He Is God's King

Turn with me again tonight to 2 Samuel chapter 5. 2 Samuel chapter 5. I titled tonight's message, He is God's King. That's what we read in Psalm 2. God said, I have set my king on my holy hill. 2 Samuel 5. We'll look at the first seven verses tonight.

We've seen in our studies of 1 Samuel and now in 2 Samuel that after years of rejection and pursuit and opposition, David in this chapter is finally received as king over all Israel. You see, he's God's king. He's the King that God anointed. Some 15 years before this actually comes into fruition. And chapter five is full of victory and conquest and blessings, but its contents contain a far greater reality. And that's the coming reign of the true King. David, as we've seen in so many of our studies, pictures the Lord Jesus Christ who is the true King.

He's God's King. David was an anointed and now appointed king, but Christ is THE anointed and appointed king. David united Israel. Christ gathers His elect from every tribe and nation. David conquered Jerusalem. Christ conquers men and women's hearts. David defeated the Philistines. The Lord Jesus defeated sin. Satan, death, and hell. And through this chapter, we see the rise of David. And though we see those things, it's about the reign of God's chosen King of Kings. So my first point is the rejected King is finally received. Look at verse one.

Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron. As I said, 13 to 15 years earlier, Samuel had anointed that young shepherd boy, probably 15, maybe 16 years old. And he was God's chosen king. And for all these years, Saul occupied the throne while David wandered in caves. But even then, David was God's king. Christ the true King came into His own and the scripture says that His own received Him not, yet He was still God's chosen King.

David was despised, he was rejected, he was homeless, living in caves, pursued, persecuted, and betrayed, and finally appointed king. But the Lord Jesus was despised, rejected, homeless. He had no place to lay His head. He was pursued and persecuted, but ultimately crucified before ever entering into His glory.

So many ways David pictures the Lord Jesus. Now David in the caves, I wanna talk about these caves again for a little bit, because there's a lot to be learned from them. David in these caves foreshadowed Christ's humiliation. You know, many in Israel clung to Saul while rejecting David.

Yet he was God's king. But Israel didn't recognize him as king. There were a few band of men who did, who came unto him. But other than that, no, he was rejected. And men and women of the world rejected Christ, the rightful King, preferring their own rule and their own religion. Now, let's just narrow it down to what it is. What was in men and women's heart when the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, we will not have this man to rule over us.

That teaches us something of our own hearts. We want to do things our way. We want to be our own gods. We want to decide our own destinies, but we can't. We're dead in trespasses and sin. And the lesson here is that the Kingdom of God often advances through suffering. Isn't that what the Scriptures teach? It's through much tribulation that we do what? Enter into the Kingdom of God.

We're not going to just tiptoe through the tulips all the way to heaven. That's what folks seem to portray today in religion. You know, you give your heart to Jesus and everything's going to be hunky-dory. Not according to the Scriptures. It's through much tribulation, not just a little tribulation, much, that we enter into the kingdom of heaven.

David, in suffering, waited on God. The caves taught him some things. They taught him dependence. The caves gave him some humility. I'm sure as a young boy, now listen, we gotta remember that the saints of the Old Testament that God used mightily like Abraham and David and Solomon and all these, they were just men. They were just men like we're humans. They were fallen humanity. They had to be taught things just like we have to be taught things.

The caves taught David patience. And I can just imagine that a young 15, 16 year old boy when Samuel came and anointed him as king, if he was anything like me at all, I would have probably went back to the sheep and go, yeah. He didn't choose my brothers. But now he's learning humility and patience and dependence on God. The caves brought about prayer to his heart.

It's sad, but it's true. Most of the time when we fervently pray to the Lord is when we're in trouble. It just ought not be that way, but it is, isn't it? We'll go to the Lord in prayer when we need help. The caves created submission to God's timing. I'm sure David thought, am I ever going to get back to Jerusalem and be king? Did Samuel anoint me with some mistake? I mean, I just can't help but to think these thoughts went through his mind. These caves were a school to David.

It was where pride was broken. It was where self-reliance died. It's where faith was refined. And it's where communion with God deepened. It's through much tribulation. The trying of our faith works patience. And Paul said, let patience have its perfect work, making you complete, entire, mature, lacking and wanting nothing. It's in trouble that we learn to trust in Christ. It's in trouble that we learn to call on Him.

