This land is your land.
This land is my land.
From California to the New York Islands,
from the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters,
this land was made for you and me.
So sang Woody Guthrie in the 1940s about the United States,
a land overflowing with promise and worthy of musical adulation.
This song and the vision of America that it captures
have found so much resonance that in 2002,
the Library of Congress deemed the song a national treasure,
worthy of a spot in the National Recording Registry.
In a strange irony,
the family of Guthrie would later report that on trips to Communist China,
they would sometimes overhear little Chinese children singing
in broken and stunted English those same words.
California, New York, Redwood Forest, all of it, all about China.
A deep and strange irony, but perhaps understandable,
for men and women all over the world have often looked upon their own land
with admiration, joy, excitement, and broken into song.
Human beings are creatures of location, of place,
and we tend to think of those places as important,
as having an importance that cannot simply be minimized down to a particular bit of real estate.
There's culture associated with the place.
New Haveners brag about our pizza.
Texans brag about their barbecue.
In fact, all the South argues about their barbecue.
Don't get in the middle of fights about the barbecue.
Paris is synonymous with romance.
New York City is identical with a young man or woman's desire
to leave an old life behind and make it for themselves in the world.
Location matters.
In our text for this evening,
we see God showing the importance of location
by keeping a promise he made to David
to make him king over all of Israel,
which is itself a partial fulfillment of the promise that God made to Abraham.
And this part of the promise is tied to a particular place.
Jerusalem.
The city of David.
The city, indeed, of God.
Think about all of the meaning associated with the city of Jerusalem.
Perhaps one of the most important,
perhaps the most important city in the history of mankind.
Jerusalem.
And in our passage tonight,
we see Jerusalem fall into the hands of the Israelites for the first time.
But just as a way of recap,
let's talk about where we've been.
Through our sermon series in 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel,
which has been going on for a little while now,
we have seen Israel cry out for a king.
And God answers this cry in Saul.
Saul is anointed to fill this position,
but Saul very quickly, it seems,
disqualifies himself.
Just a few years previous to our passage now,
he was killed in a fight with the Philistines,
he and his son.
But there was another one in Israel.
Another one who was also anointed king,
even before the death of Saul.
And this was David.
David had been anointed king over the southern tribes of Judah,
but the northern tribes of Israel
were still having a little bit of a power fight.
Trying to see who would secede Saul.
That power struggle has left both good men and bad men dead.
And that's where we are in our story
when we arrive at our text for this evening.
2 Samuel chapter 5.
Let's look at that text now.
And as we read it together and try to make some sense of it,
I hope that we'll see one thing.
My main overarching point for this evening is,
the Lord establishes his servant in Zion.
The Lord establishes his servant in Zion.
So, let's read together 2 Samuel 5.
Here's what we'll do.
We'll read a section at a time,
I'll make some brief comments on that section,
and then at the end we'll come back and we'll sum it all up.
Okay?
So, 2 Samuel chapter 5.
The first thing I want you to see is that
the Lord establishes his servant in Zion
among a united people.
The Lord establishes his servant in Zion
among a united people.
2 Samuel 5, verse 1.
Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron.
Let's back up for a minute.
Quick geography lesson.
Okay?
What I want you to do is make a fist like this with your hands.
This is the topography of Israel.
Okay?
On your knuckles, that's the west, that's the Mediterranean.
And then Israel goes up,
and your knuckles right here are the mountain range.
Jerusalem sits right up here,
and then it goes down into the Dead Sea.
Okay?
That's how it goes west to east.
Now, north to south.
Take your hand like this.
This is the south.
This is the north.
You've got Golan Heights.
Jerusalem is right about here.
And this is Hebron down in this area,
and then this desert.
Okay?
Now you can sort of use your two hands like this,
and you've got your map of Israel.
Okay?
Here we go.
All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron.
Tribes of Israel are in the north.
Hebron's down here.
And said,
Behold, we are your bone and flesh.
In times past,
when Saul was king over us,
it was you who led out and brought in Israel.
And the Lord said to you,
You shall be shepherd of my people Israel,
and you shall be a prince over Israel.
So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron,
and King David made a covenant with him at Hebron before the Lord,
and they anointed David king over Israel.
David was 30 years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned 40 years.
At Hebron, he reigned over Judah seven years and six months.
And at Jerusalem, he reigned over all Israel and Judea 33 years.
