Now that Saul the King has died, we would expect a smooth transition and David to be made King, as God has so promised.
• Since this has been God’s plan all along, we thought everything would be neat and tidy. But it’s not going to be so.
• God can work in ways that are different and in a manner that we do not expect.
Let’s read what happened next – 2 Sam 2:1-7
David was in Ziklag when he asked God if he should return back to Israel.
• We would think that this was something expected, and you do not need to ask God, since Saul is now dead.
• But David has learned from past experiences, NOT TO PRESUME to know what is right.
• God said YES and directed him to HEBRON.
The people made him King over the territory surrounding Hebron. Jabesh Gilead came also under his rule. [See Map]
In the meantime… - 2 Sam 2:8-11.
Abner took Saul’s surviving son and fled to Mahanaim, and made him King.
• Saul and his 3 older sons were killed at Mount Gilboa by the Philistines.
• So Ish-Bosheth ruled over the major part of the Northern region (green).
Israel was divided – one run by the remnant of Saul’s house, and the other by David.
• The co-existed amiably, until something unfortunate happened.
• Abner (Saul’s commander) proposed some sort of a tournament or contest, and challenged Joab (David’s commander) to a contest – read 2 Sam 2:14-17.
This was an unnecessary game. It not only caused the death of 24 contestants, but led to an all-out fight between both sides – read 2 Sam 2:18-3:1.
This was a messy time in Israel. David was made to govern JUDAH from Hebron for 7½ years (2:11), while Ish-Bosheth rules the North.
• When would David be made King over the nation, as promised? 2 Sam 5:1-2.
In real life, chapters 2-4 is not what I would like to see. If God has promised, then many would prefer to connect chapter 1 neatly with chapter 5.
• Why must there be some more delay? Why must there be so much messy conflict?
• With Saul out of the scene, just put David neatly on the throne and fulfil Your promise.
• Those are the questions we would ask for our own lives.
The problem is, God’s time-table is not always the same as ours. God’s way is not the same as ours.
• The fact is, David has already waited some 15 years from the time he was first anointed by Samuel, to the day Saul died, clearing the throne for him.
• And for most part of that 15 years, it was hardship and adversity.
• Now that Saul is dead, David has to wait for another 7½ years before he could see God’s promise being fulfilled in his life.
And he has to contend with the remnant of Saul’s family.
• He will not fight them or exterminate them. He has made a promise to Saul when he had a chance to kill him in the cave back in 1 Sam 24.
• David promised Saul that he “will not cut off his descendants or wipe out his name from his father’s family.” (1 Sam 24:21). David will keep his oath to Saul.
All these twists and turns are not something we understand, especially when God has given His promise.
• We want God to fulfil His promises to us, quickly and in a neat and tidy way. No detours and no delays. Do it now. Give it to us now!
We have been taught to prize speed today. We want to take shortest route and the quickest way. Over the years, we’ve seen almost every aspect of life gaining speed. We eat fast-food and instant noodles, we microwave dinners, we use instant messaging; we want everything fast. In fact, being slow is almost seen like a sin.
My dad has a Window XP computer, with an obsolete OS with no upgrades. You can switch it on, go to the washroom, take you own sweet time, and then come back to see it just finished booting up. Just nice!
I still remember the words of my principal at TTC. I used to help around in the college office and one day, he overheard my comments about wanting to be fast, a couple of times. He said to me, “Don’t have to be fast. Why do you want to be so fast for?” and he just walked off, leaving me to think about it.
If this is our mindset, then we will find it hard to “BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.” (Psalm 46:10). The context emphasizes the sovereign reign of God.
• God is in no hurry to put David on the throne, we are. And when we are in a hurry, we run ahead of God. We find it hard to trust God.
God is more interested in PREPARING David for the throne, than in putting him ON the throne.
• Led by God, David went through many different experiences and adversity, all of which makes him a better KING for having endured them.
• So don’t presume that the shortest way is the best way. Don’t presume that the quickest way is the right way. We walk WITH God, not ahead of Him.
• It may look like a detour, it may look like a delay, but we trust Him. God has His time and His way. He knows what He is doing.
Our part is to INQUIRE of the Lord, just as David did and learn to obey what He says.
• 3 days ago FB reminded me of an old post in 11 Aug 2011, “God is not primarily interested in TRANSPORTING you somewhere (heaven), but rather in TRANSFORMING you into someone (like Christ).”
• The destination is not God’s greatest concern, the journey is.
David has learnt, over time and over this long journey, to submit to God and obey His ways.
• There were times he drifted and sinned, but he returned and repented in quick time.
• We see him grow in faith, not in himself but in God. We see him trusting God more and more, over the difficult circumstances.
• He might not understand how things would turn out, but he has learned not to take things into his own hands.
It will take some more time, and more adversity before we reach 2 Sam 5 and see David becoming King over all Israel.
• It’s easy to stand at Chapter 5, looking back and say, “You have to trust God, and everything will be fine, you’ll be King one day…”
• It is quite another, to stand at Chapter 2 and make sense of all that is happening.
• Can you? Can you keep faith with God? Can you trust that God’s purpose will be fulfilled? Can you trust God to lead you?
David will not just become king, he will be a BETTER King because of all that he was put through. God PREPARES His King.
• That day will come. It will surely come because God says so. The seed of the Kingdom of God has been sown.
• It may start in a small, unknown place called Hebron, but it will come.
• David’s house will be established, in God’s time and in God’s way.
Twists and turns are part and parcel of God’s sovereign work in our lives.
• We don’t like it, we don’t understand it, but we can trust Him for it.
• There is no accident with God.
Spafford wrote the words to this hymn, IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.
He was a very successful lawyer in Chicago and heavily invested in real estate. In 1871, the great Chicago fire destroyed all his downtown investment properties.
He was a devout Christian and a great supporter of his good friend Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey evangelistic ministry. After this crisis, he and his family planned a vacation trip to Britain, to rest and also to support Moody’s evangelistic campaign. Spafford sent his wife Anna and four girls — ages 11, 9, 7 and 2 — ahead while he finished up some last-minute business in Chicago.
The liner S.S. Ville Du Havre struck another ship and sank within 12 minutes, the worst naval disaster before the Titanic, killing 226 people. Mrs Spafford survived, but not their four daughters.
One story reports that Spafford wrote IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL while passing over the very spot of the ocean where his four daughters perished, while another, more reliable report, claims he wrote it two years later when Moody and Sankey were visiting his home.
The tune was written by Philip P. Bliss, and he entitled “Ville du Havre,” the name of the ship that took the lives of Spafford’s four daughters. The hymn was first sung by Bliss himself before a large gathering of ministers in D L Moody rally (Nov 24, 1876).
This is the faith we have in God. We don’t understand it all, but we trust Him.