And let me say, there's no obtaining the crown without enduring the cave. You may say, I've been in a cave, I know what it's like. It's cold, it's dark, it's not a pleasant place to be when you're alone. And that's what our Lord Jesus did. He endured the cold, dark cave of man's sufferings like no other man ever did. He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities. You know what that means? You think about the trouble you as a believer have experienced and know that your Savior is no stranger to knowing and feeling. what you felt.

Even more so because He was the perfect Lamb of God. He didn't deserve that. He did it for us. We deserve it. Everything you could see about David contradicted and opposed His anointing as King, but He's still God's King. He's God's King. That's why I titled that then. For years, He had no throne. You say, He's king, but He didn't have a throne. No, He didn't. He didn't have a palace. He didn't have an army. He didn't have security.

Just, as I said, a band of men who would have given their life for Him. But our Lord Jesus even more so. Why, He had no place to lay His head. God, who created the heavens and the earth, had no place as a man to lay His head. That's amazing, isn't it? It was by choice. Because He walked this earth in His people's place.

I often think about when the Lord was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. And I've read those verses for years, even as a young religious boy. I'm like, you know, Satan tempted Him and He'd just say, man shall not live by bread alone. The Scripture says, the Scripture says, the Scripture says. When he was often accused, he spoke not a word. Why? Because he was standing in my place. I was guilty of all those things. He didn't speak up because he was standing in my room instead.

Our Lord was friends with publicans and sinners. His royal court was made up of uneducated fishermen and some unknown nobodies. I got online today and looked at some other sources that I have to try to find out what the other disciples did. I know that many of them were fishermen. Two sets of brothers. another one or two.

But you know, it is unknown. Scripture doesn't say what any of the other disciples did. We know Matthew was a tax collector. But other than James and John and the other brothers, he's the only one that we know about. All the rest of them are just unknown men. Nobodies. And so it is with every believer. We're justified.

The believer is, yet we're still struggling. And we're heirs of glory if we're in Christ, yet we're still suffering. And we're kings and priests unto God, but we're still pilgrims. And in and of ourselves, we're nobodies, but faith never rests on appearances.

Faith rests on God's covenant promises. We're priests and kings. Sons of the living God. Daughters of the living God. The cave precedes the crown. It did for David, it did for our Lord, and it's going to for us. This is the purpose and providence of God. We're brought low before we're lifted up. We've got to hear the bad news about ourselves before we'll ever appreciate the good news of the Lord Jesus. We have to die to self to live in Christ. You've heard all the acronyms before. The crown was Joseph's before he was ever put in the pit or the prison. In God's purpose he was.

Early on, God gave Joseph dreams showing that he would one day rule and that his brothers who hated Him, would actually bow before Him. That's one of the reasons they hated Him. They hated Him because He told them about those dreams. And they went, who do you think you are? You little daddy's little favorite boy and got the coat of many colors. They despised Him. That came to pass though, didn't it? These were revelations given by God long before the fulfillment ever came. He was hated by his brothers, thrown into a pit, sold as a slave, falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, cast into prison.

And the next thing you know, he's sitting on Pharaoh's throne in control of the whole kingdom of Egypt, second to only Pharaoh himself. And Pharaoh just kind of took vacation and just let Joseph take care of things. It all came to fruition. This was Joseph's path to the throne. I think about Moses, the deliverer of Israel out of Egypt. He's for 40 years, he's on the backside of the wilderness in Midian, tending sheep. For 40 years. Long before he delivered Israel out of Egypt.

It's the same with David. But even more so with Christ, our King. And friends, so it is with us. Humiliation before exaltation. It's just the way God does it. Weakness before strength. Brokenness before usefulness. Tribulations before glorification. David's caves were not because God abandoned him.

They were part of God preparing him. And so are ours. So are ours. All these trials and tribulations we go through. Isn't it amazing how later on some years down the road we look back on them and we say, you know, if that hadn't happened, this good thing wouldn't have happened. And if that bad thing hadn't happened, this wouldn't have happened. We see through a glass darkly. We don't know what God's doing, but God does. God knows what He's doing.

David was being prepared to reign. In our text, the tribes now come to David in verse one, saying, look what they say there. Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. I think about when Adam said this of his wife Eve, he was speaking of his union with her. When a couple get married in the eyes of the Lord, they too become one flesh. This is a reference to the union that God's elect have with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the tribes are now saying to David.

We identify as the servants of your kingdom. That's what we say to Christ when we come to bow to Him as our King. We're saying, Lord, You're my King. I'm Your servant. Use me as how You see fit. We belong to one King. You can only have one King. Man can't serve God and man. He'll cling to one and hate the other.

