David: A Model of Godly Leadership and Grace

"Now you can imagine as the years went on what the problems were with that as time went on some of the tribes very simply didn't pull their weight for example if there was a problem for the tribe of Naphtali right up there in the north it would be in the obvious interests of their neighbors Asher and Zebulun to come to their help but by the time the call reached all the way down to Reuben say in the south and east you can imagine how these people would wonder do we really need to go all the way up to the north I mean can't these people sort out their own problems for themselves without us having to come to help them I mean what is the tribe of Naphtali ever done for us anyway why should we go out of our way to help them and so forth and so on well the problem of course was the absence of a leader who was able to bring the people of God together and in that absence what happened very simply was that the various tribes pursued their own self-interest and that was of course why they kept being picked off and overrun by the enemies who surrounded them so very quickly God's people realized what the problem was and after a period of time they came to a consensus as to the answer we need a king we need someone who can bring us together we need someone who can unite us as one nation we need someone who can secure our defense we need someone who can govern us with justice and with righteousness." [00:01:49]

"David whose story is the focus of the whole of the second book of Samuel was without doubt the greatest of the Old Testament Kings his accomplishment was quite remarkable it was under his leadership that these twelve tribes that for centuries had pursued their own individual interests were actually melded together to become one united nation enemies who had oppressed God's people during the time of David were pushed back a kingdom was established and God's people prospered as they had never done before and the story of how all of this happened is told to us in the second book of Samuel now I hope that you will very quickly see multiple applications of this story we are very clearly living in a time where we desperately need leadership that unites in every sphere of society we are experiencing anger and conflict where our leaders who can bring us together that's a question that is before us I think in every sphere of life let me start with churches I don't know how many times I've had a conversation a phone call from an elder of a church somewhere in the country or someone I've met at a conference and the story goes like this : our church has been through a difficult time we're looking to find a pastor who can bring people together under a common vision do you know anyone who fits that description who you think could help us it's a common question in churches and it reverberates around every other sphere of life I mean how do you go about bringing a divided marriage together a dysfunctional family how is it healed how is it pulled together when people are pulling in every different direction what does it look like to exercise leadership that unites where God has placed you in the spheres of business and industry and education and politics at every level here in America we love to quote that wonderful phrase out of many one and I think we're asking these days how does that actually happen how do we get beyond the power of special interests how do we get beyond the rule of the loudest voices how do we get to the pursuit of the common good and I'm suggesting to you that that is exactly the question that is addressed in second Samuel in the chapters that are before us in these coming weeks we are looking at the story of how David was able to unite a nation we're going to discover from these chapters in the Bible how it was how it is that godly leadership is more than strength and more than confidence it took wisdom it took courage it took skill to bring people together and it took patience - this was not the work of days or weeks or months this was the work of years to break down the barriers and to bring people together but by God's grace David did it and these chapters of the story of how God's people were brought into the best years they ever knew." [00:08:00]

"Now the Bible never presents David or any of its other Old Testament characters as Paragons of virtue David had many sins and failings even in these chapters and the Bible does not hide them for example if you look in verse 2 we're told right there straight away that David had two wives clearly contravening the purpose of God laid out in Genesis let alone later a he know'm and Abigail and as we follow the story we're gonna see that there were many more and many of the problems that came from David's decisions in that regard so as we go through this story we must never lose sight of the fact that David needs a Savior as much as we do he really did and that is why of course in some 110 David calls the Messiah who was to come his Lord in the same way as we call the Messiah who has come our Lord but nevertheless this man who like us needs a savior he also especially in these chapters gives us a glimpse of the great king he is the king who brings people from the tribes together and in this he gives us a glimpse of the great king to whom he points who in a far greater way brings together a kingdom of people from every tribe and of every nation and of every language and so for these reasons I've chosen the title a leader you can follow not only because in these chapters David really does model godly leadership in many wonderful ways but also because he points us in these chapters to Jesus Christ the Great King who invites all of us to come under the blessing of his rule." [00:14:57]

