The Grind of Being King
During the period of history that the Book of Samuel was written, most of the region we know as the Middle East had no centralized empire ruling it on the scale that the Persians, Greeks, or Romans later did. It was in this wild, wild west of sorts, that God promised David to prosper him as King over Israel and, as such, bring Israel peace and stability. In 2 Samuel 7, we read,
“9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.” (2 Samuel 7:9-11)
So, what became of that promise to David and Israel? Well, when you’re telling a story, sometimes the best way to keep your audience interested is to leave them totally in the dark about how things are going to unfold, but other times, it’s to give them a quick sample that encapsulates just enough of what’s ahead that they know it’s worth their time to stay engaged! Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the latter is what the author of 2 Samuel chooses to do in 2 Samuel 8, and in so doing, we get an overview of the daily grind of David’s reign as King, that is, how David labored with God in what God promised to do with him and Israel.
As we look at this overview, it’s essential to keep in mind that a life of faith is not a life of producing God’s will for Him, but it is also not a life of passivity either. None of what God has given us through Christ can be created by us, but for it to be experienced by us, that is, to become the defining reality of our life, we must walk and labor with Him in it—i.e., Faith! Specifically, then,
Faith is not the passive reception of God's gifts in Christ but active, obedient participation in them.
So, with that as a preamble to what’s to come in this sermon, let’s look at the summary of the daily grind of David’s participation in the work of God for him and Israel. That is, how did David actively participate in the promises of God?
2 Samuel 8 summarizes the two main aspects of the daily grind of David’s participation in the promises of God as King over Israel.
The first aspect of the daily grind of leading Israel to participate in the promises of God had to do with the external threats against Israel.
David led Israel to defeat its enemies and establish its dominance over the territory God had promised them.
1 After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
Note: “David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines—that is, Gath and her suburban towns (1 Ch 18:1). That town had been “a bridle” by which the Philistines kept the people of Judah in check. David used it now as a barrier to repress that restless enemy.”1Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 199). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
2 And he defeated Moab and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.
“The Moabites were on Israel’s south-eastern borders.”2Payne, D. F. (1994). 1 and 2 Samuel. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st-century edition (4th ed., p. 326). Inter-Varsity Press.
“Why the change of affairs with Moab? David had partial Moabite ancestry through his grandmother Ruth (Ruth 4:10, 13, 16–17), and he had put his parents in safe custody in Moab during Saul’s pursuit of him (1 Sam 22:3–4). But the ancient Jewish Midrash (Tanḥuma, Buber recension, Vayērāʾ; 25) asserts that the king of Moab had killed David’s parents, who had been entrusted to his care.”3Hoffner, H. A., Jr. (2015). 1 & 2 Samuel (Vol. 2, p. 344). Lexham Press.
The Bible doesn’t tell us what instigated David’s aggression against Moab. However, we can be very sure that whether David realized it or not, it was a fulfillment of a prophecy of Balaam when Balak, the king of the Moabites, was trying to get God to curse the people of Israel as Moses was leading them in the wilderness. Balaam prophesied,
15 And he took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, 16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: 17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. 18 Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. 19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!" (Numbers 24:15-19)
“They were to remain in subjection until the death of Ahab (2 Kings 3:4–5).”4Keddie, G. J. (1990). Triumph of the King: The Message of 2 Samuel (pp. 66–67). Evangelical Press.
3 David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. 4 And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots.
Because chapter 8 is not meant to be a chronological order of events, it’s unclear which “he” is intended as the one restoring power at the river Euphrates. However, if it was David restoring power along the trade route of the Euphrates River, then he defeated Hadadezer to regain something Israel once held, which I see no evidence of. Therefore, to me, it’s more likely that Hadadezer is trying to re-establish control of the trade route along the Euphrates River that they once held so that he could counter the growing power and influence of Israel in the region. This would explain why David needed to respond the way he did. David could not allow a rival kingdom that threatened them to control a resource that would enable them to become more powerful.
“The text is silent as to what happened to the captured troops. Since Aram-Zobah was no longer independent, as Geshur and Hamath were, but became a province of David’s empire, the captured troops could have remained in Zobah under the command of Israelite governors. But they also might have been deployed elsewhere in David’s army, serving as a foreign contingent. I agree with Halpern that David’s hamstringing most of the horses that his army captured was in observance of the “law of the king” in Deut 17:14–20, since “Chariot horses were valuable spoil: David did not hamstring them for lack of outlets either among his subjects or among distant foreign nations.” Hamstrung horses could not form part of a chariot corps, but they could be used for hauling and to breed with asses to produce the royal mules used by David’s sons. Chariotry only became a part of Israel’s army under Solomon, who as part of his spiritual decline began to diverge from the “law of the king.” David incapacitated the chariot horses by hamstringing all but one hundred of them. We are left in the dark as to how he used the hamstrung ones, other than to breed mules. The remaining hundred could have been used as light cavalry, but there is no evidence that he used them for chariotry.”5Hoffner, H. A., Jr. (2015). 1 & 2 Samuel (Vol. 2, pp. 348–349). Lexham Press.
