WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.879 We study through books of the Bible here at the village chapel. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:03.839 We've got extra copies. 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:08.000 If you didn't bring one, you'd like one to follow along, just raise your hand up real high. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:09.039 Somebody will drop one off. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.439 We've got somebody up front, and I think somebody in the back as well. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:17.120 Just keep your hands up high till uh till somebody comes around and then we can we can get a copy to you. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:18.559 Uh awesome. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:24.960 So we're in 2 Samuel, and uh we're reaching back 3,000 years in history. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:26.320 Anybody else need a copy? 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:26.879 Anybody? 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:29.199 Okay, I think we have one here, one over there. 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:30.000 Thank you so much. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:42.000 Uh 3,000 years in history, we don't want to, in doing the work of good, good historical work, what we don't want to do is try and drag the people forward into our time with our sensibilities and our understanding and the way we do stuff. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:55.920 We, if we're gonna do the good, you know, good history, what we have to do is try to our best to go back into their time frame, into the situation, the context, the uh sitzim, I think it's called, the setting in life that they actually had. 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:58.159 So 3,000 years is a big jump, right? 00:00:58.240 --> 00:00:58.799 Yeah? 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:02.719 Um how many of you were live when uh all there was was black and white television? 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:03.600 Raise your hand. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:06.480 Okay, how many of you were live when there wasn't such a thing as a cell phone? 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:07.359 Raise your hand. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:09.200 Oh yeah, okay, good. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:11.760 So the world has changed big time, right? 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:19.680 And uh and that's not even a little tip of the iceberg compared to what we're trying to do today, which is go back 3,000 years. 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:23.599 So we're going back into what's uh typically called the early iron age. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:25.359 I'll put this up on the screen for you. 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:27.359 It's sort of a chart of Israel's history. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:32.000 The monarchy period as follows on the heels of the period of the time period of the Judges. 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:33.519 We've studied the book of Judges. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:35.120 We studied the book of Joshua here. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:38.319 You can go back and re uh listen to all that stuff online if you would like to. 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:42.879 Um the monarchy ran about 1050 BC to about 586 BC. 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:51.920 Somewhere in the middle there, 722 BC, the Assyrians come and literally uh capture and dismantle the northern uh tribes of Israel. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:53.760 So that's about 722 BC. 00:01:53.920 --> 00:02:10.560 Around 586 BC, a guy from Babylon named Nebuchadnezzar comes and he runs over top of Judah and Jerusalem and all that, carries off all the brightest and best, and and and so you hear the story of Daniel and Shadrach, Ameshach, Abednego, and all that stuff as a result of what happened there in 586. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:15.520 So this is the monarchy, as it's typically called, the period in Israel's history. 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:21.439 And we're at the uh we're we're at the mark of about a thousand BC right now, so a long time ago. 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:24.560 And and a lot about it is gonna be different. 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:34.639 Um I don't know if you've noticed, but stuff in our world tends to uh uh uh be assimilated assimilated pretty uh slowly and easily. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:37.680 Uh and before you know it, um something becomes norm. 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:42.960 Yeah, we we you know there are kids that are being raised right now that that don't know what life without a smartphone is. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:45.280 Uh they they they can't imagine that kind of thing. 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:50.719 Now, I don't I don't know if how many of you have how many of you would raise your hand if you have a security system at your house? 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:51.599 Just raise your hand. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.639 And don't worry, the people aren't watching to see who doesn't have one. 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:56.319 So it's it's really okay. 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:59.120 All right, how many of you last night locked your doors when you went to sleep? 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:01.039 You you locked your doors of your house pretty much? 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:01.360 Okay. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:04.000 How many of you, your car's locked out in the in the parking lot out here? 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:05.520 Your cars locked, okay, that's good. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:11.039 Now that says something about our world and about the whether or not we can trust people, doesn't it? 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:18.800 If we could completely trust everybody, if everybody was altruistic, if everybody was good, aren't we all good, basically? 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:19.599 No, we aren't. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:21.360 That's why we lock our cars. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:24.400 That's why we lock our houses at night. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:35.680 That's why we have to have contracts that are legally binding that say you will live up to your responsibilities in this area or that area. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:45.680 Um and so the world is that way, and and security is one of the things when you look back 3,000 years, they still are they're struggling for security back in David's time, okay? 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:59.840 Um there are people who will willfully do bad things to one another, and where we cannot trust others, and where we won't be safe unless we take precautionary measures, this is exactly what we're gonna read about in chapter 8. