Alright, 2 Samuel chapter 8.
I'd like to read this chapter and come back and make a few
comments. I almost never do it this way, go verse by verse,
but let's read the entire chapter and we'll come back and make
a few comments. And after this it came to pass
that David smoked the Philistines and subdued them. And David took
Methagamma out of the hand of the Philistines, and he smoked
Moab and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground.
Even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with
one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's
servants and brought gifts. And David smote also Hadadezer,
the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border
at the river Euphrates. And David took from him a thousand
chariots and seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand footmen.
And David hoffed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them
for an hundred chariots. And when the Syrians of Damascus
came to succor Hadad Esar, king of Zophar, David slew of the
Syrians two and twenty thousand men. Then David put garrisons
in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David,
and brought gifts. And the Lord preserved David
whithersoever he went. And David took the shields of
gold that were on the servants of Hadad Esar, and brought them
to Jerusalem, and from Bethsa, and from Bero, cities of Hadad-ezer, King David
took exceeding much brass. When Toai, king of Hamath, heard
that David had smitten all the host of Hadad-ezer, then Toai
sent Joram his son unto King David, to salute him and to bless
him, because he had fought against Hadad-ezer, and smitten him.
For Hadad-ezer had wars with Toai. And Joram brought with
him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass,
which also King David did dedicate unto the Lord, with the silver
and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he had subdued,
of Syria, and of Moab, of the children of Ammon, and of the
Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son
of Rehob, king of Zopa. And David got him a name when
he returned from the smiting of the Syrians in the Valley
of Salt, being eighteen thousand men. And he put garrisons in
Edom. Throughout all Edom put he garrisons.
and all they of Eden became David's servants, and the Lord preserved
David, whithersoever he went. And David reigned over all Israel,
and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.
And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host, and Jehoshaphat
the son of Ahilad was recorder, and Zadok the son of Ahitab,
and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests, and Sarai was
the scribe, and Benaiah the son of Jehodiah was over the Cherethites
and the Pelethites, and David's sons were chief rulers. Now,
when I first read this chapter, I thought, what is this doing
here? Well, I know this, the Holy Spirit
put it here on purpose. This is not just a space filler
between chapter 7 and chapter 9. In chapter 7, the Messiah,
was promised through David's loins. And David offered that
great prayer of worship. In chapter 9, we have that great
picture of God's covenant mercies to Mephibosheth. And between
those two is chapter 8. Now we've seen God promised His
Son as the Savior of sinners from all of eternity. He told
David, He's coming. He's coming through your loins.
And then we see this great picture of covenant mercies. But before
those covenant mercies, before those covenant promises, can
be realized that the Lord Jesus Christ had to come and go to
war. That's what this is a picture
of. In chapter 7, the Lord had given David a time of rest and
a time of peace. And in chapter 8, David goes
to war. And David's the aggressor. David
wasn't attacked and going out defending Israel, was he? David
was the aggressor. David went to war. When eternity
passed, God's Son was at rest in glory, wasn't He? He was at
rest, He was on His throne, and it came to pass. That's the way
our chapter begins. After this, it came to pass.
In the fullness of time, God sent His Son, made of a woman,
into this world. He sent His Son where His enemies
were to subdue His enemies. Our Lord came and He went to
war. He came to establish righteousness for His people. The lion of the
tribe of Judah, the captain of our salvation came to go to war
with sin. And he put the sin of his people
away in a bloody battle from which he emerged victorious.
He went to war with Satan and he emerged from that victorious. Satan bruised his heel, but he
crushed Satan's head. He went to war with all his enemies. And they're defeated. Now, we
may haven't seen them all subdued, brought to his feet yet, but
they will. You write it down. They will.
He emerged victorious. Now, last Sunday, we had a baptismal
service. One of God's elect was subdued.
Bob Boyd wondered the same thing I did. Is this the last one? Could this be the last one? Maybe
the Lord's getting ready to wrap it up. Could this be the last
one? Well, apparently not. Because here we are again, there's
more to be subdued. There's more of God's people
to be subdued and it's going to be done through the preaching
of the gospel. David went to war. He kept subduing
and kept subduing and kept subduing until all his enemies were subdued. That's what our Lord Jesus Christ
is doing. The only reason he's left this
world spinning is there's more to be subdued, more of his people
to be brought to his feet. And I want us to see seven pictures
of Christ. Seven things his servants learn
and experience in this chapter. And the first one is this, it's
obvious. Christ will subdue all of his enemies. There wasn't
an enemy David met, he didn't subdue, here wasn't, did he?
