THE GREATEST KING OF ISRAEL

2 SAMUEL 19

GOOD MORNING CHURCH -

BEFORE WE BEGIN JUST A WORD ABOUT OUR MISSION TEAM - ALL REPORTS ARE GOOD, THE MINISTRY OF THE MISSION TRIP WAS GREAT, AND TODAY THE TEAM IS ON THEIR WAY BACK TO US. WE THANK GOD FOR HIS WORK THROUGH THEM AND WE PRAY FOR THEIR SAFE RETURN.

NOW LET ME SAY,  IT IS A GREAT PRIVILEGE TO ONCE AGAIN HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND A FEW MOMENTS  WITH YOU IN THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURE.  OUR PASTOR, FOR SOME TIME NOW, HAS BEEN LEADING US IN A SERIES ON THE SUBJECT OF GREATNESS . OUR TEXT HAS BEEN 2 SAMUEL, AND THE PERSON PROVIDING EXAMPLES, ILLUSTRATIONS, PRINCIPLES AND LESSONS ON OUR TOPIC HAS BEEN NONE OTHER THAN DAVID - THE GREATEST KING OF ISRAEL

THIS MORNING I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE US BACK TO A PARTICULAR DAY IN THE LIFE OF DAVID. THE DAY I WANT TO RECALL IS RECORDED IN  2 SAMUEL, CHAPTER 19. I WANT YOU TO IMAGINE WE ARE TIME TRAVELERS AND WE ARE GOING BACK TO THIS DAY IN THE LIFE OF DAVID TO INTERVIEW HIM AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GREATNESS AND HOW OUR LIVES CAN BE BETTER AS A RESULT OF WHAT DAVID HAS TO TEACH US. LET’S PRAY.

SO, LET’S BEGIN OUR INTERVIEW.

INTERVIEWER:  DAVID THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK WITH YOU. I AM FROM THE FUTURE AND I HAVE COME TO TALK ABOUT THE SUBJECT OF GREATNESS - A TOPIC OF A CURRENT STUDY, AND THE REASON I HAVE  COME TO YOU IS BECAUSE YOU ARE REMEMBERED AS THE GREATEST KING OF ISRAEL. SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT BEING THE GREATEST KING OF ISRAEL?

DAVID: WELL TIME TRAVELER YOU DIDN’T PICK THE BEST DAY FOR INTERVIEWING ME ABOUT GREATNESS, BECAUSE I DON’T FEEL SO GREAT TODAY. ACTUALLY THAT SHOULD BE A LESSON FOR YOU TO WRITE DOWN -

INTERVIEWER - THAT’S INTERESTING, WE WILL WRITE THAT ONE DOWN. NOW BACK TO YOUR BEING THE GREATEST KING,  TELL ME HOW YOU DIFFER FROM SAUL AND MAYBE HOW YOU ARE ALIKE (SINCE SAUL IS THE ONLY OTHER KING OF ISRAEL YOU KNOW).

DAVID: ACTUALLY, I AM NOT TOO KEEN ON COMPARING MYSELF WITH ANOTHER  BECAUSE I DON’T THINK IT IS WISE AND THAT BECAUSE IT IS NOT THE ONE THAT COMMENDS HIMSELF WHO IS APPROVED BUT WHOM THE LORD COMMENDS.

INTERVIEWER - THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT DAVID AND I KNOW THAT IS HOW GOD WOULD INSTRUCT US IN MEASURING GREATNESS (SEE 2 COR. 10:12,18), BUT COULD YOU SPEAK TO HOW ARE YOU AND SAUL ARE SIMILAR?

DAVID: WELL WE WERE BOTH WORKING FOR OUR FATHERS WHEN THE PROPHET SAMUEL FOUND US AND ANOINTED US AS GOD’S CHOSEN FOR THE TRONE. SAUL WAS SEARCHING FOR DONKEYS AND I WAS SHEPHERDING MY FATHER’S SHEEP. I DON’T KNOW HOW SAUL FELT ABOUT HIS FORMER EMPLOYMENT, BUT MUCH OF WHAT I LEARNED FROM SHEPHERDING SHEEP TRANSFERRED OVER TO MY DUTIES AS KING.

