All-Powerful, All the Time

In the Book of Revelation, John records a vision he was given of the heavenly throne room.

Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder:

“Praise the Lord!
    For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
Let us be glad and rejoice,
    and let us give honor to him.” – Revelation 19:6-7 NLT

The Greek word used to describe God in this passage is pantokratōr which is formed from two other Greek words: pas and kratos, which mean “all” and “powerful.” God is the all-powerful one, “he who holds sway over all things; the ruler of all” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). This idea of God’s supreme and unparalleled power is found throughout the Scriptures.

Then Job replied to the Lord:

“I know that you can do anything,
    and no one can stop you. ” – Job 42:1-2 NLT

The Lord merely spoke,
    and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
    and all the stars were born.
He assigned the sea its boundaries
    and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
Let the whole world fear the Lord,
    and let everyone stand in awe of him.
For when he spoke, the world began!
    It appeared at his command. – Psalm 33:6-9 NLT

“And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” – Luke 1:36-37 ESV

When we, as humans, attempt to discuss the power of God, we are at a distinct disadvantage. As finite creatures, we are well acquainted with personal limitations. We find it difficult to consider something to be all-anything. That little three-letter word “all” conveys the idea of wholeness or completeness and in our fallen world, little, if anything, is ever fully whole or complete. While we might say that a glass or bowl is all full, we know it will not remain that way permanently. Upon completing a task, we might proclaim, “All done.” But we fully know the finished task will likely need to be repeated at some point in the future.

Someone who claims to be all-in regarding a project or endeavor will have his commitment tested somewhere along the way. His assurance of whole-hearted engagement will likely waver, given enough time or the failure of his expectations being met.

We live in a world full of limitations. No one is truly all-knowing. They may know a great deal, but their knowledge is never complete. Someone may appear to have “all the money in the world,” but logic precludes the veracity of that statement. No one can literally possess all the world’s financial resources. And while someone might wield great power, no one is truly all-powerful. Even the world’s most powerful people experience limitations to their control and influence. In this competitive and highly contentious world, no one can ever gain all the power. And the same can be said of fame, money, or time.

Which brings us back to our all-powerful-all-the-time God. Theologians refer to this as God’s omnipotence. The word omnipotent comes from omni- meaning “all” and potent meaning “power.” When used of God’s power, the word “all” is meant to convey the complete and wholly undiminished nature of that power; it is without limits. It never diminishes in intensity. God does not grow tired. In fact, the psalmist states, “he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps” (Psalm 121:4 NLT).

God isn’t just more powerful, extremely powerful, or simply powerful. He is all-powerful.

“The power of God is that ability and strength whereby He can bring to pass whatsoever He pleases, whatsoever His infinite wisdom may direct, and whatsoever the infinite purity of His will may resolve...”  – Stephen Charnock, Discourses Upon the Existence and Attributes of God, Volumes 1-2

Notice what Charnock says. God can bring to pass whatever He pleases. God’s power is directly tied to His will. Unlike man, God’s will is limited to wishful thinking. There is never a case when God desires something, but finds Himself lacking the power to make it happen. God has never had to say, “If I only I could….” There has never been an occasion when God was forced to sit back and watch His will go unfulfilled because of a lack of strength.

A. W. Pink states, “He who cannot do what he will and perform all his pleasure cannot be God. As God hath a will to resolve what He deems good, so has He power to execute His will” (A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God).

This idea of God’s unlimited power is essential for understanding and fully appreciating His transcendent nature. God is not a slightly improved or more powerful version of man. He is not a human on steroids but is the infinite Almighty God who spoke the universe into existence.

God’s power was not acquired, developed over time, and is not running out. C. H. Spurgeon put it this way: “God’s power is like Himself, self-existent, self-sustained. The mightiest of men cannot add so much as a shadow of increased power to the Omnipotent One.” The greatest earthly examples of power we can think of are all limited. Niagara Falls, while impressive, is not self-existent or self-sustaining; it has a source, or it would not exist. One day, it will cease to exist. Simply divert the headwaters that provide the source of its power, and the falls will become nothing more than exposed rocks and a dry river bed.

But because God’s power is self-existent, it cannot be diminished or diverted in any way. His power is unmatched in its intensity and irrepressible in its intent.

All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, “What do you mean by doing these things?” – Daniel 4:35 NLT

The LORD does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth… – Psalm 135:5 NLT

It was Job who confessed to God, “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you” (Job 42:2 NLT). And Job argued with his well-meaning, but misinformed friends, “who can turn him back? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’” (Job 9:12 ESV).

It was Lord Acton who wrote the oft-quoted line, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” But that truism does not apply to God. Because He is holy, just, and righteous in all He does, God’s power cannot be corrupted – even though it is absolute. God is divine and not human, therefore, He is nothing like us, and cannot be measured according to our standards or evaluated based on our limited and sin-influenced perspective.

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?
 – Numbers 23:19 NLT

God’s undiminished and non-constrainable power always accomplishes what He intends. God Himself stated, “My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it” (Isaiah 55:11 BSB).

While we may not fully comprehend or appreciate the extent of God’s power, we all call upon it in our times of greatest need. We love the thought of the all-powerful God putting His unlimited resources at our beck and call. But while God makes His power accessible to us, it does not exist for our good pleasure. He is not our cosmic Genie-in-a-bottle or personal valet. God’s power exists to accomplish His will, not ours. When it comes to our reaction to and relationship with God’s power, A. W. Pink would have us maintain a delicate balance.

“Well may all tremble before such a God! To treat with impudence One who can crush us more easily than we can a moth, is a suicidal policy. To openly defy Him who is clothed with omnipotence, who can rend us in pieces or cast us into Hell any moment He pleases, is the very height of insanity.

“Well may the enlightened soul adore such a God! The wondrous and infinite perfections of such a Being call for fervent worship. If men of might and renown claim the admiration of the world, how much more should the power of the Almighty fill us with wonderment and homage.” – A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God

God’s sovereignty and power go hand in hand; they are inseparably linked and cannot exist independently. “To reign, God must have power, and to reign sovereignty, He must have all power” (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy). This all-mighty King rules over all He has made with perfect, undiminished power and while He can be opposed or resisted, He cannot be prevented from accomplishing His divine will.

This aspect of God’s nature should bring us comfort and cause us to rejoice. Our holy, righteous, just, and merciful God is fully capable of accomplishing His will for our lives. He is not limited in any way and cannot be deterred from carrying out His divine plans for His creation or His creatures. As the old song goes, “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” 

“Let us affirm what the Bible declares. God is presently on His throne, ruling and reigning as He pleases, absolutely sovereign in His administration over all the works of creation. In no way relieving man of his responsibility to live by faith and obey the Word, God nevertheless remains the one and only true sovereign over heaven and earth.” – Steven J. Lawson, Made In Our Image

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Holy and Wholly Like No Other

The holiness of God is a topic we are all familiar with, but few of us understand. We embrace His holiness cognitively but have difficulty understanding its ramifications for us as humans. Most of us are familiar with the passage, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2 ESV), but that divine command leaves us feeling inadequate and ill-equipped to carry it out.

But the holiness of God is one of the most important doctrines in the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, His holiness is recognized and revered by the people of God.

Who will not fear, O Lord,
    and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy. – Revelation 15:4 ESV

“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
    Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
    awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” – Exodus 15:11 ESV

You [God] who are of purer eyes than to see evil
    and cannot look at wrong… – Habakuk 1:13 ESV

God is holy. In fact, the seraphim who surround God’s throne describe Him with the repetitive phrase, “Holy, holy, holy!” The prophet Isaiah was given a glimpse of that heavenly scene and provided us with a vivid description of what he saw.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!” – Isaiah 6:1-3 ESV

The apostle John was also allowed to peek behind the heavenly curtain and see the throne room of God. His description is very similar to that of Isaiah.

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
    who was and is and is to come!” – Revelation 4:8 ESV

These heavenly creatures weren’t content using one “holy” to describe God. They made sure to use the word three times and to do so without ceasing, day and night. In Greek, this three-fold repetition is called a trihagion, and it was a common literary and linguistic tool used by the Hebrews to provide emphasis and force to a statement. It was like saying, “God is super holy” or “He is holier than holy.”

But what does it mean to say that God is holy? As stated earlier, we’re familiar with the word, but do we fully understand the significance of what it says about God? In some ways, the word holy has become overly familiar to us. Yet biblically, holiness is considered one of the primary and self-defining attributes of God. Tony Evans defines God’s holiness as “His intrinsic and transcendent purity; His standard of righteousness to which the whole universe must conform” (Tony Evans, Theology You Can Count On).

The Hebrew word used most often to describe God’s holy nature is qodesh, and it means “set-apartness” or “separateness.” God is unique and without equal. But it’s not just that God is one-of-a-kind; His holiness is tied to His purity. So, it’s not enough to say that God is different or distinct in nature. What makes Him different is that He is holy – thoroughly righteous, without sin, and intrinsically pure in every way. He is the Holy One. As A. W. Pink puts it, “He is so because the sum of all moral excellency is found in Him. He is absolute Purity, unsullied even by the shadow of sin” (A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God).

But there is more to God’s holiness than His moral perfection. When the seraphim shout “holy, holy, holy,” they are declaring more than His sinlessness. And they are not simply stating His separateness. There is no doubt that God stands alone, having no equal and being incapable of duplication or emulation. Men may have been created in God’s image, but that doesn’t make men gods. God remains set apart and distinctly different from all that He has made. Which means He is transcendent.

“When we speak of the transcendence of God, we are talking about that sense in which God is above and beyond us. Transcendence describes His supreme and absolute greatness. The word is used to describe God’s relationship to the world. He is higher than the world. He has absolute power over the world. The world has no power over Him. Transcendence describes God in His consuming majesty, His exalted loftiness. It points to the infinite distance that separates Him from every creature. He is an infinite cut above everything else.” – R. C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

To consider and treat God as holy is to revere Him for who He is. It is to acknowledge His infinite greatness and incomparable otherness. “God’s holiness unlocks the door to understanding and making sense out of everything else about Him. This attribute infiltrates all the other attributes” (Tony Evans, Theology You Can Count On).

To treat God as holy is to recognize and revere His otherness – His set-apartness. It is to lift up and celebrate His extraordinariness. But if, in our attitudes and actions towards Him, we give the impression that He is ordinary in any way, we profane His character and defame His holy name.

When God consecrated Aaron and his sons to serve as priests before Him, He commanded them “to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean” (Leviticus 10:10 ESV). Later on, God would give a similar command to the Levitical priests: “They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean” (Ezekiel 44:23 ESV). They were to teach the people about what God meant by holiness or set-apartness. The tabernacle was to be considered holy. The sabbath was to be treated as holy. They were to be a holy nation. God had set them apart for His service. They belonged to Him. And their lives were to reflect their unique status as His chosen people.

But back to God and His holiness. Unlike the Tabernacle or the sabbath, God has not been set apart by someone else. He simply is set apart. He didn’t have to be consecrated, He always has been. God stands completely apart from the rest of the created order. Whether we are talking about angels or atoms, planets or people, there is nothing that compares with God.

That is why it is why considering God as common or ordinary is one of the greatest sins a human can commit. Even worse yet is the audacity to treat God as non-existent. The great King David described the idiocy of discounting the existence of God.

Only fools say in their hearts,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
    not one of them does good!

The Lord looks down from heaven
    on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
    if anyone seeks God.
But no, all have turned away;
    all have become corrupt.
No one does good,
    not a single one! – Psalm 14:1-3 NLT

How stupid can you be? And yet, we all have moments in our lives when we act as if God does not exist. We fail to acknowledge Him. We refuse to turn to Him. Rather than go to Him for strength, help, and hope, we ignore Him, relying on our own power, or placing our trust in someone or something else. God becomes a second or third-tier option on our list of saviors, just another common and pedestrian source of potential rescue.

During the period of the judges, God got fed up with Israel’s propensity to treat Him as ordinary rather than extraordinary. They had treated Him with disdain, acting as if He was no more set apart and holy than all the gods of the Canaanites. So, when they found themselves in trouble and called out to Him, He decided to refuse their cries for help.

“Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!” – Judges 10;13-14 NLT

If they weren’t willing to treat God as extraordinary and holy, they could seek help from one of their many false gods. Yahweh was not willing to play second fiddle to some pagan deity. And He wasn’t going to allow His people to treat Him as some ordinary, run-of-the-mill God. He was God Almighty, the Holy One.

When Isaiah was given the privilege of seeing the throne room of heaven and catching a glimpse of the seraphim pronouncing the holiness of God, he was awestruck and filled with fear. He was seeing the unimaginable and incomprehensible.  He describes the impact this vision had on him.

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” – Isaiah 6:4-5 ESV

Witnessing the holiness of God was too much for him. In the presence of the all-powerful, perfectly pure God of the universe, Isaiah was immediately struck with his own sin and insignificance. He was nothing when compared to God, the Holy One. In the presence of unblemished purity, Isaiah recognized his own sinful state and his unworthiness to stand before the throne of God. But, amazingly, the Holy God did a wholly unexpected thing.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” – Isaiah 6:5-7 ESV

The holy and wholly righteous God of the universe graciously atoned for Isaiah’s sins, setting him apart for His own use. And when God asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”, Isaiah responded, “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8 ESV). And the Holy One simply said, “Go!”

Understanding God’s holiness is essential to our own usefulness. Until we fall on our knees before Him in awe of His holiness and in recognition of our own sinfulness, we will never be awed by His amazing grace. That the set-apart One would set us apart for His use should leave us stunned and yet stammering the words of Isaiah, “Here I am! Send me.”

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A God You Can Count On

We live in a world characterized by constant change. Nothing remains the same. Styles change. Morals and mores change. The weather can change, in an instant. seasons change. There is a certain fickleness and erratic changeableness built into the system. The hands on the clock revolve relentlessly, reminding us that we too are constantly changing, as our bodies grow older and our minds grow weaker. Governments come to power only to be replaced by a newer, more popular regime. The entire universe is marked by atrophy, an inescapable state of progressive, unrelenting decline. Scientists even predict that our sun will one day burn out, resulting in the destruction of all life on our planet. Not exactly a comforting thought.

This atmosphere of constant instability and change can leave us with a sense of uncertainty and fear. Since nothing remains the same, what can we really rely on? What can we put our hope in for the future? The Scriptures would point us to the unchanging, ever-consistent nature of God. 

“…I the Lord do not change…” – Micah 3:6 ESV

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. – Hebrews 13:8 ESV

Our God is unchanging. He is consistently constant and constantly consistent in every way. He never grows older. There is never a time when He is weak or tired. He has no need to increase or improve His intelligence. According to the psalmist, “he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps” (Psalm 121:4 NLT).

This is all tied to His eternality, a one-of-a-kind attribute that He alone possesses. His eternality declares that He has always existed and is uncreated. Which means He has no beginning or end. God has no birth date and, contrary to the opinion of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, God has no death date. James refers to Him as “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17 NLT).

When God spoke to Moses from the midst of the burning bush, He identified Himself as “I am who I am.”

God replied to Moses, “I am who I am. Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.

This is my eternal name,
    my name to remember for all generations.

“Now go and call together all the elders of Israel. Tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me.” – Exodus 3:14-16 NLT

That sounds like an odd way for anyone to introduce Himself, let alone God. But in Hebrew, the statement is ehyeh asher ehyeh and it has a rich and expansive meaning. The word ehyeh is the verb to be, but it appears in this verse in the first person common singular. If God had simply answered Moses by saying, “I am God,” that would have been perfectly normal and acceptable. But He said, “I am who I am.” He repeated the same word twice, declaring His self-sufficiency, self-existence, and immediate presence. God was letting Moses know that he was talking to the eternally constant God, the ever-present and unchangeable creator of the universe.

In the book of Revelation, God refers to Himself as “the Alpha and the Omega…who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8 ESV). Later in the same book, Jesus declares Himself to be “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13 ESV). Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, respectively. In the same way, God is the first and last of all things. He is the source of all that exists and He determines the end of all things. But God is without beginning and end. He has always been and will always be. He is consistently constant and unchanging in all His ways.

When we speak of God’s unchanging nature, we are dealing with what theologians refer to as His immutability. That’s a sophisticated word that simply means that God is changeless and unchangeable. To put it another way, God does not change Himself and He cannot be changed by others. He is impervious to change. The very idea of change suggests the need for improvement or diminishment. For something to change, it must undergo some alteration to its state. It either becomes better or worse. The change suggests that it has moved from one state to another, and to do so requires time. But God exists outside of time. Again, the psalmist points out God’s timelessness which makes possible His changelessness.

Lord, through all the generations
    you have been our home!
Before the mountains were born,
    before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
    from beginning to end, you are God. – Psalm 90:1-2 NLT

A. W. Pink expresses God's changelessness this way:

“God is immutable in His essence. His nature and being are infinite, and so, subject to no mutations. There never was a time when He was not; there never will come a time when He shall cease to be. God has neither evolved, grown, nor improved. All that He is today, He has ever been, and ever will be.” – A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God

God can’t change for the better, because to do so would mean He was somehow insufficient or imperfect to begin with. God has no deficiencies or defects. He has no lacks in His personality or weaknesses in His attributes that need improvement. A. W. Pink puts it this way: “His power is unabated, His wisdom undiminished, His holiness unsullied.”

A. W. Tozer put it this way:

“God cannot change for the better. Since He is perfectly holy, He has never been less holy than He is now and can never be holier than He is and has always been. Neither can God change for the worse. Any deterioration within the unspeakably holy nature of God is impossible.” - A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

This particular attribute of God is difficult for us to understand because we exist within and are governed by time. We are born and then begin the process of growth or maturation. In other words, we age. We increase in size, knowledge, and strength. But our strength is often accompanied by weakness. Even our intelligence is never perfect or complete. Those who have raised children know that this process of maturation can fly by. The trajectory from adolescence to adulthood seems to take place in the blink of an eye.

