So we're in 2 Samuel chapter
8 and we're thinking particularly about
the young people but not exclusively. So, 2 Samuel chapter 8 and verse
1. And after this came to pass,
that's all the things that David had been speaking about concerning
the temple with Nathan and his prayer in the previous chapter.
After this, it came to pass that David smote the Philistines and
subdued them. And David took Methagama out
of the hand of the Philistines. And he smote 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. David Smote also had Hadadizar,
the son of Rehob, king of Zoba, and 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 howed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them
for a hundred chariots. And when the Syrians of Damascus
came to succor Hadazera, king of Zobah, 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 Hadazera and brought them
to Jerusalem. And from Bethah and from Berothi,
cities of Hadazera, king, David took exceeding much brass. When Toa'i, king of Hamath, heard
that David had smitten all the host of Hadazera, then Toa'i
sent Joram, his son, unto King David to salute him
and to bless him because he had fought against Hadazera and smitten
him. For Hadesera 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 subdued. of Syria, and of Moab, and of
the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek,
and of the spoil of Hadazirah, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. And David gat him a name when
he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the Valley of Salt,
being 18,000 men. and he put garrisons in Edom.
Throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom 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 Ahelut was recorder. And Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were the priests, and Sarai was
the scribe. And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada,
was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's
sons were chief rulers. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. and may he overlook all the mispronunciations
in those names. Thank you for listening. We have
been following some of the personal incidents in David's life such
as him being made king of all Israel and Judah, bringing the
tribes of Israel back again together after the days of Saul. So Israel in the north of the
land of Canaan and Judah in the south of the land of Canaan are
now under a combined monarchy, the kingship of David. And David made Jerusalem his
own city. I know we sometimes talk about
Bethlehem as being the city of David, and that's because that
was where he was born. But Jerusalem was also a city,
the city of David, insofar as this is where he made his home,
this is where he made his headquarters, this is where he established
the temple. And Jerusalem is a city in the
mountains, it's well defended, well protected, and no doubt
for that reason, it was chosen by David. We also found that
as well as choosing this city, Jerusalem, and building his palace
there, he brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. And we learned last week, I think,
about his ambitions to build a temple to the Lord. We've seen how that ambition
was stopped by the Lord and the prophet Nathan. We've listened
in as David received promises from the Lord via Nathan the
prophet and promises concerning David's enduring kingdom. We've heard David's prayer of
gratitude with respect to that. And we have seen how the coming
of the Lord Jesus and the enlargement of Christ's spiritual kingdom
was prefigured and predicted, foreordained is another word
that we use, in these prophetic promises that were given to David. so that the Lord Jesus is sometimes
called the Son of David. Remember, one of the blind men
at Jericho shouted out to Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy
on me. And this is the reason why we
call the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of David. Not only was he
born out of David's line, David's lineage, one of David's great,
great, great, great, great, great grandchildren, but he was also
the one of whom these promises in their fullness speak about,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And just as they speak about
David and his genealogy, so they speak about Jerusalem where David
had his reign and had his rule. So that all of these words have
a significance prophetically and that is why the church is
sometimes called Zion because Zion was another symbolic name
for Jerusalem. So these things are all linked
together. But today we're not thinking
so much about the immediate personal circumstances of David. Well, we are in a sense, but
in a different way. In today's passage, we kind of
zoom out and we get a quick overview of the military successes of
David and Israel over a period of time. and the growth and the
rise of David's kingdom. You might sometimes hear people
speak about the Davidic kingdom, the Davidic kingdom of Israel.
Well, this is what they're speaking about, principally what's going
on here in this chapter. David fought with and defeated
many of the nations that were around about Israel. in order
to secure the land that God had promised to Abraham long before,
including the land of the Philistines, the land of the Moabites, the
Amalekites, the Ammonites, the Edomites and the Syrians. It's very interesting because
Syria is in the news right now because the government in Syria
just in the past few weeks has been overthrown. And it's interesting,
some of the places that are being spoken about in this chapter
are actually places that we are hearing about in the news right
now. So here we find that the Bible
is in a sense right up to date with what is happening in the
world. And David established garrisons
in these nations. That probably means that he put
a military presence in each of those nations. He installed governors
and he made the people his servants. Now that doesn't mean that they
were all slaves. Having defeated the kings and
their armies and removed the power, the military power of
these nations. It's very likely that many, most
of the common people just went about their business and farmed
and harvested their land and traded their ways, their wares
as usual. But now David gathered the tribute
or the annual taxes from these people and from these nations.
