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The of David : Ascending To the chapter 21 Ps. 78:70-72; 2 Sam. 5:1-5

We have almost come to the halfway point in our study of the life of David. It's a good place to stop and take a panoramic view of things. -David is now about 30 years old. He will live another 40 years. -You can find all 70 of David's years wrapped up in three verses in Ps.78:70-72.  “ choose David His Servant: when he was about 17. The old prophet Samuel poured the oil over his reddish-brown hair and whispered God's decree in his ear.  “God took him from the sheepfolds” when he slew the giant and first left the sheep.  “God brought him to shepherd Jacob His people” at age 30. Between the years of 17 and 30, David was on the run from Saul. At age 30, he comes to that pinnacle moment in his life when he takes the throne of Israel.  And then what happened? “And he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart and guided them with his skillful hands” for his final 40 years.

For the first 50 years of his life, David walked in the integrity of his heart. Though there were a few temporary excursions in the flesh, most of David's young adult years were years of triumph. -Then came the tragedy of the last 20 years of his life. The first part of his life is a model of character and integrity, and the last part of his life is a downhill slide until, I believe David died a broken man with a broken heart.

David had some hard times in his young adult life. He was a fugitive, hunted like an animal by Saul, hiding in caves. He learned much from those crushing years, but little good would come from reliving the pain they brought into his life. -David handled his afflictions well, but how would he handle his promotions? -As Thomas Carlyle said, “But for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.”

The same is true of us. Our past is like an art gallery. Walking down those corridors of our memory is like walking through an art gallery. On the walls are all of yesterday's pictures: our home, our childhood, our parents, our rearing, the heartaches, the difficulties, the joys and triumphs as well as the abuses of our life. -Since Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever, then, we can take the Christ of today and walk with Him into our yesterdays and ask Him to remove the pictures that bring bad or defeating memories. The Christian can let Jesus invade yesterday and deal with those years of affliction and remove those scenes from our lives. We need to let Him take down from the walls of our life those things that bring despair and defeat and leave those that bring pleasure and victory. No need to relive the painful. -No, don't forget the lessons learned, but forget the guilt, the hurts, the disappointments, and the pain. -Phil. 3:13 “But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.”

It had been 15 years since David was anointed of Israel. In the mind of God, David was King, BUT HE HAD TO WAIT! -He WAITED as Saul pursued him, he WAITED as he hid in exile, and he WAITED as the leadership slipped further and further from the 's will. But finally, with the death of Saul, the WAITING was over! -He had been through the test of adversity, and NOW he had to face the test of prosperity. -The test of adversity reveals a man's FAITH; the test of Prosperity reveals a man's INTEGRITY. -Integrity is nothing more than keeping a commitment after the circumstances have changed.

Let share some truths with you: 74 I. The Confirmation

Saul is dead. The nation needed a leader. The Philistines had just completed a victorious military campaign that divided the northern tribes of Israel from the tribe of Judah in the south and allowed them to inhabit many of Israel's cities and villages. -Someone needed to unite the country and drive the enemy out. David knew it was his destiny to become king. You might think David would simply assume the roll. After all, even Saul's is in his possession.

But David didn't rush to the throne and take charge. He waited patiently on God for further instruction. -David had moved on his own before and he tasted the bitter fruit of getting ahead of God and making selfish decisions. -Notice 2:1; 5:19,23 “David inquired of the Lord” The first thing David does is to consult the Lord, to show that he depends completely on Him. -David is a dependent man and, therefore, a strong man. He wants to know what God's will is. He wants to be in God's will, on God's timetable. We do well to imitate Moses who said, “If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” Notice 2 Sam. 2:1-4,11 God gave David permission to return to Judah and told him to live in Hebron. By moving there, David was back with his own people but still under the shadow of the Philistines. -Hebron was an important city in Jewish history. Near the city was the tomb of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah. It was in the inheritance of Caleb. -When David settled in Hebron with his men and their families, his return to Judah was the signal for his people to recognize him as their leader, so the elders of Judah anointed David a second time and made him King. Joab was leader of David's army.

II. The Conflict

Just because Saul was dead didn't mean all of Saul's supporters would accept David as King.

