messiah

Christ.

And just as

David was the one

who united

the people of Israel

around himself,

so also

Christ

is the one

who unites

his people

around himself.

There were perhaps

other Messiahs

that we have

sought after

and chased after

in previous lives,

Saul,

but these failed us.

They didn't give us

the security we desired,

the satisfaction.

They didn't unite

our hearts together

both with him

and each other.

They failed us.

But this Messiah

Christ

is different.

Like David

leading

the united tribes

of Israel

and Judah,

so also Christ

leads his

united people.

When Christ

calls people

to him,

he calls them

not only

as individuals

to him

directly,

but also

to each other.

We are,

he says,

a priesthood.

We are

a people.

We're not just

individual people.

We are

a people.

The Lord's

anointed

who sits

enthroned

in Zion

is at the

head

of a

united

people.

And secondly,

the Lord

establishes

his servant

in Zion

in keeping

with the

promise.

He promised

that he would

give them

Jerusalem.

But then,

in the book

of Hebrews,

you see this

strange thing

happening.

The strange

thing happening

is the writer

of Hebrews

holds forth

a vision

of rest

that is still

to come

and he makes

this argument.

He says,

if Joshua

in the

conquest of

Canaan

had given

them the

rest they

desired,

the fullest

rest,

they would

not have

spoken of

a rest

that was

yet to

come.

But even

when the

people of

God conquer

the land

of Israel,

they are not

finally at

rest.

We know

500 years

later they'll

be kicked

out,

they'll be

sent into

exile.

We know

a thousand

years later

after that

they'll be

kicked out

again by

the Romans,

this time

with the

king's

palace and

the temple

smashed into

pieces.

This was

not the

final rest

that God

had promised.

But when

Christ,

the better

and new

David came,

he brought

with him

a more

glorious

peace.

A full

kingdom

where no

citadels of

the enemy

yet remain.

And his

kingdom is

not only from

the Mediterranean

to the

Jordan,

his kingdom

is from

sea to

sea to

sea,

from north

to south,

from east

to west,

all over

the world.

This is

the kingdom

of which

Christ is

a king.

This is

the promise

of rest

that was

promised to

the people

of Israel,

to Abraham,

and indeed

to us.

In the book

of Romans,

Paul,

the writer

of Romans,

will say

the promise

made to

Abraham

was that

he and

his heirs

would be

heirs of

the entire

world.

The entire

world.

So this

land promise

back in the

Old Testament

was not the

final chapter

in the story.

God was

preparing for

them a

better rest,

a greater

promise

in Christ.

Christ.

Again,

the Lord

establishes

his servant

in Zion

for the

joy of

the nations.

We see

here the

king of

Tyre coming

to try to

support David

perhaps a

little bit

out of

fear.

Think of

the ways

in which

this truth

that Christ

enthroned

in Zion

is for

the joy

of the

nations.

Not only

for the

joy of

Israel,

but yes,

for the

joy of

every

people group

in the

world.

Consider,

for example,

Isaiah

Isaiah 60 · chapter mention

chapter

60.

You don't

need to

turn there.

But mark

it perhaps.

Go ahead

and have

a look

and see

how

international

Zion

is when

the Messiah

will come.

The flocks

of Kadar

will come.

The young

camels

of Midian

and Ephah.

Those

from Sheba

will come.

He says,

foreigners

shall build

up your

walls and

the kings

will minister

to you.

Your gate

will be

opened

continually

day and

night.

They shall

not be

shut that

people may

bring to

you the

wealth of

the nations

and their

kings led

in procession.

The

enthronement

of David

was bad

news for

some of

the foreigners

around him.

Indeed,

for the

Philistines,

for example.

But the

enthronement

of Christ

in Zion

is good

news for

all those

that would

be in

Christ.

This

is a

better

promise,

the joy

of the

nations.

Do you

know,

like that

treaty

that

Hiram of

Tyre made

with

David,

that Christ

has prepared

a way for

us to

have peace

with this

newly

enthroned

king?

Indeed,

even better

than the

simply building

of a house

that Hiram of

Tyre does

for David,

Christ has

made a way

through his

blood for

us to be

brothers and

sisters of

Christ himself.

Co-heirs

with Christ

is a language

the New

Testament

uses.

So we

need not

fear if

we are in

Christ,

covered by

the blood

of Jesus,

that this

enthroned

king in

Zion will

turn on us

in his

wrath.

Oh,

indeed,

he is a

wrathful

king.

And we

will see

in this

last

segment,

again,

that he

triumphs

over his

enemies from

Zion.

And we

are indeed

his enemies

if he is a

king of

righteousness,

if he is a

king of

peace,

and we

find in

ourselves

inclinations

toward

unrighteousness,

a perverse

longing for

not peace.

Any good

king of

Zion must

wage war

against those

like David

did against

the

Philistines.

But while

David could

only kill

his opponents,

Christ can

redeem his

opponents.

Christ has

two ways of

triumphing over

his opponents.

Those who

will not bow

the knee

willingly to

him will

be defeated.

But those

who eagerly

and willingly

receive the

invitation that

he has

offered to

freely accept

the truth of

the gospel

are not

only made

citizens of

his kingdom

but are

adopted into

his family.

So do you

see then that

the enthronement

of this king

in Zion

is good news

for all of

those who

place their

trust and

their hope

in this king?

do this.

If you have

not done

this, do

this.

Flee from

your sin

to Christ.

Trust in

the work

that Christ

alone can

do and

has done

for you

on the

cross.

Make peace

with this

newly

enthroned

king of

Zion

and live

in a

glorious

kingdom

forever.

Otherwise,

the Lord

establishes

his servant

in Zion

by defeating

his enemies

and you

will be

such an

enemy.

Make peace

with him

while time

yet remains.

Flee to

the king

of Zion

who is

newly

enthroned.

Amen.

Lord, I pray

now that you

would,

when we read

these stories

of David

and the

enthronement

of that king

in Zion

that we

would look

toward a

greater king,

a heavenly

king,

that reigns

over a

new

Jerusalem

that comes

down out

of heaven

made ready

for us.

We pray

that we

would make

our alliance

with him.

We thank

you that

you have

given us

a way

to peace

and righteousness

through the

blood of

Jesus,

this Davidic

king who

sacrificed

himself

for us

to make

us citizens,

to make

our standing

in the

heavenly

Zion

no less

secure

than Jesus'

standing

there is.

peace.

We thank

you that

you have

made a

way

of peace.

We thank

you that

you have

defeated

our enemies.

We pray

that we

would rejoice

in these

truths.

In the name

of Jesus

I pray.

Amen.