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:01.759 They are taking some precautionary measures. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:07.360 Again, it's gonna be a bit of a jump for some of us to read some of this, and some of it's gonna seem really strange. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:12.800 Uh, but there is something wrong in this world, and it's not as simplistic as some would believe. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:18.959 But I do think it's more basic and fundamental than others are willing to believe, if you catch my drift, okay? 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:20.879 So maybe we'll see this as we go through. 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:23.439 I remember years and years and years ago reading about how G.K. 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:35.360 Chesterton, that great, you know, that that witty sort of guy that uh uh around the turn of the century, back in the 19th to 20th century, and uh he was uh he had a made a big impression on C.S. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:35.680 Lewis. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:38.720 He was he was asked once to write an essay, What is wrong with the world? 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:41.680 He was one of several that were going to write these essays, right? 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:42.800 What is wrong with the world? 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:46.000 And he didn't write an essay, he just wrote two words on a piece of paper and sent it back in. 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:46.879 I am. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.879 I'm what's wrong with the world, is what he was saying. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:58.879 And and that's an honest admission of the fact that we the reason we have to lock our doors, lock our cars, and all those sort of things is because people aren't trustworthy. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:02.800 The reason we have to make commitments and contracts and all this sort of thing is people aren't trustworthy. 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:09.279 We don't have a natural tendency to be trustworthy, and that's one of the cool things about this ancient text we call the Bible. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:19.759 66 books, written by you know, like 40 plus different authors of all stages and ages, doctors, you know, kings, paupers, you know. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:27.600 I mean we got you know, there's Jew and Gentile, even Gentile, the largest text in the New Testament is written by a guy named Luke. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.800 If you add Luke and Acts together, the guy was a Gentile. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:37.759 So it's fascinating to me that you see all of this come together in this 66-book library we call the Bible. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:42.079 Different kinds of literature, there's poetry, there, there's historical narrative. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:45.439 A lot of it's historical narrative, which I like because that tells stories. 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:59.120 And stories I think can we we can understand, we can, we can we can take in a little bit better when it's a story than we can than we would if somebody's just standing up front going, here, believe this, and you know, dropping down a list of rules to follow and all that sort of thing. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:00.560 I love the stories that are here. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:02.639 And so we're in one of those right now. 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:10.160 And David has been uh God has arranged things so that David would become the king of Israel. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:17.680 And uh what we're seeing in chapter 8 is what what I'd call a summary uh chapter in a historical narrative. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:22.879 So he's this the author or authors of 2 Samuel, and we don't know who wrote it. 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:35.839 Um uh 1 Samuel, you could credit a guy named Samuel with having written the first 25 chapters, but since it records his death in chapter 25, I don't think he wrote chapter 26 and following. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:39.600 And so somebody else wrote that, might be Nathan the prophet, might be Gad the prophet. 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:40.879 They were on the ground at that time. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:44.399 They were they seemed to be dialed in and tuned in and all that sort of thing. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:54.160 But we come to chapter 8 here, and the the kingdom has come back together after a bit of civil war, and David is now the one who is the king. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:58.639 And what he's going to do is try to protect the borders, and we're gonna see a summary statement of that. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:01.120 Look with me, if you will, 2 Samuel chapter 8. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:05.120 After this, it came about that David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:09.040 And David took control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:13.920 The Philistines are that that perennial enemy of the children of Israel. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:21.279 Okay, so they were the folks that lived, and I'm gonna put up on the screen here so you can kind of see the map and the way that Israel was uh somewhat surrounded. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:24.079 The green area to the south and west there. 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:35.519 You see Jerusalem in white, and then you see Ashgod and Gaza, those are two of the Philistine cities, and that green splop right there, that patch, is where the five Philistine cities were. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:08:03.759 Um they were uh quite a violent group of people who kept marauding into Israel, and just perennially, every year, every year there'd be some some story where they're coming in and they're burning villages and raping and pillaging and stealing uh livestock and ruining the so what has happened is they become these enemies for for all of Israel during Saul's time as king and during David's time as king. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:19.680 But verse one here is sort of the last of the summary statements of how they now have come to be defeated and subdued ultimately under David's rule, who he he's now taken even the chief city uh from the hand of the Philistines. 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:28.399 And some of your English translations, I think I think it might say, instead of the chief city, it might have a what looks like a proper name, but that name actually means chief city. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:32.639 So, okay, then we're gonna go with chief city, and I think the chief city was Gath. 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:35.200 And don't be bothered by that. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:37.519 We what do we what do we call Nashville? 