That's what believers say of Christ. This is the believer's only hope. And that's being our union and our unity with Him. That's the only way we're going to have life. When Christ lived, we lived with Him. When Christ died, we died. When Christ was raised, we were raised. And when the tribes of Israel here said this, they're confessing shared identity, union with David.

They were correcting their past resistance. They're saying, we know that we haven't been right. We were wrong. They were submitting to His rightful rule as King. They were acknowledging that David is not an outsider, but one of their own. Flesh of their flesh, bone of their bone. Fully capable of leading them. They're admitting that their earlier opposition was misplaced in ignorance. That's what we do.

When we were dead in trespasses and sin, we didn't trust Christ. We didn't lean on Christ. We wouldn't have Him to rule over us. But that changes when God gives us life and God gives us a new heart. And we're admitting that our earlier opposition was wrong. And we ask for forgiveness, and we ask the Lord to teach us and to help us. And this marks the turning point where the nation finally recognizes God's chosen ruler. Listen, He is God's King. Jesus Christ is God's King. And I'm not going to have Him to rule over me. Yes, you are. You may not have Him to rule over you, but He's going to rule over you. He's ruling over you now.

And it's here that they submit to David's kingship if we submit it to Christ. This change, this turning occurs in every chosen sinner. This turning from the King of self. That's who we serve by nature, the King of self. to the king of kings." Now under David, these tribes become one kingdom.

And under Christ, every tongue, kindred, and nation that God, men and women out of every tongue, kindred, nation. That's what He meant by, for God so loved the world. God loved every kind of man and every kind of woman out of the different kindreds and tongues of the world. but they're gathered together into one body, and that's the body of Christ. He's the head, we're the body. Let me tell you something, you take away the head, your body ain't gonna do much. And that's what the tribes are saying in verse two, look at it.

Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leadest us and brought us in Israel. And the Lord said to thee, thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel. Before Saul started pursuing David to kill him, you know, David led in several battles. After he killed Goliath, you know, remember what the people sang? They were praising David over Saul as one of the reasons that Saul hated him. David was the one who led out and brought in Israel. He'd already been functioning as the true shepherd to the people. And now they adhere and they recognize what had long been evident, yet ignored.

God's got to give us eyes to see. They said, the Lord said to thee, thou shalt feed my people Israel, thou shalt be a captain over Israel. Every believer is made to know their true shepherd. Every believer is. And this shows and proves that divine, that David's legitimate authority rested on God's divine appointment. Not human preference or the nation's politics. They saw how God used David. They saw that God had chosen him.

Have I told you that he's God's king? He doesn't come king by human vote. We elect a president that way, but that's not the way kings are anointed, especially God's king. God appointed him king. And he did so before the foundation of the world. And His rule was and His rule still is proven by His faithful leading of His people. Even before they fully recognized Him as King.

There again, we look back on our life, see how the Lord did this and did that to bring us under the sound of the Gospel. I thought it was just the Lord moving me to a different town for a job. And He moved me to a different town for a job where I heard the gospel from gospel preachers.

That's the Lord did that. We don't have any part in that. It's the Lord's doing it. Every single true believer hearing my voice tonight will tell you that's exactly right. It was the divine providence that brought me under the sound of the gospel. I think about your daddy several times telling me that he moved from Elizabethtown to here to put you under the gospel. You didn't have anything to do with it. You're just a young boy. You didn't go to your daddy and say, I think we ought to move to Madisonville, daddy. No, he was, you see what I'm saying, right?

We all have that story to tell like that. And His rule shows us that He's King. Listen, that's why I find it so detestable when I hear people say, I made Jesus Lord. We don't make Jesus Lord. That's just blasphemous. It's ridiculous. God hath made that same Jesus whom you crucified. Now that's what we did. If we could have got our hands around His neck, we would have strangled Him. But God hath made that same Jesus, whom you took with your wicked hands, and crucified, both Lord and Christ." He is God's King. Christ was King when He lay in a manger. The three wise men came and worshipped Him. He's just a baby. But He didn't stay a baby. That's one of the... I don't want to make this about things that I find detestable, but the Lord didn't stay in a little manger.

Christ was king when he worked as a carpenter. That wasn't a highly honored job, but he was king when he worked in his father's carpenter shop. Christ was king when he was betrayed. Christ was king when he was nailed to a cross. Christ was king when he was buried in the tomb. And Christ was proven king when he rose from the dead.