"Now years had passed since Samuel had anointed David as the future king of Israel he would have been just a teenager at that time and so David had known for a long time that God's will and purpose for his life God's calling was that he should be the king but for more than a decade he had been a king without a people and the question when Sol died was a very simple one were there any people anywhere who would actually welcome this king shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah is there any place where this king is going to receive a welcome now notice he asks about the cities of Judah because of course Judah was David's tribe and therefore it was natural that he would go there first but you see the point of the question are there any even among my own tribe were ready to welcome me right now is the question that he is asking and the answer is yes there are David there are people who are ready to welcome God's anointed king and you'll find them in a place called Hebron so go up to Hebron verse one Hebron of course was where Abraham and Isaac and Jacob had lived centuries before it was hardly a major city in fact one commentator I think rather colorfully describes Hebron as a provincial backwater a provincial backwater and so David goes to Hebron and the men of Judah verse four came to this provincial backwater and they anointed David King over the house of Judah now remember in the flow of the story that Samuel years earlier had already anointed David as the future King according to the word of the Lord God had already designated David as the king so when the people of heparin oil poured oil over his head you see what they were doing they were simply agreeing with what God had already done and that by the way gives a marvelous picture of what faith means for us today you see long ago God anointed his son Jesus Christ as the king of kings and the Lord of lords and the scripture tells us that God exalted him to the highest place that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and for a tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father and when you crown Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life you are simply agreeing with what God has already done in regards to Jesus he's exalted and when you crowned him as your Lord you're saying Amen you're agreeing with what God Himself has already done faith and it's heart is agreeing with God in regards to Jesus that's what it is." [00:16:52]

"Now the anointing in hebron was a great moment in the flow of the bible story for this reason here for the very first time there was a little community of people on earth who actually lived under the rule of god's chosen king his first time a little community on earth who actually lived under the rule of god's anointed king maybe have been in a little backwater in hebron but that tiny postage stamp was on the map and here were people who after years of waiting were living under the rule of god's chosen king that's what the Christian Church is isn't it it's a community of people on earth who are living under the rule of God's anointed king now think about the situation at this point as David arrives in Hebron he's now got one tribe for him which means he's got eleven against him and the task before him after that day at Hebron in second samuel chapter two and verse four was very simply to bring people from every tribe under his rule and i think about what the data analysts would have said if they got to work questions like what percentage of the population is loyal to David it's the only a handful in a backwater how many college graduates think that life would be better under David's rule see the answers are not going to be encouraging are they but from these tiny beginnings on this little postage stamp in a rural backwater the most marvelous and glorious Kingdom grew now of course you only need to reflect on the Sheep of that story to see that it points very clearly to another story as Jesus Christ comes into the world was it not the same in the Ministry of Jesus did he not see that the kingdom of heaven begins like the smallest seed which grows into being a marvelous and glorious tree was it not the case that when Jesus ascended into heaven there were just a hundred and twenty or so people and that they had a sense of being powerless against the overwhelming might of the culture and very very fearful about what was going to happen next and then you remember just a very few years later within a generation God gives to John the Apostle who was there in that Upper Room with that little group a vision of what will be and he records it in what we know as the book of Revelation and he writes these words I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number from every nation and tribe and people and language standing before the throne and before the lamb and there crying out with a loud voice salvation belongs to our God and to the lamb never fear being in the minority when Jesus Christ is our king right never fear being in the minority when Jesus Christ is King so the New Testament points to this amazing journey from a hundred or so people in an upper room in Jerusalem to a crowd that no one could number praising the Lord Jesus Christ in the glory of heaven and that great story of which we are a part is actually foreshadowed by this Old Testament story of David God's anointed king who has just a small number of followers in the big picture in this rural backwater and yet over these