THE VERY RELATABLE LIFE OF KING DAVID
UNGODLINESS
2 Samuel 2-3
#kingdavid
INTRODUCTION… Eugene Peterson, ‘Leap Over a Wall’ pages 123-124
“They are wearing me out, these sons of Zeruiah. I know that I’m God’s anointed, I know that I’ve been [reserved against formidable odds – Goliath and Saul, Philistine wars and wilderness danger – to do this work of becoming human, becoming a person capable of representing God as king, of bringing God’s people into lives of worship and love and obedience; but these sons of Zeruiah are wearing me out. Their vendettas, their plots, their jealousies, their anger… they are wearing me out. I know God is the One with Whom I have to do and I know the task before me is glorious, but the sons of Zeruiah are wearing me out. They take so much time, require so much watching. It seems like I am spending all my time putting out the fires they set, straightening out the quarrels they start. They think they are on my side; they think that they’re helping; they think I should be grateful to them. But they don’t understand God among us. They have no idea that we’re here as God’s people – not Saul’s not David’s, but God’s. They don’t understand that our task is not to take over and run things efficiently, but to enter into what God is doing and give witness to that. These sons of Zeruiah are wearing me out; they’re too much for me.”
We can easily imagine such thoughts going through David’s mind or in his prayers or even having this conversation with one of his wives. Zeruiah was David’s half-sister and so the three sons of Zeruiah: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel were his nephews. They were family. They were with him throughout many of his trials in the valleys and victories on the mountaintops.
Let me share with you some examples. The first one happens in 1 Samuel (even though we are in 2 Samuel):
READ 1 SAMUEL 26:6-12 (ESV)
Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab's brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?” 10 And David said, “As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. 11 The LORD forbid that I should put out my hand against the LORD's anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen upon them.
In this situation, David sneaks into Saul’s camp and sneaks out again with proof that he is no threat to Saul. Yet, Abishai his nephew is with him, and encourages him to take matters into his own hands and to kill Saul while he slept. It is clear to Abishai that a good poke with a spear will make all this better! David tells Abishai that he should not kill a man God anointed as king. He could not do it. I can imagine the whole time Abishai is making sticking motions telling David to end the chase by murdering Saul. In this situation, you have one person with God on their mind and one person who does not have God on their mind.
There is another example in 2 Samuel 2 soon after David becomes king. There is a bit of a civil war happening as some of Saul’s family did not want to give up the throne to David. They secured a man named Abner the son of Ner to be their commander because he was Saul’s commander and was Saul’s cousin. He was well respected by everyone and probably taught David much about being a soldier.
READ 2 SAMUEL 2:12-17 (ESV)
Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. 14 And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” 15 Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16 And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent's side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim which is at Gibeon. 17 And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.
Did you catch what went on? What is going on in these peoples’ minds? Joab, David’s nephew is there and Abner is there. They get together and instead of an all-out battle, they choose 12 men from each side. We assume 12 symbolizing the united 12 tribes of Israel and whoever wins shows they should lead the 12 tribes. No one wins. The 24 warriors just needlessly kill each other, all die, and no one wins. In the aftermath, Abner runs away and Asahel (brother of Joab) runs after him. Abner kills him in self-defense with what seems like a defensive move with a spear making Joab and Abner not only military enemies but it got personal. I don’t ger any sense that anyone is thinking about God or inquiring of Him who the king should be or even if brothers should fight brothers. Yes, these people are Israel, but they certainly aren’t acting like God’s people.
A few chapters later, in 2 Samuel 3, we see Joab again. Abner realizes David is the legitimate king and decides to support him and bring the nation of Israel together. It might also have to do with the fact that David was winning and the son of Saul he is supporting offended him. He wants the civil war to stop. David treats him with respect, but Joab finds out.
READ 2 SAMUEL 3:26-30 (ESV)
26 When Joab came out from David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah. But David did not know about it. 27 And when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the stomach, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother. 28 Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD for the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 29 May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house, and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge or who is leprous or who holds a spindle or who falls by the sword or who lacks bread!” 30 So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.
David just completed peace talks to bring all of God’s people together under his banner and Joab kills the commander of the other side. Not in battle. He murders him. He takes revenge for the death of his youngest brother. Again, no thoughts about God, just taking the situation into his own hand and doing what he wanted. David is surrounded by people who don’t think much about God.
