2 Samuel: The Reign of King David and Your Salvation

Download the 2 Samuel Bible Journal Outline

Note: the audio and video recordings are from a sermon that Pastor Dave delivered at Hope Bible Church (Columbia, MD).

If you would, open to Second Samuel. It’s a little much to read the whole book. So we gave you the goods this morning, through chapter seven. What I'm doing at our church is just preaching through the whole Bible, one book in one sermon. So that's what you're gonna get today, is all of Second Samuel, an overview. And no, this isn't the start of, you know, a weeklong revival preaching expositorily through every verse. But I will try and root the main themes in the overall grand plan of redemption in Second Samuel, in their context as we speak them. So I hope this will be a blessing to you.

Thank you for printing out these little flyers. So the young ones can follow along with a picture and on the inside is an outline, you can see the themes there. You can see the chapter overview. It kind of flows in three sections: the Triumphs in 1 through 10; the Transgression there in 11 through 12; and 13 to 24, the Trouble that ensues.

We want to live as Christians with a big picture of our big God, and his wonderful plan of redemption, through all of Scripture. Now, I would assume most of the sermons that we hear today are from the New Testament, but your church sets a wonderful example of teaching the Old Testament in classes and through preaching and sermons as well. But we want to have an understanding of all that God told us, not just some of it, right? So the Old Testament is about two thirds of the inspired Word of God. And so we're going to get a big picture today of this God who, loves us deeply. We must know him more. And the more that we know him, the more you will fall in love with him.

May I ask you a question. (As we consider Second Samuel, it's an overview of David's reign as king. It begins with the death of Saul and goes through David's life.) What would it be like for you if you were the king? Or the main queen? What would it be like if you just snapped your fingers and people did whatever you wanted? We try that as parents, we find out quickly that doesn't work. But if you had all the money you wanted, I mean, just fill the room up with gold, right? If you had all the power you wanted? All the influence you wanted? Well, that's where David resides throughout much of his life. Sometimes we think we can't really learn much from a guy like that. How can we learn from a guy who by the time he stopped amassing treasure for the temple, they just they quit counting it, there was so much of it, so much gold and silver, and there's just piles of it. How can we relate?

Well, as you look into Second Samuel with me this morning, I want to give you some ways to relate as you think through this grand story. Maybe there's someone out there who's not sure how to trust God, when your whole life seems like a trial. If that's you, you can watch King David. Maybe some of you don't know who to trust, except God. If that's you, watch King David. Maybe you're not sure how to repent, when you sin, not just the normal, acceptable sins that we have. But the big sins, the ones that plague your mind and your memory for your entire life. If you don't know how to respond and confess and repent in those situations, watch King David. If you're not sure how to have strength, to follow God as a young person when everyone else is telling you run and hide, but you know you're supposed to stand strong for Jesus Christ, watch King David. And if you're not sure how to serve God over the long haul, year after year, decade after decade. Watch King David. But don't be fooled. Second Samuel is not about King David, per se, it's about God.

And we will show you that this morning as we look into the text. Let me just set up this book, maybe a little bit more context than you had bargained for. But we start with Creation. We go to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that's important. Jacob is renamed Israel, from Jacob come the 12 Tribes. And we have Moses and the Exodus. And Joshua leads the people into the Promised Land, they take Jericho, and they're fighting strategy at this point is to scream and yell, they're not your normal fighting army at this point. Then we have the time of the judges, where everyone did what was right in their own eyes. And that leads us to the last judge, which would be Samuel, the name of first and second Samuel comes from him and his leadership to lead the people of Israel into the monarchy into the reign of the kings, so that they could be like the other people, even though they were called to not be like the other people. That was their desire. And so we have King Saul.

And that brings us to Second Samuel, with David, he is the second king of all Israel and Judah. And it wasn't so easy to get there. So now you kind of have a snapshot an overall idea of how we got to Second Samuel here. And I want to just cover some of David's triumphs. As you look at your outline there, the first 10 chapters reveals some major triumphs of David's life, and I just want to point out three of them.

One is his triumph over King Saul. Look at Second Samuel, chapter one, verse one, which starts with after the death of Saul. You know when your enemy dies, you can learn from David, his heart mourned. Not just for Jonathan, but also for King Saul. Now David's the one that freed Saul and everyone from their enemies, right? Saul killed his thousands but David his what? His ten thousands. So in 2 Samuel 2:13, as David considers Saul and Jonathan being killed in battle, we get to see a little glimpse into this heart that is, in a sense, hard to relate to, because it's so genuine. We don't really see many stories like this, and he calls Saul and Jonathan beloved and lovely.

