Sermon: Anointed One

You take a copy of God's word this morning, we're gonna turn open to the book of Second Samuel as we continue our way through that book. If you wanna grab a Pew Bible, turn right there on page 2, 5 5 in the pew Bible 2, 5 5. And this morning we are looking at Second Samuel chapter two, and we are looking at verses one through 11 of second Samuel,

second Samuel, chapter two verses one through 11. And let me lead us here in prayer and pray for the Lord's blessing before we read the word and hear the word read and preach this morning.

Father, even as we just sung. So we say, where else would we go this morning?

Come before your throne because we have nowhere else to turn. If we turn inwardly, we find nothing but despair. If we turn outwardly, we find nothing but what discourages

we say, you alone have a word that is good for us to hear this morning. And so we pray that as we hear it red and as we hear it, preach that it would thunder in this room, but not just stay outside of us this morning, but that in only the way that you can, that you would cause it to go deep within us, that all of a sudden we would have the truth of your word, the hope of your glory, the gift of your grace, filling our minds

and our souls and our hearts, and stirring our affections this morning. Ah, what glory that will give to you and how good it would be for us. Work in our midst. We pray in Christ. Holy name, amen. Second Samuel chapter two verses one through 11. This is a holy and err sufficient word of God. After this, David inquired of the Lord shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said to him, go up. David said, to which shall I go up? And he said to Hebron.

So David went up there and his two wives, also a em of re and Abigail, the widow of Nal of Carmel. And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household. And they lived in the towns of Hebrew. And the men of Judah came and there they anointed David King over the house of Judah. When they told David it was the men of Jesh Gilead who buried Saul. David sent messengers to the men of Jesh Gilead and said to them, may you be blessed by the Lord

because you showed this loyalty to Saul, your Lord, and buried him. Now, may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you, and I will do good to you because you have done this thing. Now therefore, let your hands be strong and be valiant for Saul. Your Lord is dead. And the house of Judah has anointed me king over them. But Abner, the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took ish Boche, the son of Saul and brought him over to me Heim.

And he made him king over Gilead in the Aite and Jez and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel ish Boha. Saul's son was 40 years old when he began to reign over Israel and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David in the time that David was king. And he over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. Though the grass withers and the flower fades. The word of God is forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.

In the 1956 Hollywood movie, the 10 Commandments, uh, Cecil b Demil, uh, put a little, the director, famous director in Hollywood, uh, put a little bit of irony in the film. You have Yule Brenner, who I think is one of the greatest actors of all time. Uh, it helps that he's bold and so therefore good looking. And he just had a presence about him. And uh, he played Pharaoh Rames II in the movie. And he will say in the movie, in a loud,

authoritative voice that kind of becomes Hollywood lure afterwards, he would say, so it is written so it shall be done.

And the irony is this, he's Pharaoh and thinks that whatever he says is law and will be done.

But what he says has no lasting value to it. It has no finality to it. It it has no authority behind it that makes it permanent. And all of this in the background,

the name of the movie, of course the 10 Commandments that God Speaks and what he speaks is done, it's fixed, it's permanent, it's lasting what God promises. God fulfills. We see that reality in this Texas morning. We're gonna see a picture of that, the scene of that, and we're gonna see what it looks like to live in light of that reality. That what God promises, God fulfills. Now before we go there, let's remember the context.

Some of you are joining us here we're I think the third week of going through Second Samuel. Some of you have forgotten we had a missions conference last week. So let's review a little bit and that you'll remember what has happened in chapter one of two Samuel is that news has come from the battlefield, that there was a battle between Israel and between the Philistines. And the Israelites lost the battle. And at the end of the battle we find that Saul,

the first king of Israel has died. Jonathan, his son has died and Israel is on the run. And a messenger comes from the battlefield and informs David of this. And as you know, David was anointed to be the second king of Israel. Samuel by God's appointment, Samuel the prophet, came to David's house and he anointed him the second king of Israel when he was a small boy. And now what's happening is, is this author of two Samuel is making it very clear to us

what God promises God fulfills three times. And these 11 verses we read that David is now King of Israel three times verse four. And the men of Judah came and there they anointed David King over the house of Judah. Verse seven. Now therefore let your hands be strong and be valiant for Saul. Your Lord is dead. And the house of Judah has anointed me, king of them in verse 11. And the time that David was king and Hebrew over the house

of Judah was seven years and six months. The promises of God are always fulfilled. And when you understand that, when you begin to live in light of that, it provides incredible peace. It provides incredible hope.