One of the next times we see Joab is later in 2 Samuel 11 when David is trying to cover his sin mess because of adultery. David asks Joab to set the husband of the woman of his desires in the front of the battle so he would be killed. We don’t see Joab objecting or trying to encourage David towards right thinking or godly action, but does what is asked of him. He obeys and an innocent man dies because his wife is hot. Eventually we will get to this event in David’s life, but we can clearly see that David is not on track with God and neither is Joab.
READ 2 SAMUEL 11:15-17 (ESV)
In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” 16 And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.
SUMMARY
There is a lot going on around David with his family, his extended family, and with war establishing him as the united king over Israel. As I was reading and re-reading these passages in 2 Samuel 1, 2 Samuel 2, and 2 Samuel 3, I was struck by all of the ungodliness going on. These are supposed to be the People of God. These are supposed to be those who worship God and act different and think different and live different all because of their relationship with God, but we don’t see it. We don’t see it, specifically, in the life of David’s extended family.
UNGODLINESS
What do we call what is going on around David in 2 Samuel 1-3?
What do we call what goes on inside David eventually in 2 Samuel 11?
What are David’s nephews highlighting about life?
I think it comes down to one word: Ungodliness.
SOURCE… ‘Respectable Sins,’ Jerry Bridges, NavPress, 2007, pages 47-49, 53 [adapted and quoted]
Ungodliness is a word we often mistake for other words. For example, ungodliness and wickedness or unrighteousness are not the same. A person may be nice and respectable, but still be ungodly. Ungodliness and unrighteous are different. Ungodliness describes a human attitude toward God and is not tied to a particular action like we normally think.
Jerry Bridges in his book ‘Respectable Sins,’ he says: “Ungodliness may be defined as living one’s everyday life with little or no thought of God, or of God’s will, or of God’s glory or of one’s dependence on God. You can readily see, then, that someone can lead a respectable life and still be ungodly in the sense that God is essentially irrelevant in his or her life.”
The kicker is that someone who belongs to God can be ungodly. David belonged to God. David’s nephews belonged to God. All the people fighting in 2 Samuel 1-3 are all God’s people and yet they all seem to be acting without any reference or deference to God. We can be in the same boat as them. We may not think about our accountability to God or our responsibility to live according to His will. We don’t do this on purpose, we just don’t include Him in what we are doing and what we are thinking and planning. Ungodliness is us seldom thinking about the will of God and, for the most part, are content just to avoid obvious big sins while we live the rest of our life the way we want.
Jerry Bridges also says: “Total godliness and utter ungodliness are the opposite ends of a continuum. All of us are somewhere between those two extremes. The only person Who ever lived a totally godly life was Jesus. And probably no true believer lives a totally ungodly life. But where are we on the spectrum? As you think about your own life, remember we are not talking about righteous versus wicked behavior. We are talking about living all of life as if God is relevant or irrelevant.”
WE CAN BE UNGODLY
These thoughts do apply to us. In Romans 3, the Apostle Paul is writing to Christians and quotes Psalm 53 when he says:
READ ROMANS 3:10-11 (ESV)
“None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
In Titus 2, the Apostle Paul says to his friend Titus that he needs to contend with ungodliness and shift his thinking towards godly truths. Titus is a missionary companion of the Apostle Paul. If Paul encourages him and commands him in this area, then we need the same encouragement:
READ TITUS 2:11-12 (ESV)
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age”
I guess we come back to the question I mentioned before which makes me ask even more questions, not just of you, but of myself as well:
Where are we on the continuum of godliness and ungodliness?
How much do we live daily keeping God’s will active in our minds and hearts?
What amount of time do we spend daily making sure our actions and words are relevant for Him?
Do we actively consult God’s will in our relationships and in our conversations?
When making decisions, is God relevant or irrelevant in our decision process?
Do I live as though God is relevant or do I live as though God is irrelevant?
The thing about these questions is that there is how we ‘think we are’ and then there is how we ‘actually are.’ We might in theory think because we are Christians that we make God relevant in all aspects of our lives, but that may not actually be true. We fool ourselves. We can fool other people. We can fool the person who makes us come to church. The important truth to note in this is that God is not fooled.
* God saw Abishai’s lack of thoughts about Him when he was with David.
God wanted better for Abishai.