If ever there were a group of people who would be considered a man's man, you know, the leader of all of the mighty men, it would be Saul and Jonathan and David and he calls them beloved, and lovely. His love for both of them runs deep. You know he loved Jonathan as a brother. But he loved Saul, the guy who threw spears at him, the guy who chased David and made him go all throughout the southern region, below Jerusalem, kind of South and to the west of the Dead Sea, where it looks like, you know, God put a third of all the rocks on the earth, that area where it's just dry and sandy, and there's nothing. David's running for his life in his twenties. David is doing this, you know, I'm the anointed one, and how could he consider someone who made him run for his life, lovely? Because he was the Lord's anointed. Saul was. I think it's instructive for us because there are people who are sometimes in authority that we might have a hard time with. And David is your example of how to respond to them. Because of who they are before God, made in the image of God, they are lovely because they have the potential to reflect the glory of God to the world. And David sees that, and David sees that this is the chosen leader for us. And so I will honor him simply because of that no matter what he does. And that is David’s heart for Saul, and his kindred spirit, Jonathan.

There are many, many lessons in David's triumph over Saul. It would not be easy though. Look in chapter three, verse one. Even though Saul and Jonathan, the next heir to the throne was dead, there arose a competition for the throne. It wouldn't be a cakewalk for David, even at this point. 2 Samuel 3:1 says, “There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David…” The word house in Scripture is used of a family's house, it's used of a certain lineage. It's even used of a kingdom. And you're going to need the log that, those definitions, for later as we come to the usage of house.

Then it says [2 Samuel 3:1], “And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.” David was in his 20s, his late 20s by this point, he would soon become king over Judah. Judah and Benjamin grouped together as Judah. While the other 10 tribes in the North would be called Israel. Okay, David is going to be made king over the southern region. And he would have the respect of the fiercest men of war. Chapter 23, calls those the mighty men. Uriah the Hittite, you know what David did to Uriah, Uriah was one of the mighty men. And he even had worthless fellows following him. David was engaged in heavy war for much of his 20s, all the way up until the time when he was 30, when he became king of Judah. And that was just the start.

War, real war, most of us just get to be out of the view of war. The view of Ukraine and Russia has brought that a little closer. A friend of mine just brought back an adopted daughter from Ukraine. They were in Ukraine in Kyiv, three weeks ago to pick her up. And thank the Lord Jesus, that they were able to get her and come back safely. Everything was complete before the war started, and then they hit the brakes. And now here they are with this sweet little girl that nobody wanted over there. She was in an orphanage. And God makes a way, even in great times of distress. But you might think if God's plan for you was trial after trial after trial, hey, I'm with you. Run for your life. You get in the cave, I'm with you. Run for your life. Again, I'm with you. Don't kill Saul, even though you're more savvy, even though I have given him into your hand, don't kill him. Don't take his life. I'm with you. As a 20 year old, 25 year old.

But David was not bitter. If you want to learn how not to be bitter in life when life seems a bitter pill, watch King David. The second triumph, after his triumph over Saul, was that he won over the people. Look at 2 Samuel 3:36. This was not a sanitized time in life. “And all the people took notice of it [it says in verse 36], and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people.” David is winning them over. What could a man do to win over all the people? Well, Abner was the commander of Saul's army, and Abner had made, one of your favorite children's names, Ish-bosheth. He had made Ish-bosheth the king over all Israel. That was Abner who did that. David was supposed to take over. So a lot of people didn't like Abner. And when Joab the king of David's army had killed him out of revenge. Instead of being excited, David mourned and wept deeply over the death of the commander of the army that was coming to attack him.

So we can learn from David about how to treat our enemies, [2 Samuel 3:36] “And when the people saw this, it pleased them.” Application: David taught them compassion on those who persecuted them. This may seem like a small thing, winning over the people. But has there ever been a time in our country where a person has won over all the people? I don't think so. But David did. And you can see that David lifted up the name of the person who was trying to kill him and wept over him. And that brought about something else that taught them grace. David made a promise earlier to yet another one of your favorite names, Mephibosheth. The young man who was lame in his feet. When Jonathan and Saul's situation turned dire, Mephibosheth’s caretaker picked him up and started running and dropped him and he became lame in his feed. And David would even bring this young man and set him at his table for his entire life. So that he could eat at King David's table, simply to show compassion on the one whom he loved, which was Jonathan.