Think about Pharaoh. If he had understood this, he would've saved himself an awful lot of trouble. What God promises, God fulfills. You think the same about sa who goes off the deep end and abandons God if he just lived in light of this reality, what God promises he fulfills.

David understands this. He's a man after God's own heart. Three points this sworn in light of that the promises of God are always filled. First seek the lord's will seek, the Lord's will right out of the gate. We read this after this, David inquired of the Lord, shall I go up into any of these cities of Judah? And then when God says, yes, you should go up, David inquires again, which one? And God tells him to go up to Hebron.

He is located in the mountains south of Jerusalem. It is a famous area. It's there that Abraham will pitch his tents below the oak trees at Mam Ray there, it's there that uh, he will dwell in the land. It's there that Sarah, his wife will die. And so it's there that he will purchase the cave to bury her in. And it's not only Sarah that is buried there. Abraham will be buried there, Jacob will be buried there, Isaac will be buried there, Rebecca will be buried there,

Leah will be buried there. And so when David goes there, this is not an insignificant place.

It's hearkening back to God's covenant promises all the way through. And we read in verse 11 and also in chapter five, verse five, that he ruled there for seven and a half years over Judah before he will move again and go on to Jerusalem. But notice what he began his reign as king with He inquired of the Lord, he sought the Lord's will. Jesus said, seek he first the kingdom of heaven. And all these things shall be added to you.

That that's David's mindset.

It's it's actually quite stunning the humility of David before the Lord. If you think about it in at this point, he, he has been pursued by Saul all of these years seeking his death. He was anointed the next king by Samuel and still he's on the run all the time and he's living in a foreign nation and he's living in the wilderness and he has nowhere to lay his head. And, and he's just on the run. And finally Saul is dead.

Weren't all the cities of Judah, let alone all the cities of Israel now his. And yet he didn't rush in

he inquires of the Lord. We don't know how did he inquire the Lord? Did he approach the high priest and just ask the high priest to pray for him? We don't know. Did he go to the high priest and pray with the high priest as the rum and the thumb were, were thrown out And that way they discerned what was the will of the Lord? Or was it just in his own personal prayer closet that he went before the Lord and he inquired of the Lord?

We don't actually know. What we do know is that he inquired, he prayed. And it's shocking because we might say, David, you were anointed king by God through the prophet, it's yours for the taking. Get after it be a man of action. We might say.

But David, he knew that being a man of action as first being a man of prayer,

I'm not an old man. But as I get older and I look back and I look back at my own life and I also watch young men, I think this has to be one of the greatest stares of young men. You see a door open, you see an opportunity and it's charge in it's action,

but not all action is equal. Abner, as we'll see in this passage, is a man of action.

We want men of action that are godly more often than not. What is more necessary and needed as being a godly man of action.

David first sought the Lord's will not all action is equal. He didn't assume he prayed. That's not passivity, that's piety

It's, it's a gift. I I think we often see it as something that, oh, this is just something I have to get through to get onto the real work or to get onto the real thing or it often feels like a burden and our, but I think it's one of the greatest gifts the Lord has given to us. It's in our prayer closet. It's more, more than anywhere else that yours and my wills are more conformed to his will. And you want to seek the Lord's will, but,

but you have to know that will. And it's primarily known in the prayer closet.

I've often wondered how much anxiety and how much stress and how much unbelief and how much conflict and how much pride and how much division in the church and how much melancholy and how much sin would just kind of melt away if we all were just a little more people of prayer just a little bit.

John Bloom wrote an article years ago about the burden we feel to pray.

He said, you read pastors like these and I'm gonna quote a few of them too. Your Romans 1212 be constant in prayer. Ephesians six 18, pray at all times in the Spirit with all perseverance. Philippians four, six, pray about everything for Thessalonians five 17. Pray without ceasing and you hear those passages and in floods the guilt and in floods the burden and in floods the weight. And you go, ah, I was um, telling the pastoral interns this week.