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:39.200 Music City, okay? 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:41.039 So it can have multiple names. 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:42.080 It's really okay. 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:44.399 It's just a way of referring to it. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:47.039 David also defeated verse 2, Moab. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:52.159 All right, so if Philistia was to the south and west, Moab, look look at the map. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:54.559 Moab is to the south and east. 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:59.519 Okay, so that's where the nation and the people group called the Moabites are from. 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:00.960 And he measured them with a line. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:01.759 Look at verse 2. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:03.120 This is a little bit shocking. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:10.639 Making them lie down on the ground, and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:14.080 And the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:24.000 Now, if that uh if you read that like I have done all week long, and that that bothers you just a little bit, uh, get in line behind me, okay? 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:27.759 Uh it bothers me a little bit when I read that kind of thing. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:34.240 Um, and I want I want to remind you that the this is reportage, it isn't a prescription. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:37.120 This is descriptive, not prescriptive. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:39.039 This is what happened. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:41.679 And David is not a perfect man. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:47.840 And frankly, that gives me comfort because Jim is not a perfect man either. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:54.159 And I'm I'm struggling and wrestling with my overreactions to a lot of things all the time. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:57.600 And if you were honest about yourself, you would be as well. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:01.679 I can't even imagine what it's like, though, to live in their day and time. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:15.279 I can't imagine what it's like to be on the run for so many years from King Saul, fearful of my own life being taken by some archer, you know, shooting at me because King Saul is trying to kill David. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:16.960 I don't know what that's like. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:18.559 I don't know what it's like to live on the run. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:21.679 There are people in this world that do experience that right now. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:26.320 We are pretty much removed from it here in the West, especially in the United States. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:30.639 Thankfully, I'm glad to not be living under that kind of pressure. 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:34.399 But when we read this, we have to try to imagine what it was like in their time. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:40.720 That doesn't make it right or proportional the way he beats out the response to the Moabites. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:46.720 And it's even more confounding to me because remember, David's great-grandmother, what was her name? 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:47.600 Anybody? 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:48.399 Ruth? 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:49.600 Okay, whatnot a trick question. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:51.840 Ruth, she was a Moabitus. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:57.120 So you would think, hey, you know, we do Thanksgiving together or whatever, you know? 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:01.919 Um but one side of the family doesn't like the other side of the family. 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:06.480 And so his great-grandmother is a Moabitus, her name's Ruth. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:11.919 Uh, we read elsewhere earlier in 1 Samuel, we read about how David entrusted his own parents. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:18.320 When Saul was chasing them around the country trying to kill them, David entrusted his own parents to the Moabites. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:21.759 So during that season, everything was okay in Moab. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:24.240 But during this season, things have changed. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:25.919 Can things change inside of a nation? 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:27.120 Of course they can. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:28.879 We all know that. 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:31.519 Um, and so here we don't know what's going on. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:32.320 We don't know why. 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:33.440 Is he mad? 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:40.320 Because they there's one Jewish tradition that says that his parents were killed by the Moabites after he entrusted them to. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:42.320 Is that is that tradition true or not? 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:44.159 I I honestly don't know. 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:46.960 We have to be honest when we're speculating, it's history. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:49.840 We're we we we're not given the full details right here. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:56.480 All we know is that he did this, and it it should unsettle us when we read it, and that's okay. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:59.519 Uh, like I say, get by get in line behind me if it bothers you. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:06.480 David defeated Hadadezer, the son of Rehab, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his rule at the river. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:08.320 That would be the river Euphrates. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:11.200 This is probably more on the northern side, up on the map. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:15.279 David captured from him 1,700 horsemen, 20,000 foot soldiers. 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:18.080 I mean, does this not sound like an epic battle? 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:22.799 David hamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots. 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:24.639 How many horses would 100 chariots be? 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:25.200 I don't know. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:27.919 One to four horses is my guess. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.600 So 100 to 400 horses are not hamstrung. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:36.639 And by the way, hamstrung in this case, from the research I've done, does not mean killed. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:42.879 It simply means those horses were no longer able to be engaged in pulling chariots quickly. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:52.720 And they could still be useful as horses in agricultural uses, like plowing or whatever it might be, but not so much so for chariots. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:58.960 And so what he's trying to do there is render the military use of these animals ineffective. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:03.679 He's trying to protect, he's trying to secure his own country, his own people. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:10.080 David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David, bringing tribute. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:16.879 And this is worth underlining this last phrase of verse 6, because it's repeated in verse uh 14. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:20.639 It says, And the Lord helped David wherever he went. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:23.360 Man, that's great. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:25.120 I would like that to be said. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:26.720 I would like to experience that myself. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:29.279 And the Lord helped Jim wherever he went. 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:34.320 And it's said again, like I said in 14. 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:35.360 We'll come back to it in a second. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:39.840 But David took the shields of gold which were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:40.240 See that? 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:40.960 That's physical. 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:42.879 He's marching into Jerusalem. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:47.200 He's got these shields of gold that are glistening in the sun. 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:53.759 And you know how something, when light, the sun reflects off of something too bright, and it's like, whoa, you know, it hits you right in the eye. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.080 And it it's the sign of victory, man. 00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:06.960 They're coming back, and this sign to reassure the people of Jerusalem that they're safe, that that Hadadezer, who might have been a potential enemy to come and run over top of them, has been uh neutralized. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:13.919 And so from Betta and from uh Baratai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a large amount of bronze. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:15.759 And remember, this is the Iron Age. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:21.600 So there was bronze was everywhere because the bronze age preceded the Iron Age, those of you who are history buffs. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:27.679 And iron is a stronger metal than bronze, and so the people with the better technology have iron. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:28.399 Okay? 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:36.080 And so they have the better technology, the better weaponry if they have iron, the better agricultural tools if they have iron, right? 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:47.200 And yet there still would be a lot of bronze around, and still very useful, especially if you can't afford the nicer, you know, weaponry or agricultural tools. 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:59.440 When Toy, king of Hamath, and that's to the far north up there on the map, heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer, Toy sent Joram his son to King David to greet him and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him. 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:02.320 For Hadadezer had been at war with Toy. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:08.559 So the the enemy of my enemy is my friend, is what Toy starts to think, yeah? 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:16.240 And so he is gonna uh show that there's really more than one response that somebody could have had in that day and time. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:23.600 Uh in other words, the response isn't let's fight against that, or the response isn't, well, let's just let him run over top of us. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:27.519 No, it's you find a way to work with somebody. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:29.200 And that's exactly what he does. 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:36.720 He sends his son Joram to King David to greet him and bless him because he's fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had been at war with Toy. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:41.200 And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:52.320 And so he's he's he's bringing gifts, he's showing that we have the best of intentions to be uh good neighbors with you, and uh that should give David some courage and the whole thing. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:16:02.639 David, his response, verse 11, this is worth underlining, David also dedicated these to the Lord with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from the nations which he had subdued. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:06.639 So what David does is not just fill his own coffers. 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:13.039 What David does is not just fill his own bank account with the spoils of war, but he dedicates them to the Lord. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:25.679 And for Jews of that period of time, especially with what we know about David, that he had plans to build a temple for the Lord, he is saving up, amassing this wealth that will be used later in the building of the temple. 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:28.799 Even though God's already told him, no, you're not the one that's going to build the temple. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:29.840 No, not now. 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:40.480 David's sitting in the middle of a no from God, continuing, though, to save up for when the yes might come to Solomon, his son. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:44.000 God had we we studied that before in the previous chapter. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:48.240 And so he's he's still, he's not mad that God didn't let him do it. 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.000 He's not angry, and if you're gonna be that way, then I'm gonna be this. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:52.480 No. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:55.600 He starts to save up the gold, the bronze, and the silver. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:17:11.920 He's resolved to God's will, and so he dedicates these spoils of war, including the ones that came from Troy, so much in the uh way of trying to uh establish a relationship and a working relationship, he dedicates all that to the Lord. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:12.960 Verse 12. 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:29.599 Uh so he all these nations that he subdued from Syria and Moab, the sons of Amon and the Philistines and Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, uh king of Zobah, um had it the Amalek uh the Amalekites would have been to the south. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:33.279 Some of these others are to the south and east, some of these are from the north and east. 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:37.519 So you really see, as you see up on the map, that these are from all the surrounding nations. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:42.400 And what David is doing is building a security margin for his country, basically. 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:52.640 So David made a name for himself, verse 13, when he returned from killing 18,000 Syrians in the valley of the Salt, and that would be below the Dead Sea. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:55.119 Uh, some of us have been there when we've gone to Israel before. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:57.920 Uh pretty much every every time Kim and I have gone all five times. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:14.799 We've we've gone down to Masada, which is uh to the south, and into the Negev or the desert area, and down there, it is so dry, it is all desert-like, and and the the Dead Sea is there, and it's it's it's the saline in that water is so intense. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:21.519 Matter of fact, there are all kinds of spas around the southern end of the Dead Sea because it's so good for people's skin. 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:28.480 A lot of people come from around the world to go to those spas now because the minerals in the water are so rich and wonderful for it for their skin. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:48.799 But that's the valley of salt, and so he's uh from the farthest north, all the way to Hamath, all the way down to the sea of salt, or the valley of salt, he has um he has sort of created this this buffer, this region where he can attempt to secure uh his own nation. 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:50.559 Wherever he went, the Lord helped him. 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.079 We're reminded of that a couple of times. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:57.119 And then verse 15, which I think is really important, or 14 rather, he put garrisons in Edom. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:59.200 In all Edom he put garrisons. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:00.559 It says it twice. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:04.480 It takes you have to make a peace, okay? 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:06.799 Pretty honest about this. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:13.119 Um for the same reason you gotta lock your car, the same reason I gotta lock my house. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:18.640 We as a species just aren't trustworthy. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:34.319 We we sometimes do things in reaction and in response to others, or sometimes we we we we want what someone else has, and and we'll we'll rationalize all kinds of mischief to take what someone else has, or whatever. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:42.559 So so he he put some garrisons in Edom, and Edom he put some garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David, and the Lord helped David wherever he went. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:44.799 There it is again, verse 14 at the end. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.200 Verse 15, David reigned over all Israel. 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:49.440 So now we know the scope of his reign. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:50.960 He reigned over all Israel. 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:54.160 Now, what about the character of this king? 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:56.880 The scope is he reigned over all Israel. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:02.880 The character is here, David administered justice and righteousness for all his people. 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:07.359 So we've been reading about in verse 8, or chapter 8, how he waged war. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.079 Now I would like to point out he waged peace. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:12.079 How did he do that? 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:15.279 He ruled with justice and righteousness. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:20.240 And when you have justice and righteousness, you can have peace. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:21.680 Why? 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:23.200 Because there isn't injustice. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:24.000 Why? 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:26.400 Because there isn't unrighteousness. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:30.559 Sometimes I think I get paid to state the obvious. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:32.640 It's kind of crazy. 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:36.720 All right, but he he administered injustice and right. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:39.599 Most of us would say we want justice in the world. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:45.839 Most of us would say we want justice not only globally and internationally, but we want justice in our marriages. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:47.839 We want justice in our workplace. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:48.880 We want justice. 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:50.559 And most of us would say that, right? 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.799 I think even people who aren't even believers in God would say that. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:21:06.799 Um but what's the summary here is that David, even though he had to go out there and do all this warfare and all this stuff and get that get that security zone going around his God, he still came. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:16.000 And when he when it got down to doing the business of ruling, he administered with justice and righteousness, was important to him. 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:23.279 And then we get a little bit, 16 through 18, a little bit of his uh sort of the people on his council or in his administration, if you will. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:26.160 Joab, the son of Zariah, was over the army. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:30.240 Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilid, was recorder. 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:32.240 What's a recorder? 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:36.000 You know, I thought about that when I was thinking about these positions in the administration. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:38.720 Well, who's the recorder and what does a recorder do? 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:41.039 Maybe he's like the historian. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:43.759 He's the one keeping track of things, you know. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:47.359 Or if he's keeping track of things, he could also be the IRS of that day. 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:47.920 I don't know. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:48.880 I don't know who he was. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:49.680 But he's the recorder. 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:55.359 Zadok, the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were priests, and Sarah was secretary. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.839 Benea, the son of Jehoida, was over the Cherithites and the Pedahites. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.200 Who are the cherithites and the Pelothites? 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:04.799 I had to look that one up, you guys. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:06.880 Because I love some of these Old Testament names. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:13.920 You know, we love to, you know, I'm always making, you know, there's the Perithites, the Jebusites, the Hittites, the Termites, and the Inspectorites. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:20.319 But the Cherithes and the Pelothites evidently were like the Secret Service. 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:23.279 They're the royal guards. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:25.440 Bodyguards is what they were. 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:30.720 And so Benea, the son of Jehoiada, was over to the royal bodyguards. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:31.519 That's cool. 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:34.079 And David's sons were the chief, I love this. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:37.599 David's sons were the chief ministers. 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:41.039 David's sons were the chief servants. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:42.640 David the king. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:44.400 Notice the irony here? 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:48.960 David the king, his sons, what he taught his sons to be? 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:50.400 Servants. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:51.519 I love that. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:57.440 We call our church council here, the servant leadership council. 00:22:57.680 --> 00:22:58.079 Why? 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:08.400 Because we want to remind them and ourselves that the people that lead this church, which is not just not just me, but this group of people are servant leaders. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:22.720 Their job is to serve God and serve the people, not just do whatever they want, you know, not just do whatever they feel, but to actually try and find out what's the highest good that we can accomplish for God's glory and for the good of uh God's church. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:24.400 Alright, so this is a great chapter. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:35.039 I I uh I had a wonderful week studying it, being able to uh marinate it in it a little bit, and I I do want to I do want to point out just a couple of things for you. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:39.200 I've got three things that I like to highlight from this particular chapter, if that'd be all right with you. 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:45.279 Um Dale Ralph Davis in his commentary, which I think is excellent on 1st and 2 Samuel, he has commentaries on both. 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:47.920 He says this is both reportage and preview. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:56.079 That is what we read here is a reported, it's a report on what happened in sp in space-time history in a real geographic region with a real group of people. 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:57.680 And and you how do you tell that? 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:00.000 Well, look at look at how messy it is. 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:01.920 People are messy. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:03.279 Somebody say amen. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:05.039 Say amen. 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:06.799 Yeah, people are messy. 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:09.359 Raise your hand if you're sitting next to somebody that's messy. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:11.839 Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, no, no. 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:13.359 People are messy, man. 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:14.319 We are messy. 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:17.839 And I love that, uh, the honesty of that in our Bibles. 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:20.480 Uh I love that it teaches us that. 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:32.559 And and and and and as soon as we get to the place where we understand that, we can start to take ourselves lightly enough, not so serious all the time about how we look at ourselves, but take ourselves a little more lightly. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:38.960 And and and then we don't get so prickly and offended by, and then we don't get so, you know what I mean? 00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:42.799 Then all of a sudden, we start to see our lives like David saw his. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:45.839 I really believe David saw his life in the hands of God. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:52.640 But if you live your life as if God doesn't matter or if God doesn't exist, it's going to cost you something. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:25:00.319 The world as it thinks and acts apart from God, up on the screen, will remain in turmoil and will become increasingly hostile. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:04.319 That's Jim, you're such a negative Nancy. 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:05.920 What is wrong with you? 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:12.559 No, I'm I'm I I think it's important for us to get the proper diagnosis of what is wrong with the world. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:13.519 I am. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:25.440 And if I want to live my life as if God doesn't matter, or as God doesn't exist, or whatever, there's going to be a cost and a price to be paid for that very belief system. 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:32.319 I went to a lecture this week down at Lipscomb University by the social psychologist, New York Times bestseller Jonathan Haidt. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:37.519 His most recent books are The Righteous Mind, Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:45.519 And another book called The Coddling of the American Mind, How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:48.480 It's a really impressive lecture. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:51.759 It was held at Lipscomb, like I said, quite well attended. 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:57.279 Haidt is Jewish by descent, but he currently identifies as a non-believer. 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:08.799 And that's why I was really curious to hear what he has to say, because he happens to write a lot about intuitive foundations of morality, and I'm just the kind of geek that likes those kinds of phrases. 