So when you think of Israel,
think of these northern tribes.
When you think of Judah,
think of these southern tribes.
Okay?
What's happening here
is that our passage begins with this brief,
yet tremendously important interaction
between David and the elders of Israel.
The elders of Israel recognized that
even during the reign of Saul,
it was David who led out Israel in battle
and brought them back in in battle.
It was David who had the real Lord's anointing,
even during the reign of Saul.
But this introduced a problem, you see,
both the problem of succession
and now a problem of geography.
The elders want to go over to the side of David,
but his kingdom is way down here in the south.
How is he supposed to rule over these northern tribes
if he's all the way down south?
He needs to get up and move.
The most strategic city for ruling over
this entire kingdom of Israel
had to be a centrally located, well-fortified city.
Ah, but there was a problem.
For precisely such a city existed
and unfortunately it was inhabited by enemies.
Don't you hate when that happens?
This city, city of the Jebusites,
existed right in the heart of Israelite territory
in a city surrounded by mountains
and difficult to lay siege to.
A city so well defended and so fortified
that none of the previous conquests
were able to dislodge its inhabitants
who were called Jebusites.
Joshua 15, 63.
Remember Joshua is, he comes in
and he does the conquest over all of Israel
or almost all of Israel.
Joshua 15, 63 says that Judah
could not dislodge the Jebusites
who were living in Jerusalem.
To this day, the Jebusites live there
with the people of Judah.
So they take over the whole area
except this little citadel of the Jebusites.
They stay surrounded by Israelites.
Their presence there represented
not only a threat to the safety
of the Israelites in the area,
but also the fact that God's promise
to give that whole area to Israel
was still unfulfilled.
Now the people were united
and that promise had to take a step forward.
Unfulfilled until now.
Let's keep reading and see what happens.
And the king and his men
went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites.
Verse six.
The inhabitants of the land
who said to David,
you will not come in here.
The blind and the lame will ward you off.
Thinking David can't come in here.
Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion.
That is the city of David.
And David said on that day,
whoever would strike the Jebusites,
let him get up the water shaft
to attack the lame and the blind
who are hated by David's soul.
Therefore it is said,
the blind and the lame
shall not come into the house.
And David lived in the stronghold
and called it the city of David.
And David built the city all around
from the millow inward.
And David became greater and greater
for the Lord, the God of hosts,
was with him.
I want you to see here
that the Lord establishes his servant in Zion
in keeping with his promise.
In keeping with his promise.
The promise was that he would give
all of the land of Israel
to the people of Israel.
But they hadn't had this little bit yet.
And insofar as it didn't have this little bit,
the promise was still unfulfilled.
So, David goes to take the city of the Jebusites.
And indeed, David's triumph over Jerusalem
is so swift that the narrator
doesn't even give any lengthy account of the battle.
Often you'll read verses and verses
about how the battle went.
These guys are smack talking
and they don't even get a recounting of the battle.
It's that decisive.
We just know that David set a strategy.
The strategy was quickly followed,
precisely followed,
and with devastating effect.
Now, these passages here
about the lame and the blind,
they've vexed some.
It seems that David really has it out
for lame people and blind people.
That's problematic, it seems.
Let's see if we can give some explanation
for what's going on here.
Here's what I think is happening.
I think what's happening here
is that the Jebusites,
emboldened by their generations
of unbroken security,
have gotten a little overconfident.
And like a few cocky kids
on a city basketball court
who don't realize an NBA star
is in their midst,
they start smack talking David.
The blind and the lame will ward you off.
Which is something like
the 11th century BC equivalent of
you play ball like a girl.
In response,
David adopts the same language
to describe the Jebusites,
the lame and the blind,
and he calls their bluff
by soundly defeating them.
So, it's not that David hates
people with physical handicaps.
He's just smack talking back
to the Jebusites.
Someone should write a theology
of smack talking.
I think it would be very interesting.
You can read a lot of what Paul says
about death
as smack talking with death.
Where is your victory?
Where is your sting?
Nana, Nana, Nana, Nana.
You play ball like a girl.
That's what Paul is saying to death.
It's a beautiful thing.
Can't get into that now.
So, the promise that God made
to Abraham to give his descendants
this land is one step closer
to fulfillment.
David now makes his own abode
in the fortress city
that he just conquered,
and his resounding victory
attracts attention
from his international neighbors.
Let's keep reading here.