As each of us grows older, we experience all the changes that come with the process. Our bodies age, our sight weakens, and our hearing diminishes. We try desperately to cling to our youth but time spares none and shows no mercy. As the years pass, everyone eventually experiences the frustration of forgetting what they once knew. In time, they fall prey to the ultimate and unavoidable change called death.

It’s almost impossible for us to comprehend the immutability of God. It doesn’t help that the Scriptures seem to portray a God who exhibits all kinds of changing characteristics. When we read the Old Testament, God appears to be harsh, unforgiving, and legalistic in His relationship with mankind. But the God of the New Testament comes across as more loving, gentle, and kind. But the doctrine of God’s immutability reminds us that our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What the Bible reveals to us is our unchanging God relating to humanity at various times throughout history. It is the circumstances that are changing, not God. More often than not, it is the particular people group with whom God is interacting and the cultural context within which they live that is creating the sense of mutability or change in God.

But He is and always has been the same. He has always been loving, righteous, just, holy, set apart, and transcendent. He has always hated sin. He has always shown grace. He has always extended mercy. But He has also been consistent in His hatred of pride, His punishment of the wicked, His desire for mankind’s redemption, and His plan to bring it about through the death of His Son on the cross.

God’s immutability should bring us comfort; what A. W. Pink refers to as “solid comfort.”

“Human nature cannot be relied upon; but God can! However unstable I may be, however fickle my friends may prove, God changes not. If He varied as we do; if He willed one thing today and another tomorrow; if He were controlled by caprice, who could confide in Him? But, all praise to His glorious name, He is ever the same. His purpose is fixed; His will is stable; His word is sure. Here then is a Rock on which we may fix our feet, while the mighty torrent is sweeping away everything around us. The permanence of God’s character guarantees the fulfillment of His promises” – A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God

In a world where inconsistency, unreliability, and constant change are the new normal, it is comforting to know that we worship a God who is consistently constant and constantly consistent. He is totally reliable because He is completely unchangeable. His love never fades. His plans never fail. His power never diminishes. His patience never runs out. His promises never disappoint. According to the prophet Isaiah, “His government and its peace will never end.”  This comforting fact will be made possible through the eventual return of His Son to earth, when “He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” (Isaiah 9:7 NLT).

Our God is unchanging and unchangeable. He is consistent and constant in all His ways, and that should bring us comfort and hope.

“In this world where men forget us, change their attitude toward us as their private interests dictate, and revise their opinion of us for the slightest cause, is it not a source of wondrous strength to know that the God with whom we have to do changes not? That His attitude toward us now is the same as it was in eternity past and will be in eternity future?” – A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Sovereign Over All

God rules the universe and all it contains with absolute power and authority. That is the essence of the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. He is not only all-knowing (omniscient) but all-powerful (omnipotent), and because God is spirit, His presence is all-pervasive (omnipresent). In the Book of Isaiah, the prophet records God’s words concerning His sovereignty.

“Only I can tell you the future
    before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
    for I do whatever I wish.” – Isaiah 46:10 NLT

The prophet Daniel provides further insight into the incomparable power and authority that marks God’s sovereign reign over all He has made.

His rule is everlasting,
    and his kingdom is eternal.
All the people of the earth
    are nothing compared to him.
He does as he pleases
    among the angels of heaven
    and among the people of the earth.
No one can stop him or say to him,
    “What do you mean by doing these things?” – Daniel 4:34-35 NLT

According to Dictionary.com, sovereignty is “the quality or state of being sovereign, or of having supreme power or authority.” A “sovereign” is “a person who has supreme power or authority.” So, when we talk about the sovereignty of God, we’re referring to His absolute rule, control, and authority over everything He has created, including the affairs of men. A. W. Pink describes it as “the exercise of His supremacy.”

“He is the Most High, Lord of heaven and earth. Subject to none, influence by none, absolutely independent; God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. None can thwart Him, none can hinder Him.” – A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God

The word “sovereignty” is not commonly used today. When we hear it, we tend to think of kings and queens, those royal personages from ancient history who wielded great power and influence over nation-states and the citizens who comprised them. These privileged individuals, most of whom owed their position to the practice of hereditary succession, enjoyed tremendous influence and reigned over vast kingdoms. Unlike Britain’s modern-day royal family, these ancient heads of state were much more than mere figureheads. They were the supreme rulers over their domains, operating under the political doctrine known as the divine right of kings “which asserted that kings derived their authority from God and could not therefore be held accountable for their actions by any earthly authority” (Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "divine right of kings". Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Jun. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/divine-right-of-kings. Accessed 2 August 2024).

Under this doctrine, kings and queens wielded absolute power and the authority to demand unwavering allegiance from their subjects. It didn’t matter whether they were a good king or a bad one. Even an evil queen fully expected the citizens of her kingdom to submit to her will and obey her decrees. To fail to do so would be considered a display of insubordination at best or, at worst, an act of outright insurrection.

As the sovereign God of the universe, God does not derive His power or authority from anyone else. He does not operate according to a political doctrine or legal principle derived by men. He does not have a divine cabinet or administrative branch from which He seeks counsel or advice. He is not subject to censure or the threat of removal or replacement. Because God is eternal, His sovereign reign has no beginning or end; it is everlasting in nature.  

One of the names for God in the Scriptures is “God Almighty” or El Shaddai in Hebrew. It most likely means “God, the All-powerful One,” and refers to His ultimate power over anything and everything. In other words, He is all-powerful. And yet, that power is not limited to His physical capacity to accomplish great feats of strength. Yes, He can perform acts of unparalleled might, but His sovereignty includes the authority by which He does so. God has the right to use His power and always does so in a just and righteous way.

The Lord is righteous in everything he does… - Psalm 145:17 NLT

As for God, His way is perfect… – Psalm 18:30 BSB

He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is! – Deuteronomy 32:4 NLT

Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments. – Psalm 119:137 NLT

As the sovereign King of the universe, God is in complete control of all things. And that authority has not been granted to Him by some outside or greater force. There is nothing greater than God. In the book of Isaiah, He declares His unchallenged authority in no uncertain terms.

“I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God…” – Isaiah 45:5 ESV

As stated earlier, God answers to no one. He has no board of directors or parliament to whom He must report or from whom He must seek permission or approval.

“Divine sovereignty means that God is God in fact, as well as in name, that He is on the Throne of the universe, directing all things, working all things ‘after the counsel of His own will’ (Ephesians 1:11)” – A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God

God does what He pleases. That phrase can either encourage or enrage us. It can create in us a sense of peace and calm as we consider the unstoppable nature of His divine will. Yet, for some, the thought of God’s will going unchallenged creates a sense of fear or infuriation as we consider what we believe to be the loss of our own rights.

“God reigns over all His creation, governing and guiding all things to their divinely appointed end. Although, from a human perspective, it may appear otherwise, He is in charge of the universe, exercising absolute control over all things. As our sovereign Lord, He does always as He pleases, only as He pleases, and all that He pleases.” – Steve, J. Lawson, Made In Our Image: What Shall We Do with a “User-Friendly” God?

For some of us, Steve Lawson’s quote paints a picture of God that we find to be disturbing rather than comforting. And it’s most likely because we want to be the master of our fate and the captain of our soul. We don’t mind God getting His way as long as it doesn’t interfere with our plans.

“The god of American popular culture is an indulgent heavenly spirit who is little threat to our lifestyles and luxuries – a god consistent with a consumer culture and rampant immorality. This god might wish that human beings would behave, but he is powerless when they do not.” – Albert Mohler, Foreward to Made In Our Image: What Shall We Do with a “User-Friendly” God?

We like the idea of God being all-powerful, but only as long as that power is at our disposal to do as we see fit. But that’s not how it works. The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth, reminding them that we exist for God’s glory, not the other way around. Contrary to popular opinion, God isn’t our personal valet or servant. He created us, not the other way around.

…yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. – 1 Corinthians 8:6 ESV

We exist because God chose it to be so, and we exist for Him. All of creation was intended to bring glory to God as it evidenced “his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:20 ESV). Even fallen humanity brings glory to God as He exercises His sovereign will over their lives. There is nothing that happens outside His purview or without His permission. And that should bring His children a sense of peace, confidence, and security.

“Toward all this God is moving with infinite wisdom and prefect precision of action. No one can dissuade Him from His purposes; nothing turn Him aside from His plans. Since He is omniscient, there can be no unforeseen circumstances, no accidents. As He is sovereign, there can be no countermanded orders, no breakdown in authority; and as He is omnipotent, there can be no want of power to achieve His chosen ends. God is sufficient unto Himself for all these things.” – A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

The sovereignty of God is a deep subject. but its application is quite simple. We have a God who is all-powerful and in full control, no matter how things may appear. Circumstances may give the impression that all is lost, the future is bleak, and there is nothing anyone can do to mitigate the problem. But the apostle Paul would beg to differ. He boldly claimed, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13 ESV). This was not a pride-filled boast or a case of wishful thinking. Paul prefaced this optimistic statement with a very honest disclosure of his own personal life journey.

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. – Philippians 4:11-12 ESV

It didn’t matter what Paul faced, he was content because he knew his God was sovereign over every aspect of his life – the good and the bad. That’s why Paul encouraged the believers in Rome to cling to the sovereignty of God, no matter what they encountered in this life.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39 ESV

The sovereignty of God is meant to encourage us. The fact that our God is holy, just, righteous, and true in all that He does is what makes His sovereign will not only acceptable but preferable.

“There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that sovereignty overrules them, and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought more earnestly to contend than the doctrine of their Master over all creation—the kingship of God over all the works of His own hands—the throne of God and His right to sit upon that throne.” – Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Sermons Vol. 2, 1856

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Our All-Knowing God

Growing in our knowledge of God can be difficult because it requires us to wrestle with complex and sometimes confusing issues. The God who created the entire universe ex nihilo (out of nothing) is neither simple nor simplistic. He cannot be easily explained or understood, and the complexity of His nature leaves fallen humanity perplexed and prone to create its own finite portrait of the infinite.

In our quest to gain a proper and more well-rounded understanding of God, we begin with one of His many attributes that truly sets Him apart from us: His knowledge. The Scriptures make it clear that God is lacking in nothing, including His understanding and awareness of all things.

He reveals deep and mysterious things
    and knows what lies hidden in darkness,
    though he is surrounded by light. – Daniel 2:22 NLT

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. – Hebrews 4:13 NLT

…for the Lord is a God of knowledge… – 1 Samuel 2:3 ESV

God knows everything. This attribute of God is what the theologians refer to as His omniscience, which simply means “all knowing” (omni = all; science = knowledge). To be omniscient is to have “complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; to perceive all things” (Dictionary.com).

So, we begin our quest to know God with the mind-blowing concept that He knows everything. Unlike us, He never requires instruction because He has no gaps in His knowledge. There is nothing He does not already know – fully and completely. He has perfect and comprehensive knowledge of the past, present, and, amazingly, the future. God knows what is going to take place before it happens; something theologians refer to as His foreknowledge. But more about that later.

God’s knowledge is so great that He knows the thoughts of every single human being. King David was understandably blown away by this idea. He confessed to God, “…you have examined my heart and know everything about me” (Psalm 139:1 NLT). He knew that God knew. There was nothing about his life that was hidden from God’s all-knowing gaze. In fact, David went on to acknowledge the full extent of God’s knowledge of him.

You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. – Psalm 139:4 NLT

David is not suggesting that God has premonitions about the future. The Almighty doesn’t prognosticate or predict what David might say; He knows the exact words that will flow from David’s mouth before David has even had time to process them in his own brain. This mind-boggling confession of God’s pervasive and invasive knowledge of our thought life might leave us unsettled but, for David, it was comforting.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
    They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
    they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
    you are still with me! – Psalm 139:17-18 NLT

David was blown away by the idea of being so deeply and intimately known by God. He found comfort in the fact that God’s knowledge could penetrate the thoughts of men and the darkness of night. David went on to admit, “I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you” (Psalm 139:11-12 NLT).

There is nothing you can hide from God. There is nowhere you can go where His divine gaze cannot find you. According to Jesus, God’s knowledge of you is so complete that “the very hairs on your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30 NLT). He knows each and every detail about you. From the number of hairs on your head to the thoughts of your heart.

The Lord keeps you from all harm
    and watches over your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
    both now and forever. – Psalm 121:7-8 NLT

One of the amazing things to consider about God’s omniscience is that He can never be surprised or caught off guard. On no occasion has God ever had to say, “How did that happen?” He is never enlightened or informed by news He didn’t already know. Our prayers do not bring God up to speed about our needs or the desires of our hearts. He already knows. We don’t pray to inform God; we pray to hear from God. Prayer is meant to remind us of His greatness and goodness and our complete dependency upon Him for all we need. Prayer has less to do with getting the things we want from God than getting to know God and allowing Him to give us what we truly need.

David alluded to the fact that God knows in advance everything that is going to happen. This is that aspect of His omniscience known as foreknowledge. In Greek, the term for “foreknowledge” is prognōsis. It comes from the Greek word pro, which means “before” and the Greek word ginōskō, which means “know.” The idea is that God has prior knowledge about all events. He “knows before.”  It expresses the idea of knowing reality before it is manifested and events before they occur.

Because God is divine, He is not bound by time and space. Past, present, and future are all the same to Him. He exists outside of time, so He can look into and perceive the future as easily as He does the past. That is why we find so much prophetic content in the Bible. God’s foreknowledge allows Him to see and know all that will happen as if it has already taken place. He told the prophet Isaiah, “I will tell you the future before it happens” (Isaiah 42:9 NLT).

God doesn’t predict the future, He pronounces it beforehand. He isn’t forced to respond to events as they happen. No, He has already predetermined His response to any and every circumstance because He knew in advance. Again, God assured the prophet Isaiah of His unparalleled foreknowledge.

“I am the First and the Last;
    there is no other God.
Who is like me?
    Let him step forward and prove to you his power.
Let him do as I have done since ancient times
    when I established a people and explained its future.” – Isaiah 44:6-7 NLT

“For I alone am God!
    I am God, and there is none like me.
Only I can tell you the future
    before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
    for I do whatever I wish.” – Isaiah 46:9-10 NLT

But God’s foreknowledge is far more than an ability to see into the future and perceive what is going to happen. If this superpower allows God to see future events in advance, it would make sense for Him to prevent some of them from happening. If God could have seen the rise of Nazi Germany, He could have kept it from taking place. But He didn’t. So, we must conclude that God either ordained or allowed the events of WWII to come about. In His foreknowledge, God told Abraham about the future fate of his descendants.

“Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.” – Genesis 15:13 ESV

Hundreds of years later, the Israelites found themselves living as slaves in Egypt, just as God had foreseen and foretold. We may not understand God’s ways. We may not even like how things turn out. But we should find comfort in the fact that God knows all things and He knows what He is doing at all times. His foreknowledge is a true “knowing” of what will come to pass, based on His free choice. He actually decrees what will come to pass. That means that His foreknowledge is far more than an intellectual awareness of future events. It conveys the idea of His sovereign control over all things. Foreknowledge is equivalent to foreordination in that God ordains or orders all that will be.

There is an intimacy to God’s foreknowledge that should bring comfort to His children. Because, according to the New Testament, God’s foreknowledge is always directed at people, not events.

“The fact is that ‘foreknowledge’ is never used in Scripture in connection with events or actions; instead, it always has reference to persons. It is persons God is said to ‘foreknow,’ not the actions of those persons.” – A. W. Pink, Attributes of God

The apostle Paul puts it this way: “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (Romans 8:29 NLT). Peter adds: “God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy” (1 Peter 1:2 NLT).

Paul went on to remind the believers in Ephesus, “…we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance” (Ephesians 1:11 NLT). There is a deliberateness to God’s actions in these passages. He is not responding to things as they happen but is ordaining their occurrence from eternity past. His foreknowledge is tied to His foreordination. He foreknows because He has foreordained. God is not looking through His magic mirror and seeing future events before they take place. He is describing what He already knows because He has already declared it to be so.

There is much about this aspect of God’s nature that makes us uncomfortable. It raises all kinds of issues concerning the sovereignty of God and the free will of men. If misunderstood, it can leave us viewing mankind as nothing more than helpless marionettes being manipulated by the divine puppetmaster. But if we relegate the knowledge of God to some kind of passive cognition of future events, He becomes all-knowing, but not all-powerful. He has intelligence but lacks influence. But “God foreknows what will be because He has decreed what shall be” (A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God).

As difficult as this doctrine is to understand, it is meant to reveal the power and preeminence of God. He is like no other. He is not some distant, disconnected deity, looking down from the lofty heights of heaven and watching as His creation winds down like some kind of cosmic clock. God is not a spectator, viewing events as they transpire and forced to respond in time. He is intellectually informed about every aspect of our lives because He has ordained them. And He is intimately involved in every area of our lives because He has a plan for us that was in place long before we even existed.

And this knowledge of God’s knowledge of us should leave us echoing the words of David:

You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed. – Psalm 139:16 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Most Important Thing About You

 What do you know about God? If someone asked you to describe your understanding of who God is and how He operates in the world, what would you tell them? It was A. W. Tozer who wrote, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us" (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy). But far too often, we think far too little about God. Even when He comes to mind our thoughts about Him can be inaccurate or simply incomplete.

Tozer goes on to say, “It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate. If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as He is” (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy).

So, the question before us is “What is the nature of our God?” This is not the kind of question one should take lightly because the answer will reveal much about an individual’s moral well-being. Our view of God is the lens through which we view and understand the world. Once again, Tozer provides insight into this matter.

“…no people has ever risen about its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.” (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy)

Determining our view of God is a worthy exercise that will pay dividends in the future. It will force us to face our errant ideas about the Almighty and bring them into alignment with what the Scriptures have to say about Him. Interestingly, God’s Word is one of the places where humanity is encouraged to question His identity and character.