And in verses one and two, he went and he subdued the Philistines
and he subdued the Moabites. Now God will subdue his enemies,
every one of them, in one of two ways. He'll either destroy
them and cast them into hell to eternal death, or he will,
in mercy and grace, subdue them and make them his servants. But
one way or another, he's going to subdue his enemies. Now, every
son of Adam is the enemy of God, and we deserve to be cast into
hell. And someone without understanding
will say, well, I'm not an enemy of God. Well, I beg your pardon. Yes, you are. All flesh is the
enemy of God. When we were born into this world,
we were born flesh. And Paul said in Colossians 1.21,
when we were born into this world, you were alienated from God and
enemies in your mind by wicked works. We're His enemies in His
flesh. That's the way we're born. Now
when David conquered Moab, every Moabite deserved to die. Every
one of them. You think about where they came
from. Moab, where all this tribe of the people, the Moabites,
descended from, was born from an incestuous relationship between
Lot and his daughter. They began totally depraved,
and they never got any better. Sound like anybody you know?
We began totally depraved in Adam, and we have not gotten
any better. People may have learned more
about science and about the world and these kinds of things, but
people haven't gotten any better. We're totally depraved. And the
Moabites were the very ones who killed David's parents. Remember
back in 1 Samuel, David was there in the hole and all these people
had come to him. His parents were too old to be
on the run, living in caves and so forth with David. And he sent
them to the king of Moab to provide him safety until he knew what
the Lord would do with him. And there they were killed. They
were seeking refuge there and the Moabites killed David's parents.
Now Moab is being conquered by David. Every one of them deserved
to be put to death. And you know what? That judgment,
that act of judgment was the eternal purpose of God. Look
back in Numbers 24. Everything David does here is
according to the purpose, the promise, the prophecy of God. This, in Numbers 24, is Balaam. You know the story of Balaam
and Balaam's ass. And Balaam tried to prophesy
against Israel. He was doing it for money. But
he never could do it. He had to, at least he had to
admit, I've got to say what the Lord says. And look what he says
in verse 17. Numbers 24. I shall see him,
but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh.
There shall come a star out of Jacob. And a scepter shall rise
out of Israel, and he shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy
all the children of Seth. And Edom shall be a possession. Seir also shall be a possession
for his enemies. And Israel shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come he that
shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth in
the city." Who is this scepter that shall rise out of Israel
that's going to smite Moab? Well, we know it's the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's the son of David, but it's also speaking of David.
He's the scepter. He's the king who's going to
rise out of Israel and destroy Moab. That was God's eternal
purpose. And that's a picture of our Lord.
Everything the Lord Jesus Christ did as he was walking as a man
on this earth was the eternal purpose of his father. He didn't
do anything that was accidental. It was all on purpose. It was
the purpose of his father. And when David conquered Moab,
he made three lines of people. Three lines. Put them all on
the ground. Isn't that a good picture? They're
on the ground. On their face in the dust before
David. Three lines of people. Two lines David put to bed. One line he spared. And they
became his servants. And we don't know if those were
equal lines or not. We read that there, Josephus
says, that they were three equal lines. David killed two-thirds
of the Moabites. One-third he preserved alive.
Now that sounds harsh to us, but you have to remember, none
of them deserved to live. Every one of them deserved to
die, and David had mercy on some, and spared the life of some.
Now when God sends people to hell, and he's going to do that
one day, People in hell right now, God put them there. When
God sends people to hell, it will be injustice. They will
be getting exactly what they deserve. And that might sound
harsh to people in the flesh, for someone to be cast into eternal
damnation. But now God's not going to send
everyone to hell. That's the promise of scripture.
Even though they deserve it, he's not going to send everyone
there. Well, why not? Because of God's electing love.
Because He just chose some. God took the entire lump of humanity. Fallen humanity. And He carved
out a piece of that lump. And He said, this is mine. I'm
going to make vessels of mercy out of this lump of clay. Out
of this lump, I'm going to make vessels fitted for destruction.