Hiram, king of Tyre,
sent messengers to David
and cedar trees,
also carpenters and masons
who built David a house.
And David knew
the Lord had established him
king over Israel
and that he had exalted his kingdom
for the sake of his people Israel.
And David took more concubines
and wives from Jerusalem
after he came from Hebron
and more sons and daughters
were born to David.
And these are the names of those
who were born to him in Jerusalem.
Shemua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,
Ibar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,
Elishema, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
David now controls
a strategic fortress city.
And he's demonstrated his ability
to wage war against those
who stand in his way.
But we see here
the Lord establishes his servant
in Zion for the joy of the nations,
the joy of the nations around him.
The king of Tyre, you see,
in Lebanon,
wisely decides to make peace
with the man of David's stature
and strength.
And this peace is solidified
by the king of Tyre,
bringing the wealth
and riches of his country
into the service of David.
This is the third mention
in this text
of the fact that the Lord
was with David.
It was becoming more
and more evident.
The Lord is on David's side
and everyone is realizing it.
However, there is a dark shadow
in this particular section as well.
Another way that David
will attempt to make
his own power known
is by taking lots and lots
of foreign wives,
which was a natural thing
for a leader of the time to do
to make alliances
and sort of keep his fingers
in the alliances
in the countries around him.
But it's also something
that Deuteronomy explicitly
prohibits the king from doing.
The king shall not acquire
many wives for himself,
lest his heart be turned away.
Deuteronomy 17, 17.
This would be a problem
for David's reign.
Notice that one of the sons
here is Solomon
and all of David's sinful scheming
surrounding his taking
of Bathsheba, Solomon's mother,
is skipped over here
in this story.
It's going to be a problem
that he takes these wives,
but the greater problem
will be for David's son Solomon,
who follows in his father's footsteps
and comes to ruin because of it.
Following your father's footsteps
and you come to ruin.
It's a bad fatherly example.
Nevertheless,
it is now beyond a doubt
to all that would pay attention
that David's is a kingdom
that is anointed by God,
even though it still has
the sinful shadow
of having taken too many wives.
However, there's still work to do
in pacifying the land,
which is the last portrait
provided to us in our story.
And we'll turn there now.
Verse 17.
When the Philistines heard
that David had been anointed
king over Israel,
all the Philistines went up
to search for David.
All the Philistines.
But David heard of it
and went down to the stronghold.
Now the Philistines had come
and spread out in the valley
of Rephaim.
This is right around Jerusalem,
by the way.
Did David inquire of the Lord,
Shall I go up against the Philistines?
Will you give them into my hand?
And the Lord said to David,
Go up,
for I will certainly give
the Philistines into your hand.
And David came to Baal-Parazim
and David defeated them there.
And he said,
The Lord has broken
through my enemies
before me like a breaking flood.
Therefore the name of that place
is called Baal-Parazim.
And the Philistines
left their idols there
and David and his men
carried them away.
The Philistines came up yet again
and spread out
in the valley of Rephaim.
Same place.
When David inquired of the Lord,
he said,
You shall not go up.
Go around their rear
and come up against them
opposite the balsam trees.
And when you hear the sounds
of marching the tops
of the balsam trees,
then rouse yourself.
For then the Lord
has gone out before you
to strike down
the army of the Philistines.
And David did
as the Lord commanded him
and struck down the Philistines
from Geba to Gezer.
So then,
the last way
that we see the Lord
establishes his servant in Zion,
the Lord establishes
his servant in Zion
by defeating his enemies.
The Lord establishes
his servant in Zion
by defeating his enemies.
Now that David
has captured
the city of Jerusalem,
he's in an important position
to begin making
military incursions
against the Philistines
who were just marauding
across the northern parts
of Israel
whose leaders
had just anointed
David king over them.
The Philistines
were a seafaring people
that came from
the Mediterranean coast
and they were coming in
and they were waging war
little by little
against the tribes of Israel
who had just signed
their allegiance
over to David.
Now it's David's problem.
And he goes
to wage war against them.
And he
consults the Lord
for his war plan
and drives them out
consistently.
David's really,
really good
at killing Philistines.
He's incredibly good at it.
One of the strange things
about David
is when you read
all these beautiful,
romantic,
glorious,
emotive psalms,
you should think of them
as being written
by a man
with enormous biceps
who probably can kill
people with his hands
in dozens of different ways.
He's an incredibly
complex figure.
