I want to read my text again,
2 Samuel chapter 3, verse 39. David said, I am this day weak,
though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zerah, are too
hard for me. The Lord shall reward the doer
of evil according to his wickedness. Now David, son of Jesse, was
secretly anointed king over Israel, over all of Israel, by Samuel,
while King Saul was still reigning. Israel had demanded a king. They
said, Lord, give us a king like other nations. And the Lord gave
them a king. They selected Saul to reign over
them. Saul was not a good king. Saul
disobeyed God, and God cut him off. And God sent Samuel down
to the house of Jesse to anoint David king over Israel while
Saul was still living, while Saul was still reigning over
Israel. David was just a lad. I don't know how old he was.
but he was just a young man. And so David waited many, many
years before the crown actually rested on his head. In fact,
he joined the service of Saul for many years. Saul became very
jealous of David. When David joined the armies
of Saul after slaying the giant Goliath, David became quite popular
with the people. When they'd come back from battle,
Saul would sit up in the palace and he would hear the people
chanting, Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands. And Saul made several attempts
on the life of David. He tried to kill him two or three
times, and finally, being warned by Jonathan, whom he loved very
much, David left the kingdom. And David began to live in exile. He lived in exile from the very
country over which he had been anointed king. He was living
in exile though he was God's chosen king. He was living in
exile from the very country over which he would reign as king
someday. And David was hunted like an
animal. I think When David wrote, as the deer panteth for the water
brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, that David was referring
back to the days when he roamed on the mountainside, lived in
caves, many times hungered, thirsted, was weary, tired, almost gave
up. About 300 men, 300 brave men,
left Saul's service and joined David. And David was in the mountains,
living in caves, eating what he could find, killing game,
defending the shepherds, getting food from them. This went on
for many, many years. David lived in the mountains,
in the caves, with these 300 brave men who followed him. David
had a man who was commanding chief over his forces named Joab. Joab and his brother Abishah. They were faithful friends, they
were devoted companions. They lived with David and they
served God and served David these years while David was in exile.
They hungered with him, they thirsted with him, they ran with
him, they fled from Saul with him. They were faithful companions
and servants to David. At last King Saul was slain. He was killed in a battle on
Mount Gilboa. And also Jonathan, who was the
heir to the throne. Now in the event that King Saul
died, Jonathan was the rightful heir to the throne. But Jonathan
died on the same mountain on which his father died. So David's
kinsmen and David's followers made him king. They made him
king over Judah and over the south country, that's all. Still,
the greater part of Israel had not yielded to David. David reigned
over Judah, David reigned over the south country, but the great
mass of Israel over which Saul reigned and over which there
was a commander-in-chief of that army by the name of Abner. Abner
was a powerful man. He was a powerful warrior, he
was a powerful politician. Abner was a kingmaker. So when
Saul died, that left Abner, really, and when Saul and Jonathan both
died on Mount Gilboa, that left Abner with the power. And so
he took one of Saul's other sons, Ibbishaph, a very weak young
man, and made him king. So that made Ibersheth king over
the larger part of Israel. He was king over the greater
part of Israel. I don't know how many tribes.
Ten tribes, I suppose. The greater part. Ibersheth was
king. He was a weakling. He was a young
man. He was controlled by Abner, his
general, his commander-in-chief. Abner controlled the throne.