THAT MAKES ME THINK OF ANOTHER LESSON ON GREATNESS

 TAKE A CARPENTER AS AN EXAMPLE - YOU CAN GO INTO A CARPENTER SHOP AND SEE WHAT IS BEING BUILT, BUT DO WE EVER THINK ABOUT WHAT IS BEING DEVELOPED IN THE CARPENTER HIMSELF? THINK OF HOW HE IS BEING PATIENT IN SLOWLY PERFECTING THE JOINTS TO MATCH SO AS TO MAKE PIECES OF TWO LOOK AS ONE. HIS WORK SPEAKS OF HIS PASSION. DOES THIS MAKE SENSE TO YOU INTERVIEWER?

INTERVIEWER - MORE THAN YOU KNOW! THANK YOU FOR THAT LESSON. I HOPE I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER AND USE IT IN MY DAYS OF BECOMING WHAT GOD HAS ASSIGNED ME TO BE IN HIS GREAT PLANS AND PURPOSES.

DAVID WHEN WE STARTED YOU SAID THIS WAS NOT A GOOD DAY FOR THIS INTERVIEW.  WHY NOT?

DAVID: TODAY I AM MOURNING THE LOSS OF ONE OF MY SONS - ABSALOM. HE WAS A VERY HANDSOME YOUNG MAN. I THINK HIS HEART WAS IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT ONE TIME, BUT THEN HIS SISTER WAS VIOLATED BY A HALF BROTHER - AMNON ( ONE OF MY SONS FROM ANOTHER MARRIAGE).

ABSALOM DIDN’T THINK JUSTICE WAS FORTHCOMING SO HE TOOK MATTERS INTO HIS OWN HANDS AND KILLED HIS HALF BROTHER AMNON. THEN HE FLED TO LIVE WITH HIS GRANDFATHER (HIS MOTHER’S FATHER), WHO HAPPENS TO BE A KING OF ANOTHER KINGDOM. HE STAYED THERE THREE YEARS AND WHATEVER HE LEARNED THERE CHANGED HIM. HE CAME HOME THINKING IF HE STOLE THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE HE COULD BECOME KING WITHOUT BEING ANOINTED BY GOD’S PROPHET.

WELL, ABSALOM DID STEAL THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE AND THEY BEGAN TO DEMAND HE BECOME KING. I HAD TO STEP DOWN FROM THE THRONE AND LEAVE THE CITY. ABSALOM ENLISTED AN ARMY, SO I ORDERED  JOAB, COMMANDER OF MY ARMY, TO SQUASH THE REBELLION, BUT BRING MY SON HOME SAFE. JOAB DID SQUASH THE REBELLION AT THE PRICE OF 20,000 SOLDIERS, AND EVEN MORE WHO WENT INTO THE FOREST NEVER TO RETURN.

JOAB FOUND ABSALOM CAUGHT IN A THICKET AND - I DON’T KNOW WHY - I AM ONLY GUESSING THAT MANY OF THOSE LOST IN BATTLE WERE FRIENDS OF JOAB- YET  FOR WHATEVER REASON- HE DIDN’T THINK ABSALOM, THE PERSON WHO CAUSED THIS GREAT LOSS , SHOULD BE SPARED. SO JOAB, MY COMMANDER, MY NEPHEW KILL MY SON, HIS COUSIN, AND THAT’S THE CAUSE OF MY GRIEF TODAY. HOW’S THAT FOR A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A GREAT KING?

INTERVIEWER: I AM SO SORRY

DAVID: BUT IT IS WORSE .

INTERVIEWER: HOW COULD IT BE WORSE?

DAVID: MY SON DIED IN DISOBEDIENCE TO THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT AND IN RAISING HIS HAND AGAINST THE LORD’S ANOINTED. HE LEFT A TESTIMONY OF DISOBEDIENCE AND REBELLION. HOW I LONGED FOR A CHANGE IN HIS HEART, WHICH IS WHY I WANTED HIM TO BE BROUGHT HOME SAFE.

SO MY GRIEF IS AMPLIFIED BECAUSE WE PARTED WITHOUT RECONCILIATION.  JOAB CAME TO ME DURING MY ANGUISH AND REBUKED ME FOR NOT THINKING ABOUT MY PEOPLE OF WHOM MANY LOST SONS AS WELL. I DIDN’T APPRECIATE HIS REBUKE, BUT LATER I BEGAN TO SEE THE WISDOM OF HIS WORDS. I WENT DOWN AND THANKED THE PEOPLE FOR THEIR SUPPORT.