next chapters we're going to see how people from the north and from the south and the east and the West come under the rule and the blessing of God's anointed king so this is the story of a great king and two groups of people those who are for the Great King and those who are against the great king it's the story of how the Great King reaches out to those who position themselves as their as his enemies and wins them and makes them as friends it is therefore a projection and anticipation of the story of God's great Kingdom an anticipation or a picture if you like of how people come into God's great kingdom that one day will be a host of people a crowd of people a multitude that no one can number I'm suggesting there further for any thoughtful Christian these chapters of the Bible speak very powerfully to how we the church little community of those who believe in an unbelieving world how we would pursue our mission in a world that to the largest extent does not honor our king." [00:20:29]

"Now the first reaching out beyond this little enclave of those who are devoted to David as their King was a reaching out to people of a small town called jabish Gilead look at verses 4 & 5 they told David it was the men of jabish Gilead who buried saul and david sent messengers to the men of jabish Gilead first thing he did after he was anointed in this rural backwater of heparin now the thing you need to know about the people of jabish Gilead is that they were hardcore supporters of Saul and there was a reason for this and the reason was that years earlier a brutal enemy by the name of Nahash had come to this town of G bish and had threatened the most appalling violence he had said I'm gonna wipe you out or I'll give you the offer of a surrender and if you surrender these are the deals of the surrender you'll become my slaves and does the mark of it I will gouge out the right eye of every person in this town and I give you seven days to decide I mean talk about the violence of terrorism and that's what you're dealing with you and the people of jabish Gilead in this desperate situation called on the help of Saul and Saul this was in his earliest days raised an army totally defeated Nahash and delivered the people of Jabez Gilead and the people of jabish Gilead never forgot this great kindness that Saul had done for them they were intensely loyal to him they would you know words spoken against him whatever souls for we're for whatever souls against we are against years later when soul died on the field of battle as a way of humiliating God's people the Philistines who had won a rout in that battle took the body of Saul back to one of the temples of their one of their gods and displayed this corpse in the temple as a way of humiliating all of the people of God and the memory of Saul the man was not therefore even given a decent burial until the people of jabish Gilead heard about it and even if soul was dead they weren't gonna have him dishonored and so a group from jabish Gilead led what we would call I think today a kind of commander Reid they went in to enemy territory and under cover of darkness they recovered the body of Saul and brought him back and gave him a proper and a dignified burial it was an extraordinarily dangerous and daring mission and they did it out of love for soul so these people from jabish Gilead just when you read that name you've got to know they are Saul's people through and through what solves for therefore what Saul's against they're against and four years the person Saul was most against was David so these hardcore supporters of Saul are the least likely people ever to come into David's Kingdom right the least likely people ever and we're told here that when David was informed that the men of jabish had buried Saul he sent messengers to these people who were the least likely to receive him as king it's almost as if he says let me take those who are furthest away first I want you to put yourself in the shoes of the people of jabish for a minute the messengers from King David arrive in your town the message is that David has been crowned as king by some people in his own tribe many many miles away you gather with the neighbors in the town to hear what this message is for jabish Gilead from King David can you imagine the body language as they gather as it we're in the square to hear what King David has to say I mean this is going to be the most resistant audience you could imagine what would you expect to hear if you gathered in the centre of the town having been loyal to solve throughout your life who had intended with all that was within him to destroy David and now David seems to have some power on his side what would you expect David to say you might expect and I know what he's going to say this messenger is going to say you will be cursed by the Lord you were always for Saul and I'll always be against you your days are numbered and I will destroy you I think that would have been the expectation of anyone in jabish Gilead when the messenger arrived how utterly amazed they must have been when they heard what the messenger actually said will you look at it with me David sent messengers to the men of jabish Gilead and said to them may you be blessed by the Lord just like did you say blessed we thought he was going to say cursed then he goes on to say may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you and then he says and I will do you good because you have done this thing I'll do you good nobody in jabish could ever have expected to hear this the question of course was would they believe it here is this King and he goes