And he joined their military strength into the army of Israel
so that Israel, with David's headquarters in Jerusalem, became
the dominant power in the region. The Davidic kingdom was formed. And we're told that the Lord
blessed and preserved David whithersoever he went. Wherever he went to
fight, wherever he went to take the battle to these nations around
about him, David was preserved by the Lord. And for his part,
David appears to have been careful to follow the Lord's instructions
concerning the laws that had been given in past times as to
how the king was to rule in the land. He dedicated, for example,
the proceeds of his conquests to the Lord and he did not enrich
himself. Actually, just a little aside
there, this we'll find is what he left, these riches were what
he left as an inheritance to Solomon. David had wanted to
build the temple, we read about that last week. Solomon, his
son, actually built the temple in Jerusalem. We're going to
be thinking about that temple in a little while when we speak
about Jonah. But David gathered the riches from all of these
conquests, which went into funding and paying for the construction
of the temple. So that's just a little aside. He didn't enrich himself, but
he set all of the money aside He resisted building a large
military power with chariots that he had captured because
the Lord had told him not to do that. And he judged the people
of Israel well. He gained a reputation for strength
and justice, and he established a form of governance throughout
all the land over which he now reigned. And we read, David reigned
over all Israel, and he executed judgment and justice unto all
his people. Both in the land of Israel and
beyond the borders of Israel, David's influence was now felt. And we learn that he had capable
military officers, and he had suitable religious leaders, and
he had wise counsellors. So that after many years of trouble
and instability that were now in the past, all appeared to
be going well for David. Life was successful and he was
prosperous as the king. But here are a few lessons that
we might draw from this passage. Let's just take one or two thoughts
and see if we can apply them. David is clearly flourishing. All he touches turns to gold. Not literally, he wasn't King
Midas, but all his projects, all his ventures, all his undertakings
turn out well because the Lord blesses him. And from this we
can note that periods of rest, because David had been in one
of these periods of rest, that was what he had thought about,
that was what he was enjoying when he thought about building
the temple. And the Lord said to him, no, you've got a different
work to do. So we note then that periods
of rest are not just to be periods of laziness. They're not to be
periods of inactivity for the Lord's people. There will be times in our lives
as believers when we feel like we are being hounded and chased. like David was in the time of
Saul, that we're always fighting fires or busy just keeping things
together, like in the days when the kingdoms were split and David
wasn't sure who he could trust and who would deceive him. And it's then, like David, that
we prove the Lord to be a faithful helper and deliverer. And yet
there will be other times in our lives when the Lord gives
us peace and rest and perhaps even extended periods of prosperity. And there will be a temptation
for us to relax and to take life easy. Maybe even assume that
this is the just reward for all our hard work that we put in
to get here. It's nothing of the case. Let
us remember that all we have is from the Lord, whether it's
a little or whether it's a lot. Everything that we have is from
the Lord. Paul tells us, what hast thou
that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Everything
that we have is from the Lord. The Lord gives and the Lord takes
away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And this is true in all aspects
of our lives. As believers, it is our responsibility,
it is our privilege to serve the Lord wherever he places us
and in whatever circumstances he places us with whatever goods
he has bestowed. And whether we're poor, rich,
old, young, weak or powerful, really brilliant, or just ordinary,
All we are and all we have is the Lord's and is to be carefully
and wisely employed for his glory. David understood this. The Lord
gave David great wealth, great power, great might, great influence. And in his new found position
of might, David did as the Lord commanded. He lived by a code
of principles. He wasn't sinless, he didn't
live perfectly but as he was able to honour the Lord, he did
so and he did so in the Lord's service. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Saviour, said in his own lifetime, unto whomsoever much
is given, of him shall much be required. So let us remember,
let you and I remember, let us remember in whatever position
the Lord places us in this life, whether it's at the top of the
tree or somewhere near the base, we are always only his servants. And no matter if we are rich
or poor, it is better to be always under the eye of the Lord, always
upheld by his arm, always directed by his hand, and loved in the
heart of our all-powerful Jesus. Here's another little point.