But notice what happens.
In all of his war
for and against
the Philistines,
the Lord is with
David.
The Lord is with David
and the Lord being
with David
shows the Philistines
and all those
who are around
who the true God is.
Notice this insertion
in verse 21.
The Philistines
left their idols there.
Why?
Why did they bring
these idols?
Presumably because
they would support them
in the war effort.
Presumably because
they would give them
the victory.
And as they were
being routed,
they quickly realized
these aren't so important
to us anymore.
Let's leave them behind.
And the Israelites
captured the foreign gods
showing that they are
in fact nothing
but sticks and stones.
So then the conclusion
of our passage,
we see the Lord
is with David
in at least
four different ways.
And the Lord
has established
his servant
in Zion.
Now,
now that we have
a greater sense
of what this passage
is talking about,
does it have anything
for us
beyond simply
a fascinating
and perhaps even
encouraging
history tale?
I think it does.
I think David
himself
thought so.
Turn with me
over to Psalm chapter 2.
The second Psalm.
I have said
that this passage
shows us
God establishing
his servant
in Zion.
Zion,
Mount Zion,
Jerusalem.
Look what David
says
in Psalm 2,
6.
As for me,
speaking in the voice
of God,
I have set my king
on Zion,
my holy hill.
So if you were
to read this Psalm,
you could immediately
see a lot of parallels
here.
The Lord
is protecting
his people Israel
against the nations
all around them
and the result
of this
is that he has
placed his king
on Zion,
his holy hill.
But as you
continue reading,
you see,
for example,
I will tell
of the decree.
The Lord said to me,
you are my son,
today I have begotten you.
The ends of the earth
shall be your possession,
etc., etc.
It goes on and on
and quickly it becomes
clear that if this is
referring only and simply
to David,
it's a good bit
of hyperbole.
There seems to be
something else
going on here.
And indeed,
writers in the New Testament
would see this Psalm
as applying
not only to David,
but indeed even
to Jesus.
So then look at
these points again
in regard now
not only
to David,
but to the Lord
himself.
The Lord
establishes
his servant
in Zion
at the head
of a united people.
David
here stands
in in some ways
for our Messiah
Christ.
And just as
David was the one
who united
the people of Israel
around himself,
so also
Christ
is the one
who unites
his people
around himself.
There were perhaps
other Messiahs
that we have
sought after
and chased after
in previous lives,
Saul,
but these failed us.
They didn't give us
the security we desired,
the satisfaction.
They didn't unite
our hearts together
both with him
and each other.
They failed us.
But this Messiah
Christ
is different.
Like David
leading
the united tribes
of Israel
and Judah,
so also Christ
leads his
united people.
When Christ
calls people
to him,
he calls them
not only
as individuals
to him
directly,
but also
to each other.
We are,
he says,
a priesthood.
We are
a people.
We're not just
individual people.
We are
a people.
The Lord's
anointed
who sits
enthroned
in Zion
is at the
head
of a
united
people.
And secondly,
the Lord
establishes
his servant
in Zion
in keeping
with the
promise.
He promised
that he would
give them
Jerusalem.
But then,
in the book
of Hebrews,
you see this
strange thing
happening.
The strange
thing happening
is the writer
of Hebrews
holds forth
a vision
of rest
that is still
to come
and he makes
this argument.
He says,
if Joshua
in the
conquest of
Canaan
had given
them the
rest they
desired,
the fullest
rest,
they would
not have
spoken of
a rest
that was
yet to
come.
But even
when the
people of
God conquer
the land
of Israel,
they are not
finally at
rest.
We know
500 years
later they'll
be kicked
out,
they'll be
sent into
exile.
We know
a thousand
years later
after that
they'll be
kicked out
again by
the Romans,
this time
with the
king's
palace and
the temple
smashed into
pieces.
This was
not the
final rest
that God
had promised.
But when
Christ,
the better
and new
David came,
he brought
with him
a more
glorious
peace.
A full
kingdom
where no
citadels of
the enemy
yet remain.
And his
kingdom is
not only from
the Mediterranean
to the
Jordan,
his kingdom
is from
sea to
sea,
from north
to south,
from east
to west,
all over
the world.
This is
the kingdom
of which
Christ is
a king.
This is
the promise
of rest
that was
promised to
the people
of Israel,
to Abraham,
and indeed
to us.