He was the kingmaker. He put Ibersheth on the throne,
and he kept him there. And down here David, with his
small band and his small tribe, reigned over Judah. David was
the rightful king, but David was reigning over a small part
of Israel, backed up by Joab, his faithful general. And over
the greater part of Israel was Iberesheth, who was controlled
and backed by Abner, commander-in-chief of the armies of Israel. Abner
fell in love with one of King Saul's concubines. I don't know
her name, but I do know that he wanted to marry her. Saul
was dead, and that left these concubines free, and Abner, the
general, fell in love with one of these young ladies and wanted
to marry her. Well, King Ibersheth, the weakling king who was kept
on the throne by Abner to begin with, who was put on the throne
by Abner, he resented it. He did not want Abner to marry
his father's concubine, so he interfered. And this made Abner,
the general, very, very angry. So Abner determined that he would
take Ibersheth off the throne. He was angry. And Abner took
twenty men. and made a journey down to see
David. He came in peace. He determined
that he would put Abisheth off the throne. He was acting as
kingmaker again, and he was going to come down and deal with David. He was going to bring terms to
David, which he brought. He came to see David, and he
told David, he said, I'll turn all of Israel over to you. He
said, I'm going to put Abisheth off the throne, and I'm going
to serve you. I'm going to bow to you as my
king. We're going to make David king over all of Israel. That's
where God intended David to be anyway. So David made a feast
for Abner. They had quite a feast. David's general was not there
in Hebron when all this took place. He was out pursuing a
troop. The Scripture says here in verse 22, he was out in battle. He was out pursuing bandits,
highwaymen, he and his brother and the other armed men. David
was reigning over Judah, and he and Abner had a feast. And
David received Abner in peace. They talked it over. Abner said,
I'm going to deliver all of Israel into David's hands. We're going
to take Iberisheth off the throne." And David accepted Abner's terms. And David bid him Godspeed. And Abner left to go back to
northern Israel in peace. Well, Joab, David's commander,
came home just a few hours after Abner left David. And upon hearing of Abner's visit,
I can't say what went through Joab's mind. Nobody else can,
but I can surmise. I believe there are several things
that went through Joab's mind. Number one, giving him credit
for being an honest man, and he had been a faithful servant
of David. He had been with David when the
going was tough. He had been with David when they
were going through great trials. He had been a right arm to David
when they were hungry and weary and pursued by Saul and Abner. Abner was an enemy. In fact,
Abner had killed Joab's brother in a battle. He had not murdered
him. He had killed him in a battle.
And Joab remembered all that. And there are several things
going through Joab's mind. I think, number one, that he
thought Abner was dishonest, that he had really come down
there to deceive King David, to spy on King David. And that
when all the chips were down, Abner would turn on David. David
didn't think that. David felt that Abner was being
honest with him, and David accepted his terms, and David dealt with
him in peace. Second thing, I think going through
Joab's mind, and I can't help but believe this, because Joab
was a human, Joab could just see Abner taking his place. Joab could see Abner taking his
place as David's right arm, as David's close companion, as David's
general, as David's commander-in-chief. So Joab left David after he heard
all about this peace treaty. He left David and called his
servants and told them to go and catch Abner and bring him
back. So his service went after Abner,
and they found him. He was on his way home with his
twenty men, and they said, come back. There's some things that
are unsettled that Joab wants to talk to you about. Joab wants
to talk to you peaceably. And so Abner, trusting Joab,
and I believe Abner had dealt honestly with David, or he wouldn't
have returned. He would have fled. He came back. And it says that at the gate
of Hebron, and Hebron is a city of refuge, that treacherously
and terribly, Joab secretly took this man Abner, this great general,
aside to speak to him quietly and peaceably. And when he took
him aside, he stabbed him to death. Now David had nothing
to do with this terrible murder. David had nothing to do with
the planning of it, he had nothing to do with carrying it out. His
trusted men had done this. The sons of Zorah, Joab and Abisham. And David pronounced an awful
curse upon Joab, but David did not have the courage to summon
Joab before the bar of justice. Joab should have been tried for
murder. Joab should have been executed
for murder. Joab should have been brought
before the bar of justice as a murderer, but David was afraid
of Joab. This man had the whole army at
his back. This man, Joab, had the people
behind him. And David, honestly, as we'll
see in our text, was afraid of him. Instead of fearless David, who
faced Goliath, and Goliath said, Come out, little man, and I'll
make mincemeat of you, David replied, You come in the strength
of the flesh, I come in the strength of the Lord. And instead of David
facing Joab and Abishaphon, the sons of Zerah, and telling them
that they had done wrong, that they had murdered a faithful
man, that they had connived treacherously against a man on a mission of
peace under a flag of truce, and stabbed him in brutal, cold-blooded
murder, and they would be tried and sentenced to death for what
they had done. David didn't do it. Or David
organized a beautiful funeral for Abner. he had a real funeral. And David wept real tears. And
David sang a real sad song. And David followed the funeral
procession. And he made Joab walk in the
funeral procession, following the casket or whatever they had
of this great man Abner. But David became weak in the
hour of trial and permitted the murderer to escape punishment. He said, listen to him, verse
39, I am this day weak. Though anointed king, and these
men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too hard for me. These men, the sons of Zeruiah,
these men who have been my bravest friends, These men who have stood
by me in my darkest hour, these men who have been my companions
in trial, these men are too hard for me. They have compelled me
to submit to an action which my soul hates. These men, my
companions, are criminals which I cannot punish. I am king. I am a prince. I am anointed
by God, but I'm weak. But I'm weak. My friends, turn back to 1 Samuel,
chapter 16. You and I are kings by the royal
decree of God Almighty, just like David. Who made David king?