God's King does not become King by man's approval. He is King because God established Him. He's God's King. In Psalm 2, verse 6, I read a moment ago, God said, I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. Men may resist Christ, they may ignore Christ, they may mock Christ, they may rebel against Christ, but heaven has already enthroned Him. He's already sitting on the throne. At the right hand of God in all power and authority. The gospel call, friends, is bow to the King whom God has appointed. It's not an invitation. It's a command. If you don't, you'll perish. Kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish from the way. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath not life.

Bow to Him, trust Him, submit to Him. My second point, the King reigns through covenant grace. Look at verse three. So all the elders of Israel came to the King, to Hebron, and King David made a league. That means covenant. He made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel. David made a league with him before the Lord. David promised before the Lord to enter into a covenant with the people. He promises to give his life for their wellbeing. He promises to defend their lives if it meant losing his.

Are you hearing me? Who's that sound like? Well, we know who it sounds like. This points to the covenant mercy of God in Christ. Salvation is not founded on the covenant of man's faithfulness, but upon the covenant of the faithfulness of God. He is faithful that promise. It don't say anything about our faith. To say by grace through faith. That's not of ourselves. It's a gift of God, not by works unless any man should boast. So we don't brag on our faith, do we? There's nothing to brag about. It's weak and pitiful at best.

The Lord Jesus is the mediator of a everlasting covenant. Oh, I like that. Our hope's not in promises that we make to God. Aren't you glad? How many promises have you made and never kept a one? I've made a bunch. Our hope is in promises God made in Christ before the foundation of the world. That's why I love election. That's why I love predestination. It takes me out of the equation. It takes you out of the equation.

If I didn't do anything to save myself, I can't do anything to lose myself because it's all 100% based upon what Christ has done for me. If that's not good news, there is none. The gospel is seen in this covenant mercy being fulfilled by the Lord Jesus. Christ came as a surety for his people. What's a surety? Well, the title gives it away. He's a sure thing. In a world of uncertain and unsure things, Christ is our surety. All the promises of God are what? Yea, yes, and amen, so be it in Him. In Him. In Him. He's God's King.

Look at verse 4. David was 30 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 40 years. Now verse 4 simply records David's age when he began to reign and the length of his rule, but the gospel is seen in what David represents. David begins his kingship at about 30 years old, which again looks ahead to Christ who began His public ministry around the same age, 30 years old.

He went about doing good and healing all the sick and oppressed and all for three and a half years and was crucified before he was 34 years old. And I believe that the Holy Spirit records this verse also to remind us that though David reigned for 40 years, it was still temporary. And it ended in his death. At 70 years old, David died.

Boy, that, once again, puts my age in perspective. You know, man, I'm telling you, three score and 10, you know. Comes by awful quick. Some of you, as Miss Betty used to say, are using somebody else's time. Oh my, but this shows us that even the best human king cannot secure an eternal kingdom. And he died, and he died, and he died, and he died. We read in the scripture.

David points forward to a greater son of David who reigns forever. His reign never ends. Now that's a king. That's a king. Christ's kingdom is not cut short by death. His rule brings everlasting righteousness and peace. And in David we see a qualified yet limited king, but in Christ we see a complete and entire fulfillment of the King of kings. His reign never ends. What a king He is. He's God's king.

We see true kingship that began before the foundation of the world and it continues on forever. It never had a beginning. It'll never have an end. And that bogs our little finite minds because we're just creatures of time. But eternity is, man, that's something that we just can't fathom.

Look at verse 5. In Hebron, he, speaking of David, reigned over Judah seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem, he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah. That's forty years. And in this verse, we see much more than just David's length of reign.

We see God's faithfulness over time. When God promises something, He brings it about step by step. It don't just happen overnight. David's reign is long, it's steady, it's secure, but it's not rushed or lost or thwarted by man. And here we see that God installs His King. And God keeps His King until God's through with His King. His earthly King. And he does this on his own timing.

We want it right now. I think Brother Montgomery used to call it microwave religion. We want to stick it in the microwave and hit three minutes. Have some good old butter popcorn, no way. But it's not the way God does things. He does things on His own timing, according to His sovereign purpose.

And this points us to Christ's sure and complete reign over all things. What a picture and type of Christ David is. Now, it's my desire to pick up our next study in verse 6, but I do want to just say a few things about verse 6 in closing. The Lord willing, we'll talk more about it in the following verses next time. The teaching here is something that needs to be repeated time and time again. I think it's very important. And it has something to do with the state of natural men and women who have not been enlightened to whom God's King truly is. Look at verse 6. And the king and his men, he's now king.