And after I'm done with them, they've accomplished my purpose,
I'm going to cast them to hell. But this lump is going to be
made vessels of mercy. Wasn't that God's crown rights
as creator to do with his own as he will? Yes, it is. Yes,
it is. And it's of his mercy that this
lump was preserved because all of it deserved to be cast into
hell. God preserved some because of his electing mercy. But those
people, those elect of God, they will be subdued. They're going
to be made servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the carnal
mind that they're born with is just like everybody else from
that fallen lump of humanity. Their carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither, indeed, can be. It can't be made subject to the
law of God. So it's obvious. They're not
going to just one day make up their mind to be servants of
God. God's got to give them a new
mind. He's got to give them a new nature. They're made servants
of God when they're born again. when God gives them a new will,
a new mind, and a new nature. And those elect, they will be
conquered. They'll be brought to the feet
of Christ, and it's going to be done through the preaching
of the gospel. Now, the gospel is a sharp, two-edged
sword. It kills, and it makes alive. The same gospel that reveals
mercy to God's elect, the same gospel that gives a heart of
flesh, is the same gospel that hardens the hearts of those other
enemies of God. Same gospel. Softens and gives
life and also kills and hardens. Pharaoh kept hardening his heart
and hardening his heart and hardening his heart. One day God said,
I'm going to harden his heart and that's going to be the end
of the matter. That's the way it works. And when David smoked
the Philistines, he took the city, Methagama, and that was
the prime city of that area. And the name means bridal. If
you control that city, you control the whole land. He took the brile
out of the hand of the Philistines and held it in his hand. And
when Christ enters the heart of one of his people, brethren,
there's a new sheriff in town. He holds the reins. He holds
the reins. He directs the direction, the
life, every step of that believer. He holds the reins. And that's
the way the child of God wants it. The believer wants it that
way because God's subdued him. He subdued him by putting away
his sin and giving him a new nature. Now look over at Micah
chapter 7. If you've got the authorized
version, that's page 1158. Jonah, Micah, Nahum. The last
verses of the book of Micah. In verse 18, who is the God,
like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, that passeth by the
transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth
not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will
turn again. He will have compassion upon
us. He will subdue our iniquities. Thou wilt cast all their sins
into the depth of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to
Jacob. and the mercy to Abraham, which
thou has sworn unto our fathers from the day of old." He will
subdue our iniquities. He subdues his people and makes
them his. He will subdue, conquer all of
his enemies, either in justice or in mercy. Second, the servants
of Christ are willing servants. Now most all these people here
that David conquered They didn't have a choice whether or not
to be David's servants or not. David conquered them. He made
them his servants. They didn't have a choice whether
or not they were going to pay this annual tribute to David
or not. Now, all these people David conquered, it says, and
they brought him gifts. Well, it's not really the way
that word is translated. It's not accurate. They did bring
David gifts. They paid him tribute and they
did it every year. They had to. They didn't have
a choice. It was a task. Every year of David's reign,
they paid in tribute. Every year of Solomon's reign,
these conquered people paid in tribute. Every year of Solomon's
son's reign, they paid tribute. Every year. This was a tax of
tribute. They weren't really willing servants,
were they? But when Christ conquers his people and subdues his people,
they become willing servants. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. We come begging for mercy on
God's terms, and we come with joy, bringing an offering, not
a tribute, an offering of the joy of our hearts. In verses
9 and 10, when this king, when Toai, king of Hema, he heard
David had defeated all these people, he sent his son to salute. The word there is salute David. Well, he is not just telling
David hello. He's coming asking for peace
from David. He's suing for peace from David. And that's a picture
of the believer coming to Christ in willing submission, begging
for peace, begging for mercy on God's terms. He's the one. He ought to be our friend. He's
the one that destroyed every one of our enemies. He destroyed
our sin. Put the sin of his people away. It's gone. What greater friend
can you have than that? Put your sin away. He's defeated
Satan. He'll roar, He'll scare you to
death, but He'll not touch you. You can't have your soul. He's
on God's chains. He has been crushed. And He subdues
our flesh, gives us a new nature that serves Him. We're the willing
servants of Christ. Third, those people who have
been conquered, been subdued by the Lord Jesus Christ, who
have become His servants, they will rely on Christ alone. They have no other plea, no other
hope than the Lord Jesus Christ, His person and His work. In verses
3 and 4, when David smoked this king at Adizer, and took all
those chariots and all those horses, he burned about all the
chariots. He kept a few of them. Most all
of them he burned. And the horses, when it says
he hoffed them, he hamstrung them. I don't know exactly how
you do that. He cut their Achilles tendon
or something. So that those forces could never be used in war again. They couldn't run. They couldn't
do those things. They might be used to pull a plow, but they
can't be used in war again. Now when God subdues His people,
there is no more war. Like that song you sing, it's
finished. There'll be no more war. He either destroys His enemies,
Or he gives his people a new nature that love him. But either
way, there'll be no more war. There's either no more ability
to make war, or there's no more desire to make war. But one way
or another, there's no more war. And David hamstrung these horses.