* God saw Abner and Joab needlessly fighting; not even thinking about God’s will.
God wanted better for them.
* God saw Joab taking revenge on Abner and keeping God’s will irrelevant in his life.
God wanted better for Joab.
* God saw David and Joab ignoring God and killing a man heartlessly to cover up adultery.
God wanted better for David.
May I also say that God sees where we are ungodly in our words and attitudes and decisions and all the ways that we choose to make God irrelevant in our lives… and He wants better for us as well. God is better. God is best. God’s will and purpose and meaning for us is better than anything we feel like we can create and maintain for ourselves in this life. God desires a relationship with us where we are actively interacting with Him on a regular basis and He is left out of nothing when it comes to our lives. This is what is means to have Jesus as Savior and Lord.
SEEKING GOD OUT FROM UNDER UNGODLINESS
What then do we do? How do we come out from under ungodliness and change our minds and make God a normal relevant part of our lives? How do we “train ourselves in godliness” as Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7?
I think it all comes down to a decision of the will that brings us a continual ongoing attitude of seeking after God. We have to decide that we WANT to be godly! We have to decide that we WANT God as not just Savior, but as Lord of every part of our lives! Once that is our motivation, then we will see our attitudes and actions seek after Him.
David says this same thing in Psalm 27:
READ PSALM 27:4-5
One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple. 5 For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock.
David says in Psalm 27 that his desire is to continually and ongoingly dwell in the house of the Lord. He wants to always abide in God. To put it in Christian terms, he wants to always abide in Christ (John 6:56, John 15:4-9). Wherever he goes and whoever he meets and whatever the situation, his mind and soul are dwelling with God. This was his decision of the will so that he would have a continual ongoing attitude of seeking God. In the day of trouble, he will make God relevant and seek shelter with Him. In days of awesomeness, he will make God relevant by praising Him.
David continues to teach is about these same thoughts in Psalm 42. In Psalm 42, David uses the word picture of a deer beside a river wanting to have a drink of water. David says we need to be thirsty after God and constantly drinking Him in and allowing Him to satisfy all our wants and needs. This word picture of the deer beside a stream panting for water is meant to make us think about how much of God we take in and how much we seek and desire Him!
READ PSALM 42:1-2
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
Again, the same key questions:
Where are we on the continuum of godliness and ungodliness?
How much do we live daily keeping God’s will active in our minds and hearts?
What amount of time do we spend daily making sure our actions and words are relevant for Him?
Do we actively consult God’s will in our relationships and in our conversations?
When making decisions, is God relevant or irrelevant in our decision process?
Do I live as though God is relevant or do I live as though God is irrelevant?
And then finally, David seems to combine the thoughts of Psalm 27 and Psalm 42 and brings them together in Psalm 63 and repeats the same Truth for us:
READ PSALM 63:1-4
O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory. 3 Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You. 4 So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your Name I will lift up my hands.
TRANSITION AND CONCLUSION
We started off this morning thinking all about David’s family and how they chose to live. They were God’s people and yet, He seemed quite irrelevant in their lives. David was not that way. Not always. We have seen and will again see that David was ungodly in his life. He did live at times as though God was irrelevant and unimportant. Yet, David did not stay ungodly. He did not sit in ungodliness and allow that attitude to define him as it did others in his family and others around him. He repented and moved forward in God. This is why 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22 calls David a “man after His own heart.” David consistently pursued the heart of God.
APPLICATION
May we, who are believers in Jesus Christ, have the same attitude as described by David. May we decide in our will that we will have continually and ongoingly seek after God. May we decide we WANT to be godly! May we decide that we WANT God as not just Savior, but as Lord of every part of our lives! May we seek Him!
INVITATION
As we close this morning with an invitation, I’d like to go back to a passage I read earlier and read just a few more verses. Titus 2.11-14:
READ TITUS 2:11-14 (ESV)
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.
I would like to extend to you an invitation today to decide to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. I am inviting you to step away from ungodliness and to make God an active normal integrated part of your soul. Jesus is our only hope, our only Savior, and our only way of redemption from sin. He is it. He is the only way for us to be free from sin and to be purified. Choose Him. Jesus is God’s offer of life and salvation to anyone who believes in Jesus and accepts His substitutionary death for them. He died so we could live. He died so we could be free from sin. He died so we could have the chance to be godly.
PRAYER
