Sound Doctrine

Guest (Male): Who's king over your life? Put another way, who are you submitting to? Think over these questions and more today on Sound Doctrine.

Welcome once again to Sound Doctrine, as Pastor Jeff Johnson is about to return to our series in 2 Samuel. Now, if you'll recall, David has been on the run for ten years. And now that Saul has died, what's next? Well, as we say goodbye to Saul, we now enter into David's reign as king.

And his heart comes shining through here in chapter one. We'll see that he grieved deeply for Saul and Jonathan, who are no longer with us. Let's see how the Lord can minister to us in our hour of grief.

Jeff Johnson: This morning we're in 2 Samuel chapter one. We left off in verse 17. There is a battle going on for the hearts and souls of men. It's a battle that started way back in the very beginning, and it continues on today. And there is a battle in this place this morning going on for all of our hearts and all of our souls.

There's spiritual warfare all around. There are two governments that we're dealing with in the realm that we're living in. There's one that we can see, and then there's that which we cannot see. And so this morning we're going to talk about who's king of your life and who are you submitting to.

I think it's so clear here as we now say goodbye to Saul. He's out of the picture. We've learned a lot not only from his life, but we also have learned through his death, which we found is a warning to everyone. That he started out so great, and yet he died in total despair. And the reason he died in despair is because he failed to watch and to pray, to walk humbly before his God. Very simple things, but Saul failed in these areas.

We now are entering into David's reign as king of Israel, and we continue to see David's heart. And I think that's important. Even though David was a guy who got under distress and experienced all that anybody experiences, there's something about his heart that was so different than Saul's. So we're going to continue to look at David's heart as he grieves now for Saul and Jonathan, as he begins to tear his clothes and he fasts for that evening all the way until the next day, which was typical of the custom.

He doesn't rejoice over Saul's death. When he gets the news, he doesn't go, "Yes!" He just tears his clothes. And the guy that shares it with him is astounded. He thought he was going to rejoice. He didn't know David's heart because David always looked for the good. In fact, look at verse 23 in chapter one. David, in his lamentation, says Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives. Even with those that abused him and misused him and used him, David looks for the good and he shares the good.

This that we're going to enter into in verse 17 is one of the great odes that the psalmist of David comes out so beautifully. A very elegant, a very genuine sorrow over the death of his king and of his friend. He writes it so beautifully. It is not so much a psalm, it is more of a national war song that he proclaims to the people that they would hold close to them for the rest of their lives.

Verse 17: "And David lamented this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son." This has become or has been called the Song of the Bow. As he continues, David says also, he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow. Behold, it is written in the Book of Jasher. We don't have that book, but it is recorded there. Ecclesiastes says there is a time and a season for everything under the sun. There is a time to weep and there is a time to mourn.

David begins by really giving out practical counsel to the children of Israel in this time of sorrow, and I think it's very practical and very timely because there is a time to weep, but there is also a time to go on. Now David, I think, is a good illustration of that, and he believed it and he lived that way because remember when his son was taken from him. Remember how sick he was, David's little boy.

So sick, you want the sickness to come on you. You don't want the little one to have pain and suffering. And he hurt inside. He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't bathe, he wouldn't do anything. He began to intercede and pray and get on his face before God. And then, as he left the room for one moment, he came back in and he looked at the faces of his servants and he said, "My son's dead, isn't he?" They were afraid to tell him.

Knowing how grieved he was when he was sick, they were afraid to tell him that he had died now. And David said this, beautiful. He said, "I know that I or my son cannot come to me, but that I'm going to be with him." And he got up and he said, "Give me something to eat and give me a change of clothes." It's time to go on. Very important. David went on with his life. You cannot just stay in mourning over your loss.

You cannot just stay in that position because life goes on. Everything goes on. We must not allow grief to consume us. It's a time to get busy, a time to get a hobby or get your mind on something else or you're going to continue to feel sorry for yourself. And then you're going to be no good to yourself and to those around you. So David told them to get busy and learn the art of the bow. Very practical thing to start doing.

Teach it to the children. Number one, the first reason is in honor to Saul and Jonathan. It would be a part of their memorial. And secondly, for their future survival and to get them to look ahead, that there's other battles ahead, there's other things that we need to be doing. If you remember, the Philistines would not allow the children of Israel to have any iron, no mines or anything. And that's over in 1 Samuel 13:19.

Where all they had, they had no smiths to make the sword, so they had to go to the bow and arrow. This would be the means of their survival, was the means of their survival. I mean, they were very proficient with the bow and arrow. They were like the Native Indians of old, the native Indians as all the troops and the army with their heavy guns came down upon them. With little bows and arrows, they held them back for years. Very proficient, and so were the children of Israel.

Remember Jonathan as he shot the arrow to warn David. It was a memorial. This is a memorial laid down for Jonathan. Now verse 19 says, "The beauty of Israel," as David continues, "is slain upon the high places. How are the mighty fallen." This was a very rude awakening for all of Israel to remember the time that God was not with Israel, to remember the time that God allowed their enemy, the Philistines, to overcome them, and that they had departed from their God.