INTERVIEWER: SO DAVID YOU MENTIONED THE FACT THAT JOAB IS YOUR NEPHEW.

DAVID: YES HE IS ZERUIAH’S SON. ZERUIAH IS MOTHER TO JOAB, ABISHAI AND ASAHEL (RECENTLY DECEASED). ALSO AMASA IS SON OF MY OTHER SISTER ABIGAL.

INTERVIEWER: DAVID ARE YOU SAYING AT TIMES OUR FAMILY MEMBERS CAN TARNISH OUR TESTIMONY OF GREATNESS?  I MEAN YOUR SON, ABSALOM, KILLED HIS BROTHER,( AMNON), THEN YOUR NEPHEW, (JOAB), KILLED HIS COUSIN (YOUR SON, ABSALOM).

DAVID:  YES TO YOUR QUESTION AND YES TO YOUR ASSESSMENT OF THE SITUATION.

INTERVIEWER: AND YET YOU ARE REMEMBERED AS THE GREATEST KING OF ISRAEL?

DAVID: SO YOU SAY, BUT NOT EVERYONE WOULD SAY SO.  MAYBE IT IS TIME TO MENTION ANOTHER LESSON ABOUT GREATNESS.

MY FAMILY AT THIS MOMENT IS NOT DEMONSTRATING THE GRACE AND LOVE OUTLINED IN OUR FAMILY HISTORY. YOU SEE I AM A SON OF ABRAHAM, WHO WAS GREAT BECAUSE OF GOD’S LOVE FOR HIM AND GOD’S GRACE IN MAKING A COVENANT WITH HIM WHICH HE BELIEVED AND GOD COUNTED IT TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS (ROMANS 4:20-22).

GOD SAID TO ABAHAM, “IN YOU ALL FAMILIES  OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED” (SEE GEN. 12;3). GOD ALSO MADE A COVENANT WITH ME THAT MY KINGDOM WOULD BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER (2 SAM. 7:8-29). IT IS NOT A COVENANT CONDITIONED ON MY PERFORMANCE, BUT ON HIS GRACE AND LOVE.

LOOK, MY GRANDFATHER WAS OBED, THE SON OF BOAZ AND RUTH. DO YOU KNOW RUTH? SHE WAS A MOABITE WHO LONGED TO KNOW OUR GOD AND BY THE GRACE AND LOVE OF GOD MY GRANDFATHER (BOAZ) MARRIED HER AND NOT ONLY THAT BOAZ’S MOTHER WAS RAHAB ANOTHER GENTILE WHO WANTED TO KNOW GOD AND GOD ARRANGED A LOVE AND GRACE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HER AND MY GREAT GRANDFATHER SALOME.

YES FAMILY CAN SOMETIMES FORGET WHAT GOD HAS DONE TO MAKE THEM TESTIMONIES OF HIS GREATNESS, BUT THAT IS WHY WE NEED TO BE REMINDED OF HIS LOVE AND GRACE.  EVEN TODAY IT MATTERS NOT WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN YOUR RELATIONSHIPS GOD IS STILL CALLING PEOPLE TO KNOW HIS LOVE AND TO EXPERIENCE HIS GRACE.

INTERVIEWER: DAVID HAVE FRIENDS AFFECTED YOUR TESTIMONY OF GREATNESS.

DAVID : MANY WHO CLAIMED TO BE FRIENDS WHEN I WAS KING, PROVED TO BE LESS THAN FRIENDS WHEN I WAS OUSTED FROM MY KINGDOM. SOME FRIENDS ARE ONLY FAIR WEATHER FRIENDS. IT IS HURTFUL WHEN YOU DISCOVER THIS. THE VERY ONES WHO PRAISE YOU ONE DAY MAY CRY FOR YOUR DEATH THE NEXT. HAVE YOU SEEN THIS?

INTERVIEWER: YES AND IT IS HARD TO EXPLAIN, BUT I KNOW

DAVID:  WOW. I DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU GOT THAT FROM BUT I AM ADDING IT TO MY LESSONS ON GREATNESS. IT GOES ALONG WITH MANY OF THE SONGS I HAVE WRITTEN. THANKS.