Several of David's Psalms appear to have been written during this
time. And this is where the Lord's
people, this is where you and I who love the Lord and who trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ, this is where we learn the true, ever-relevant
meaning of Scripture. Let me give you an example. David
wrote in Psalm 60, God hath spoken in his holiness, I will rejoice. I will divide Shechem and meet
out the valley of Sukkoth. Gilead is mine and Manasseh is
mine. Ephraim also is the strength
of mine head. Judah is my lawgiver. Moab is
my washpot. Over Edom will I cast out my
shoe. Philistia, triumph thou because
of me. Now what is all that about? What
is all that about, all these references to these places? And
what has this old history of David writing these things down
got to do with you and with me? When we read these things in
the Bible, what is the meaning of all of that? Well, those who have ears to
hear and eyes to see, those who are the Lord's people, understand
what these passages are about. David, writing these things in
his own days about the things that were happening, is attributing
all his victories to the Lord. You know what? He's even, on
the basis of these prophecies that had been given to him by
Nathan the prophet, he is even anticipating the victories that
were yet to come because God had promised it will be so. And because we understand David
to be a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can see that these
promises as well are typical. They are suggestive of greater
promises, greater triumphs, more glorious things yet to come. Promises concerning Christ's
triumph and glory and his kingdom. Just as we saw that David's kingdom
was a picture of Christ's spiritual kingdom, so David's triumphs
are a picture of Christ's triumphs. God has promised that the Lord
Jesus Christ will overcome all evil and judge this world in
righteousness and holiness. Now the Lord Jesus Christ's kingdom
is not military, not like David's was. It's not geographical like
David's was. He conquered all the countries
round about him. That's not how it's going to
happen with the Lord. It's not political. It's not
like a World Council or a United Nations. It's not economic as
if we're going to have one great big market. Right now, As I mentioned, the
peoples of the world are fighting and wrestling for supremacy without
any thought of the Lord. But the Lord's people are different.
Our citizenship is the church. Our citizenship is Christ's kingdom,
and that is a spiritual kingdom. And by the gospel, by the preaching
of the gospel, by the preaching of Jesus Christ crucified, the
Lord Jesus continues to call men and women and boys and girls
to trust in him and to enter his kingdom by faith. We're not
born into his kingdom, we're born again into his kingdom. And Christ is our king. We are his people. He doesn't
even call us servants anymore. He calls us his friends. He calls us his sons and his
daughters and he will give us all things as an heir together
with him. So it's even better than it was
in the days of David because Christ's people are heirs together
with him of his spiritual kingdom. Our hope and our faith is not
in the strength of men or in the power of might or in the
price of gold, but in the Lord Jesus Christ and he is worthy
of our trust. David looked to the Lord to help
and preserve him. how blessed we are to be able
to look to the Lord Jesus Christ to help and preserve us in this
life and in the life to come. And one last little point. David
fought his battles with the Philistines and the Moabites and the Amalekites
and all the rest of these nations. But David's greater son, our
saviour, has fought all our battles and given us the victory. Sometimes
we think we're constantly fighting battles in this life, and perhaps
there is a sense in which we are. We do have battles to fight
in this life, but our principal battle is fought already and
it's been won for us. If you are a believer, you have
to know this. We didn't have to fight for our
freedom from sin and salvation ourselves. The Lord Jesus went
to the cross on our behalf It was for that reason, for this
reason, that the Saviour came into the world. At this time
of year, many speak about peace for the world, but the Lord Jesus
actually said in Matthew 10, 34, think not that I am come
to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. Christ fought our enemies and
he satisfied the demands of justice and grace. He gained the victory
on the cross when he defeated Satan and paid the ransom price
for our freedom. When the Lord Jesus Christ rose
from the dead he was honoured as victor and in him as people
who trust in him for salvation, we have the victory as well. And today Christ sends out his
gospel sword, which divides between those who trust in him and those
who do not. May the Lord give us all grace
to trust in the completed work of salvation, by which the Lord's
spiritual people and the Lord's spiritual kingdom is established
and our eternal life and salvation is assured. Amen.