David Went Down Into The Hold

David Went Down Into The Hold

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2 Samuel 5:17 But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold.

2 Samuel 5:18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

2 Samuel 5:19 And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.

2 Samuel 5:20 And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim.

2 Samuel 5:21 And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.

2 Samuel 5:22 Now the Philistines came up once again and spread themselves out in the valley of Rephaim.

2 Samuel 5:23 And when David inquired of the LORD, He said, "You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

2 Samuel 5:24 "And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall act promptly, for then the LORD will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines."

2 Samuel 5:25 Then David did so, just as the LORD had commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.

This text gives us insight into how David responded when major assaults were launched against him.

We have been talking about the power of hedges of protection, and have discussed how much hurt can happen if your spiritual hedge of protection is removed, and I planned on finishing that series this week discussing how hedges were used by God to bring people into alignment with His plans, but felt God deal strongly with me about how we should respond when we are under attack.

We begin by noting the timing and the location of the attack.

The timing is the long civil war between the house of Saul and the house of David has finally concluded and David is anointing King for the 3rd time in his life. (1st by Samuel, snd by the tribe of Judah, this time by all Israel).

With the end of the civil war the enemy knew that would not be good for there continued control over the house of Israel. While Saul and David had won some significant victories up to this time the truth is the Philistines and the Moabites and the other enemies of Israel were still the dominate military parties in the area. At one point we even learn the enemy was so in control they didn't even allow blacksmiths to operate in Israel and very few had swords. That is domination by the enemy! (1 Sam 13:19)

The enemy has always known that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and full realization of the power of unity will not be understood until the story of Acts 2 unfolds for us. When they were all in one accord. ... The Holy Spirit was released in power on the church. The devil likes disunity, and fears the power of a family, a nation, or a church that is freed from that distraction. As terrible as Pearl Harbor was, it united this nation and we roared to life. There is power in unity, that is what the devil fears.

That is the timing - the devil wanted to stop a unified nation from presenting a threat.

The location is the valley of Rephaim. The valley of the giants.

In this passage of scripture you will read of two strongholds. The first is the valley of Rephaim, this is where David would face his first giant - Goliath, and where he would face them over and over again in his life. Some enemies come back again and again after you, but that is only so that you can destroy them from the root to the roof.

The second stronghold is mentioned in the first verse we read, David went down into the hold. This also was a place of fortification in the valley of Rephaim, but not for the enemy, for the man of God. In the place of the enemies stronghold God gave David a place of refuge. Illustrating for us that God can keep you safe in the very depths of hell itself, were you to find yourself there.

Turn to your neighbor and say the hold will hold you.

So that's timing and location, now let's dig in a little and see how David dealt with this whole situation.