God did. Who chose David to be king? God
did. Who anointed David king over
Israel? God did. In 1 Samuel chapter
16, when Saul was still reigning, when the house of Saul was still
in power, God called his servant Samuel, and he said, go down
to the house of Jesse and anoint a king over Israel. And Samuel
went down to the house of Jesse, and Jesse had all of his sons.
Jesse knew about this, and he brought all of his sons up there.
There were six of them. And it came to pass in verse
6 of I Samuel 16, when they were come, and he looked on Elab.
Elab was the oldest. Elab was the strongest. Elab
was the firstborn. When Samuel looked on aloud,
he said, Surely the Lord's anointed is here, is before him. But the
Lord said, Samuel, look not on his countenance, or on the height
of his stature. I have refused him, for the Lord
seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. And then Jesse
called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said,
Neither hath the Lord chosen this one. And all of them came
through, and finally all the boys had passed through. And
Samuel said, Is this all your sons? And Jesse said, Well, no,
I have one more. But he's just a lad. I didn't
think surely you'd be interested in him. So I sent him out to
take care of the sheep while you were anointing one of these
boys king. And Samuel said, Well, we won't eat. We won't sit down
at the table until this boy comes down here. And so they went and
got him. And the Scripture says, verse 12, And he sent and brought
him in, David. And he was ruddy, and with all
of a beautiful countenance, and godly to look to. And the Lord
said, Arise, anoint Him, this is He. This is He. My friends, God hath anointed
us kings and priests. He hath chosen us in His eternal
counsel, in His eternal decree. I don't know why. I know that
God passed by Elab, God passed by Abinadab, God passed by all
of these strong, wise, mature, sons of Jesse, and they brought
in a lad, a shepherd. And God set His love and affection
upon that boy David, and made him the king. Because the Lord
looketh not on the outward countenance, He chooseth not for the reason
man chooseth. God looks on the heart, and He
chose David to be the king. And in the same way God hath
chosen you and me to be His son. Turn to Deuteronomy 7. I don't
know why. Not many mighty are called, not
many noble are called, not many wise are called. God hath chosen
the foolish things of this world to bring to naught the things
that are. that no flesh should glow in his presence. It says
in Deuteronomy 7, verse 7, The Lord didn't set his love upon
you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than
any people. You were the fewest of all people.
But because the Lord loved you, that's why he chose you, even
so, Father, it seemed good in thy sight. All right, David had
been chosen by God to be the king. And you and I have been
chosen by God to be his sons, to reign with him. And we have
a kingdom that has been purchased by Christ. We have an inheritance
that's undefiled, that's reserved for us, that fadeth not away.
We have a palace, we have a kingdom, we have a rule that's been purchased
by our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Revelation 5, verse 9.
David was anointed king. David was chosen of God, anointed
of God, and he had a kingdom. He wasn't wearing the crown at
that time. In fact, many years passed before
David would wear the crown, but he was still the king. And I'm
a king. It says in Revelation 5, verse
9, and you're a king. And they sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy," Revelation 5, 9, "...to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof. For thou wert slain," talking
about Christ, "...and thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood,
out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. And thou
hast made us unto our God, kings and priests." And we're going
to reign on this earth. We're kings. Adam lost the kingdom
by sin, but Christ restored it by obedience. Our sins enslaved
us to justice and condemnation, but Christ paid the debt. Turn
to Ephesians, chapter 1. Listen to this. In Ephesians,
the first chapter, reading verse 3 and 4. Ephesians 1, verse 3,
"'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in
Christ, according as he chose us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love." God had chosen us to kingship. God hath restored
through Christ all that we lost in the fall. We have a kingdom.