It didn't even say David, it says the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites. And the inhabitants of the land which spake unto David, saying, except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither. Thinking, and that word thinking there in my marginal Bible says, are saying David cannot come in hither. Now at first glance, this verse doesn't immediately reveal the true teaching, but in verse 6, we see David here going up to take Jerusalem to reign in the capital city, the place where the king reigned. And we find these Jebusites mocking him. They claim that David will never get into the city, and that even the blind and the lame could hold the city against him."

Now, here we see the clash between God and human pride. This is a picture of you and I when the Holy Spirit begins to deal with a man and a man rejects the call of God. Or a man, you know, He says, I will not have this man rule over me. That's what a picture we have here.

Now, Jerusalem was a fortress. You remember much like Jericho, the high walls, well, God brought them down pretty easily, didn't He? But Jerusalem was a fortress that was thought to be, you know, unpenetrable, that those behind those walls were untouchable.

And what the Jebusites are saying is, we're not going to let you in to rule here. And our city is so great and our walls are so mighty that even the blind and lame can keep you out. Wrong! That didn't work out too well for Jericho. You see, the inhabitants here of Jerusalem, these Jebusites, trusted in the security that the walls provided. even more than the Word of God. That's what sin always does. Sin builds strongholds. It assumes that it can't be conquered. Well, I'm sin. I can't be conquered. I'm mighty in a man.

You are until you meet God. Until you meet Christ. But God's King's able to tear down those strongholds. And this again points us to Christ. Christ confronts every fortress of rebellion. Every one that you and I had, God tore down. Aren't you glad He did? Every source of religious pride, every source of self-trust, spiritual blindness, conquered.

Can't stand to the King of Kings. Christ doesn't fail at the gates of men's hearts. All my life, you know, preachers portrayed the Lord, well, He's knocking on your heart's door. Won't you let Him in? He'd get in. He'd get in. You better believe that.

What looks unshakable to man is still subject to the authority of God's anointed King, the Lord Jesus. And there's also a warning here embedded in the mockery, dismissing the King. It doesn't stop the King. It only exposes the blindness of those who resist Him.

In the Gospel, that becomes clear at the cross. What looked like weakness, This was actually the moment of decisive victory. When the Lord Jesus hung on the cross, the Scripture says they pulled up chairs to watch Him die on the cross. And they sat there and go, we did it. Our jobs are secure. We got rid of this menace.

And it seemed like total victory to them and it was the epitome of their defeat. That's the way God does things. The victory over every power that stands against God belongs to the King of Kings. He's God's King. So until next time, I'm going to leave you with the encouragement to not trust in your own walls. Don't put them up and don't trust in them. The only safe place is submission to God's King. Because He's not turned away by any fortress, whether it's internal or external. Can't none hold Him. He can just speak the Word and they come crumbling down. Look at verse 7.

Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion. I love how that reads. Nevertheless, regardless, David took the stronghold of Zion, the same as the city of David. My, my, that's beautiful. What man couldn't secure for himself, God gives to His chosen king. Zion becomes the visible testimony that God keeps His Word, exalts whom He wills, establishes His rule where He has ordained it. So the question is not whether God will establish His King, it's whether or not you and I will yield to Him. In every generation, Zion stands as a reminder that the Lord reigns, His purpose holds, His King possesses the stronghold, and this is because God's divine purpose does not depend on our approval, or our will, or us letting Jesus have His way.

My, my. I wish people would read the Bible. Men may question it, men may resist it, men may treat it as insignificant, but God's decree is not fragile. It moves forward with or without acknowledgement. You fighting against it ain't gonna change it one bit.

In fact, opposition often becomes the very stage on which God displays His power and His faithfulness even more clearly. That's why 2 Samuel 5 matters. The same David once treated lightly is now established as king of Zion. And the mockery of yesterday cannot and will not undo the coronation of today. God's king is on the throne. You can do nothing. It's already a done deal.

And it's a dangerous thing to scoff at what God has done. what God is still doing. And it's a comforting thing for those that belong to Him. Isn't this comforting? It's so comforting to me. The believer knows that no amount of ridicule can derail what God is determined to do. You can mock and you can ridicule and you can sit there and shake your fist. It doesn't matter. It doesn't thwart God's purpose. So what does the believer do in times like that? Rejoice, they rejoice in their king because he's God's king.

He Is God's King

Sermon Transcript

About David Eddmenson

Comments

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

He Is God's King

Sermon Transcript

About David Eddmenson

Comments

More from David Eddmenson

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by David Eddmenson

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book