To whom then will you liken God,
    or what likeness compare with him? – Isaiah 40:18 ESV

“To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?” – Isaiah 46:5 ESV

Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? – Exodus 15:11 ESV

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? – Micah 7:18 ESV

If we’re honest, there is much about God of which we are ignorant or, perhaps, indifferent. Some of us have known Him for decades but, if put to the test, there would be little we could share that could give evidence that we knew Him intimately. So much of what we know about God is academic in nature, a compilation of disconnected bits of information that bear little resemblance to the one true God.

If I asked you if you knew the President of the United States, you would probably respond by telling me his name. If pressed, you could probably tell me the year he was elected, his political party affiliation, his wife’s name, and your personal assessment of his administration’s policies and programs. Your knowledge of him would have been gleaned from news reports, the op-ed section of the local paper, and from the opinions of others. You would have had no personal encounters with him. No one-on-one conversations would have taken place between the two of you. Any claim to truly know him would be a stretch of the imagination.

Sadly, it’s likely that the average Christian has more familiarity with the Commander-in-Chief of our nation than they do with God. Some of us spend far more time keeping up with the Kardashians than we do with the Creator God. We live in the information age, a time when access to knowledge about virtually any topic or individual is at our fingertips. And yet, we suffer from a lack of intimacy with and intelligence about God.

The goal of this series of posts is to help us get to know our God better. To do so, we will explore the attributes of God that He alone possesses. As the verses above so clearly state, our God is without equal and totally incomparable. He is not one among many; He is the solitary and sovereign God of the universe whose power, knowledge, and all-pervading presence are unparalleled and non-reproducible. God can be mimicked but never matched. He is, to put it mildly, one of a kind. Yet, how easy it is to treat Him with a familiarity that borders on contempt.

To know God. That was the divinely ordained objective when God created Adam and Eve in the garden. They were made so that they might enjoy unbroken fellowship and undiminished intimacy with Him. But sin changed all that. Because the first man and woman chose to disobey God, they were banned from His presence. They found themselves cast from the garden and operating in isolation far from the one who had made them. And with each succeeding generation, humanity moved further and further away from the garden and, at the same time, far from the presence of God.

But God still desires for men to know Him, not just cognitively but intimately and personally. As the apostle Paul points out, God has revealed Himself in the universe He created. He has placed signs of His presence and proofs of His character all around us. Yet, most of humanity has remained blind to the evidence and oblivious concerning the God to whom it points.

They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. – Romans 1:19-23 NLT

Despite the sobering nature of Paul’s words, the prophet Jeremiah points out that God still longs for mankind to know Him, and he intimates that this relationship with God is not only possible but preferable.

This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
    or the powerful boast in their power,
    or the rich boast in their riches.
But those who wish to boast
    should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
    who demonstrates unfailing love
    and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!” – Jeremiah 9:23-24 NLT

God is knowable but He is also irreplicable. There is nothing in all creation that remotely resembles Him. Even men, who are made in the image of God, are not mini versions of God. We can reflect His glory but are incapable of sharing it.  Even in His thought processes, God remains distinctly different from humanity.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
    “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways
    and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT

Yet, we tend to view God as little more than a slightly more powerful version of ourselves. Because of the finite nature of our minds, we are incapable of fully grasping the “otherness” of God. Unable to comprehend His transcendence, we try to transform the incomparable God into a new and improved version of ourselves. The psalmist alludes to this common misconception when he quotes God’s assessment of man’s dumbing down of His divine image.

“…you thought that I was one like yourself.” - Psalm 50:21 ESV

The French agnostic, Voltaire is reported to have said, “God created man in His own image, and man returned the favor.” And his rather sarcastic statement supports what Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans.

…they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. – Romans 1:21-23 NLT

Failure to know and recognize God for who He is creates a vacuum in the soul of man that must be filled. When we neglect a proper understanding of God, we end up with false views of His character. We fabricate our own version of Him, leaving us with an emasculated, impotent deity who looks nothing like the God of the Bible.

Psalm 97:9 describes God as “most high over all the earth” and as “exalted far above all gods.” He is transcendent. That simply means that He is totally distinct from all that He has made. He cannot be reproduced and there is nothing that remotely mirrors His likeness. Psalm 99:2 adds that God “is exalted over all the peoples.” Men are not mini-gods. Being made in His image does not infer that we resemble God. That is why Isaiah 40:18 asks the rhetorical question: “To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?” The answer is “No one and nothing!” God alone is God.

God needs nothing. He has no lack or insufficiencies. He requires no complement or counterpart to complete Himself. He did not create humanity because He was lonely or needed companionship. Nothing was missing in God’s character; His being is whole and holy. The apostle John reminds us, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5 ESV). Timothy adds, “He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16 BSB).

Yet, God has made Himself known to men. He has displayed His divine attributes through the universe He has made. We are surrounded by the evidence of His power, glory, wisdom, creativity, grace, mercy, and love. Our very existence is proof that He exists. Even man, with his vast knowledge and scientific discoveries, has been unable to explain the universe's existence. Our most educated and well-reasoned theories are little more than shots in the dark.

In the book of Job, we have recorded the words of God as He confronts the arrogance and audacity of mere humans who question His will and His work.

“Who is this that questions my wisdom
    with such ignorant words?
Brace yourself like a man,
    because I have some questions for you,
    and you must answer them.

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
    Tell me, if you know so much.
Who determined its dimensions
    and stretched out the surveying line?
What supports its foundations,
    and who laid its cornerstone
as the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels shouted for joy?

“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
    as it burst from the womb,
and as I clothed it with clouds
    and wrapped it in thick darkness?
For I locked it behind barred gates,
    limiting its shores.
I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
    Here your proud waves must stop!’” – Job 38:2-11 NLT

Man has no business questioning God or trying to explain the existence of the universe apart from God. Everything, both the invisible and the visible, exists by the expressed will of God. He spoke and it came into being, and all that He made God reveals His glory and greatness. But that points out one of the most important aspects of God’s nature. He must reveal Himself to man to be known by man. Humanity cannot discover God on its own. Left to his own devices, no man would even attempt to find God. According to the apostle Paul, “no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:11 ESV), and his assessment echoes the words of David.

God looks down from heaven
    on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
    if anyone seeks God.
But no, all have turned away;
    all have become corrupt. – Psalm 53:2-3 NLT

Amazingly enough, this transcendent, invisible, and unfathomable God has chosen to reveal Himself to man. And we will see more of His divine attributes on display as we continue our quest to know God better.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Our Sin Substitute

11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”’ 14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

15 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”

18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up at Gad’s word, as the Lord commanded. 20 And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. 21 And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be averted from the people.” 22 Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.” 24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel. – 2 Samuel 24:12-25 ESV

David had sinned. He had conducted a census to determine the size of his nation and, ultimately, his army. His actions revealed that his trust was not in the Lord but in the size and strength of his army. But having completed his ill-fated census, David immediately regretted his decision and recognized it as an affront to God.

“I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” – 2 Samuel 24:10 ESV

David was wise to confess his sin, but his iniquity and guilt remained. He knew that restitution would need to be made. Some form of payment would be required to cover the sin he had committed. David was well-acquainted with the requirements of the sacrificial law and knew that his sin must be atoned for. The author of Hebrews reminds us: “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22 ESV).

David couldn’t just say, “I’m sorry” and then expect everything to go back to the way it was before. Payment for sin was required, and God offered David three different payment plans. He sent word to David through a prophet named Gad.

“I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.” – 2 Samuel 24:12 NLT

His three choices included a lengthy famine, a devastating plague, or a three-month time period when his mighty army would be powerless against its enemies. In all three cases, death was a non-negotiable outcome. His people were either going to die by the sword, starvation, or sickness. David’s response seems to indicate that the one option he ruled out was the three months' worth of defeat at the hands of his enemies. He cried out to God, “let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands” (2 Samuel 24:14 NLT). This man who had just taken a census to determine the size of his army had no desire to go to war. It wasn’t that he was afraid of a good fight, it was that he knew this one would be a losing proposition. For someone used to always coming out on the winning side, the thought of being humiliated by his enemies was not an option. So, he begged God to remove that option.

“…let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.” – 2 Samuel 24:14 NLT

David opted to have God mete out the punishment, trusting in His mercy and grace. So, God sent a plague across the entire nation of Israel. The nature of God’s chosen form of punishment should not be overlooked. David had just finished numbering his people and determining the size of his fighting force. The census revealed that he had a potential army of one million three hundred thousand men, a fact that must have pleased David greatly. During his reign, the population of Israel had increased greatly, making him the ruler of a mighty nation and the commander of a formidable army.

But God’s judgment would prove costly and go directly to the heart of David’s sin: His misplaced trust in the size of his army. As a result of the plague, David lost 70,000 men, a staggering figure that represents close to 20 percent of his fighting force. Sadly, these men all died as a result of David’s sin, not because they had done anything to deserve it. They didn’t have the honor of sacrificing their lives in the heat of battle while facing the enemies of Israel. They were struck down by a debilitating plague because of a sin committed by their commander-in-chief, and they were not alone. An undetermined number of women and children also died as a result of the plague.

The text makes it clear that the death toll was going to increase greatly because God’s angel “was preparing to destroy Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 24:16 NLT). The plague had already lasted three days and now the city of David was to be the target of God’s wrath. But when David witnessed the destruction he had brought upon his people, he cried out to God again.

“I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family.” – 2 Samuel 24:17 NLT

As a result of David’s plea, God sent the prophet Gad with instructions.

“Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” – 2 Samuel 24:18 NLT

This is where it all gets interesting. The threshing floor of Araunah was where the angel of the Lord had been stopped by God from bringing any more destruction upon the people.

But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. – 2 Samuel 24:16 NLT

This place held special significance for the Israelites. Centuries earlier, the patriarch Abraham had gone to this very same spot to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God.  He and his wife Sarah had waited over 60 years for Isaac to be born. Yet God, who had promised to give Abraham a son and had miraculously caused his barren wife to give birth, commanded that the long-awaited child be put to death.

“Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” – Genesis 22:2 ESV

Amazingly, Abraham obeyed the command of God and prepared to sacrifice the life of his son. But at the last second, God intervened and an angel of the Lord stayed Abraham’s hand. Then God provided a substitute sacrifice, a ram whose horns had been caught in a thicket. That ram took Isaac’s place and its blood was spilled on his behalf.

So he [Abraham] took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). – Genesis 22:13-14 NLT

Now, centuries later, God commanded David to build an altar to offer a sacrifice on behalf of his people.

David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped. – 2 Samuel 24:25 NLT

This was no coincidence. God chose this spot for a reason. It was at this location that He had spared the life of Isaac. It was here that He would spare the people of Israel. And it would be on this very same spot, the threshing floor of Araunah, that Solomon would build his magnificent temple, where countless sacrifices would be made on behalf of the people. Sacrifice was required for forgiveness to be received because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. David could confess his sins, but payment was still required.

As followers of Christ, we live under a different dispensation. We are no longer required to make payment for our sins. We don’t have to shed the blood of an innocent animal to satisfy the just demands of a holy God. Why? Because our sins have been paid for in full. The apostle John reminds us, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9 NLT). All we have to do is confess our sins. There is no more condemnation for our sins. There is no further payment required because Jesus paid it all. The author of Hebrews tells us just how different things are now because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

The sacrifices under that system [the Mosaic law] were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. – Hebrews 10:1-4 NLT

But he goes on to give us the good news:

For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. – Hebrews 10:10 NLT

Our sins, past, present, and future, have all been paid for by Christ’s death on the cross. He paid the debt we owed. He covered our sins with His blood. As a result, we have complete forgiveness for ALL of our sins. We don’t have to ask for forgiveness; we simply have to confess our sins. The forgiveness is guaranteed. When we sin, God’s Spirit convicts us, and that conviction leads us to confess our sins to God. To confess means to agree with Him that we have sinned against Him. When we confess, He responds with forgiveness – each and every time – faithfully and fully.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

An Army of One

1 Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” 3 But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” 4 But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. 5 They crossed the Jordan and began from Aroer, and from the city that is in the middle of the valley, toward Gad and on to Jazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites; and they came to Dan, and from Dan they went around to Sidon, 7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. 8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

10 But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” – 2 Samuel 24:1-10 ESV

This closing chapter of the book of 2 Samuel does not end with David’s death but with an unflattering recounting of another one of David’s sins against God. This time, he will be guilty of taking a census to determine the size of his army. Most commentators believe this event happened late in David’s reign and toward the end of his life. The nine-month-long process was conducted by the army under the direction of Joab, David’s military commander. To fulfill David’s command, Joab and his forces were required to traverse the length and breadth of the kingdom to conduct the census, a job that would have put them out of commission as a fighting force. So, scholars believe this “numbering of the people” required an extended period of peace, when there was no imminent threat of war. The latter years of David’s reign were the only time this could have happened.

But regardless of when it happened, the main concern is that it did happen. There is a bit of confusion with this point, because the book of 1 Chronicles, in recording this same episode, tells us, “Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel” (1 Chronicles 21:1 ESV). Yet, this version of the story states something quite different.

Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.’” – 2 Samuel 24:1 ESV

So, which was it? Did Satan incite David to number Israel or was it God? While this may appear to be a contradiction, it is only a matter of perspective. We know from the book of James that God does not tempt anyone to sin.

God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. – James 1:13 NLT

But God does discipline His people for their sins. He has a track record of using others to accomplish His will, including the kings of foreign nations and even Satan himself. In the book of Exodus, we read how God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so that he would refuse to let the people of Israel go. But Pharaoh’s stubborn refusal would result in yet another display of God’s glory and greatness. All of this was so that the people of Israel, having lived in Egypt for 400 years, would know that their God was greater than the gods of Egypt. God was not forcing Pharaoh to do something against his will; He was taking advantage of Pharaoh’s predisposition for doing evil. God could have prevented Pharoah from refusing to let Israel go, but He chose not to. Pharaoh’s heart was already hardened toward the people of God so, in essence, God refused to soften his heart. It’s all a matter of perspective.

In the case of David and his number of the people of Israel, it seems that God desired to punish Israel for their disobedience, so he allowed Satan to entice David to take the census. God could have prevented Satan from having any influence over His servant, but He allowed the Enemy to play a decisive role in His plan to discipline His own people. The sovereign God of the universe was in control at all times, but Satan was the instigator behind David’s rebellious decision to do what he did.

But this begs the question: Why was taking a census so bad? What was so wrong with David, as commander-in-chief, desiring to determine the size of his army? The problem doesn’t appear to be with the taking of the census itself; it was the motivation behind doing it to begin with. It was David who wrote:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. – Psalm 20:7 ESV

Another anonymous psalm states a similar truth:

The best-equipped army cannot save a king,
    nor is great strength enough to save a warrior.
Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory—
    for all its strength, it cannot save you. – Psalm 33:16-17 NLT

In taking a census of his fighting forces, David revealed that his hope and trust were in his army, not God. He was placing his confidence in the size of his mighty military machine, not the power of God Almighty. Over his lifetime, David had built a sizeable reputation around his role as the warrior-king. He had fought and won many battles with the aid of his formidable army. He knew that a successful kingdom required a sizeable fighting force to survive and, as he neared the end of his life, he desired to know what kind of army he was leaving his successor.

It is obvious that David had a standing army made up of professional full-time soldiers because they were the ones who would be conducting his census. But David wasn’t satisfied with the army he had; he wanted to know how many potential recruits he could muster if the need arose. So he sent his military commander and troops to scour the land and determine the exact number of men he could conscript for military service. It’s important to remember that this was probably done in a time of peace when there was no pressing need for a larger army. But David wanted to know.

In a way, David put the entire nation at risk just to accomplish his goal. By sending his army on this lengthy and ill-conceived assignment, he made the nation vulnerable to assault from outside forces. With his army deployed across the nation, David would have found it difficult to reassemble them in the event of an enemy attack. But this was not what made his decision sinful; it was his lack of trust in God.

But David was not alone in this regard because it appears that the people shared his distrust of God. The chapter opens with the statement, “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them” (2 Samuel 24:1 ESV). We’re not told why God was angry with the nation but it would appear that their lack of trust was at the heart of the issue. As the king and legal representative of the people, David was displaying the attitude of the entire nation. The Israelites had lost faith in God and had begun to place their trust in someone or something else. Perhaps they had become comfortable with David as their king and grown confident in his military prowess and the army’s ability to protect them from enemies. By the latter years of David’s reign, Israel had become a powerful nation and a force to be reckoned with, and their success had probably produced a fair amount of over-confidence. As is usually the case, when things go well, people tend to forget about God. In times of relative peace and tranquility, it’s easy to lose the need for God. Whatever it was that the Israelites had done, God was angry with them and He used David to bring about a fitting punishment for their sin.

David, against the better judgment of Joab, commanded the census be taken, and nine months later he received the news for which he was looking.

…in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000. – 2 Samuel 24:9 ESV

One million three hundred thousand men. That’s a huge army by any standard, and it must have made David proud to know that he had those kinds of numbers at his disposal. This news would have fed his pride and boosted his ego. He was a powerful king with a formidable army at his disposal. But David’s moment of ego-driven ecstasy was short-lived. After getting what he believed to be good news, David had a bad premonition.

…after he had taken the census, David’s conscience began to bother him… – 2 Samuel 24:10 NLT

He had second thoughts about what he had done. Perhaps he remembered the words of his own psalm. Whatever the case, his heart became burdened as his eyes were opened to the reality of what he had done.

“I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, Lord, for doing this foolish thing.” – 2 Samuel 24:10 NLT

This was not David’s first rodeo. He had sinned before and knew what it was like to come under conviction for his disobedience. But the key lesson in this passage is that David recognized his sin and confessed it before God. He admitted his guilt and sought God’s forgiveness. He didn’t attempt to blame someone else for his actions. He didn’t make excuses. And, more importantly, he didn’t ignore his sin and act as if nothing had happened.