There was a, a few years ago I was at a, um, pastor's, uh, conference retreat and I was leading a portion of it and there were about 300 pastors there and I was interviewing this 85, 80 8-year-old pastor that some of you would know by name. And uh, I knew him to be a great man of prayer. I'd heard the testimonies and so I thought it would be instructive for us to, to learn from him. What what does it look like for him

as a person, personal prayer. And, and so I asked him in front of these 300 or so pastors, I said, um, would you tell us what your prayer life looks like?

And he looked at the ground and he said, oh, Jason, never ask a pastor about his prayer life unless you want to humble him.

Now here's what I knew. He rises at three 30 every morning to spend hours in prayer.

I knew it. And even such a man felt like he wasn't quite the man of prayer that he should be.

But it's not meant to be a burden, it's a gift with promises attached to it. Let me quote bloom in this article. He said, if we really pray, Bible teaches we must harness the Bible's motivation. He says, and what's that motivation? It's God's promise of reward. So let's take those same passages we just quoted because they all follow with a promise. So Romans 12, six through 13 be constant in prairie says, and it's so that the spiritual grace, gifts

and love will bound in the church. Ephesians six 10 all the way to 20. He says, pray at all times in the spirit with all perseverance. And what's the promise? So that we will be protected from powerful Satanic attack in the gospel will be proclaimed accurately and boldly. Or Philippians four, six may be the most famous to many of us in this room. Four, six and seven. Pray about everything. Why in order to be relieved of troubling anxieties

and allow the peace of God to guard our hearts and minds. Or first Thessalonians five 12 through 18. Pray without ceasing. Why will you work it out in that passage? There's a promise in order that there will be unity and love and appropriate submission and patience and joy in the church. When we seek the Lord's will through prayer, we're conformed to his will and the blessing is ours.

'cause there's all kinds of promises attached to it. David understands this.

We seek the Lord's will. Second, we look to God's promises, we look to these promises, David and his family and his men, they go up to Hebron and there David is anointed king over the house of Judah And there's some discussion about the appropriateness of this. Was this proper? Wasn't David anointed by Samuel back in First Samuel chapter 16? Why would they need to do this? Is this saying that somehow that was inadequate?

No, it's none of that. Nowhere is it condemned, he doesn't even frown upon it. What are they doing? He's now king. And it's as if his mighty men, his army are recognizing publicly that we ourselves are submitting to him as king. It's a public proclamation if you will. And there was a need to do so because the narrative goes on. And that's why the narrator takes us there in verse four. Herein following, we see that David's transition into re

as king was not easy.

He's on the path of God's will. God says, look, you're going to be the next king. He even waits patiently for it. He goes up to he and he inquires where he should go, go to he and he's going there And still it's not an easy path.

Don't you dare think because life is hard that somehow you're outside the will of God. Often you're within the will of God when life is the hardest very path he would have. You walk a narrator is showing how difficult it was. He, he relays a little story of the men of Jbh, Gilead going up and burying Saul. It's like the Navy Seal's testimony in the scriptures. I wanna go back and read it for you First Samuel chapter 31

and let's start there in verse nine. And this gives the account of these navy seal Jesh, Gileadite going and rescuing Saul's body. Saul, his body has been taken by the Philistines in verse nine. So they cut off his head, they stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to the house of their idols into the people they are celebrating. They have struck down the Lord's anointed.

They put his armor in the temple of Trotro, they fastened his body to the wall of bean. Ah, here's the but verse 11. But when the inhabitants of Jesh Gilead read Navy Seals heard what the Philistines had done to soul, all the valiant men arose and went all night secret operation and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall Behan and they came to J Besh and burned them there and they took their bones and buried them under the tamaris

tree and jbs and fasted seven days. And David hears the report of this in our passage and he decides to celebrate them, to honor them. Now this is curious because soul had sought David's life. He had sought to put him to death. And you understand David saying, look, I'm not going to touch the Lord's anointed. He doesn't want to undermine Saul's authority as king while he's king, but now he's dead. He led the people of Israel astray.

He was seeking his death. If surely there was a time for David to disparage Saul, this is it.

But they go rescue his body and David wants to honor them and celebrate them. Why?

Part of the motivation at least is because he is trying to bring the nation together as one. These Jes Gileadite had been saved by Saul previously. That's why they were motivated to go save Saul. And David is seeking to bring the nation together, but there are forces at work against him.