But the battle expanded beyond the king of Zobah because Hadadezer recruited some notable help! The Bible states,
5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians.
These victories significantly influenced Israel’s power in the region and also supplied them with tremendous wealth.
6 Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went. 7 And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.
These victories also increased Israel’s alliances. When you defeat somebody who has been bullying somebody else, it presents an opportunity to become friends with the people who were being bullied, and that’s exactly what happened.
9 When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze.
“The small states that banded together under Hadadezer’s leadership to oppose David were ethnically, linguistically, and culturally Aramean. They stemmed from waves of Aramaic-speaking tribes that had migrated into Syria centuries earlier. Other states in North Syria had insignificant if any, Aramean populations. They were Canaanite and Neo-Hittite in character. One of these was the kingdom of Hamath, modern Ḥama, located 120 miles north-northwest of Damascus on the Orontes River.”6Hoffner, H. A., Jr. (2015). 1 & 2 Samuel (Vol. 2, p. 353). Lexham Press.
The author then ensures us that David not only conquered other kings and kingdoms but, more importantly, that in doing so, he didn’t lose sight of how it was all happening and, thus, who it was ultimately all about—God!
11 These also King David dedicated to the LORD, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, 12 from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 14 Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.
The second aspect of the daily grind of leading Israel to participate in the promises of God had to do with the grind of governance. Specifically,
David organized and led a government that ensured Israel obeyed the Law God gave them.
In doing so, the writer of Samuel first noted that David aligned the government with the ethics and values made clear in the Law God gave Moses for Israel. For instance, the Bible says,
“1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. … you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:1,2 & 18b)
To sum up the alignment of David’s government with those values, the writer of Samuel wrote,
15 So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people.
David also organized the government to ensure the military, civil, and religious priorities and instructions in the Law were carried out with the highest degree of excellence possible.I’ve included some insights from various commentators, but I’m not going to comment on this other than to point out you can’t have a prosperous organization of any kind if it’s not being led by talented, wise, and disciplined leaders who are fully committed to the day-to-day grind necessary to achieve excellence. Therefore, when the writer lists the heads of the major areas of David’s government, he’s telling us who those talented leaders were who were fully committed to the day-to-day grind of leading Israel with David to achieve the success it achieved.
16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Seraiah was secretary, 18 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests.
“And he delegated authority: military (Joab, 8:16), civil (Jehoshaphat, 8:16, and Seriah, 8:17), ecclesiastical (Zadok and Ahimelech, 8:17) and, startling to us in these days of the civil rights movement, that of minority peoples (Benaiah, 8:18).”7Keddie, G. J. (1990). Triumph of the King: The Message of 2 Samuel (p. 72). Evangelical Press.
“recorder—historiographer or daily annalist, an office of great trust and importance in Eastern countries.”8Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 200). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
“The most significant new name in this list is that of Many scholars believe that he had earlier links with worship in Jerusalem, but this can only be a guess. Whatever his background may have been, he later became the sole high priest in Jerusalem, and his family retained the high priesthood for many centuries.”9Payne, D. F. (1994). 1 and 2 Samuel. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 326). Inter-Varsity Press.
“Zadok … and Ahimelech … were the priests—On the massacre of the priests at Nob, [1 Sa 22:19], Saul conferred the priesthood on Zadok, of the family of Eleazar (1 Ch 6:50), while David acknowledged Ahimelech, of Ithamar’s family, who fled to him. The two high priests exercised their office under the respective princes to whom they were attached. But, on David’s obtaining the kingdom over all Israel, they both retained their dignity; Ahimelech officiating at Jerusalem, and Zadok at Gibeon (1 Ch 16:39).”10Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 200). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
“Benaiah commanded the royal bodyguard, and he played an important part in the accession of Solomon as king (1 Ki. 1).”11Payne, D. F. (1994). 1 and 2 Samuel. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 326). Inter-Varsity Press.
Cherethites—that is, Philistines (Zep 2:5). Pelethites—from Pelet (1 Ch 12:3). They were the valiant men who, having accompanied David during his exile among the Philistines, were made his bodyguard12Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 200). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
the sons of David were priests Even though David was not from the tribe of Levi, his sons are named with the typical Hebrew word for a priest, kohen. For this reason, some translations use “ministers” here to indicate that they were not Levitical priests but served as royal advisors or administrators (compare 1 Chr 18:17).13Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., Whitehead, M. M., Grigoni, M. R., & Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (2 Sa 8:18). Lexham Press
So, what are we supposed to take from this? We certainly aren’t supposed to look at 2 Samuel 8 as a prescription on how to organize our businesses or government, but rather, we are supposed to look at what 2 Samuel 8 points us to—Christ and the promises we have in Him! Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses and replaced it with the New Covenant, which has new and far better promises than land and influence in the Middle East. Christ didn’t die to create a geo-political state in this world, but to save us from the kingdom of this world and everything it’s about into a kingdom that is not of this world that has a government of one—Christ! Consequently, our purpose in this world as His ambassadors is not to create governments and nations that are inherently of this world, but, rather, as we play our role in whatever society God has planted us in to love our neighbors and help that society prosper, we do so without compromising our first priority which is to flourish in the life Christ has given us while we help others access it and grow in it as well—AKA make disciples!