It’s interesting to note that David confessed his sin long before God did anything to discipline him for it. Sometimes, we can sin against God and be completely comfortable with our actions – until He chooses to punish us. Too often, we only recognize and confess our sins after God disciplines us. But David confessed his sin before God had done anything. His heart was sensitive enough to recognize the error of his ways and to admit his disobedience to God. He didn’t wait until God’s judgment fell on him.

Trust in God is a vital characteristic of the child of God. The Proverbs state:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
    and he will show you which path to take. – Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

In numbering the people, David illustrated his failure to trust God. He put his hope and trust in something he could see and count. He placed his confidence in the physical size of his army, not the invisible might of his God. It’s always easier to trust in something we can see and touch than to place our confidence in a God who is hidden from our eyes. But God had proven Himself faithful to David time and time again. He had rescued him repeatedly. He had protected and provided for him throughout his life. But here, near the end of his life, David put his trust in something other than God, and he would pay the consequences for his sin.

It is so important for us to remember that “we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 NLT). If we put out hope and confidence in the things of this world, we will lose the battle. We are in a spiritual battle that requires faith and hope in God. The size of our bank account or investment portfolio will not help us in this conflict. Our physical strength will be no match for the spiritual enemies we face. David could number his army, but it would not be his source of salvation in a time of need. God alone can save. God alone deserves our trust. God alone is the one who warrants our attention, affection, and hope.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Loyalty Without Honesty Is Duplicity

24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, 27 Abiezer of Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai of Netophah, 29 Heleb the son of Baanah of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Bahurim, 32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35 Hezro of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39 Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all. – 2 Samuel 23:24-39 ESV

Chapter 23 closes with a list of 37 men. Several things should get our attention. First, there is the mention of Uriah the Hittite. His name at the end of this lengthy list of Hebrew heroes is surprising because of the nature of his relationship with David. If you recall, Uriah was the husband of Bathsheba, the woman with whom David had an illicit and illegal affair. While Uriah, a soldier in David’s army, was on deployment fighting the enemies of Israel, David took advantage of his absence by taking sexual liberties with his wife. Then when David discovered that Bathsheba was pregnant, he attempted to cover up his sin by ordering Uriah’s return from the battlefront. He had hoped that Uriah’s reunion with his wife would produce a convenient explanation for her pregnancy. But, ever the faithful soldier, Uriah refused to enjoy the pleasure of his wife’s company while his companions’ lives were at risk. 

Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.” – 2 Samuel 11:11 NLT

Frustrated by Uriah’s dedication to duty, David ordered him back to the front carrying his own death sentence in his hands. Uriah delivered a message to Joab, David’s military commander, ordering him to expose Uriah to enemy fire so that he might be killed. With Uriah out of the way, David would be free to take Bathsheba as his wife. Joab obeyed David’s orders and “assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers” (2 Samuel 11:16-17 NLT). 

So, it seems strange to see Uriah’s name on this list of David’s faithful men. While Uriah’s death took place early in David’s reign, he is recognized here at the end of David’s life as one of “the Thirty.” We don’t know exactly what that title entails and what the responsibilities were for each of these men, but we do know that they were considered men of distinction. Even David had to admit that Uriah, though long dead, had been a man of integrity. This dedicated soldier had refused all offers to return home and sleep with his wife while his fellow soldiers were battling the enemy. Uriah had turned down David’s counsel to enjoy the comforts of home, instead choosing to sleep on the doorstep of the king’s palace. When given the opportunity, Uriah jumped at the chance to return to the front lines. He denied personal pleasures and embraced his sense of duty and dedication. He died in the service of his king and country, placing him on the list of David’s mighty men.

A second thing that stands out in this chapter is the varied nature of the men on this list. Some were Israelites, while others were not. This list contains Paltites, Hushathites, Ahohites, Arbathites, Shaalbonites, Hararites, Gilonites, Arbites, Gadites, Ammonites, Ithrites, and Hittites. Not much is known about many of these people groups, but it reveals the ethnic diversity of David’s army. David’s cohort of mighty men was a multicultural blend of individuals from all walks of life and every conceivable ethnic background. Yet, despite their differences, they were unified in their love and support for David and were bound by their oaths of allegiance and willingness to lay down their lives.

No specifics are given regarding the actions of these men or how they came to be included in “the Thirty” but they were special to David. This collection of disparate individuals reveals the divine nature of David’s reign. Only God could have orchestrated such an unlikely blend of natural-born enemies and turned them into a powerful fighting force. These men were the byproduct of God’s sovereign will, not David’s faithfulness. David didn’t deserve their love and support. He had not earned their loyalty. Their presence and participation in his band of mighty men was the work of God and testifies to His faithfulness.

Over the years, David had been blessed to have the support of this brave and dedicated group of men. No doubt there were some who, like Uriah, gave their lives for David. Others fought for him or gave him counsel and advice. They had diverse backgrounds and different duties, but they all shared a lay-it-all-on-the-line dedication to David.

Conspicuously absent from the list is Joab, the long-time commander of David’s armies and the man who had stood beside him throughout his life. The relationship between the two men had soured when Joab disobeyed a direct order from David and killed Absalom, David’s son. Joab also killed Abner and Amasa, against the wishes of David. So, he is not included in David’s inner circle. But, interestingly enough, his armor-bearer is.

Joab’s absence from the list highlights an important point: The need for loyalty.  A true friend is a loyal friend. The men mentioned in this chapter had proven to be loyal and dedicated to David. They had fought by his side and taken great risks to ensure his personal safety and secure his reign. They didn’t let their ethnic differences stand in the way. They believed in David and were willing to give their all for the cause of the kingdom.

But Joab had also proven to be a loyal friend and faithful commander. Yet, his name is conspicuously left off the list. What makes his absence so glaring is that Joab had been the only one willing to be blunt and brutally honest with David. He loved him enough to call him out. When David was stuck in a state of perpetual mourning over the death of Absalom, it was Joab who called him out and demanded that he act like a king or face the loss of his kingdom. Joab was the loving but tough-talking friend who loved David enough to say what others would not. He knew David’s weaknesses and was willing to speak up even if it caused his friend to blow up.

But Joab did more than speak his mind; he also took action. As a faithful friend, Joab refused to let David destroy his kingdom through complacency and his propensity for apathy. Joab was unwilling to stand back and watch David ignore his duties as king. So, when necessary, he stepped in and did what David should have done. His execution of Absalom is a case in point. As the king, David should have ordered the death of his own son. Absalom was guilty of murder and deserved to die for his crime. But David couldn’t bring himself to prosecute and punish his own son. So, Joab did what David was too afraid to do; he fulfilled God’s law and ensured that justice was served. 

That too, is an important character quality of a true friend. Someone who always agrees with you and conveniently overlooks your faults and failures is not someone who loves you. We all need a Joab in our lives, someone who will speak the truth in love. Surrounding ourselves with yes-men may boost our ego but it won’t build our character. The Proverb reminds us that  “A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need” (Proverbs 17:17 NLT). But a real friend doesn’t just show up, he speaks up. He doesn’t just rubber-stamp our actions or applaud our every decision; he points out our flaws and holds us accountable for our actions. David’s son Solomon highlighted the need for friends who are loyal but also honest.

Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy. – Proverbs 27:6 NLT

In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery. – Proverbs 28:23 NLT

It’s always great to be surrounded by those who look up to you and are willing to do whatever it takes to make you successful. But sometimes you need one individual willing to say the hard things and hold you to a higher standard. Joab and David didn’t always get along. They didn’t always agree. But Joab had proven his faithfulness to David time and time again. He loved David too much and knew the greatest form of loyalty sometimes comes in the form of honesty. Joab refused to watch David risk his kingdom by losing the respect of his people. He wasn’t willing to maintain his friendship at the cost of his friend’s integrity.

David had no shortage of faithful followers, brave companions, and dedicated servants. But there were times when he could have used a few more men like Joab in his life. What kind of friend are you? Are you steadfast and faithful, always there when your friends need you? Are you willing to risk losing a friend by speaking up and calling them out over their sins? Joab was far from perfect; he had his own struggles with anger, impulsiveness, and vengefulness. But he loved David greatly. So much so that he was willing to risk David’s wrath by pointing out when he was wrong. A godly leader who has followers is fortunate, but a godly leader who has faithful and honest friends is truly blessed.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Mighty Men of David

8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.

9 And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. 10 He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.

11 And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory.

13 And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. 15 And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 16 Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord 17 and said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

18 Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he wielded his spear against three hundred men and killed them and won a name beside the three. 19 He was the most renowned of the thirty and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three.

20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. 21 And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 22 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. 23 He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard. – 2 Samuel 23:8-23 ESV

When reading about David’s storied life, it is easy to picture him as this lonely, isolated figure who always has to do everything by himself. The early years of his life, after his anointing by Samuel, were spent in seeming isolation, running and hiding from Saul. He had to leave behind his wife Michal, his best friend Jonathan, and his spiritual mentor, Samuel. Even during his reign, David appears to have suffered the curse of loneliness that comes with leadership. He was the sole individual responsible for the care of his kingdom and the well-being of his people. He alone had been anointed by God to shepherd the people of Israel. It could not have been easy to face the daily pressure of fulfilling God’s divine expectations. When it came to the spiritual and physical well-being of the nation, the buck stopped with David. As king, he had the unenviable and sometimes lonely responsibility of answering to God. It was to David alone that God said, “You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over them” (2 Samuel 5:2 BSB).  

But while God held David accountable, He never left David alone or without help. This chapter reveals that God had also provided David with companions and compatriots to walk beside him and assist him all along the way. Here in chapter 23, we are introduced to thirty individuals whom the author refers to as David’s mighty men. This list of obscure and difficult-to-pronounce names is intended to illustrate how God surrounded His servant with a network of faithful and fearless men who stood by David through thick and thin. Not only did David enjoy the presence and protection of God Almighty, but he could on the unwavering support of his band of mighty men who loved him and would give their lives in support of him.

But who were these men and how did they come to serve as David’s personal fighting force? It has always been my strong belief that this list contains the names of the very same men who showed up at the cave of Adullam when David had been forced to flee for his life from the wrath of King Saul. We are told about these individuals in 1 Samuel 22.

David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and all his other relatives joined him there. Then others began coming—men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented—until David was the captain of about 400 men. – 1 Samuel 22:1-2 NLT

In one of the darkest moments of David’s life, he found himself surrounded by a band of malcontents, misfits, and money-strapped losers.  They certainly don’t fit the description of “mighty men” and, to make matters worse, there were 400 of them who showed up on David’s doorstep. David was running for his life but now he had the responsibility of caring and providing for his own family and a host of hapless and hopeless discontented outcasts. Not exactly what most of us would consider a great core group with which to start an army.

But that’s what David had to work with. Yet, over time, some of these men would be transformed and become assets rather than liabilities. Something would take these troublemakers, debtors, and malcontents and turn them into the mighty men of David. But what was it? What was the source of their remarkable transformation? Simply put, it was God. But it was also the trials and tribulations they were forced to endure as they walked alongside David all those years. They had lived in the caves beside David. They had fought the enemies of Israel alongside David. They had endured hardships and the loneliness of living on the run with David. And when God fulfilled His promise and made David the king of Israel, these men were by David’s side to serve alongside him. They were there when David was forced to evacuate Jerusalem when his son, Absalom, turned the people of Israel against him and took his throne.

Through the ups and downs of David’s life, these men stood beside by his side. They performed mighty deeds on his behalf. But this passage makes it clear that the source of their success was not their own sense of dedication and personal prowess, it was God. Sprinkled throughout this chronicle of their mighty deeds is a not-so-subtle key to the secret to their success.

And the Lord brought about a great victory that day… – 2 Samuel 23:10 ESV

…and the Lord worked a great victory. – 2 Samuel 23:12 ESV

The list of their exploits is impressive and their accomplishments should not be ignored. But we have to ask ourselves, why are they here? What was the author’s purpose for placing this list of mighty men and their impressive accomplishments at the end of his chronicle of David’s life? If you recall, these closing chapters of 2 Samuel form a kind of appendix to the book. They are a wrap-up or summation of David’s life. The content of these chapters is not arranged in chronological order. These are handpicked scenes that are intended to provide insights into some important details regarding David’s life.

This list of mighty men lets us know that David had help along the way. He was never alone because God had provided him with companions – faithful men who served him with distinction, displaying the characteristics of bravery, self-sacrifice, dedication, and unwavering loyalty. Rather than being impressed with their deeds, we should be blown away by their faithfulness to David. Virtually every one of their accomplishments was done on behalf of David, not for their own glory.

Of the 30 men mentioned, only a handful have the distinction of having their names listed. There is Josheb-basshebeth, Eleazar, and Shammah, the three men who served as commanders over the 30. It seems that these three were the ones who risked their lives to fulfill David’s wish to drink water from the well in Bethlehem. When they returned from their suicide mission and presented the water to David, he poured it out as a sacrifice to God, unwilling to enjoy the refreshment it would have brought. He viewed their selfless display of bravery and kindness as a sacrifice worthy only to God.

“This water is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it to me.” – 2 Samuel 23:17 NLT

The text says that Josheb-Basshebeth killed 800 men with his spear in one battle. Eleazar “struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword” (2 Samuel 23:10 ESV). Shammah “took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines” (2 Samuel 23:12 ESV). Impressive? No doubt about it. But it was God who gave these men their victories. They served David, but in the end, they were instruments of God. He is the one who had placed them in David’s life and equipped them to serve the king.

While great leaders tend to get all the glory, they never operate in a vacuum. Those who attain glory and significance rarely do so alone. They are always surrounded by lesser-known men and women who serve selflessly and faithfully in relative obscurity and anonymity. The exploits of these men are not intended to impress. They serve to remind us that God is always at work in and around our lives, using others to accomplish His will. David had his mighty men but we each have our faithful friends; those who stand beside us and fight alongside us during the difficult days of our lives. How will we know who they are? They will show up in the darkest moments of our lives. They will be the ones who cry with us, rejoice with us, rescue us, pray for us, and refuse to abandon us, even when things get tough.

But before you start trying to determine who the mighty men or women in your life are, why not spend time asking whether you are performing the very same role in someone else’s life. Are you a faithful, dedicated, and loyal friend whom God is using in the life of another? Are you present when tragedy strikes someone else’s life? Are you willing to risk life and limb for the sake of another? Will you wield the spiritual sword on behalf of a needy friend, until your strength is gone?

We all need more mighty men and women in our lives; those who are willing to give their all on behalf of someone other than themselves. But mighty deeds are never self-produced; they are the byproduct of the indwelling Spirit of God. The Lord alone transforms malcontents, misfits, and miscreants into mighty men and women of valor. Even David himself recognized that his greatest accomplishments were the work of God Almighty and not himself.

Praise the Lord, who is my rock.
    He trains my hands for war
    and gives my fingers skill for battle.
He is my loving ally and my fortress,
    my tower of safety, my rescuer.
He is my shield, and I take refuge in him.
    He makes the nations submit to me. – Psalm 144:1-2 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The One True King

1 Now these are the last words of David:

The oracle of David, the son of Jesse,
    the oracle of the man who was raised on high,
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
    the sweet psalmist of Israel:

2 “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me;
    his word is on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel has spoken;
    the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules justly over men,
    ruling in the fear of God,
4 he dawns on them like the morning light,
    like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
    like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

5 “For does not my house stand so with God?
    For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
    ordered in all things and secure.
For will he not cause to prosper
    all my help and my desire?
6 But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away,
    for they cannot be taken with the hand;
7 but the man who touches them
    arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,
    and they are utterly consumed with fire.” – 2 Samuel 23:1-7 ESV

The Psalm of David, recorded in chapter 22, is now followed by the last words of David. The former represented the establishment of his kingdom when he was delivered from Saul and crowned king of Israel. The latter, written at the end of his life, contains David’s reflections on his unique relationship with God. His legacy as a king and his future dynasty are both directly tied to God.

In this last testament, David passes on the lessons he has learned from serving as the king of Israel, the God-appointed shepherd of His people.

David is described as the “son of Jesse,” a reflection of his humble beginnings. David had not come to the throne of Israel due to a royal birth or bearing a high pedigree. He was just a commoner, the youngest son of Jesse, and a shepherd of sheep. Yet, God called and anointed him to be the next king of Israel. He “was raised on high” by God, not because he deserved to be but because God chose to do so. It would be easy to assume that, because God referred to David as a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), this was the reason he had been chosen by God. But this would infer that God’s choice of David was based on works or merit, something that does not gel with the rest of Scripture. God’s Word makes it quite clear that no one can merit or earn God’s favor.

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. – Ecclesiastes 7:10 ESV

None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. – Romans 3:10-12 ESV

David had a heart for God, but that does not mean he somehow deserved to be king. He had not earned his way into the position. As is evident from his life story, David was fully capable of committing sin, just like any other man. He was guilty of adultery and murder. He struggled with impulsiveness and demonstrated poor parenting skills. He battled with procrastination and exhibited less-than-stellar leadership skills at times. He was far from perfect and yet God had hand-picked him and placed him in the highest position in the land. This flawed and failure-prone man received the anointing of the prophet of God and was designated as God’s official spokesman.

David wrote, “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2 ESV). This rather arrogant-sounding statement should not be taken as braggadocio or a case of David tooting his own horn. He is simply expressing his amazement at being given the privilege and responsibility to speak on God’s behalf. As king, he was God’s mouthpiece, and one of the messages God gave him had to do with righteous leadership.

The one who rules righteously,
    who rules in the fear of God,
is like the light of morning at sunrise,
    like a morning without clouds,
like the gleaming of the sun
    on new grass after rain. – 2 Samuel 23:3-4 NLT

David had not always done this well. But, by the end of his life, he had learned that a king who rules righteously, in the fear of the Lord, radiates joy and blessings on his people. Through his many acts of self-inflicted harm, David discovered the very real truth that a king who rules unrighteously plunges his people into darkness and despair. His failure at times to fear God resulted in pain and suffering for the people under his care, and that truth is played out over and over again in the history of Israel’s kings. Obedience brings blessings. Disobedience brings curses. Righteous rulers bring light. Unrighteous rulers bring darkness.