Jes. Gilead was just north of me, Heim. And that's where Abner, the commander of Saul's army, will choose to set up a rival throne by taking the third son of Saul, the fourth son of Saul ish Bhe, which means man of shame. And he'll set him up as king there. And this also was not a place that was uh, unknown. It's a reason that he sets him up there because it was there that Jacob was visited by an angel. And so it's also a strategic place, a place of

spiritual importance and a place of covenantal importance that he's setting him up there and he is now reigning over all of that territory. All the northern country of Israel, which includes Jbh, Gilead

keel, uh, 20th century commentator said it well he said this, the promotion of ish bhef as king was not only a continuation of the hostility of Saul towards David, but also an open act of rebellion against Jehovah who had rejected Saul and chosen David Prince of Israel and who had given such distinct proofs of this election in the eyes of the whole nation that even Saul had been convinced of the appointment of David to be a successor upon the throne.

But Abner doesn't care. He's a man of action but not godly.

He doesn't care what God's will is.

You think about Abner here, he's explaining an awful lot to see this rival throne set up. There had to be a number of conversations. There had to be a a polling of staff to make sure that he had loyal staff to ish bhe. He no doubt had to go to his army and tell them this is the king we're going to serve and make sure that his officers were loyal to him and loyal to ish bhe. He no doubt had to enter into conversations with other nations around.

So they would recognize that ish Bhe is in charge of this area. And you think about all of this effort, all of this time, all of this money that would've been accrued and all that he did. And it lasts as the author says for two years.

But it didn't make David's life easy. He had in the midst of these earthly trials to keep looking to the promises of God. His time had come, it's still not easy.

He had to keep looking to the promises of God.

What was Abner's motivation?

Oh, that's not a secret that David was anointed to the next king.

One can't help but think the motivation had to be his own

position in his own prestige. And so he could not bow to the will of God,

but the promises of God never fail.

This is so badly why you should want to be living your life according to the will of God. Because what God wills, God promises and his promises never fail.

You want your life conformed to that.

She leads to our third point. We trust that God is at work.

We seek the Lord's will we look to his promises and we trust He is at work. Why do we trust that he's at work? Because he is. How do we know? Because his promises are always fulfilled. It's written and so it's done. So you trust that God is at work because he has been at work and he will forever be at work.

The author is clear. Verse 10, it is only Judah that follows David. And so David had to remind himself of this. Verse nine. He lists all these that are following ish Boche. He lists Gilead and the Aite and Ez Israel and Ephraim and Benjamin. And then he says he sums it all up. All Israel acknowledge ish Boche as their king. David is left only with Judah. Not even Benjamin goes with Judah.

But he doesn't despair. Why doesn't he despair? Because his God has made promises.

Don't tell me statistics

as Christian, you shouldn't be so worried about numbers.

Don't give me projections.

Our God is sovereign.

It's that old statement that one with God is a majority.

As Paul will say in Romans eight, he will say, if God is for us, who can be against us?

Us Who's against us? The whole world. Let the whole world be against us.

If God and he wills and he promises and he works to accomplish his promises, they cannot not be done.

David's reign and the promises of God to Israel will be fulfilled. However, notice that it starts small. David is simply in Hebrew. He has his two wives, he has his two children, he has his mighty men. That's it. Most of the land is occupied and controlled by a rival king. But in time that kingdom will spread in time, David will rule over not only Judah, but also Israel in time his son shall be renowned throughout the Mediterranean world

in time people will recognize the glory of this kingdom.

Kingdom of God is not something that can be forced. It extends in God's time. In God's way according to God's promises. Trust that he works because he's always working

in Acts one, the resurrected Christ is with his disciples. And Luke tells us that Jesus said to them, quote, he ordered them not to depart Jerusalem. And he tells them to quote, wait, you're to wait now wait for what he's getting ready to send to the Father. Why don't they just get after it? Be men of action. Go Wait. Why? Jesus says, wait for the promise of the Father. The promise of the Father wait upon the promise of the Father.

In that context, Jesus is speaking about the Holy Spirit, that as he ascends to the Father, he and the Father will pour out the Holy Spirit. And as the Holy Spirit comes down upon them, then they will go out. And the disciples though they're curious, they want to know what Jesus means. They are ready for the kingdom to flood the earth and to cover it all over the earth. And so they will ask him, they'll say, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?