In the book
of Romans,
Paul,
the writer
of Romans,
will say
the promise
made to
Abraham
was that
he and
his heirs
would be
heirs of
the entire
world.
The entire
world.
So this
land promise
back in the
Old Testament
was not the
final chapter
in the story.
God was
preparing for
them a
better rest,
a greater
promise
in Christ.
Christ.
Again,
the Lord
establishes
his servant
in Zion
for the
joy of
the nations.
We see
here the
king of
Tyre coming
to try to
support David
perhaps a
little bit
out of
fear.
Think of
the ways
in which
this truth
that Christ
enthroned
in Zion
is for
the joy
of the
nations.
Not only
for the
joy of
Israel,
but yes,
for the
joy of
every
people group
in the
world.
Consider,
for example,
Isaiah
chapter
60.
You don't
need to
turn there.
But mark
it perhaps.
Go ahead
and have
a look
and see
how
international
Zion
is when
the Messiah
will come.
The flocks
of Kadar
will come.
The young
camels
of Midian
and Ephah.
Those
from Sheba
will come.
He says,
foreigners
shall build
up your
walls and
the kings
will minister
to you.
Your gate
will be
opened
continually
day and
night.
They shall
not be
shut that
people may
bring to
you the
wealth of
the nations
and their
kings led
in procession.
The
enthronement
of David
was bad
news for
some of
the foreigners
around him.
Indeed,
for the
Philistines,
for example.
But the
enthronement
of Christ
in Zion
is good
news for
all those
that would
be in
Christ.
This
is a
better
promise,
the joy
of the
nations.
Do you
know,
like that
treaty
that
Hiram of
Tyre made
with
David,
that Christ
has prepared
a way for
us to
have peace
with this
newly
enthroned
king?
Indeed,
even better
than the
simply building
of a house
that Hiram of
Tyre does
for David,
Christ has
made a way
through his
blood for
us to be
brothers and
sisters of
Christ himself.
Co-heirs
with Christ
is a language
the New
Testament
uses.
So we
need not
fear if
we are in
Christ,
covered by
the blood
of Jesus,
that this
enthroned
king in
Zion will
turn on us
in his
wrath.
Oh,
indeed,
he is a
wrathful
king.
And we
will see
in this
last
segment,
again,
that he
triumphs
over his
enemies from
Zion.
And we
are indeed
his enemies
if he is a
king of
righteousness,
if he is a
king of
peace,
and we
find in
ourselves
inclinations
toward
unrighteousness,
a perverse
longing for
not peace.
Any good
king of
Zion must
wage war
against those
like David
did against
the
Philistines.
But while
David could
only kill
his opponents,
Christ can
redeem his
opponents.
Christ has
two ways of
triumphing over
his opponents.
Those who
will not bow
the knee
willingly to
him will
be defeated.
But those
who eagerly
and willingly
receive the
invitation that
he has
offered to
freely accept
the truth of
the gospel
are not
only made
citizens of
his kingdom
but are
adopted into
his family.
So do you
see then that
the enthronement
of this king
in Zion
is good news
for all of
those who
place their
trust and
their hope
in this king?
do this.
If you have
not done
this, do
this.
Flee from
your sin
to Christ.
Trust in
the work
that Christ
alone can
do and
has done
for you
on the
cross.
Make peace
with this
newly
enthroned
king of
Zion
and live
in a
glorious
kingdom
forever.
Otherwise,
the Lord
establishes
his servant
in Zion
by defeating
his enemies
and you
will be
such an
enemy.
Make peace
with him
while time
yet remains.
Flee to
the king
of Zion
who is
newly
enthroned.
Amen.
Lord, I pray
now that you
would,
when we read
these stories
of David
and the
enthronement
of that king
in Zion
that we
would look
toward a
greater king,
a heavenly
king,
that reigns
over a
new
Jerusalem
that comes
down out
of heaven
made ready
for us.
We pray
that we
would make
our alliance
with him.
We thank
you that
you have
given us
a way
to peace
and righteousness
through the
blood of
Jesus,
this Davidic
king who
sacrificed
himself
for us
to make
us citizens,
to make
our standing
in the
heavenly
Zion
no less
secure
than Jesus'
standing
there is.
peace.
We thank
you that
you have
made a
way
of peace.
We thank
you that
you have
defeated
our enemies.
We pray
that we
would rejoice
in these
truths.
In the name
of Jesus
I pray.
Amen.