David’s next statement reflects his comprehension of God’s promise.

Is it not my family God has chosen?
    Yes, he has made an everlasting covenant with me.
His agreement is arranged and guaranteed in every detail.
    He will ensure my safety and success. – 2 Samuel 23:5 NLT

David was not intended to be a flash in the pan, a one-and-done experiment on God’s part. God had made it clear that He was going to pour out blessings on future generations of David’s descendants. David was to be the beginning of a long legacy of godly leaders.

Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.…And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. – 2 Samuel 7:11-12, 16 NLT

But God expected all of His kings to rule righteously. David was to have served as the model of righteousness for future generations of Israelite kings. Solomon, his son and the heir to his throne, got off to a good start and seemed to have inherited David’s love for God. He ruled well for the majority of his reign, exhibiting a God-given wisdom and capacity for leadership that transformed Israel into a powerful nation-state. But sadly, Solomon’s reign did not end well. His great accomplishments, immense wealth, and reputation for wisdom were eclipsed by his obsession with women and his love affair with false gods. 

He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord. In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been. Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done. – 2 Kings 11:3-6 NLT

God had kept His promise and placed a descendant of David on the throne, but Solomon proved unfaithful, so God divided his kingdom. The nation of Israel was split in two, forming two nations, Israel and Judah, that ended up in a state of constant tension, marked by hostility and warfare. They would see a succession of kings, whose reigns would not be marked by a fear of God, but by wickedness and idolatry. Along the way, there would be a few good apples in the barrel, but for the most part, the kings of both nations would fail to meet God’s expectations. The result would be spiritual darkness among the people and, ultimately, the discipline of God. He would eventually send both nations into captivity for their sin and rebellion against him.

Almost prophetically, David writes:

But the godless are like thorns to be thrown away,
    for they tear the hand that touches them.
One must use iron tools to chop them down;
    they will be totally consumed by fire. – 2 Samuel 23:6-7 NLT

Godless leaders produce godless people, and in the case of the people of Judah and Israel, they found themselves living in exile because of their stubborn, rebellious hearts. Yet, despite the long list of unfaithful kings and godless people, the everlasting covenant to which David refers has not been abrogated. God has not broken His promise; He is faithful and never fails to keep His Word. What He says, He does. What He promises to do, He fulfills. God had made a covenant with David to establish his throne forever. But ever since Israel and Judah went into captivity in Assyria and Babylon, there have been no descendants of David to serve as king. Centuries passed and the throne remained empty. So has God failed to keep His word? Was His promise to David nullified by the sinful actions of the kings of Israel and Judah? No. God has kept His word. The apostle John tells us exactly what happened.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. – John 1:9-13 NLT

After hundreds of years of spiritual darkness, God broke through, sending His Son as the light of the world. Jesus, a descendant of David and God’s appointed successor to the throne of David, made His entrance into the world. The light of God penetrated the darkness. Yet, He was met with rejection by His own people. They failed to recognize Him as the Messiah, the Savior sent by God. Jesus even revealed that the people loved the darkness over the light. They preferred living in sin over the freedom they could have by placing their faith in Him.

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” – John 3:18-21

David was a good king. Some even consider him to have been a great king. But he was not the one true King. He was not the Savior of Israel. That role was reserved for one who would come later. Jesus, a descendant of David, was God’s appointed heir to the throne. He was sent by God to do what David and the other kings of Israel and Judah could have never done. As the sinless Son of God, He provided a means for receiving freedom from slavery to sin and restoration to a right relationship with God. David could win victories over the Philistines but he could not defeat sin and death. He could provide his people with periods of relative peace and tranquility, but he could not give them peace with God.

Jesus came to battle the spiritual forces of evil. The selfless sacrifice of His sinless life on the cross broke the bonds of sin and death that had long held humanity captive. Yet, some refused His gracious offer of salvation. They preferred to live in darkness, rather than enjoy the light of freedom and the joy of God’s forgiveness.

David would eventually die. His son Solomon would ascend to the throne but his kingdom would end up divided and eventually, the people of God would end up living in captivity in foreign lands. But God was not done with Israel or with David’s throne. He would not break His promise to David. Despite the unfaithfulness of David’s successors, God would prove faithful and eventually send the one who would be the consummate man after His own heart. He would send His Son who would bring the greatest victory any king could ever hope to deliver.

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:54-56 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Our God Is Alive and Well

44 “You delivered me from strife with my people;
    you kept me as the head of the nations;
    people whom I had not known served me.
45 Foreigners came cringing to me;
    as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
46 Foreigners lost heart
    and came trembling out of their fortresses.

47 “The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
    and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,
48 the God who gave me vengeance
    and brought down peoples under me,
49 who brought me out from my enemies;
    you exalted me above those who rose against me;
    you delivered me from men of violence.

50 “For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
    and sing praises to your name.
51 Great salvation he brings to his king,
    and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
    to David and his offspring forever.” – 2 Samuel 22:44-51 ESV

David knew that his life was inextricably linked to God. Nothing he did was outside the influence and direct impact of God. His victories were due to God and his position and power were attributable to God. His physical strength was a gift from God. Even his sins were lovingly disciplined by God. No area of David’s life escaped the notice of God, because his God was living, active, and intimately involved in his life.

When David stated, “The Lord lives” he used the Hebrew word ḥay (pronounced khah'-ee). It can be translated as “alive” and refers to flowing water or a green plant. It was an expression used to convey the evidence of life. A stagnant pond would not have been “alive.” A brown plant would have displayed no evidence of life. For David, the proof of God’s “life” was in God’s constant activity and non-stop involvement in his own life. He could “see” God and didn’t have to wonder if God existed. He was convinced of God’s presence by the evidence of his power made visible through His actions and activities.

It is easy to overlook God’s actions or to attribute them to someone or something else. We often refer to luck or good fortune. When something fortuitous happens, we might say, “I was just in the right place at the right time.” If we encounter an unexpected and unpleasant outcome, we might respond, “I guess I had that coming.” We jokingly refer to karma and kismet. We talk about fate as if it exists and holds an irresistible mastery over our future. Even Christians can end up believing that the outcome of their lives is completely up to them or at the mercy of unseen forces.

But David would argue that God is the invisible, unstoppable agent of influence in the life of the believer. He is alive and active, and the evidence of His life is all around us. But seeing and believing it is a matter of perspective. When difficulties come into our lives, we tend to ask, “Where is God?” In other words, we assume that the presence of trouble signals the absence of God. But David would argue that God is there, even in those dark moments.

He is the God who pays back those who harm me;
    he brings down the nations under me
    and delivers me from my enemies. – 2 Samuel 22:48-49 NLT

David sensed God’s presence, even in the most difficult of situations. This awareness of God’s immanence allowed David to live with a sense of expectation and eager anticipation that God was going to act on his behalf. There’s little doubt that much of David’s firm assurance in God’s presence was the result of hindsight. He could look back on his life and recognize the evidence of God’s handiwork. That is why he was so willing to confidently attribute his current success to God’s past actions in his life.

You gave me victory… – vs 44

You preserved me… – vs 44

You hold me safe… – vs 49

You save me… – vs 49

You give great victories… – vs 51

You show unfailing love… – vs 51

David had learned that God reveals Himself through the grace, peace, and mercy that He pours out in times of difficulty. These displays of God’s love aren’t always recognizable and readily attributable to Him. Sometimes it comes disguised in the form of a friend who encourages and comforts us. He sends His children to act as His representatives, expressing His love and providing tangible evidence of His existence.

Seeing God requires that we look for Him. God told the Israelites, “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me” (Jeremiah 29:13 NLT). But we have to make the effort to seek evidence of His presence. We have to assume He is there, even when the circumstances tell a starkly different story. When David sat in the damp, dark recesses of a cave in the Judean wilderness, attempting to hide from King Saul, it would have been easy to doubt the presence of God. He could have easily assumed that he had been abandoned by God.

When facing difficulty, our first impression is to assume that God has left the building; He has turned His back on us. But He is there. He is always there. And He is always active because He is the living God. He is not a lifeless idol sitting on a shelf. He is not a dead deity whose story is bound up in an old, out-of-touch book written thousands of years ago. He is the living God of the Bible, which itself is a living, active document that reveals His divine nature and tells the incredible story of His plan for redeeming and restoring humanity.

The author of Hebrews describes the Bible as “alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires” (Hebrews 4:12 NLT). Everything about God is alive, from His Word to His Spirit who lives within each and every believer. Unlike the false gods of this world, our God is a living, breathing, active, and all-powerful God. He has no equal. There are no other gods who can compete with or compare to Him. All other gods are man-made, powerless, and poor substitutes for the one true God. The prophet Jeremiah pulled no punches when describing the futility of worshiping false gods.

Their ways are futile and foolish.
    They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.
They decorate it with gold and silver
    and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails
    so it won’t fall over.
Their gods are like
    helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field!
They cannot speak,
    and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of such gods,
    for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.” – Jeremiah 10:3-5 NLT

But Jeremiah goes on to differentiate the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David.

But the Lord is the true God;
    he is the living God and the everlasting King. – Jeremiah 10:10 ESV

He is the living God. In other words, there was no point in time when God was made or manufactured by someone else. It is not just that He has life or existence, but that He is the preexistent one. He was not made. God is not the result of man’s creative capabilities. In fact, God is the Creator of all things. He doesn’t have to be carried about and propped up on a shelf. He isn’t restricted to a specific location or limited in any way. God is not isolated and insulated from His creation. He is not stuck in heaven and dependent upon our efforts to call Him down. As followers of Christ, the living God lives within us; we are His temple. Paul reminded the Corinthians of this fact in his second letter to them.

For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” – 2 Corinthians 6:16 NLT

He lives within us and the proof of His presence should be evident all around us. Paul told the Galatians exactly how to spot the evidence of God’s life within us:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… – Galatians 5:22 ESV

That is all the proof we need that our God is alive. He reveals Himself in us and through us. But He also shows up all around us, in the daily affairs of life. We can see Him in the many blessings we enjoy. We can sense Him even in the difficulties that show up in life, as He comforts, corrects, encourages, and perfects us. God is always there. We just have to learn to look for Him.

David had become adept at looking for and seeing God in the everyday affairs of life. He had trained himself to seek God and to expect to find Him. David wasn’t surprised when God showed up; it was his expectation. And his response to the presence of God was to praise Him.

For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
    I will sing praises to your name. – 2 Samuel 22:50 NLT

David’s awareness of God’s active involvement in his life flowed out in praise. He couldn’t help but brag about God. Rather than boast about his own accomplishments, he gave God the credit. He literally sang God’s praises. But David didn’t operate in a vacuum. His words of acclimation and adoration weren’t relegated to his personal quiet time or some secluded spot in his palace. While he directed his praise to God, he wasn’t afraid for others to hear what he had to say. He wanted his people to know and experience the power and presence of God as well. He wanted the nations to hear about the glory of Yahweh.

For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
    I will sing praises to your name. – 2 Samuel 22:50 NLT

David’s God was alive and powerful. His God was worthy of praise, glory, and honor. Unlike the false gods worshiped by the enemies of Israel, Yahweh wasn’t sitting on a shelf somewhere; He was actively involved in the lives of His people and working out His sovereign will among the nations. He was powerful, present, and providentially carrying out His perfect will according to His predetermined plan.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Boast in the Lord

32 “For who is God, but the Lord?
    And who is a rock, except our God?
33 This God is my strong refuge
    and has made my way blameless.
34 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
    and set me secure on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for war,
    so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
    and your gentleness made me great.
37 You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
    and my feet did not slip;
38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
    and did not turn back until they were consumed.
39 I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;
    they fell under my feet.
40 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
    you made those who rise against me sink under me.
41 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
    those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
42 They looked, but there was none to save;
    they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
43 I beat them fine as the dust of the earth;
    I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets. – 2 Samuel 22:32-43 ESV

Whether we want to admit it or not, we have other gods we worship, and it has always been that way. While some of our national currency still carries the phrase, “One Nation Under God,” it has never said, “One God Over the Nation.” Like every culture and generation before us, we Americans have always had a predisposition toward idolatry. The people of Israel were no different. That’s why God gave them the Ten Commandments, the first four of which deal with their relationship with Him.

God prefaced His list of commands with the statement, “I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:2 NLT). He was telling Moses and the people of Israel that He was to be their God, their one and only God. Then He clarified exactly what He meant.

“You must not have any other god but me.” – Exodus 20:3 NLT

In other words, unlike all the other cultures around them, they were to have only one god, not many. They were to worship one deity, not a plethora of gods as the Egyptians did. They were to give their allegiance to the one true God. It was not as if God admitted that He had real competition and demanded their undivided attention. God didn’t have to worry about competitors, but He did have to be concerned about man’s natural tendency to create false gods, man-made substitutes, or stand-ins for Him. That is why the psalmist wrote:

Their idols are merely things of silver and gold,
    shaped by human hands.
They have mouths but cannot speak,
    and eyes but cannot see.
They have ears but cannot hear,
    and noses but cannot smell.
They have hands but cannot feel,
    and feet but cannot walk,
    and throats but cannot make a sound.
And those who make idols are just like them,
    as are all who trust in them. – Psalm 115:4-8 NLT

But the fact that these gods are false has never stopped men from placing their hope in them. While the psalmist was obviously referring to actual 3-dimensional idols made to represent a false deity, we 21st-century human beings have moved to a much more sophisticated, yet sinister, form of idolatry. Our gods come in a variety of forms. They don’t sit on a shelf where we offer literal sacrifices to them but they demand our worship nonetheless.

We have made gods out of everything from work to entertainment, the television in our home to the money in our bank. There are so many things in our lives that demand our undivided attention or, to put it another way, our worship. We revere these things and sacrifice our time, attention, and even our money to them. We turn to them in times of trouble, hoping they will rescue us. We lean on them for a sense of contentment and happiness during the dark days of our lives. We seek satisfaction from them. We put our hope in them. But God would remind us:

“To whom will you compare me?
    Who is my equal?
Some people pour out their silver and gold
    and hire a craftsman to make a god from it.
    Then they bow down and worship it!
They carry it around on their shoulders,
    and when they set it down, it stays there.
    It can’t even move!
And when someone prays to it, there is no answer.
    It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.” – Isaiah 46:5-7 NLT

David understood that there was no reliable source of help and hope in his life, but God. This is why he rhetorically asks, “Who is God except the Lord?” The answer is obvious: No one. There is no god but God. He has no real competition. We may attempt to find help in someone or something else, but those substitutes will always come up short. They can’t deliver. That is why David said, “This God is my strong refuge” (2 Samuel 22:33 ESV). It was God alone to whom he turned for help, hope, safety, security, rescue, rest, strength, and victory. This God and no other.

In this passage, David weaves together an interesting mixture of pronouns, repeatedly referring to both himself and God. He was not putting himself on the same level as God but was simply trying to show that his life was totally dependent upon God.

He makes me as surefooted as a deer… – vs 34

He trains my hands for battle… – vs 35

You have given me your shield of victory… – vs 36

…your help has made me great… – vs 36

You have made a wide path for my feet… – vs 37

It was God who had done these things for David and, as a result, David was able to say:

I chased my enemies and destroyed them… – vs 38

I did not stop until they were conquered… – vs 38

I consumed them… – vs 39

I struck them down… – vs 39

I ground them as fine as the dust of the earth… – vs 43

David had done his part, but only because God had made it possible. David knew he was not a self-made man, so he could take no credit for his victories. He was in no place to brag about his exploits – apart from God’s help. Anything he had accomplished in his life was attributable to God. He gave God the glory because God deserved the credit. This is why David was able to say to God, “Your help has made me great” (2 Samuel 22:36 NLT).

He had no problem acknowledging God as the reason for all his victories and the source of his own self-worth. David knew that, without God, he was just another man. His reign would never have happened. No songs would have been sung about him. This lowly shepherd boy would have remained in the company of his father’s flocks with no aspirations of leaving the pasture for the palace. Apart from God, David would have accomplished nothing of lasting note or significance. It was as if David was saying, “This God has made this man who he is.”

How easy it is for us to take credit for what God has done. We boast about our accomplishments and well up with pride when we consider our own success. But we’re not completely selfish; sometimes we share the glory with others, freely admitting their support role in our lives. But, in doing so, we can easily end up giving unnecessary credit to someone or something else for what is clearly the work of God in our lives.

For some of us, luck plays a more dominant role in our lives than God Almighty. We explain our good fortune as a product of fate when we should be giving God the praise He deserves. But God warns us about the danger of misdirecting our affections or misapplying the credit for our success.

“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.” – Exodus 20:5 NLT

God will not share His glory with anyone or anything else. He will not tolerate faithlessness and infidelity among His people, which is why He repeatedly referred to the people of Israel as adulterous. They cheated on Him regularly. They repeatedly shared their attention and affection with others. They refused to give Him the credit He deserved and the honor His status as God demanded. But we can be guilty of the same thing. David provides us with a sobering reminder that this God of ours is worthy of our praise, glory, honor, gratitude, worship, and undivided attention. For who is God except the Lord?

It was the great reformer, John Calvin who wrote, “The heart and mind of man is ‘a perpetual forge of idols’” (John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion). Timothy Keller would expand on that idea, stating, “The human heart is an idol factory that takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things. Our hearts deify them as the center of our lives, because, we think, they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfillment, if we attain them” (Timothy Keller, Counterfeit God: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matter).

David understood that God was the sole source of his success and significance. It wasn’t that David was entirely immune to idol worship. Just like us, he could make a god out of just about anything. He could deify his children by placing their well-being over obedience to the will of God. He allowed his obsession with the opposite sex to distract him from his love for God. David was anything but a saint, but he did have enough self-awareness to recognize that any success and significance he enjoyed was the work of God. He had no reason to boast, but he had every reason to bask in the glory and greatness of God.