Again, that might sound cruel to us, but he did this according
to the commandment of God. Just like our Lord Jesus. Everything
he did was his Father's will. Every word he spoke was the words
his father gave him to speak. Everything he did was the work
his father gave him to do. This was the commandment of God.
Way back there in Deuteronomy 17, before Israel ever had a
king, God told him, one day you'll have one. One day you'll have
a king. And when you do, he shall not multiply horses unto himself. Now why did God give that commandment?
That this king, he's speaking of David. Why would David, not
supposed to multiply horses to himself, he multiplied all this
silver and gold and captured land? Why couldn't he keep the
horses? So no one would ever think that
Israel was preserved by the power of their army. It was going to
be clear to everyone. Israel is preserved by the power
of God. He don't need horses. That's
why later on in Psalm 20, David said, A horse is a vain thing
for safety. We don't need horses. We don't
need the power of those horses. Not when God is the one fighting
our battle. He's going to subdue His enemies. And every sinner,
without exception, who comes to Christ is completely shut
up to Christ. Completely dependent upon Christ
to save us and completely dependent upon Him to keep us. Brethren,
I'm thankful. Oh, that's good news. If it was
up to me to save myself, I'd have been damned long ago. And
if it was up to me to keep myself, I'd have fallen away a long,
long time ago. He'll save us and He'll keep
us. We're completely dependent upon Him. Four, God gives His
servants garrisons to protect them, to protect them from attacks
from within and from without. to protect us from the attacks
of sin, to protect us from the attacks of Satan and from this
world. In verse 6, David put garrisons in Syria. In verse
14, he put garrisons in Edom. Now the word Edom means red. And whenever you hear the word
Edom, you always think of Adam. He was made from the red earth.
Well, God puts the garrison of his indwelling spirit in Edom. in his people who were born sons
of Adam. And the Holy Spirit rules and
reigns and protects his people from sin and from error. Now,
no believer will tell you that they're perfect. No believer
will tell you that I don't sin. No, we still sin. And we still
have thoughts of error. But no believer, no child of
God will be overcome by that sin and overcome by that error
because of the indwelling Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God is a garrison
for us. He will keep pointing us to Christ.
He will keep taking the things of Christ and showing them unto
us. Now that old man, he's still there. There were still wicked
Syrians living around this area where David put garrisons. There
were still wicked Edomites living around all these areas that David
put garrisons. That old man is still there.
He's strong, he's completely sinful, but he does not reign. The new man reigns because of
the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. And Syria and Edom are also a
picture of the whole world. David put garrisons throughout
all Edom. He didn't just put one. They
were all throughout that whole area. And that's a picture of
God's church. God has given his people local
churches as garrisons. all throughout the world. They're
spread all over the place. They're not in every city, they're
not in every town, but they're spread all over the place. All
throughout the world, God has a people of every kindred, tongue,
people, and nation, and he's put his churches all throughout
the whole world. And God's given us the church.
Now there's just one church. It's in many places, isn't it?
But there's just one church. And he's given that to us as
a garrison. as a place of defense, as a place
of warning. The word actually means, the
word garrison as it's used here, actually means to be fixed or
to stand upright. This is the place, God's church
is the place where a sinner can learn. The only place that I
can stand upright before God is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the church is fixed upon that. The church, God's church,
God's preachers will never deviate from that message. It's fixed.
And this, all this is done through the preaching of Christ our Savior,
the mighty conqueror. Scripture says when he ascended
up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. In verses 16, 17, and 18, we
read about the different officers that were in David's kingdom.
And they represent the different offices, the different responsibilities
that are in God's kingdom. Now I'll talk about just one
of them. This man Jehoshaphat. He was the recorder. And that
word recorder is remembrancer. He's a remembrancer. Kind of
like a secretary, I suppose. His function was to remind David
of everything he's got to do today. But his function was also
to remind David How a king is supposed to conduct himself.
How a king is supposed to act. The things that a king is supposed
to do. Well, isn't that a clear picture
of a pastor? The pastor's job is to be a remembrancer. There's a form of this word that
actually means lifeguard. He's a lifeguard. He's a remembrancer. Now, we preach the gospel so
that the lost will come to know Christ. That's so important.