You see, it's always if you feel far from God, guess who moved? This morning, if you feel distant from God, you're moving away. He's always been there. He's right there to minister to your need, to hear your cry, to answer your prayer. But we are the ones that begin to drift. We're the ones that get away, just like Saul and the children of Israel. They had lost a lot. Behold, how the mighty have fallen.

Man stands in slippery places, David said in Psalm 73. He realized that when he came into the house of the Lord as he envied the rich, those that had money. But then he said, "Wait a minute." The Lord woke him up and said they're in slippery places. In a moment, they can go into destruction. It's that quick. The mighty are fallen. Their king and his sons were slain. Their lives were like a vapor, just like James says ours is.

Here today, gone tomorrow. That quick, it happens so fast in a moment. Over in 1 Chronicles, it talks about how it says God, in 1 Chronicles 10:14, slew Saul. He allowed him to die. He killed him. Interesting. He's reigning, isn't He? He's in control of everything. The Lord reigns. In fact, over in Isaiah 40 verse 23, it says that He brings the princes to nothing. He makes the judges of the earth as vanity.

God does this. The mighty are fallen. They will continue to fall. Some trust in horses, some in chariots, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. The mighty are fallen. They're going to fall. We're going to stand upright because our eyes are upon the Lord. Now what? There's no leadership. The mighty are gone. Verse 20: "Tell it not in Gath," David says. "Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph."

So David's instruction here is don't let our enemy know. Why? Well, because they're going to rejoice in how we have fallen. Don't let them rejoice in this iniquity that we have done. I don't want them rejoicing in it. But the problem is that they've already seen Saul's head. Remember, it went on tour to all of the cities of the Philistines? They've already seen his head. Bad news travels fast, doesn't it?

There's a scripture that says, "God forbid that we should cause our enemies to blaspheme the Lord." David was very concerned that the enemies of God would begin to blaspheme and say their God is nothing. The enemy was already gloating though. The enemy was already dancing in the streets, just like those of the children of Israel. Remember when Saul killed his thousands and David his ten thousands? Remember the women were with timbrels and dancing?

They would do this. This was a type of their custom after they won a victory. They would go in the streets and dance. And David says, "Let not the enemy do this over us. Don't let them know. Don't let them hear." But remember, God has already allowed this limited victory of the enemy, and they won't escape God's judgment. Don't think that anyone will escape the judgment of the Lord. Those that judge, don't you know that you're going to be judged? None of us will.

They will. But to deal with Israel, God in His sovereignty through affliction sought to purify them, to get them to repent, to get them to get right. And the only way He could do that was to get their attention and bring them to their knees. And this definitely did that. You see, God loves us a lot, and He's willing to go to great lengths to get us right with Him.

And so verse 21: "Ye mountains," David says, "of Gilboa. Let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings, for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, and the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil." So David here curses the Mountain of Gilboa because of what had happened there. If you come with us in November and we always, as we're traveling in that area of the Mount Gilboa, we always point this out.

It is a strange phenomenon that has gone on for years, and scientists have looked into it. They don't know why. They can't figure it out. But after forty or so years of reforestation where they planted trees all over Israel, somehow the top of Mount Gilboa grows nothing. It is barren. And it's interesting that these tour guides that we have that are not Christian will even go to this verse and quote this verse and say this is the reason why Mount Gilboa is barren.

It's a reminder of how Saul and Israel strayed from God. It is a sad thing and that when a person or anyone strays from his God, he becomes barren in his life. No longer bringing forth fruit from his life, no longer being fruitful for the Lord. Barrenness comes in. That's a horrible thing. That's a dry thing. That's a thing that hurts deep inside. And so they're reminded. Now, the last part in this verse I want to bring your attention to that which is in italics: "as though he had not been."

In the King James Version which I have, it is in italics, and the meaning here is that what they had put in here was added by the translators. This is why I think the King James is great because they will put it in italics when it's been added by the translators. There has been a little over a hundred different changes from the Greek and the Hebrew to the text that we have by the translators in the King James Version.

And it points most of them out, if not all of them out to us in the King James. This is why I like it. The other versions that are out there, many times I have found that there are over 5,000 changes in some of the newer translations, which is kind of scary to me. I don't want nobody to mess with my Bible. Don't mess with this thing. But people have messed with it, and there's over 5,000 different translator changes in some of the newer translations, which they don't bring to your attention.

So this one they do though. Some believe this refers to his shield not being oiled, and over in Isaiah 22 verse five, it talks about that. In other words, if you take that portion out and you read it and say the shield of Saul anointed with oil. And what they would do is they would oil the shield so when they went out to battle, those missiles of spears and arrows would reflect easier from an oiled shield. And that's what it's referring to.

Verse 22: "From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions." Jonathan was an archer. Both father and son went down together. Terrible thing.

We already talked about how the sins of the father affects the sons and the daughters. But they were together a very powerful fighting force against their enemies, and David is just simply stating that. They were mighty as they got together and went into battle and their enemies feared them. But feared them most when their God was on their side. And then he goes on in verse 24 and finishes out and says, "You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and in other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.