So David first had triumph over Saul, he second had triumph over the people. And the third thing to look at for David's triumphs in chapters 1 through 10, is that he's finally made king of all the tribes of Israel.

Turn to chapter five and look in verse three [2 Samuel 5:3], “So all the elders of Israel came to the king of Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD…” Now when you see L-O-R-D in Scripture, that's the memorial name of God, that's Yahweh. Okay, so he “made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they had anointed David king over Israel.”

Verse four, “David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.” And this was all out of the ESV this morning. So it might be a little different than the NASB. David reigned 40 years. Anointed king as a boy, gave great victories to Saul and the people. He reigns 7 years over Hebron, Hebron is to the South and the West. And then 33 years over the kingdom which he brought together. David taught them patience. He didn't take what was owed him initially. He let it play out.

Sometimes we want to take the reins and make things happen that we know should happen. Have you ever been there church? Where you know something should happen and you want to make it happen really, really bad, and really fast? And yet David here knew he was king over all the tribes of Israel. And yet seven years went by. Now we're praying seven years don't go by in whatever you might be thinking about. But we hope that we have the patience for God's plan to come forward so that he can bring peace on every side. That's worth it. Right? That is worth it.

To this point, it was a good time to live in Jerusalem. And David had success wherever he went. Look in chapter eight, verse 14, David subdues, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Syrians, the Edomites, the Amalekites, and they all paid him tribute after he defeated them. You wonder where David got all his wealth, it was from all the people he defeated. 2 Samuel 8:14-15 says this, “And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went. So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people.” If you want to learn what real equity and real justice looks like, you can watch David. There's a pattern in David's early life. And David, followed the Lord no matter the cost. That is not easy. That is not easy. You know this. And what's so inspiring to me about your fellowship together, is that you continue to strive for the cause of Christ, though it's not easy. I have no doubt the success of this church and the name of Christ will be lifted up in this church for decades to come.

The problem is, that wasn't the end of the story for David. What does success normally breed? Pride, arrogance, and the big one, discontentment. Right? The sin that is part of every other sin, discontentment.

We think we'll have this wonderful, beautiful life. When we get everything that we want, all our earthly possessions. Work’s going good. Your boss is actually really nice. Your neighbors are really nice. But the Scripture shows otherwise. And this is the second section here, the Transgressions. When a man sets his heart on sin, the boundaries of reason do not follow. And David did just that. He got lazy in his success. He was the best warrior. He was the one that led them in and out, and it wasn't customary for the King to put himself on the line. But it was customary for the King to go into battle with his people. But he got lazy. He got another man's wife pregnant. He had her husband killed and then tried to cover it up.

Why do we think we will get away with sin? Your spouse might not know, your children might not know, your church might not know, your friends might not know. But God knows. And at any moment, he could bring that to light. And that's what happened with David. He sent Nathan the prophet to him in 2 Samuel 11:27 it says that, “the thing David had done, displeased the LORD.” And then in 2 Samuel 12:5, as Nathan is giving him this story, setting him up, tugging on David's character. He did have character still at this point, tugging on David's desire for mercy for others, he did have mercy for others at this point, tugging on David's desire to uphold the Lord, he still did want to uphold the Lord at this point, Nathan set him up good and said, “You're the man. You are the one who has done this thing.” And David agrees, Second Samuel 12:5, “As the LORD lives [as Yahweh lives], the man who has done this deserves to die.” At the end of verse six, his reasoning, “because he did this thing… because he had no pity.”

2 Samuel 12:7, “Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.” And he goes on to explain, “I gave you everything, I gave you the house of Saul, I gave you everything that came with it. I gave you and put you over all of Israel, all the tribes of Israel. They love you, David, and this is how you repay me. And if it wasn't enough, I would have even given you more,” he says.

“David said to Nathan,” 2 Samuel 12:13, “‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die.’” Who did David scorn? The LORD. All sin is ultimately against Yahweh. And if there's nothing that you get out of this, today besides that one fact, you will go away more strengthened towards holiness, then you came in. All sin is ultimately against Yahweh. That little sin, that big sin, and everything in between, it's against the holiness of God.

David had turned his heart inward. And the question is not, “Will you sin but what will you do when confronted with your sin?” Recently, I preached one of the hardest sermons I've ever had to preach. It was on Matthew 18. It's a church discipline situation. What will we do when we're confronted? One of the folks confronted in church discipline wanted to sit on the front row during that sermon, and while his name was being read, while being rebuked, he sat on the front row so that he could be next to the elders who wanted to wrap their arms around him and he said, “Can I stand by you after the service? Because I don't know what to say to people.” And as they came up and put their arms around him and hugged him, he felt the outpouring of love. Even though his feet were like stone and engrossed in sin. How will we respond when confronted with sin?