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:12.400 Oh, the intuitive aspects of morality. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:14.720 I want to hear about that, you know? 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:16.640 I'm all about that. 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:32.240 In spite of his atheistic leanings, Haidt does acknowledge the benefits of religion and it and variety of religions and the uh benefits that uh they may have on the moral health of a culture. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:36.000 And I think that's I think that's proper and right for even an atheist. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:40.559 Especially if you're if he's not just an agnostic, but actually a consistent atheist. 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:45.839 A consistent atheist says there is no supernatural realm, the physical world is all that exists. 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:53.839 If you're consistent with that, then you you have to deny the existence of God, the existence of anything immaterial, everything's material. 00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:57.680 And so everything can be explained in terms of the material. 00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:08.720 So your love or honor, courage, these things have some physical explanation, merely physical explanation. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:13.599 So if you say you love your spouse or whatever, that all you're doing is moving chemicals and things around. 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:17.200 You're you're not really, there isn't something significant about that person. 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:19.920 It's just that they move your chemicals. 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:25.759 And you I know I know most of you want to do, when you're loved, you want to have more than that happening. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:29.839 Uh I'm I'm pretty positive of that, after having been married for 41 years. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:32.319 Somebody say amen in the front row. 00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:43.920 So the world as it takes an act apart from God will remain in turmoil and become increasingly hostile. 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:52.400 This guy at the lecture that I was at really, I thought I was fascinated that he recognized the benefits of religious belief and the moral health of culture. 00:27:52.480 --> 00:28:02.160 I'll be really curious to see how his books unfold and how his worldview continues to evolve as he sees the impact, and the good impact for good. 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:02.880 So? 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:04.160 That's redundant. 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:05.359 The good impact for good. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:16.079 Yeah, the impact for good that belief systems like Christianity, uh, Judaism, whatever, Islam, whatever, has what the impact for good that they can have on the world in which we live. 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:24.000 Here at Village Chapel, we have held and teach to the belief that what you believe about God is the most important thing about you. 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:27.920 Because it affects every other area of your life. 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:35.039 If God exists and is the source of all things, then we are more than the accidental collocation of atoms and chemicals. 00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:44.799 Human life has real value, and the loss of human life is a tragic thing. 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:51.839 There's a real right and wrong that's universally right and wrong, no matter what. 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:56.000 We would be quick, all of us. 00:28:56.240 --> 00:29:03.519 When somebody shows us some sign of heinous injustice, we would all rise up and say no, no to that. 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:04.160 Why? 00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:06.640 Because in general we like justice. 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:08.319 At least we say we do. 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:16.079 But do we like it enough for it to actually encroach upon our marriages, our family life, our citizenship? 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:18.000 Do we like it that much? 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:23.279 Or do we only like it when it's on a global scale, talking about people who are over there? 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:39.839 And perhaps in a cultural scale, when as as Haight talks about, or Hait talks about in his books, when when I want justice for those people who are the uh RCOs in my life, the repugnant cultural others in my life. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:42.880 I want justice for them, but not for me. 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:46.400 I want I want grace for me, I want justice for them. 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:49.920 And with that, that's that's how we're getting divided over these kinds of things. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:53.279 And I think he's it's very interesting to listen to somebody like him. 00:29:53.440 --> 00:30:02.319 He said, Keller says we all live as if it were better to seek peace instead of war, tell the truth instead of lying, care or nurture, or care and nurture rather than to destroy. 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:07.599 We believe that these choices are not pointless, then it matters which way we choose to live. 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:15.359 Yet if the cosmic bench is truly empty, in other words, there's no God, then who says that one choice is better than others? 00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:19.680 It's is it possible then for humans to be good without God? 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:28.720 I would say because of common grace, it is to some degree, under certain conditions, but not consistently, not completely, and not for the right motives. 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:32.880 Even the best of us are like David here in verse 2. 00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:37.839 Even the best of us, if you had done us wrong, would retaliate. 00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:40.960 How many of you do that on I-65 occasionally? 00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:42.240 In your heart. 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:45.200 I'm only talking about in your heart, okay? 00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:57.200 But in my heart, I, yeah, I want to bless people with a brick sometimes for the way they behave or the way they drive. 00:30:57.279 --> 00:31:02.400 Yes, the world as it thinks and acts apart from God will remain in turmoil and will become increasingly hostile. 00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:05.519 We need something more than we have on our own. 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:10.240 Secondly, the people of God are meant to trust in the promises of God and to rest in the presence of God. 00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:11.599