Like the apostle Paul, David reminds us to give credit where credit is due. We owe all that we are to the one true God.

Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.” – 1 Corinthians 26-29, 31 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Unfailing Faithfulness of God

17 “He sent from on high, he took me;
    he drew me out of many waters.
18 He rescued me from my strong enemy,
    from those who hated me,
    for they were too mighty for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my support.
20 He brought me out into a broad place;
    he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

21 “The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
    and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For all his rules were before me,
    and from his statutes I did not turn aside.
24 I was blameless before him,
    and I kept myself from guilt.
25 And the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to my cleanness in his sight.

26 “With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
27 with the purified you deal purely,
    and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
28 You save a humble people,
    but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.
29 For you are my lamp, O Lord,
    and my God lightens my darkness.
30 For by you I can run against a troop,
    and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31 This God—his way is perfect;
    the word of the Lord proves true;
    he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. – 2 Samuel 22:17-31 ESV

This section of David’s psalm contains an interesting contrast. In it, David continues to exalt his God, while at the same time seemingly praising himself for his own blamelessness, guiltlessness, and righteousness. At first glance, David appears to have an overinflated and inaccurate view of himself, boasting about things he has no right to claim. Even if this psalm was written in the early days of his reign, immediately after the fall of Saul, David was far from a sinless man. Yet he claims, “The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence” (2 Samuel 22:21 NLT).

He boldly claims to have kept himself from sin. Not only that, he insists that God has rewarded him for his right and righteous behavior. It all sounds as if David is either delusional or disingenuous. He can’t really believe what he is saying, can he? However, David’s bold assertions are far too many to be dismissed as mere rhetoric or hyperbole. But how can he justly defend the following statement?

For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
    I have not turned from my God to follow evil.
I have followed all his regulations;
    I have never abandoned his decrees. – 2 Samuel 22:22-23 NLT

What about his affair with Bathsheba? Was that not a violation of God's regulation against adultery? Was his complicity in the death of Uriah not in direct violation of God’s laws concerning murder? Did his failure to prosecute and punish Amnon for the rape of Tamar not qualify as wickedness in God’s eyes? Was his decision to allow his son Absalom to get away with murder without having to face the consequences not an abandonment of God’s decrees?

The list could go on. So how do we explain David’s dishonesty or apparent lack of self-awareness? Is David simply delusional or suffering from an overactive sense of self-worth? One of the things we have to remember is that this passage is virtually identical to Psalm 22, written in the early days of David’s reign. This chapter opened with the descriptor: “David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul” (2 Samuel 22:1 ESV).

So David’s eloquent statement of praise to God that features a rather flattering portrayal of himself was written in the early stages of his career as king. So, context is critical to understanding the content of David’s words. It would seem that this psalm was written well before David committed many of the sins outlined above. Yet, even if those transgressions are eliminated, it would seem inappropriate for David to refer to himself as “blameless.” His glowing self-assessment comes across as far from honest and bordering on shamelessness.

Part of the problem is how we interpret the word “blameless.” We tend to insert the word “sinless” and assume that David is claiming himself to be fully righteous and free from sin. But the Hebrew word David used is tāmîm and it carries the idea of having integrity of heart or wholeness of character. It is the same word God used when He spoke to Abraham centuries earlier.

“…walk before me, and be blameless.” – Genesis 17:1 ESV

God was not expecting Abraham to live a sinless life; He was calling His servant to live a fully committed and wholly transparent life. God was calling Abraham to live a completely sold-out and non-compartmentalized life, solely dedicated to Him.

David’s claim of blamelessness was not a braggadocious declaration of sinlessness. He wasn’t boasting about his own righteousness; he was confessing that he had nothing to hide from God and no reason to fear being punished by God. You might say that he was “confessed up” and in good standing with God.

At this early stage of his career as king, David had a desire to live in accordance with God’s will. He wanted to do the right thing. In Psalm 101, he states his intentions to live and rule with integrity and blamelessness.

1 I will sing of your love and justice, Lord.
    I will praise you with songs.
2 I will be careful to live a blameless life—
    when will you come to help me?
I will lead a life of integrity
    in my own home.
3 I will refuse to look at
    anything vile and vulgar.
I hate all who deal crookedly;
    I will have nothing to do with them.
4 I will reject perverse ideas
    and stay away from every evil.
5 I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors.
    I will not endure conceit and pride.

6 I will search for faithful people
    to be my companions.
Only those who are above reproach
    will be allowed to serve me.
7 I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house,
    and liars will not stay in my presence.
8 My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked
    and free the city of the Lord from their grip. – Psalm 101:1-8 NLT

David knew that he didn’t deserve to be the king of Israel. He suffered no delusions of grandeur and harbored no thoughts of being a self-made man. God had placed him on the throne. The Almighty had graciously rewarded him with the highest position in the land. But David could remember the years he spent running from King Saul. He could vividly recall the many nights he slept in caves and lived as a fugitive in the Judean wilderness. But God had rescued and redeemed him.

He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
    from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
    but the Lord supported me.
He led me to a place of safety;
    he rescued me because he delights in me. – 2 Samuel 22:18-20 NLT

David recognized that his years of suffering had not been because of something he had done. He was not being punished by God for any wickedness he had committed. That is why he could state that he had been rescued by God because he had done nothing to deserve God’s displeasure or punishment. David’s suffering under the hand of Saul had not been due to his own sinfulness. He had been the innocent victim of Saul’s anger and jealousy against him.

When this psalm was originally written, David had been living under constant threat of losing his life because of Saul’s hatred for him. When David writes, “The Lord rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence” (2 Samuel 22:25 NLT), he acknowledges that he had done nothing to deserve his suffering. On two separate occasions, he had the opportunity to take Saul’s life and refused to do so. He could have eliminated the threat to his life and fast-tracked his ascension to the throne but, instead, he showed respect for the Lord’s anointed. He feared God more than he despised his own circumstances. This left David with a clear conscience before God.

But this psalm is less about David than it is about God. It is David’s acknowledgment that God had been fully aware of the circumstances surrounding his life. David had come to understand that his suffering had not been the result of his own sin but was the divine will of a sovereign, all-powerful God. God had seen David’s plight, heard his cries, and responded by rescuing His anointed one from his trials. God had shown Himself faithful to David because David had remained faithful to Him. He responded to David with integrity because David had shown himself to be a man of integrity. This wouldn’t always be true of David’s life. As we have seen, there were moments when David failed to live blamelessly and with integrity. But at the time at which this psalm was written, David could confidently state, “The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow evil” (2 Samuel 22:21-22 NLT).

What makes this psalm so interesting is its placement at the close of Second Samuel which records the closing days of David’s reign and life. This psalm was originally penned decades earlier but reappears as David’s reign is coming to an end. It reflects a reality that David experienced throughout his life but that did not mark every phase of his life. We know of his sin with Bathsheba. We are well aware of the murder of Uriah. We have read about his many faults and failings. David was not always a man of integrity. He didn’t always do the right thing or react appropriately. Oftentimes, he failed to seek God and rely on Him for help. He had a habit of taking matters into his own hands. But in principle, David knew that God rescues the humble, rewards the righteous, and restores the innocent.

In this eloquently worded psalm, David is attempting to exalt God, not himself. He is simply stating an indisputable reality when it comes to God’s relationship with men: He doesn’t reward the wicked or pour out His blessings on the prideful. He refuses to forgive the sins of those who remain unrepentant and self-reliant. David states, “God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection” (2 Samuel 22:31 NLT).

That had been David’s personal experience with God and he had seen it proven true time and time again. At no point in his life could David point his finger at God and accuse Him of dealing falsely or faithlessly with him. God’s way was perfect, even when David’s way was not. God had always dealt faithfully with David. Even when David sinned, God responded lovingly and faithfully. God repeatedly rescued and restored David, despite his many indiscretions and lapses of integrity. Yes, David suffered for his sins. He was forced to endure the consequences of his disobedience to God. But nowhere along the way did God prove unfaithful, unloving, or unwilling to keep His promises to David.

The ways of God are perfect. All His promises prove true. He is there when we seek for Him. But He is also there when we fail to recognize or rely upon Him. There had been many times when David abandoned God, but he had learned the reassuring truth that at no point had God ever abandoned him.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Awe-Struck By God’s Glory

1 And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said,

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
3     my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
    my stronghold and my refuge,
    my savior; you save me from violence.
4 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

5 “For the waves of death encompassed me,
    the torrents of destruction assailed me;
6 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

7 “In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry came to his ears.

8 “Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations of the heavens trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
9 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
10 He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he was seen on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness around him his canopy,
    thick clouds, a gathering of water.
13 Out of the brightness before him
    coals of fire flamed forth.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven,
    and the Most High uttered his voice.
15 And he sent out arrows and scattered them;
    lightning, and routed them.
16 Then the channels of the sea were seen;
    the foundations of the world were laid bare,
at the rebuke of the Lord,
    at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. – 2 Samuel 22:1-16 ESV

It was A. W. Tozer who wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God” (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy).

When studying any man's life, we can easily become obsessed with his accomplishments, failures, actions, and apparent attitudes about everything from life to leadership and family to financial success. David is no exception. In fact, when looking into David’s life, we are provided with so many painfully transparent details that we can assume to know him all too well. But the one thing we can never really know about any man is the true state of his heart. God had to remind the prophet Samuel of this fact when he was searching for the man to replace Saul as the next king of Israel. Seeing that the prophet was using external criteria as a means to determine the right man for the position, God told him: “The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT).

We can’t see into a man’s heart, but in the case of David, we are given a glimpse into his thoughts and feelings at different points in his tumultuous life. The closing chapters of 2 Samuel contain a literary gem from the pen of David that reads like a personal and very private journal. The words it contains are almost a verbatim recounting of Psalm 18, a psalm that bears the following description:

A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.

It is important to keep in mind that the closing chapters of 2 Samuel serve as a kind of appendix to the entire book. They are not in chronological order, but function as a summation of David’s life, providing the reader with a more holistic image of David as a man, leader, father, husband, and servant of God.

Based on the description that accompanies Psalm 18, it can be assumed that this particular psalm was written early in David’s life. It clearly states that it was written after David had been delivered from the hand of Saul. So it is not a late-in-life exposé written as David lay on his deathbed, looking back in regret or in a fit of nostalgia. These are the words of a young man who found himself in the early days of his God-ordained role as the king of Israel. In those inaugural days of his reign, David faced a litany of difficult circumstances that seemed to contradict both God’s call and the promises He had made to David. And yet, these words, which prefaced the rest of his long and storied life were not negative or filled with complaints and fist-shaking diatribes against God. Yes, they are blunt and highly transparent because David was not one to mince words or attempt to hide his true feelings from God. He is open and transparent but also respectful and reverent in the way he talks with God. He was willing to tell God how he felt, but he didn’t let his feelings influence his thoughts about God. Notice how he starts out:

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
    my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
    and my place of safety.
He is my refuge, my savior,
    the one who saves me from violence. – 2 Samuel 22:2-3 NLT

All throughout this psalm, he speaks to and about God with reverential awe and honor. He sees God for who He really is: His rock, fortress, deliverer, savior, shield, refuge, and the all-powerful, praise-worthy, transcendent God of the universe. David knew from personal experience that his God was almighty and yet all-loving. He was an ever-present God who was fully aware of David’s plights and heard his cries for help. His God was not distant and disinterested in the trials that David faced. His God was not unresponsive or unapproachable, even though His dwelling place was in heaven. David knew he could call out to God and not only be heard but receive help in his time of need. His God rescued and redeemed, and not in some passive way that left him wondering if it had really been Him at all.

David describes God’s actions in terms that appeal to the senses and leave little doubt as to His power and majesty:

…the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the heavens shook; they quaked because of his anger… – vs 8

Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from him. – vs 9

The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. – vs 14

David’s descriptions of God are figurative and not meant to be taken literally. They are meant to convey an image of the Almighty that conveys His transcendence and incomparable power. David describes God in otherworldly, supernatural terms that evoke the one-of-a-kind aspect of His divine nature. His God is not only active and alive, but He is also awe-inspiring and fear-inducing. David’s verbal portrait of God is intended to inspire a sense of reverential respect and humble submission in all who read it. God is not to be taken lightly and His gracious involvement in the affairs of daily life should not be dismissed or treated carelessly.

David had never seen God face-to-face or witnessed His providential power firsthand. Yet, he knew that the Almighty's fingerprints could be found on every aspect of his life. God had delivered Goliath into David’s hands and had repeatedly rescued David from the threats of King Saul. God had orchestrated all of David’s victories over his enemies. David viewed these miraculous and inexplicable acts of salvation as the work of an all-powerful, fire-breathing, earth-shattering, voice-like-thunder God.

In a sense, David is attempting to describe the indescribable. Encumbered with the limits of human language to describe the invisible and incomprehensible God, David turned to the natural world for help. He uses creation to convey the greatness of the Creator. For David, using natural phenomena like thunder, lightning, wind, earthquakes, and fire was the best way to put God’s majesty and might into words. His attempt to somehow make the indescribable God visible and relatable was virtually impossible but he did the best he could do within the limits of human language.

A. W. Tozer describes the challenge faced by all the authors of the Holy Scripture when they attempted to make God known.

“The effort of inspired me to express the ineffable has placed a great strain upon both thought and language in the Holy Scriptures. These being often a revelation of a world above nature, and the minds for which they were written being a part of nature, the writers are compelled to use a great many ‘like’ words to make themselves understood.” - A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

David had never witnessed the parting of the Red Sea or the divine manifestation of God’s presence on Mount Sinai in the form of smoke, fire, thunder, and lightning. But he had heard the stories and he believed that God was still fully capable of revealing Himself in supernatural and inexplicable ways. For David, the lack of visible manifestations of God’s power was not a disappointment or a setback to his faith. He fully believed that his God could still shake mountains, divide the seas, rain down fire from heaven, and deliver His people through unprecedented acts of power and providence.

David had a high regard for God and it was this unique, personal relationship with God Almighty that set David apart from so many of his contemporaries. In reading this passage and so many of the psalms that bear his name, we are left with the inarguable conclusion that David really was a man after God’s own heart. As we work our way through the remainder of chapter 22 of 2 Samuel, we will see that David not only knew and understood who God was, but he was comfortable with who he was in his relationship with God. David had no delusions about his own sinfulness and God’s holiness, but he could say, “he rescued me because he delights in me” (2 Samuel 22:20 NLT).

David was a man at peace with his God but he never took his relationship with the Almighty lightly or treated it flippantly. He remained awe-struck by God’s glory but equally amazed by God’s goodness. David was confident, guiltless, content, joyful, grateful, free from fear, and happy to praise his God for who He was and all that He had done.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Facing the Giants

15 There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary. 16 And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”

18 After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants. 19 And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. 21 And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. 22 These four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. – 2 Samuel 21:15-22 ESV

It is impossible to tell from the text at what point these events occurred in David’s reign. It is assumed that they took place in the early days of his kingship, but there is no definitive proof to support that position. As part of the “appendix” to the book, these stories are intended to provide the reader with an overview of David’s reign. As the author wraps up his chronicle of David’s life, he includes these colorful and captivating “snapshots” that capture key moments along the way.

Throughout his years as Israel’s God-appointed leader, David faced ongoing conflicts with the dreaded Philistines. His first encounter with these perennial foes of the Israelites took place in the valley of Elah. King Saul and the Israelite army were camped in the valley of Elah, preparing to face off with the Philistines. David, fresh off his anointing by the prophet of God, showed up at the Israelite camp with orders from his father to check on the welfare of his brothers. David was a young shepherd boy with no military experience, but he was shocked to find the entire Israelite army paralyzed by the threats of a brash and loud-mouthed Philistine named Goliath. This giant of a man had been taunting Saul and his troops, demanding that they send out a worthy opponent to face him in hand-to-hand combat. It would be a winner-takes-all affair with an extremely costly outcome for the losing side; they would be forced to become their enemy’s slaves.

As the story goes, David stepped up and volunteered to take on the giant. His brothers ridiculed him and King Saul doubted him. But, with no other viable options to which to turn, Saul eventually gave David permission to face Goliath. The rest, as they say, is history. David miraculously won the contest with nothing more than a slingshot and five smooth stones. He killed the giant and saved the day. But it seems that the Philistines never kept their end of the agreement. Rather than surrender to the Israelites, they panicked and ran. The Israelites slaughtered many of the Philistines and pillaged their camp, but the conflict between these two nations was far from over.

The closing verses of chapter 21 provide insight into the ongoing war David waged with the Philistines. His victory over Goliath, while epic in nature, did not eliminate the Philistine threat. Even during the years when he was forced to escape the wrath of King Saul, David continued to fight with the Philistines. On two seperate occasions David sought refuge among his mortal enemies in an attempt to escape the armed mercenaries who had been sent by Saul to take his life. Yet David would discover that there was no hope of forming alliances with these sworn enemies of Israel.

Ever since his days as the young shepherd boy, David had been in constant war with the Philistines. And it seems that the Philistines held a special disdain for David because of his defeat of their beloved champion, Goliath. They never forgot how David’s unexpected victory had rallied the Israelite army and turned the tide of the battle. Over the years, their hatred for David only intensified and their attacks on the Israelites increased. In this chapter, the author introduces us to four of Goliath’s big-boned relatives who made the defeat of the Israelites a personal matter.

There was Ishbi-benob, Saph, Goliath, and another unidentified man who was born with 12 toes and 12 fingers. Each of these men was larger than life, both literally and figuratively, and posed a real threat to David and the nation of Israel. But they fell at the hands of David’s men. Their massive size and formidable weapons were no match for the mighty men of David. But why? It would be tempting to make this all about the four men who accomplished these mighty deeds on behalf of David and the nation of Israel: Abishai, Sibbecai, Elhanan, and Jonathan.