INTERVIEWER: WELL DAVID, I THINK IT IS TIME TO BRING OUR INTERVIEW TO A CLOSE. ANY FINAL WORDS?

DAVID: YES. I WANT TO MENTION A TRUE FRIEND AND ANOTHER LESSON IN CLOSING. I HAVE AN OLD FRIEND WHO’S NAME IS BARZILLAI. HE HAS BEEN SUCH A BLESSING TO ME AND HE CAME TO WELCOME ME HOME. I THANKED HIM FOR HIS LOVE AND GRACE TO ME DURING MY DIFFICULT TIME. HE DID SO MUCH TO HELP,  SO I  WANTED TO BLESS HIM BY HAVING HIM COME STAY WITH ME AND ENJOY ALL THE BLESSINGS I COULD POSSIBLY BESTOW, BUT HE DESIRED THAT HIS SERVANT WHO HAD BEEN A SON TO HIM BE THE BENEFICIARY. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT? DOES THAT SAY SOMETHING ABOUT GREATNESS?

INTERVIEWER: YOU MEAN WHEN SOMEONE DESERVES BLESSINGS AND YET THEY PASS THE BLESSINGS ON TO ANOTHER THEY DEARLY LOVE? DAVID, THAT MAY BE THE GREATEST LESSON ON GREATNESS, FOR IT WAS THE EXAMPLE SET BY THE KING OF KINGS.

YOU KNOW HIM AS SHEPHERD. HE HAS EVERYTHING HEAVEN HAS TO OFFER AND YET HE HAS DECLARED THOSE WHO KNOW HIS LOVE AND GRACE TO BE THE BENEFICIARIES OF THESE BLESSINGS. YES! TO BE SONS OF GOD AND JOINT HEIRS WITH THE KING. HIS HOME IS OUR HOME AND HIS BLESSINGS OUR BLESSINGS NOT BECAUSE WE HAVE DONE ANYTHING, BUT BECAUSE HE LOVES US AND BY GRACE HAS DONE ALL TO MAKE IT SO.

BARZILLAI WAS SAYING, TAKE CHIMHAM AND WHEN YOU SEE HIM THINK OF ME, AND DO TO HIM AS YOU WOULD DO TO ME. HOW AMAZING THAT GOD HAS PLACED BELIEVERS IN CHRIST AND WHEN THE FATHER SEES US HE THINKS OF CHRIST. IS THAT NOT GREATNESS? IS THAT NOT THE GRACE AND LOVE OF GOD?

MAYBE THE GREATEST SCENE ON THIS DAY IN DAVID’S LIFE  IS DAVID RIDING INTO HIS KINGDOM AND WHO IS RIDING AT HIS SIDE? CHIMHAM. GREATNESS IS RIDING WITH THE KING.

Discussion Guide 2 Samuel 19

LESSON ONE: GREATNESS DOESN’T ALLOW ONE TO ALWAYS FEEL GREAT. FEELINGS ARE FICKLE AND OFTEN CLOUD THE DETAILS OF WHAT GREATNESS REALLY IS.

-What ‘feeling’ is your biggest distraction?
-How have feelings distracted your judgment, at times?
-How have you learned to handle feelings?

LESSON TWO: DON’T DESPISE SIMPLE ASSIGNMENTS, FOR THEY MAY PROVIDE VERY IMPORTANT SKILLS NEEDED TO HANDLE GREATER RESPONSIBILITIES.

-Do you have a big lesson you learned in a small task?
-What job, volunteer position, ministry has been most influential in shaping you for your greatest tasks?

LESSON THREE: GREATNESS IS NOT ABOUT OUR WORTHINESS, IT IS ABOUT GOD’S GRACE AND LOVE AND WHAT HE DOES IN OUR LIVES TO PROVE HIS GRACE AND LOVE REGARDLESS OF OUR UNWORTHINESS

-How has God showed up in the mundane of your life?
-How has God proved Himself to you?

LESSON FOUR: THOSE WHO BEGIN TO MANIFEST THE GREATNESS OF GOD’S LOVE AND GRACE ARE DESTINED TO HAVE PEOPLE SAY ALL MANNER OF EVIL AGAINST THEM FALSELY. OUR RESPONSE IS TO REJOICE AND BE EXCEEDINGLY GLAD FOR GREAT IS OUR REWARD IN HEAVEN (MATT. 5:11-12).

-How have you handled persecution?