And Jesus says, it's not for you to know the time or the seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Sumerian to the ends of the earth. What was their responsibility?

To seek the Lord to look to his promise

and to trust that he was at work

or God is a God of promise

and what he promises he fulfills.

I was curious this week I thought, wonder how many promises God gives his people in the Bible? Uh, you know, this would be a good exercise for you and for me. You do your year long reading Bible program and to say, this year I'm gonna read through the whole Bible and I'm gonna write down every promise I see of God to his people. That'd be a great exercise.

I'm gonna give you a hint. Your hand's gonna get tired. I was looking up the lowest number that people gave was 7,000 promises. Some have as high as 8,500 promises depending on how you count it.

Listen to how Peter begins second Peter. He says, his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us His precious and very great promises. He's a God who makes promises and he fulfills every single promise.

Goliath, the Philistines, even Saul. And now Abner and Osh says they could not stand against the will of God. The kingdoms of this world, they fade. The kingdoms of this world are are gonna be little footnotes in eternity.

You name it, ancient Egypt, Roman empire, the ha dynasty, the Ottoman Empire, the United States of America, footnotes, they're like vapor in the morning fading before the glory of Christ's kingdom gone.

His kingdom will fill the heavens on the earth because God has promised it.

Abaki promised for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. How did the waters cover the sea?

That's what his kingdom will be like on earth. He works. He worked, then he works. Now you remember when we were in Hebrews and we got there to chapter 11 and we're going into chapter 12. And that writer of Hebrews, he is telling these Hebrew Christians who are facing increased persecution by the Roman Empire, he's telling them, stand firm.

Stand firm in your faith.

And he does so and he reminds them of the fact that Christ in his kingdom lasts and his inferences as that Rome doesn't last. It fades. And we stand on this side of it and we go, of course.

But you have to realize that when they are hearing that news, Rome has existed since the seventh century bc It is dominant, it seems omnipotent. Its army's rule, the land and its Navy's rule, the waves. And Caesar is God on earth and has been for centuries.

And the writer of Hebrews is just reminding them it doesn't last.

The Lord wills

and he gives promise according to that will. And he always fulfills those promises. He's at work. You can't always see it with your naked eye. You can't always measure it. You can't point over there and say, ah, there it is. There's the kingdom going forward. You can't always do that, but it is. He's working. Jesus said it's like a mustard seed that is put in the ground and then it grows into a tree that fills the entire earth.

He's promised it

so it shall be written so it shall be done.

David will reign over all of Israel. He sure doesn't feel like it in this text. He will reign over all of Israel. God promised it. Christ will reign over all of the heavens and all of the earth for all of eternity and every knee will bow. It sure doesn't look like it. Oh, it's happening.

He promised it.

And it starts so small.

He's at work. Some of you are establishing Christian families for the very first time in your family tree. And some of you it's skipped three or four generations. There hasn't been the Christian faith and you're just doing it. But man, it looks so small, that family over there, they've been at this for six generations and every single one of their children are believers. And then there's the four of us.

He's at work. It starts small. You seek his will, you look to his promises

and you trust that he's at work.

We're beginning our second church plant in Mount Pleasant. It's a small beginning. A few families, that's a few families who are bathing their life in prayer, seeking the Lord's will, looking to the promises of God and trusting that he's at work.

We here at Universal Reform Church, we are weak. We are feeble, we are frail, we are sinners. We are not the biggest church. We are not the brightest people. We're not the best looking people. We're not the most creative or gifted people.

But by God's grace, we're seeking his will and prayer. Being a prayerful people, relying upon looking to his promises and trusting that he's at work. That's what it looks like.

That's what he does, that's what he uses.

And our God is at work, seek his will. Look to his promises, trust him. Let's pray.

Our Father, we are thankful you are a God of promise, but not empty promises, but a God who wills and accomplishes his promises. You have not left us to ourselves that you are at work in this world and that you fulfill every one of those promises you have willed to make. Oh, what a glorious God you are to serve. And what a delight it is to be your people and stand upon such solid ground with such great hope for us. How can we not return in thanksgiving and praise?

May you receive the glory in Christ name we pray. Amen.