And we also preach to feed God's sheep, to feed the lambs. But
how do you do that? By being a remembrancer. By saying
the same things over and over and over again, reminding God's
people of the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That's how the church becomes fixed. By being a remembrancer. Fifth, every servant of Christ
knows this. Christ is King. He is the King. Now let this fact be forever
established in our minds and in our hearts. The Lord Jesus
Christ is King. He is the Monarch. He must reign. And He will do, as He pleases,
everywhere in His dominion. Where is His dominion? Everywhere. John said it once, everywhere
there is a where. That's where he has dominion. Everywhere.
With everyone. That includes me and mine. I'm in his hands. Mine is in
his hands to do with as he pleases. Now he's king. He's the monarch. The question is not whether or
not I will accept Jesus into my heart. That's not the question.
The question is, will Christ the King accept me? Will God
accept me in the person of His Son? That's the question. Then
I better come begging for mercy. Don't you think that would be
wise to come begging Him for mercy? Because the question is,
will He accept me or not? In verse 15, David reigned over
all Israel, and he executed judgment and justice unto all his people.
Unto all his people. Not just the rich and influential,
all of them. Now that's such a clear picture
of Christ our King. God has no unimportant chief.
And the Lord Jesus Christ executes judgment and justice over all
of his people. Whatever it is that Christ is
doing, whether it's destroying his enemies or he's giving his
people mercy, whichever it is, it's done in judgment and justice. And I wrote down several scriptures,
and I don't have time to look at them all, but look at Jeremiah
23. I want to show you how this is
clearly, this David reigning in judgment and justice is a
picture of Christ our King. Jeremiah 23, verse 5. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and
a king shall reign and prosper. and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days, Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness." Jehovah Sittinu,
he reigns in judgment and justice. And sixth, in all his conquering,
David got himself a name, didn't he? When he returned from smiting
all those Syrians He got himself a name. On all of his conquering,
our Lord Jesus Christ got himself a name. You know, I read that
even among the heathen, I mean, even among those conquered people,
David got himself a name. He earned their respect because,
you know, he did after he conquered them, after he destroyed all
those enemies, he buried their dead. And the conquered people
respected him for that. Well, because of his victory
at Calvary, The Father has given His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, and every tongue should confess, He's Lord. The
redeemed know that name. They love that name. We know
neither is there salvation in any other name, but the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ I was preparing these notes and then
Wednesday, John preached that message from Mark 1. The gospel
that we preach is the name that we preach. The gospel of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. People are thrilled by that name.
He'd gotten himself a name. And last, in Christ our conquering
King, the servants of God are made rich. Now David collected
all this gold and silver and brass for Solomon to use to build
the temple. And they say that was the richest
building that was ever built. David collected so much brass
that it says Solomon built a sea of brass. That's how much brass
David collected. I mean, the wealth that he amassed. Well, then how is a believer
made rich? Well, it's not materially. Although, in this day, in this
age of the history of man, we're wealthy. We're rich and increased
with goods. The Lord's blessed us in that
way and we give thanks. But that's not what this is talking
about. That's not what this is a picture of. God's servants
are made rich spiritually with eternal, lasting things in Christ. Now, we have righteousness. We,
a sinner, like you and me, we've been made righteous. We have
the forgiveness of our sins. We have peace with God. We have
fellowship with the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, is that really riches? Is
that valuable? Well, I suppose it depends if
you're a sinner or not. After all the earthly riches
that David accumulated, he said, I'll tell you what's precious.
I'll tell you what's valuable. The redemption of the soul. Precious,
David said. Beyond price. Now I want to read
you just a couple of Scriptures. 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9. How
is it that the servants of Christ are made rich? You know. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor. That you through His poverty
might be what? Made rich. Made rich in Him. Ephesians 1. In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to what? The riches of his grace. All
the riches of his grace that he's shed abroad on his people.
Ephesians 2. But God, we all, every one of
us, we're children of wrath, even as others, we deserve like
all those mole bites to be put to death. But God, rich in mercy,
for his great love we're with thee, Lord. even when we are
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ." Well,
how rich is that? How dead are you? That will determine
how rich of a blessing that is to you. In Proverbs 8, Christ
speaking his wisdom, he said, Riches and honor are with me,
yea, durable riches and righteousness. How rich is a believer in Christ? So rich that Moses esteems a
reproach of Christ. Greater riches than all the riches
of Egypt. And how do we find these riches?
We find them through the preaching of the Gospel. Paul said, God
has called many to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ. God's given that to us in this
place. Don't we get thanks? Now, I pray
the Lord will bless His Word to your heart.