Therefore, when we look at the life of David, we don’t look at it to try and figure out how to thrive as the leader of an earthly kingdom; we look at it for what the Bible says it’s for, to point us to the Kingdom of Christ and how to thrive in that! As such, just as there was a day-to-day grind of faith for David to experience the promises and gifts God gave to him and Israel, there is a day-to-day grind of faith for us to experience the promises and gifts of God to us in Christ! Faith is not the passive reception of the promises and gifts of God but the active, obedient participation in them!
The New Testament is filled with passages explaining how to successfully accomplish the daily grind of faith, but for our purposes today, I’m only going to take you to one of them. I know we studied the book of 2 Peter last year, but I want us to revisit a passage in it because it so clearly frames the daily grind of what it takes to abound in the life we were given in Christ.
2 Peter 1:3-9 clarifies two truths about the day-to-day grind of experiencing the life of Christ.
The 1st truth about the day-to-day grind of experiencing the life of Christ is that,
The gifts we have in Christ give us the opportunity to abound in the divine nature of God now.
3 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, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
In verse 4, we have a transition statement that’s key to telling us what verse 3 is about.It says, “so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature …”. A “partaker” is somebody who is actively using something that they have been given access to that belongs to somebody else. When I partake of something, I’m participating or using something that doesn’t belong to me. Therefore, for me to partake in something, I have to have the right to experience it with the person it belongs to. In this case, Peter is speaking of the divine nature of God that we had no ability whatsoever to experience until Christ redeemed us and set us free from the curse of sin that literally separated us from that nature and, as such, gave us the right to experience it. However, the purpose of verses three and four is not to emphasize how or what we’ve been given but rather to point us to how we can experience it and thus the statement, “… so that through them you may be become partakers ...”
But there’s something else in that passage that significantly underscores what it’s setting up.2 Peter was written entirely in Greek, and the Greek language, unlike English, allows for something called the middle voice. The middle voice is a way to emphasize the necessity of the subject to accomplish what’s being said. For example, my grammar check wants me to correct “You yourself should do this” to just be written as “you should do this” because it sees the phrase “you yourself” as redundant. However, when a person who spoke ancient Greek read verse 4, they would immediately recognize that the word we translate, “you may become” was written in the middle voice and thus understand that Peter was underscoring the fact that we are responsible for how much we are going to partake in what we have access to! He was saying, “you yourself may become partakers.” Faith is not the passive reception of the promises and gifts of God but the active, obedient participation in them!
We’ve been given even better promises and gifts than David, but like David, if we don’t faithfully walk in what we’ve been given, we will not thrive in what we’ve been given!If we want to partake in the divine nature that Christ has given us then we ourselves have to do what Christ said to do so that we can—faith.
But what does that faith look like?How do we live it on a day-to-day basis? What is that I’m to be actively and obediently participating in?
The 2nd truth about the day-to-day grind of experiencing the life of Christ is that,
The powerful experience of the divine nature is not achieved through religious works or traditions but through the day-to-day grind of laboring with the Holy Spirit to transform the quality of our character and actions.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. (2 Peter 1:5-9)
The thing we are obediently participating in is the divine nature of God and therefore we cannot say we are living by faith, that is submitted to Him if we are not growing in the seven characteristics Peter just listed because they are the characteristics of the divine nature we have been made partakers of!
If you want to go deeper into the things Peter is telling us to supplement, that is, add to our faith in Christ, then check out the sermon our Student Pastor, Jason Gilbert, preached on this passage in our 2024 sermon series on 2 Peter.
However, for our purposes today, I just want you to see the bigger point of the passage, and that is for you yourself to be an actual partaker of the divine nature rather than somebody who simply has access to it, then you yourself (middle voice!) need to enter the day-to-day grind of the Holy Spirit in your life to change the quality of your character and actions to be of the quality of Christ!Furthermore, if you don’t enter the day-to-day grind of that work in the same way David went about the day-to-day grind of leading his government with diligent wisdom and effort, then the gifts and promises you’ve received in Christ will be of no effect in your life or anybody else (unfruitful).
Specifically, if you don’t engage the day-to-day grind of Holy Spirit of God to align the quality of your actions and character to be that of virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, then whatever faith you claim to have in Christ is going to provide nothing worthwhile to you or anybody else who knows you. However, if you do enter the day-to-day grind with Him, then everything in your life will begin to be transformed into everything that is His life, and it will have a profound impact on everything about your life and how it affects everyone around you!
Let me be clear: you will have no effective experience of God’s life in this life if you don’t diligently and intentionally engage the day-to-day grind of the Holy Spirit in your life to change the quality of your actions and character into the quality of His actions and character!
To wrap this up I want to share a sampling of the kind of questions we should ask ourselves to make sure the grind of our life is one that will be effective and fruitful in the experience of His life!