to the people who are most opposed to him the Hardcore and he's saying in effect now you were for Saul and Saul was against me but that does not mean that I am against you I will do you good now I'm sending this message that what I seek for you is God's blessing in his love and his faithfulness to be upon your life absolutely astonishing I want to speak to those in the congregation who might be the most likely ever to submit your life to the kingship the lordship of Jesus Christ the least likely and for some years you have perhaps with a smile because you're here you know so you've got a way of presenting yourself but in your heart you have set a profound resistance to the lordship of Jesus Christ over your life and here's the message you may have set yourself against Jesus but that does not mean that Jesus has set himself against you King Jesus reaches out to the people least likely to embrace and welcome his rule and if you have resisted the lordship of Jesus Christ over your life for a long time and you know this in your heart it will be very natural for you to think that Jesus is against you people who resist at Jesus instinctively intuitively most often have the idea that his word for them is I will destroy you but this King this Jesus says I will do you good and he reaches out to you in order to bring you into the blessing of the love and the faithfulness of Almighty God and I want you to notice then following this message how David gives this most marvelous invitation in verse seven now therefore let your hands be strong and valiant for Saul your Lord is dead and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them this is the most compelling invitation for them and rightly understood it's the most compelling in for you Saul your Lord is dead look he's saying to people who are not under the lordship of the king look he's saying you're King the king you have served cannot help you the kingdom you have lived for what you have lived for in your life is actually passing away and you know that but I'm here to tell you the good news that a new kingdom is rising and there is room in this kingdom for you there is a welcome from this anointed king for you this is the word of the king who lives what you are giving to yourself get what you are giving yourself to has no power to defend you it has no power to do you good but I will do you good I will do you good this is an incredible invitation of grace from this anointed king and David can you see beautifully points us forward to the Lord Jesus Christ and the grace with which he approaches those who have resisted his rule and I love what David says here because he recognizes that it really does take courage to switch sides not an easy thing if you have been pushing the claims of the lordship of Jesus Christ away and at a distance for some time if you have walked with those who have been antagonistic towards the things of Jesus Christ not easy for you to switch sides and to confess your allegiance to him and that is why David says let your hands be strong and be valiant if you grew up surrounded by Christian faith and you have moved in another direction it will be no small thing for you to own Jesus Christ as your king you've become used to keeping him at a distance you've become known for keeping him at a distance that's part of your identity that's become part of who you are and you may well have come to believe that because you've been against him he must therefore be against you and the Word of God is saying to you today that is simply not the case it is not the case that if Jesus Christ catches up with you he'll make you miserable he says I will do you good I will bring you into the knowledge of the love and of the faithfulness of God and if you hear that today and if you believe it here's what you will do you will take your stand with those who embrace King Jesus and you will submit gladly and freely your life to Israel and if you were brought up with a different faith or if you were brought up with absolutely no faith at all it will be no small thing for you to take your stand with Jesus it would be very natural for you to think that since you were against Jesus that Jesus must be against you and cannot possibly before you but King Jesus says I will do good to you and then I leave you saying well why in the world would he do that I've had no interest in him I've been pushing him away and you know that's what the Bible calls grace we were enemies of Jesus but grace means that Jesus came not as the enemy to us while we were still his enemies still sinners Christ died for us and you know it's the knowledge of this grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that makes the response of faith possible and gives a person the courage to switch sides which isn't easy to do so here I want to suggest to you is actually the whole story of the Bible in a nutshell it's the story of the great and glorious King that's what the story of the Bible's about Jesus Christ the great and the glorious King and there are two groups of people in the world there are those who are for him and there are those who are against him and this King amazingly comes to those who are least likely to embrace those who've been pushing him away the furthest and those who've been resisting in the longest that he draws near in mercy and in grace even today and he says I will do good to you God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved may his grace give every one of us the courage to stand with him as our King our master and our glorious Lord today and every day of our lives let's pray together." [00:26:28]