How are they mightily fallen in the midst of the battle. Oh, Jonathan, thou wast slain in thy high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant hast thou been unto me. Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished." Again, David finding the good in Saul, and you can see it in here as he reaches out.

And I'm sure there was things that Saul did that were good. He blessed Israel. It was a time of economic blessing. I mean, they were enjoying a lot of the fruit of the land. David acknowledges this. You see, we're to esteem others better than ourselves and David is a good example of that. He respected Saul's position. He was God's anointed. He didn't touch him. He left it alone. God dealt with it.

And he looked for that which was good. And you know, sometimes I hear sometimes wives talk about their husbands, and I know you guys can find something good. Something good. Look for it. There's something. After the years of living with them and you say, "And he does this, and he does this." But he's got to do something good. Don't let it overwhelm you. Look for that which is good and thank God for that.

And know that God's got a nutcracker for your husband, one that fits his head perfectly. And he's going to take care of that. You just need to take care of yourself and not be so defeated and let down. No, let's look for the positive. Lord pushes us in that direction. David gives us a good example of that after all that Saul did to him. He writes this of Saul. David talks of the good times that they had under Saul's reign and he weeps now over Jonathan's death.

And he says this very interesting statement: "a love passing the love of women." Sad but true, this is a verse that the homosexuals like to use to point out and to suggest that David and Jonathan's relationship was a homosexual relationship, passing the love of women. Of course, that's blasphemy for there is no proof from the text in the Hebrew. There is no proof or in their lives, for David could not be a man after God's own heart and be a homosexual.

For it was a capital offense in the Old Testament. Your life was snuffed out if you messed around with the same sex. Now that's serious, especially living in the days we're living in to see how God looks at it. And all through the Bible, there is a flow. And listen, I know it's getting more and more accepted today and they're reaching, and I am amazed sometimes, and maybe I'm not, but how they reach to try to justify the sin that they're living in, the lifestyle.

Remember, David's first wife was Michael, and she wasn't the greatest. She will betray him. His second wife was Abigail who was the only real true and faithful wife that he ever really experienced. And some say, "Well, I thought Bathsheba was David's real wife of love." No, it was a wife of lust. And many feel that Bathsheba knew that David would come out on that veranda, and she went out there to seduce him, which is very interesting.

You get another light of it. It takes two to tango, right? And David was wrong, but what about what was she doing out there completely naked? Was she his Delilah pulling him down? Listen, Jonathan was faithful. Jonathan was true. He, compared to some of David's wives, he was a right-on, truthful brother. Their hearts were knit one to another. It was a wonderful relationship surrounded in God's love, agape.

And David loved Jonathan and Jonathan loved David in a close friendship type of love that many of us have experienced with brothers and sisters in the family of God. That's awesome. That's God-ordained. That's a blessing when you have a prayer partner, somebody that knows everything about you that you can call on the phone and talk to. There is a knitting there together that's special. How we need to develop those relationships.

Guest (Male): We're just getting started here in 2 Samuel and don't go away. Pastor Jeff Johnson will peak at a chapter two when he returns to Sound Doctrine. We house all of our 2 Samuel studies at sounddoctrineradio.org. This comes in handy should you miss a study or two on the radio, or just want to hear something again, or even share it with someone you know.

This study and more are available now at sounddoctrineradio.org under messages. You can also listen at oneplace.com and through the Sound Doctrine Radio podcast app. And of course, speaking of podcasts, Sound Doctrine can be heard wherever you enjoy podcasts, and that includes Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

This program is made possible through the support of our listeners. To make a contribution to the ministry, just visit sounddoctrineradio.org and click on giving. Now as promised, here's Pastor Jeff with a brief look into 2 Samuel chapter two.

Jeff Johnson: In chapter two now, David learns another very important lesson. In fact, this is a lesson that he had learned, but we're going to see that it stuck with him. God help us when we learn our lessons to hang in there and to learn them well. This is right after the time of mourning in verse one of chapter two. And it came to pass after this, the time of mourning, that David inquired of the Lord saying, "Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?"

And the Lord said to him, "Go up." David said, "Whether shall I go up?" And the Lord said to him, "Unto Hebron." We remember the first lesson that he learned. Remember David once, more than once, but one time he began to look at his own heart and he began to fear for his life. He got his eyes off of his God and he went to the enemy. He went and lived with the enemy. He was in a backslidden position.

And remember about David that he's not the pure and innocent man that sometimes people want to put him at. I mean, this guy did incredible, ugly, and terrible things in his lifetime. So much so that God wouldn't even let him build His house for Him. He says, "You're a man that has bloody hands. You've done a lot of bad stuff, David. I love your heart, but you did some bad things." And he did.

God brought David to his knees. We saw that. And David, remember at the crossroads of his life, cried out and inquired of the Lord and was restored back to the Lord. It was his prayer of restoration. Some of you this morning, maybe you're right there. God has brought you to your knees. God has brought you to this place. God has brought you to this point. Why? That you would pray the prayer of restoration.

That you would get right with your God. That you would come home as the prodigal, that you would be restored. Well, we'll stop here for today and come back next week with more from 2 Samuel. Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Downey, online at sounddoctrineradio.org.