Abner, Saul's cousin and the commander of his army is the key actor in 2 Sam. 2 -It was Abner who brought David to Saul after David killed Goliath. It was also Abner who pursued David with Saul for ten years. David rebuked and humiliated Abner when he failed to protect Saul when David slipped into their camp. Abner had no special love for David.

When David became king, he already had a commander of his army, Joab, so what would Abner do now? -He took care of number one. The people of Judah obeyed the Lord and anointed David as King, but Abner disobeyed the Lord. -Abner made Saul's one remaining son, Ishbosheth the king of “all Israel” in the North. Ishbosheth was a weak, puppet ruler manipulated by Abner. In fact, we are told in 3:11 that Ishbosheth feared Abner.

Note2:8-11 When Abner made Ishbosheth king, he was actually declaring civil war on David, and he knew it. By now Abner had all the tribes except Judah behind him and he felt he could easily defeat David in battle and take over the entire kingdom. _Abner called for a contest between the two armies, much like the contest Goliath issued when he called for one of Saul's soldiers to fight him. -This is the first time we meet Joab, David's nephew and the commander of his army. The two armies met and twelve soldiers from each side faced each other and all 24 soldiers died in the fierce battle. -Joab and Abner wasted no time getting their troops in battle formation. The battle was fierce, but Abner was defeated that day. -Abner fled, but one of Joab's brothers knew that slaying the enemy general could mean confusion and scattering the whole army. He went after Abner and caught him. Abner had no desire to harm the lad, but he persisted. Twice, he tried to get the lad to turn aside but he would not. He ended up killing Joab's brother. Abner's troops rescued him from Joab's threat. 75 Ishbosheth realized he was only a puppet in Abner's hand. Ishbosheth became jealous and suspicious of Abner. He accused Abner of sleeping with one of Saul's concubines. As a result, Abner sent a message to David that he would completely transfer his loyalties to David and bring an end to the civil war.

David greeted the offer with a demand, return my first wife, Michal. Remember that Saul had taken her from David and given her to another man. The two of them were very much in love and though Michal could have no children, they adopted four sons. When the soldiers took her, her husband followed her, weeping, until Abner forced him to return home. 3:7-16

Abner conferred with the leaders of Israel and arranged for a peaceful transfer of power to King David. Shortly after Abner met with David in Hebron, he left David's presence. Joab was returning from a raid when he learned Abner had been there. He secretly sent for Abner and murdered the commander of Saul's armies. 3:22-29a

When all of Israel heard that Abner was dead, they lost heart and two men went to Ishbosheth's house and killed him while he slept in his .

III. The Crowning – 5:1-5

This is the third time David has been anointed.

IV. The Capital – 5:6,7,9-10

Jerusalem is the most secure capital city in the world. It is built on a rocky hill and surrounded on three sides by valleys and hills. The city was vulnerable only on the north side and David would correct that. -5:9 the word “millo” means “filling”. Stone – filled terraces were built to serve as part of Jerusalem's northern defense. -Note Ps. 48:2; 50:2 -Ps 87:4-6 Says that to be born in Jerusalem was a high honor.

At the beginning of David's career, the people recognized that God's hand was upon him, for God gave him success in his military exploits. -All the tribes were enthusiastic about giving their allegiance to the new king. -I Chron. 12:38-40 describes the celebration at David's coronation. We are also told that 340,800 officers and men pledged their loyalty to David that day. -David expanded the boundaries of Israel from 6,000 to 60,000 square miles. He destroyed the idol alters. David was a brilliant organizer, manager, planner. He was a great military man. Wealth came into the nation like it had never done before.

The O.T. refers to Jerusalem as the City of David. It is an earthly city, but the N.T. speaks of Mount Zion, the city of the Living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem. The earthly city of Jerusalem is symbolic of the Heavenly Jerusalem which is a description of the abode of God.

David is just a forerunner of the Greater David, the Lord Jesus, King of and Lord of . -Believers will sit at His table at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Jesus, Himself, will serve us and we will eat at His banquet table.

Jesus invites us to know Him and fellowship with Him forever. Rev. 22:12-14, 17, 20-21

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