Chapter 23 will even introduce us to the “mighty men of David,” a select group of individuals who displayed almost supernatural military prowess. But rather than put our focus on these men, we should immediately recognize the hand of God. The victories of Israel over the Philistines and their seemingly endless line of champions were due to God, not the efforts of these men. Yes, they had to fight. They were required to go into battle against superior adversaries and risk life and limb, but their victory was due to God, not themselves. Verse 22 states, “These four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.” But once again, their victories were made possible by God. The author’s emphasis on each Philistine’s larger-than-normal size and bigger-than-usual weapons is meant to paint a picture of impossible odds. Yet, David’s men came out victorious.

It’s interesting to note that the author claims that these Philistines “fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.” Yet, it doesn’t appear that David played any part in the deaths of these four Philistine champions. In fact, out of concern for his safety, David’s men forbade him from accompanying them in battle.

“You are not going out to battle with us again! Why risk snuffing out the light of Israel?” – 2 Samuel 21:17 NLT

But because of his role as king, David is given credit for the deaths of these Philistine warriors. His faithful and fearless warriors fought on his behalf and gladly shared with him the glory of their victories.

Once again, it is unclear when all these duels between David’s men and the Philistines took place. It doesn’t appear that they occurred at the same time or in one epic battle. These were ongoing encounters between the disgruntled relatives of Goliath who longed to avenge the legacy of their fallen family member. The text makes it clear that these were not normal foes; they were “descended from the giants” (2 Samuel 21:20 ESV). The Hebrew word translated as “giants” is Rephaim, but its etymology is unclear. “Whatever the origin of the Rephaim, it is certain that a race of ‘giants’ — strong, tall people—did exist at one time, and many cultures had dealings with them” ("Who Were the Rephaim" GotQuestions.org. https://www.gotquestions.org/who-were-the-rephaim.html).

Regardless of the genetic background of these men, the vital point of the story is their defeat at the hands of David’s men. But these victories over seemingly supernatural foes are really the handiwork of God Almighty. Even in his defeat of Goliath, David knew that his success had been God’s doing and not his own. Even as David faced off with Goliath in the valley of Elah, he warned his foe, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!” (2 Samuel 17:45-46 NLT).

David’s reign would be marked by war and his battles against the enemies of Israel would never end. This perpetual state of warfare was the direct result of Israel’s failure to obey God and rid the land of all its inhabitants. Centuries earlier, under the leadership of Joshua, they had been ordered by God to eradicate all the pagan people groups that occupied the land that was to be their inheritance. Their partial obedience to God’s command had allowed nations like the Philistines to remain alive and well in the land. As a result, David was left with the task of finishing what Joshua had begun, and his battles would last the entirety of his reign. It would be his son Solomon who would reign over a kingdom marked by peace. But David’s tenure as king would be one of constant war and bloodshed. Yet God would be with him and that is the message found within these verses.

What should really stand out is God’s unwavering faithfulness in the face of so much unfaithfulness on the part of David and the people of Israel. David’s victories were the result of God’s grace and mercy, and not because David was a faithful and fully obedient servant. David didn’t earn or deserve his success as a military commander. He didn’t merit the expansion of his kingdom. God was blessing him in spite of him. Time and time again, David failed God in sometimes epic fashion. But God remained faithful to His promises to David. It would have been easy for the men of David to make much of their individual successes. They could have, and probably did, brag about their victories over superior enemies. But the message for us is one of dependence upon God. Our victories are His doing. Our successes are His alone. We are only as great as our God. To be victorious we must understand that our God is glorious.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Sin’s Consequences Have a Long Shelf-Life

1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. 3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?” 4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?” 5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, 6 let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8 The king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; 9 and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.

10 Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night. 11 When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa. 13 And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged. 14 And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that God responded to the plea for the land. – 2 Samuel 21:1-14 ESV

These closing chapters of the book of Second Samuel function as a kind of appendix, presenting six unrelated stories that do not appear in chronological order. Yet, this compilation of disconnected stories is intended to provide a historical overview of the life of David. The first involves a famine, which probably took place early in David’s reign. It had lasted three years and brought much devastation to the people of Israel. But it was not until David sought the face of God that he became aware of the famine’s cause. It is significant to note that, early in David’s reign, he seemed to have been more prone to seek the face of God when faced with difficulty. But he had still waited three years before he determined to seek the Lord’s will concerning the matter.

It seems that David initially viewed the famine as nothing more than a natural disaster. But after three years with no relief, he finally inquired of the Lord and was told, “The famine has come because Saul and his family are guilty of murdering the Gibeonites” (2 Samuel 21:1 NLT). This was not a case of divine judgment; God was punishing Israel for a sin committed by Saul during his reign as king. But the genesis of this story goes back much farther than that.

The Book of Joshua records an incident concerning the people of Israel as they were attempting to take possession of the land of Canaan. This was the inheritance that God promised to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, centuries later, Joshua had been appointed by God to lead the Israelites in their conquest and occupation of the land. Early on in their mission, Joshua was approached by a contingent of Gibeonites who were disguised as weary travelers who had come as emissaries of a distant nation. They informed Joshua that they wished to make a treaty with the Israelites.

These Gibeonites, who were actually local occupants of the land, had heard of Israel’s destruction of Jericho and Ai and feared that they would suffer a similar fate. So, they had come up with a plan to deceive the Israelites into making a treaty with them, and it worked. But what’s important to note is that it worked because Joshua  “did not ask counsel from the Lord” (Joshua 9:14 NLT). Instead, he signed a treaty with the Gibeonites, vowing not to attack them.

Even when the Israelites discovered that they had been deceived, they were powerless to do anything about it because they “had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel” (Joshua 9:18 NLT). This story contains a powerful and timeless life lesson. When faced with the Gibeonites’ plausible but false story, Joshua failed to seek God’s wisdom or will. As a result, he was deceived and made a treaty with the Gibeonites, in direct violation of God’s will.

“Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped. Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles. You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.

“You must not make a treaty of any kind with the people living in the land. They lust after their gods, offering sacrifices to them. They will invite you to join them in their sacrificial meals, and you will go with them. Then you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to other gods, as wives for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping other gods.” – Exodus 34:12-16 NLT

Joshua didn’t realize it at the time, but his decision would have long-lasting implications. The Israelites would suffer no immediate consequences for finalizing their agreement with the Gibeonites but, in time, the wisdom behind God’s earlier prohibition would make sense. 

The Israelites’ tendency to leave God out of the picture would repeat itself over the centuries. The names of the leaders would change but the pattern of autonomy and stubborn self-sufficiency would continue to raise its ugly head. Even David, the man after God’s own heart, has displayed a surprising propensity for leaving God out of his decision-making and, each time he did, it never turned out well.

This incident with the Gibeonites is yet another reminder that failure to seek the will of God doesn’t always produce immediate consequences, but it is a dangerous game to play. God’s wisdom and will are not up for debate. His plan is perfect and in no need of alteration or assistance. Joshua had no way of knowing how his decision would impact the lives of future generations of Israelites. He simply signed the treaty with the Gibeonites and moved on with the conquest of the land.

But centuries later, when Saul became king of Israel, he violated the treaty that Joshua made with the Gibeonites. It is unclear whether Saul was ignorant of the long-standing treaty or willingly broke it to eliminate the Gibeonites as a threat to his kingdom. The details of this incident are not recorded in Scripture but Saul’s actions would produce consequences.

When David sought God’s insight regarding the cause of the famine, he was told, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, because he murdered the Gibeonites” (2 Samuel 21:1 NLT). God had not forgotten the initial treaty signed by Joshua or Saul’s violation of it. The Almighty’s memory is flawless and His will is unchanging. Even though God had not authorized the treaty between Israel and the Gibeonites, once it was ratified, He expected its terms to be kept. But Saul had chosen to break that binding agreement for the sake of his kingdom. Now, years later, Saul’s debt was coming due and David would have to pay it.

It’s important to note that David did not dispute the facts of the case. He didn’t question the Lord’s explanation for the famine or demand to know why he was having to clean up Saul’s mess. The famine was the result of Saul’s sin and David was being tasked with the unpleasant prospect of mitigating its consequences. There is little doubt that Saul did not seek the will of God before he broke the treaty with the Gibeonites, and there is no indication that he personally suffered for doing so. But David and the people of Israel had been forced to endure three long years of hunger and suffering for Saul’s disobedience.

It should not be overlooked that Saul’s motivation for killing the Gibeonites was honorable.

Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had tried to wipe them out. – 2 Samuel 21:2 NLT

He had meant well but because he did not seek God’s will, the outcome didn’t turn out well. Saul never had to face the consequences of his disobedience, but David did. When he interviewed the Gibeonites and asked for a list of demands to remedy the injustice Saul had committed, their answer must have surprised him. 

“It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in the territory of Israel. So let seven of Saul’s sons be handed over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord at Gibeon, on the mountain of the Lord.” – 2 Samuel 21:5-6 NLT

The Gibeonites didn’t ask for financial remuneration or demand that David award them rights to Saul’s former land holdings. They appealed to the ancient law of lex talionis which demanded retribution in kind. The Mosaic Law contains its own version of this legal precedence.

But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise. – Exodus 21:23-25 NLT

Once David heard their demand, he knew he could not ignore it or attempt to barter his way out of it. The famine would not end until this situation was made right and justice was served. So, David gathered seven of the sons of Saul and “gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together” (2 Samuel 21:9 ESV).

This must have been a dark day for David and the people of Israel as they watched the seven sons of Saul marching to their deaths. Saul’s kinsmen would have found this payment for past sins particularly hard to accept. Their lingering dislike for David would have boiled over into resentment and disdain for his all-too-quick assent to the Gibeonite’s demand.

But one of the lessons we must take away from this story is the residual nature of sin. Joshua failed to seek God’s counsel and ended up making a covenant that violated God’s will. Yahweh had commanded the complete destruction and elimination of the occupants of the land. No treaties were to be made. No alliances were to be formed. Joshua’s failure to listen to God not only left the Gibeonites in the land but created a ticking time bomb that would threaten future generations of Israelites. Saul would end up breaking Joshua’s treaty with the Gibeonites by putting some of them to death. Then, years later, the people of Israel ended up having to endure a three-year-long famine as payment for the disobedience of both Joshua and Saul. One sin led to another, leaving David with the unpleasant task of having to remedy the whole situation by having seven innocent men put to death.

Sin always has consequences. What can easily be overlooked in this story are the thousands of innocent people who suffered from the famine. Many likely lost loved ones due to starvation. Innocent children suffered. Animals died. The entire community was forced to go through three years of God-ordained punishment because of the sins of two men. It’s impossible to ignore the sorrow of Rizpah, the grieving mother who remained by the lifeless bodies of her sons, mourning her loss and attempting to protect their bodies from scavengers. Her grief was the direct result of someone else’s sin.

The story comes to a conclusion with David gathering the bodies of the seven slain sons, along with the bones of Saul and Jonathan, and burying them all in the land of the Benjamites. Saul and Jonathan had also died as a result of sin against God. Saul deserved what happened to him, but Jonathan was yet another innocent casualty of sin’s devastating impact. Time and time again, the Scriptures reveal the latent and lingering influence of sin. It has a long shelf life. Our sins can be forgiven, but their consequences can last for generations. That’s why it is so important to seek the Lord’s wisdom and to strive to live within His will. It is when we fail to seek Him that we leave ourselves vulnerable to our own sinful natures and the influence of the enemy. Ignoring God and following our own flawed and selfish desires never produces the result for which we are looking. When we leave God out of our decision-making, our poor choices will always come back to haunt us. We wrongly assume that our sins are personal and harm no one but ourselves. But the Scriptures are full of sobering stories like this one that proves that conclusion painfully wrong – dead wrong.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Case for Character Over Competence

14 And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and all the Bichrites assembled and followed him in. 15 And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah. They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down. 16 Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab, ‘Come here, that I may speak to you.’” 17 And he came near her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” And he answered, “I am listening.” 18 Then she said, “They used to say in former times, ‘Let them but ask counsel at Abel,’ and so they settled a matter. 19 I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the heritage of the Lord?” 20 Joab answered, “Far be it from me, far be it, that I should swallow up or destroy! 21 That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.” 22 Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, every man to his home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

23 Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; 24 and Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25 and Sheva was secretary; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26 and Ira the Jairite was also David’s priest. – 2 Samuel 20:14-26 ESV

Finally, like a cool breeze on a hot summer day, we get a refreshing glimpse of true wisdom amid all the folly that filled the preceding chapters. Time after time, we have seen impulsiveness, anger, fear, and recrimination rule the day. Decisions have been made based on nothing more than raw emotion. Extremely intelligent people have made some very dumb choices. Godly individuals have made ungodly decisions, and the results have been death and destruction.

Joab has just brutally murdered Amasa, leaving his body lying in the middle of the road for all to see. Now he is besieging the city of Abel, in an attempt to capture Sheba, the instigator of yet another rebellion against David. Israelite forces have surrounded the city and erected siege walls against it. They are in the process of attempting to knock down the city’s walls, and the prospects of yet more bloodshed loom large. Then wisdom shows up.

Located where it is in the narrative of David’s life, this short little vignette provides a stark counterpoint to all that has taken place so far. In it, we are introduced to an unnamed woman from the city of Abel who is simply referred to as a “wise woman.” Other than that, we know nothing else about her. She is a resident of the besieged city and, like all her fellow citizens, she is forced to watch as David’s troops batter its walls. The fearful residents are at a loss as to the purpose of the siege because they remain unaware of Abel’s presence within their walls. There is no indication that anyone inside the city knew that an insurrectionist was hiding among them, so the presence of Israelite troops must have left them confused and concerned about their fate.

Outside the walls, Joab has made no attempt to parlay with the city officials to negotiate the handover of Sheba. Driven by the same emotions that led him to kill Absalom and Amasa, Joab is foolishly and stubbornly focused on one thing: The capture and death of Sheba. Obsessed with capturing Sheba and clearing his own name, Joab is willing to destroy an entire city filled with fellow Israelites. Nothing and no one is going to stand in his way.

Then wisdom showed up, in the form of a nameless woman who saw a serious problem and had the foresight to do something about it. As the city’s leaders stood by helplessly and hopelessly, this unidentified woman decided to act. She called out to Joab, asking for an opportunity to talk with him. During all the chaos and confusion surrounding the siege, she calmly called for a conversation, a chance to discuss what was going on and how they might avert a tragedy. Once she had Joab’s attention, she said to him:

“There used to be a saying, ‘If you want to settle an argument, ask advice at the town of Abel.’ I am one who is peace loving and faithful in Israel. But you are destroying an important town in Israel. Why do you want to devour what belongs to the Lord?” – 2 Samuel 20:18-19 NLT

She informs Joab that her hometown was once recognized as an important city in Israel and was renowned for its wisdom. She wants Joab to know that he is not attacking a foreign city filled with pagans; he is threatening the lives of his fellow Israelites. The woman describes herself as peace-loving and faithful, intentionally contrasting herself with Joab and his troops. She wants peace while Joab seems intent on devouring what belongs to God. Confused by Joab’s actions, she demands to know why he has chosen to attack her beloved city.

Like a scene from an action movie, the focus shifts to Joab, standing amid the rubble at the base of the city wall, adorned in his armor and surrounded by his fellow soldiers. In response to the woman’s question, Joab informs her of Sheba’s presence in their midst and of the crime for which he was guilty. This was apparently news to the woman and the rest of the people inside the city walls. They had no idea they were harboring a fugitive from justice. As soon as the woman discovered the cause of all their problems, she took action. Armed with the news of Sheba’s presence within their walls, the woman agreed to turn him over and then took the matter before the people of Abel.

What happens next is intriguing. It’s unlikely that this woman had the authority to speak on behalf of the entire community, so she must have consulted with the city officials to come up with their response to Joab’s demands. It seems that some doubted Joab’s integrity and worried that he would not keep his word. They were willing to seek out and turn over the fugitive Sheba, but they were not willing to open up their gates to do so. That would have provided Joab with easy access to their city and left them vulnerable to attack. So this wise woman negotiated a different response to Joab’s demands. She convinced the leaders of the city to cut off Sheba’s head and throw it over the wall.

Everyone in the city knew that the penalty for insurrection was death, so Sheba was a dead man walking. It was only a matter of time until he was executed for his crime, so they simply sped up the process and threw his severed head over the wall. Joab got what he had come for. The case was closed and their city gates remained tightly shut. If Joab was being honest and the death of Sheba was all he wanted, then justice had been served. Joab had the head of Sheba as proof that the guilty one had been dealt with effectively.

By keeping the city gates closed and throwing Sheba’s head over the wall, she protected the citizens inside and tested the reliability of Joab’s words. If, after having his demands met, Joab had failed to call off the siege, the woman would have exposed his deceit with a minimum of risk. Her decision to cut off Sheba’s head was a wise move on her part and it accomplished what she had set out to do: Deliver her city from further harm. Joab and his troops dispersed, leaving the residents of Abel unharmed. Her wise counsel spared the city and prevented Joab from committing yet another crime of passion.

What is interesting is how this section of the story is immediately followed by a seemingly out-of-place listing of David’s key administrative heads. You see the names of men like Joab, Benaiah, Adoniram, Jehoshaphat, Sheva, Zakok, Abiathar, and Ira. Among them are David’s military commander, the captain of his bodyguard, his royal historian, his court secretary, and priests.

These prominent men served as David’s inner circle, sitting on his royal cabinet and providing him with counsel. They were well-known and revered. They were powerful and influential. Their names and titles are mentioned, but nothing is said about their character. The appearance of their names at this point in the narrative is intended to serve as a counterpoint to the woman in the story. To this day, she remains unknown and unnamed, but she is remembered and recognized for her wisdom. It wasn’t who she was that mattered. It was what she was – she was a wise and well-respected woman whose godly character preserved the lives of her entire community. This “wise woman” was known for having the character quality of wisdom and she proved it by her behavior.