David had a kingdom And David knew that one day he would reign
triumphantly over that kingdom. And one day I know that I'm going
to reign with Christ forever and forever. It seems now that we're in exile. David was in exile. I don't know
how many years passed before David was made king over Israel,
but I know that David knew hunger. I know that David knew what it
was to sleep. at night, cold and hungry and
in fear. I know that David knew what it
was to experience defeat, but he was still the king. He was
the king. When he was sleeping without
any cover in that damp, cold cave, he was king. God said he
was king. God chose him to be king. God
anointed him to be king. God Almighty selected him to
be king, and he was a king! He was a king. And David knew
trial. He knew disappointment. He knew
anger. One time David got his men together
and was going down to kill every male in a household. He and his men were out on the
side of a hill one day, And some bandits came upon some shepherds,
and David's men drove them away, and saved the whole herd, and
saved the lives of the shepherds. And he told the shepherds to
go down and tell their master, the man who owned these great
flocks, that he had saved them, that he had rescued them, and
he'd appreciate it if the man would send him, his men, something
to eat. They were hungry. And so these
servants, these shepherds, went down and told this man, Abigail's
husband, I forget his name, but the shepherds told him that David
had saved their lives, and David had saved the whole herd of this
man. And David and his men were hungry,
and he'd appreciate something to eat. The man told him he wasn't
sending that fugitive anything to eat, and David heard about
it, and he told his men, said, strap on your sword, We're going
down there and kill him and every son of his and every servant
of his and every male in that whole place. He was on his way
down there. He was king, but he was wrong. He was king, but
he was under great pressure and trial. He was king, but he was
in a fit of temper. And he was on his way, and this
man's wife met him, and she brought a lot of food, and she begged
David. She said, Don't do this. Don't sin against God and do
this. You're doing wrong, David. May God's restraining grace prevent
you from doing what you're doing. David was acting unwisely, but
he was king. And then David knew poverty.
He knew something about real poverty. He knew something about
real need. But he was king. And every believer
is an anointed king. Turn to Matthew chapter 25. I want you to look at this. Matthew
25. beginning with verse 31. We're kings. God hath made us
kings over His kingdom. We're not yet enthroned, and
we're not yet wearing the crown, actually, but we are seated with
Christ in the heavenlies. Matthew 25, verse 31, It says, When the Son of man
shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him,
and then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before
him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divided the sheep from the goats, and
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on
his left. And then shall the King say unto them on his right
hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, It's time to inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundations of
the world. When Christ took his seat at
the right hand of God, we were seated in him and with him. Now then, back to the text. David
said, after this experience, I'm king. I'm king. I know that I'm king. I know
that I have God's authority. I know that I have God's anointing.
I know that I have God's decree. I know that I have the promise
of the kingdom. I know that I shall reign over
all that God has. I shall be an heir of God and
a joint heir with Jesus Christ, and I'm persuaded of that and
convinced of that and as positive concerning that as I stand before
you today." You feel that confidence, that assurance? I'm a king. I'm a child of the king. A child
of the king. But I can say with David, though
anointed king, I am this day weak. Paul felt that. Turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 12. The Apostle Paul knew that. You
know, my friends, one great old preacher said this, Let us be
truthful before the Lord. Let us deal in truth when we're
dealing with God. Let the potsherds of the earth
strive with the potsherds of the earth, but let not a man
be dishonest. and hypocritical and deceitful
when he's dealing with God. Let's be honest with God. Though
you are anointed kings, you are this day very weak. You are never more mistaken than
when you think you're strong. You are never more mistaken. Any time that you feel spiritual
strength and spiritual power and spiritual victory in yourself,
you're never farther from the truth. And you're never nearer
the truth than when you have the lowest opinion of yourself. You're never nearer the truth
than when you have the lowest view of yourself. Listen to David
as he sits, and he says, I've been anointed of God to
be king, but I am this day weak." When you are stripped, and when
you are emptied, and when you are poured out like water, it
is then that you're where you ought to be. That's what Paul
said in 2 Corinthians 12. Look at it a moment. in the twelfth
chapter of 2 Corinthians, God had given to Paul a thorn in
the flesh. Verse 7, And he said, Lest I
be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations,
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of
Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. And
for this thing I have assaulted the Lord three times, that it
might depart from me. And God said to me, My grace is sufficient for you.
My strength is made perfect in your weakness. And Paul says,
Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ might rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecution,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I'm weak, Then I'm strong. My friends, I'm a king, but I'm
weak in faith. I stagger at the promises of
God through unbelief. Lord Jesus said, all you need
is the faith of a grain of mustard seed to say to that mountain
of difficulty, be removed and cast into the sea. And I still
stand and look at the mountain. A man came to the disciples and
tried to get them to heal his son, and they couldn't do it. And the Lord Jesus came down
from teaching the people, and this centurion said, Lord, I
brought my son to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him. And
the Lord Jesus said, O ye of little faith, this kind goeth
forth by prayer and fasting. And he said to the boy, Behold,
be made whole. My friends, I cry unto God like
the centurion, Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief. I don't doubt
God's power, do you? But I don't see much of it. I
don't doubt God's love to his people, do you? I don't for a
moment doubt God's love. I know God's love. I'm a king.
But I cry if I'm a child of God, why don't I have the faith I
ought to have? Why don't I experience the power
that I ought to experience? Why don't I move the mountains
that are in my way? I'll tell you why. Same reason David sat here, and
his whole kingdom was threatened, and his whole army was threatened
with rebellion. And there'd been a murder committed,
and he was too weak to do anything about it because his friends
were involved. His trusted companions were involved. And he says, I'm king, but I'm
weak. My friends, I'm weak in my efforts
to serve Christ. I preach, but with such little
burden. I preach, but with such little
compassion. I pray, but—can you really call
it prayer? I give, but not sacrificially. Anybody here giving sacrificially? Anybody here praying with intercessory
power? I love God, but not with all
my heart. Do you? I love my neighbor, but
not as myself. Do you? Would you sit in judgment on
David for what he was doing? These companions, these comrades,
these men who had been his strength and his pillars of strength through
these days, would you have committed them to stoning? When we can't even commit our
own sons of Zariah to stoning. I'm weak in hope. Can I say with
Paul, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
far better. I'm weary with the world and
discontent with sin and want to be done with all of these
cares, and I have a desire to depart and be with Christ." The
man of hope can say that. Can I say with Simeon, Lord,
now let me depart in peace? My eyes have seen all they need
to see. I've seen your salvation. Can
I say with Job, when all his children were swept away, and
every dime he had was carried away, and he was bankrupt, and
his health gone, and he sat there on the heap of ashes, scraping
his boils, and said, as he worshipped God, Well, the Lord gave, and
the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
That's where Kings talks. Can I say with Eli, when the
prophet of God had come to him and said, your sons have blasphemed
God, and he's going to kill both of them, and Eli said, well,
it's the Lord. Let him do what he will. When you think about those things
and when you consider those things, you can place yourself, you can
come right down here where David is sitting there upon his purple
throne with the robe of royalty on his shoulders. God put that
robe on his shoulders. God put that crown on his head. God chose him and made him king,
entrusted him with the power over his kingdom. and sent him
there as an example to his people. And David had permitted a murderer
to go free. And David had wept and mourned,
and he says, I am anointed king. Listen to the heaviness of these
words. Listen to the sob in his voice. Listen to the breaking of his
heart. Though anointed king, I am this
day weak. These sons of Zorah, my companions,
are too much for me. Who are my sons of Zorah? My mind, my heart, my thoughts,
my natural strength, and I can't cope with them. So what am I
going to do? I'm going to have to look to
Christ. I'm going to have to commit myself to Christ. I'm
going to have to look to one who is strong. We can overcome
through the blood of the Lamb. We can overcome through the strength
and power of our Redeemer. That's what Paul says when he
sums this whole thing up in 2 Corinthians 12. He says here, Therefore I'll
take joy and pleasure in infirmities. I'll accept them. I'll bow beneath
them. I'll not rebel against them.
I'll take pleasure in my reproaches, in necessities, in trials, in
persecution, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am
weak, then I'm strong. Then I depend
on Christ. When I know myself, I can depend
on Him. When I'm fully confident of my
own inability, when I'm fully confident of my own inability,
to please God, to satisfy justice, to put away sin, to pray, to
worship, to preach, to do anything. In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing, and then my acceptance will be Christ. And then my whole
life, my everything, my all will be Christ. Without Christ, I'm
a son of hell. In Christ, I'm a son of God.
Without Christ, I'm an empty, filthy, diseased, ragged beggar. In Christ, I sit on a purple
throne with a crown of righteousness and a robe of royalty, all because
of Him. I'm king, but you're looking
at the weakest king, God's God. But that's what That's what Paul
said. He came into this world to save
sinners, of whom I'm chief. Our Father, anoint the message
with the power of the Holy Ghost, and meet the need of every one
of Thy children. Thou knowest our different needs,
our infirmities, our weaknesses. Thou knowest, O God, our lack
of faith, our inability to serve Thee as we would like to, to
love Thee as we ought, to love one another as we ought, our
display of temper, impatience, unkindness, pride, jealousy,
covetousness, our inability to be content with what things that
we have. We're so weak. We feel, O God,
so sincerely that in our flesh There never will dwell any good
thing. But we want to be more like Christ. Let Him who is our
surety also be our sanctification. For in His name we pray. Amen.