The men whose names are listed in the closing verses of this chapter are distinguished by their royal titles and the prestige of serving as the king’s advisors. But without wisdom, their positions and prominence would prove meaningless. Solomon, David’s son and the successor to his throne, was known for his wisdom. In the early days of his reign, Solomon asked God, “give your servant a discerning mind so he can make judicial decisions for your people and distinguish right from wrong. Otherwise no one is able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours” (1 Kings 3:9 NLT).

God granted Solomon’s request, stating, “Because you asked for the ability to make wise judicial decisions, and not for long life, or riches, or vengeance on your enemies, I grant your request and give you a wise and discerning mind superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you” (1 Kings 3:11-12 NLT). 

Years later, Solomon would pen these important words concerning wisdom.

For the Lord grants wisdom!
    From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.
    He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
He guards the paths of the just
    and protects those who are faithful to him.

Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,
    and you will find the right way to go.
For wisdom will enter your heart,
    and knowledge will fill you with joy.
Wise choices will watch over you.
    Understanding will keep you safe. – Proverbs 2:6-11 NLT

It was the woman’s wisdom that diverted a tragedy. She had knowledge and understanding. She possessed common sense. She knew what was right, just, and fair. She discerned the right way to go and never turned back. Her wisdom kept her city safe and resulted in much joy. We can only imagine the celebration that took place inside the city walls of Abel that night after the siege was lifted and the troops had dispersed. Wisdom brought joy. This is why Solomon went on to say, “So follow the steps of the good, and stay on the paths of the righteous” (Proverbs 2:20 NLT).

David would have done well to surround himself with individuals like the wise woman from Abel. But he seems to have had a tendency to choose men who were untrustworthy and prone to foolishness. When it comes to leadership, character should always trump charisma and capabilities. It is not that qualifications are unimportant or should be ignored. But God is looking for more than competencies and credentials.

When God sent Samuel to the house of Jesse to find the next king of Israel, He told the prophet: “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT).

Wisdom is God-given and resides in the heart, not the brain. It involves far more than intellect. Some of the brightest people can be the greatest fools because the essence of foolishness is the rejection of God. It is to live as if God doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter. Paul describes the plight of those who, in their human intelligence, dismiss the existence of God or end up creating a god of their own choosing.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. – Romans 1:21-22 NLT

Wisdom really works but it is only available to those who know God and fear Him – like the wise woman from Abel.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

When God’s Man Refuses To Do Things God’s Way

1 Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said,

“We have no portion in David,
and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;
every man to his tents, O Israel!”

2 So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

3 And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.

4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself.” 5 So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him. 6 And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us.” 7 And there went out after him Joab’s men and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 8 When they were at the great stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing a soldier’s garment, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened on his thigh, and as he went forward it fell out. 9 And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10 But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So Joab struck him with it in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died.

Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. 11 And one of Joab’s young men took his stand by Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.” 12 And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway. And anyone who came by, seeing him, stopped. And when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him. 13 When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. – 2 Samuel 20:1-13 ESV

David had not yet made it back inside the walls of Jerusalem when another disaster struck. He had just eliminated one rebellion when another one raised its ugly head. The ten disgruntled tribes of Israel, unhappy with what they viewed as David’s favoritism for his own tribe of Judah, decided to throw in their lot with Sheba, a Benjaminite. This “worthless fellow” took advantage of the unstable conditions in Israel and called for another rebellion against David. It is impossible to read this account and not recall the curse God had placed on David as a result of his affair with Bathsheba.

“Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.” – 2 Samuel 12:10 ESV

There was going to be more bloodshed with additional people dying unnecessarily – all as a direct result of David’s sin. Despite having regained his throne, the conditions in David’s kingdom remained unstable and insecure. Even when he finally made it back to Jerusalem, David had to deal with the ten concubines whom Absalom had sexually violated and publicly humiliated. It must be remembered that what happened to them was also tied to David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband. God had warned David that there would be devastating consequences for his actions.

“Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.” – 2 Samuel 12:11-12 ESV

These women, who had been publicly shamed by Absalom, found themselves being treated like social pariahs by David. He would care for them for the rest of their lives but they were forced to remain in a state of perpetual widowhood – all as a result of the sins of David.

The wake of human misery and destroyed lives that David left behind him is unprecedented. He had lost three sons to death. His daughter had been violated by her own brother. Tens of thousands of his own people had been killed in an unnecessary civil war, and the death toll would continue to rise.

When David called for his troops to put down the uprising led by Sheba, he put Amasa in command. It’s important to recall that David had replaced Joab as the commander of his army because he had disobeyed a direct order and killed Absalom. Rather than punish Joab for his blatant act of insubordination, David decided to publicly humiliate him by stripping him of his command. As king, David had the right and authority to execute Joab for his unauthorized execution of Absalom, but David took a much easier and less drastic path. But like so many of his decisions, this one would come back to haunt him.

Joab was a proud man who didn’t take his demotion well. He had served alongside his friend for years and had been instrumental in many of David’s victories. He had helped defeat the forces of Absalom and had purposefully taken the life of David’s son because he knew David would never do so. In Joab’s mind, he had saved the kingdom by doing David’s dirty work.

But Joab, ever the warrior, wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Sensing the ongoing instability of David’s reign, he seized the opportunity to eliminate his competition and regain his former position. Using Sheba’s rebellion as a pretext, Joab came up with a plan to kill Amasa.

Like so many of the stories surrounding David’s life, this one is filled with twists and turns. When it comes to David, nothing ever seems to go smoothly or as expected. With yet another rebellion brewing, David instructs Amasa, his new commander, to seek out Sheba and eliminate the threat to his kingdom. But for some unexplained reason, Amasa goes AWOL, leaving David with no other choice but to place Abishai in charge of his army. This young man was David’s nephew and the brother of Joab, who had served as one of David’s military commanders. Given the task of leading David’s army and putting an end to Sheba’s rebellion, Abishai jumped at the opportunity. But his moment in the spotlight was short-lived because Amasa finally showed up and assumed command of David’s forces. Amasa’s late arrival must have caused confusion among the rank-and-file troops as he and Abishai haggled over who was actually in charge. This unnecessary delay provided Joab with the opportunity he was looking for. In an act of well-disguised treachery, Joab stepped up to Amasa and stabbed him in the stomach with a concealed sword.

As Amasa lay dying in a pool of his own blood, “Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri” (2 Samuel 20:10 ESV). Seemingly unfazed by his brother’s actions, Abishai allowed Joab to march alongside him as they set out in search of Sheba. But the text makes it clear that Abishai was no longer the one in charge; his brother had assumed command.

…all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. – 2 Samuel 20:13 ESV

Joab had accomplished his mission; he had eliminated his competition and regained his control of David’s army. Now all he had to do was capture and execute Sheba and he could get back into David’s good graces.

But what Joab didn’t understand was that his actions would one day catch up with him. The day would come when he got what he deserved but it would not be under David’s watch. Once again, just as with the story of Shimei, David will put off doing the right thing. Rather than punishing Joab for his murder of Amasa, he will do nothing. Instead, he will pass the buck and leave Joab’s fate up to his son, Solomon. In the latter years of his reign, when David was preparing to turn over the kingdom to Solomon, he would assign to his son the unpleasant responsibility of cleaning up all his past messes. Solomon would be the one who had to deal with Joab for his murders of Abner, Absalom, and Amasa.

“Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him, and thus take away from me and from my father’s house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause. The Lord will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because, without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword two men more righteous and better than himself, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the Lord forevermore.” – 1 Kings 2:31-33 ESV

David’s refusal to deal with Joab’s actions was the easy way out. He didn’t want to make matters worse than they already were, so he did nothing. But his indecisiveness and inaction didn’t produce peace in Israel; at least not in his day. The body count continued to mount. The violence escalated. And the instability of David’s kingdom would only get worse, not better. David may have been a man after God’s own heart but the state of his kingdom must have grieved the heart of God.

David’s relationship with God did not protect him from failure or inoculate him from the ramifications of sin. The people of God are just as prone to bad decision-making as anyone else. Believers can undervalue the wisdom of God and overlook the sins taking place around them. We can surround ourselves with bad counselors, put off making difficult decisions, give in to impulsive desires, and leave God out of our daily lives. When we do, we find ourselves facing the same kind of unnecessary outcomes that David did.

David loved God and he had a deep-seated desire to serve God. But his desires didn’t always show up in his behavior.  His love for God wasn’t always accompanied by a commitment to obey God. Any hope he had of serving the people of God as the faithful shepherd of God was totally dependent upon his complete reliance upon God.

As believers, we are God’s people living in a godless environment, surrounded by ungodly people who don’t share our views or our love for God. It’s difficult to live as a child of God on this earth, but we make it even more difficult by refusing to rely upon Him. There will always be the temptation to do things our own way and simply assume that our relationship with God will provide us with some kind of invisible force field that protects us from the dangers of sin. But while our salvation delivers us from the judgment of sin, it does not inoculate us from the temptation to sin. That is why Paul so strongly urged his readers to rely upon the Holy Spirit.

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. – Galatians 5:16-17 NLT

A man after God’s own heart who refuses to let God have full control of his heart will find himself surrounded by discord and difficulty. Our ability to survive and thrive on this planet is dependent upon our commitment to remain totally reliant upon God. David would continue to learn that invaluable lesson. He would discover the reality that being God’s hand-picked king meant nothing if he did not live as a God-dependent man.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Trying To Be God’s King Without God’s Help

31 Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim, and he went on with the king to the Jordan, to escort him over the Jordan. 32 Barzillai was a very aged man, eighty years old. He had provided the king with food while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man. 33 And the king said to Barzillai, “Come over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem.” 34 But Barzillai said to the king, “How many years have I still to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 35 I am this day eighty years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? 36 Your servant will go a little way over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward? 37 Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. But here is your servant Chimham. Let him go over with my lord the king, and do for him whatever seems good to you.” 38 And the king answered, “Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you, and all that you desire of me I will do for you.” 39 Then all the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over. And the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his own home. 40 The king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him. All the people of Judah, and also half the people of Israel, brought the king on his way.

41 Then all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all David’s men with him?” 42 All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is our close relative. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king’s expense? Or has he given us any gift?” 43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. – 2 Samuel 19:31-43- ESV

The closing verses of chapter 19 serve as a foreboding preface for all that lies ahead. As David attempted to reestablish his hold on the throne of Israel, he was faced with the task of rewarding those who had stood by his side during Absalom’s short-lived coup. At the same time, he needed to win back the allegiance of those who had sided with Absalom in his rebellion. There were some, like Barzillai, who had aided David in his escape from Jerusalem. This wealthy octogenarian had provided David and his followers with food while they were in Mahanaim. Barzillai was from Gilead, a region east of the Jordan River that was divided between the tribes of Gad and Manasseh. While his tribal membership is not mentioned, Barzillai had proven to be an ally during those difficult days after David was forced to abdicate his throne. When David invited Barzillai to return with him to Jerusalem, the elderly man politely declined the offer, choosing instead to live out his remaining days in the familiar surroundings of his hometown. But as an expression of gratitude for David’s generous offer, Barzillai suggested that Chimham take his place. Chimham, who was likely Barzillai’s son, returned to Jerusalem with David and received the benefit of the king’s gratitude. 

But there was a storm brewing. David’s return to the throne was going to be a rocky one, and simply handing out rewards to those who had stood by his side was not going to make the transfer of power any easier. Absalom’s well-orchestrated coup attempt had divided the kingdom. His plan to win the hearts of the people had been highly effective and had caused a large portion of the nation to turn against David. While David’s physical return to Jerusalem went smoothly, he was going to have a much more difficult time restoring public confidence in his leadership.

When Joab finally convinced David to end his excessive mourning over Absalom’s death, David’s first course of action was to seek the support of his own clan, the tribe of Judah. He knew he was going to need their support if he was going to reestablish his fractured and weakened kingdom. call for the tribe of Judah to come to his aid. In a message that appears to utilize guilt as its primary motivating factor, David confronted the leaders of Judah.

“Why are you the last ones to welcome back the king into his palace? For I have heard that all Israel is ready. You are my relatives, my own tribe, my own flesh and blood! So why are you the last ones to welcome back the king?” – 2 Samuel 19:11-12 NLT

David was painting his kinsmen as holdouts, suggesting that they were the last ones to the party. To hear David tell the story, he received a hero’s welcome when he returned to Jerusalem, but that wasn’t exactly the case. David’s return was no more triumphant than his humiliating exit had been. Yet, in an attempt to shame his fellow Judahites into action, he gives an overly optimistic assessment of his current situation. But the text paints a slightly different picture.

Meanwhile, the Israelites who had supported Absalom fled to their homes. And throughout all the tribes of Israel there was much discussion and argument going on. The people were saying, “The king rescued us from our enemies and saved us from the Philistines, but Absalom chased him out of the country. Now Absalom, whom we anointed to rule over us, is dead. Why not ask David to come back and be our king again?” – 2 Samuel 19:9-10 NLT

The nation was in a state of turmoil as people tried to assess all that had taken place. David’s stellar reputation as the warrior-king had taken a serious hit as a result of Absalom’s bloodless coup. The man who had slain Goliath and led Israel in victories over their enemies had lost his throne to his own son and failed to put up a fight. This left the people questioning whether David was the right man for the job. Had political polling been available, David would have scored low in consumer confidence and popular support. He was damaged goods and attempting to rule over a divided and demoralized people.

So, despite David’s assertion that the tribe of Judah was late to the party, not everybody had lined up to welcome David home. The Israelites, representing the ten tribes besides Judah and the Benjaminites, were divided in their thoughts regarding David. Many were scared that he would seek retribution against them for siding with Absalom. Others argued that David had been successful against the enemies of Israel, but had fled at the sight of Absalom. The only real vote of confidence that David received was that, with Absalom’s death, he was the only logical choice as a replacement. That is not exactly a rousing endorsement. Yet, David was under the somewhat deluded impression that all of Israel was ready to welcome him back and used this thought to goad the tribe of Judah into action. In doing so, David actually made his problem worse.

His message produced results but probably not what David expected. The text states that “All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel escorted the king on his way” (2 Samuel 19:40 NLT). He was able to garner the full support of his own tribe but not everyone was on board with David’s return. Many remained in hiding, fearing what David would do when he returned to power. 

To a certain extent, the nation of Israel remained a loosely held-together confederation of 12 tribes. David had located his capital in Jerusalem, within the borders of his own tribe of Judah. The other tribes wrestled with thoughts of jealousy and envy at Judah’s hold on the reins of power and they demonstrated their dissatisfaction by accusing David of cronyism. 

But all the men of Israel complained to the king, “The men of Judah stole the king and didn’t give us the honor of helping take you, your household, and all your men across the Jordan.” – 2 Samuel 19:41 NLT

These men knew that they had their work cut out for them because they had chosen to side against David. Now that he was back in power, they were going to have to get back into his good graces. When they saw the tribe of Judah accompanying David back into the capital, they feared that David was going to hold them accountable for the allegiance they showed to Absalom. They believed David’s close ties to his own tribe would leave everyone else in the not-so-pleasant position of being outsiders. They knew their actions against David were going to make reconciliation difficult. So, they went out of their way to portray themselves as victims. They claimed that they were being overlooked and left out of the plans for the nation’s reunification.

It’s important to remember that these people had just fought a major battle against one another in which 20,000 men had died. There were still emotional and physical wounds to be healed. The civil war that had just taken place, while short-lived, had left deep-seated animosities between the tribes. Every step David took, both literally and figuratively, was going to be hyper-analyzed. His leadership skills were going to be put to the test. His ability to navigate the stormy and dangerous waters of reunification was going to require a wisdom greater than he possessed. If David ever needed God, it was now. But there is a marked absence of any reference to God in any of this narrative.

At so many other times in his life, when facing difficulty, David sought God. He would seek the Almighty’s counsel and refrain from making any decisions until he knew what God would have him do. But here, in the heat of the moment, David appears to be acting on impulse. Perhaps he was in a hurry to put this nasty episode behind him and restore a sense of normalcy to the situation. But every decision he makes seems to blow up in his face. In ignoring God’s will, David would suffer the consequences, but he would also learn the difficult lessons that come with leadership. Simply wearing the crown did not make him a king. Getting his kingdom back wasn’t going to win his people back. Handing out rewards was not going to heal the wounds that plagued his nation. David needed the wisdom of God. Without His help, David was like any other man, susceptible to outside influences, filled with inner conflicts, motivated by fear, plagued by thoughts of self-preservation, capable of anger, and always subject to sin.

Far too often, we read the stories of David’s life and attempt to turn him into an icon of virtue and a model for spirituality and godly leadership. But David was a man. Yes, he was a man after God’s own heart, but that doesn’t mean he always did what God would have him do. The real lessons to be learned from the life of David have to do with the faithfulness of God, not the righteousness of David. His life is a stark reminder of mankind’s need for the assistance of a holy and righteous God.

David was God’s anointed king; he had been hand-picked for the role. But without constant reliance upon God, David was an accident waiting to happen. Apart from God, his life tended to end up as a train wreck with bodies strewn across the landscape. The good news of the gospel is not just that we have been chosen by God to receive His mercy and grace made available through His Son’s death on the cross, but that we have been given access to His wisdom and power every day of our lives. We have received unlimited forgiveness for the sins we will inevitably commit. We have His unfailing love even when we fail to love Him consistently or completely.

David wasn’t a perfect king, but he was God’s king. His life provides us with a powerful reminder that our best days will be those in which we recognize our weakness and our need for God’s power. Trying to be God’s king without God’s help would never work out well for David. In the same way, when we attempt to be good Christians without the benefit of God’s power, grace, and mercy, it will never produce the results we are hoping for. David was going to learn to trust in God, not himself. He was going to find out that winning the support of men would never replace his need for the sovereign power of God in his life. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.