David was the most powerful man in the kingdom. A snap of his fingers would take the head off of anyone. But God chose to teach the people about confession and repentance through David. His confession was honest. He did not cover it up. He did not make excuses. And in his repentance, he did not turn his back on God. He turned to the living God. So much can be learned from looking at the life of David. And the child who was born to him and Bathsheba died seven days later [2 Samuel 12:18]. God would even raise up evil against David from his own house, that’s 2 Samuel 12:11. That would come as you know, in the form of his own son Absalom. But David and Bathsheba had another son, their second son, named Solomon. And we see that in 2 Samuel 12:24, God's opinion of Solomon. We just think of the end of Solomon's life but there was a whole lot more to Solomon than just the end when he went haywire.

2 Samuel 12:24, Yahweh loved Solomon. He loved him! That gives me hope. That gives me hope that God loves sinful people and his purpose and plan will come about in our lives, no matter how knuckleheaded we get sometimes. Praise God for his compassion. As you know his troubles would continue, chapters 13 to 24. We see in 2 Samuel 17:14 that God had ordained to “bring harm upon Absalom.” God raises up Absalom to rebuke David, and then God raises up people to rebuke Absalom.

Civil War ensues. David's men defeat 20,000. And 2 Samuel 18:8 is one of the oddest verses in all of Scripture. It says and the forest consumed even more than that. I don't know what that looked like. I don't think it was trees walking around and talking like the movies. But it says the forest devoured more people than the 20,000, who had already been killed by normal war. God fights in amazing ways.

David was crushed upon hearing of the death of Absalom. Absalom came to take over. 2 Samuel 18:33 says “And the king was deeply moved … and wept. ‘O my son Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom! Would I have died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” David was still a very compassionate man. But he was living under the rebuke of God. I think sometimes God blesses us because he knows how weak we are. No, he does. He truly does. When we are weak, he is strong. That's why people look at us. And they say, wow, you're like dying over there. But I see Jesus in you. I see how hard life is for you. But I see Jesus in you. I see you're not getting what you want but I see Jesus in you. And friends, that is a fine place to be. So long as people see Jesus in us, it doesn't matter what's happening to us. We raise up the name of Christ, and we lift his name high.

And you're probably wondering why I skipped over the chapter we read this morning. Because I wanted us to see just how bad David wrecked his life. And God knew all that. God knew that David wouldn't make wonderful decisions all the time. He knew that the nation would it be in Civil War because of David's poor leadership. Yeah, turn back to chapter seven. Verse 11, knowing all that David would eventually do in his weakest moment, yet God still blesses him. David's living in a house of cedar. That's a fancy house for that day and age. And God's Ark is dwelling in a tent and he said, “should I dwell in cedar and you in a tent?” You know the story and you know how that goes. And then verse 11, this is out of the ESV [2 Samuel 7:11-16], “the LORD will make you a house [David]. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever [David], I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.”

Knowing what happened to David and the people and how Solomon wrecked everything, and the nation became divided later, God says, “I will establish you forever,” knowing all of that. We somehow think we have to present this shiny image of self and, and just, you know, and do wonderful our whole lives and then maybe God will bless us. But listen, our lives are not about ourselves. They're about God. Second Samuel is not about David. It's about God working through his life, to bring about God's plan. David wanted to make God's name great. And in chapter seven, verse nine, he says [2 Samuel 7:9], “I will make for you a great name.” David came saying, “let me build you a temple, let me build something magnificent for your name.” And God in his compassion and love says, “No, I'm gonna make your name great, like the name of the great ones of the earth.” You want to make me a house. 2 Samuel 7:10, “I will appoint a place for my people Israel and willl plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more.”

Remember, they just came through the time of the Judges. That doesn't work. We had a king, Saul, the guy was crazy. That didn't work. For them to hear, that God is going to establish their name, and give them a place forever, blew their minds. Weary of violence, verses 10 and 11, “And violent men shall afflict them no more… and I will give you rest from all your enemies.” And not just you, verse 12, “I will raise up your offspring after you… and establish his kingdom.” Notice, “establish his kingdom,” not “his house,” “his kingdom.” You can look at 2 Samuel 3:19 and 2 Samuel 6:15, to see that “house” is used of all Israel there, over “the house of Israel,” it means the entire nation. But he changes there and switches to “kingdom” just to make sure we know we're talking about “a kingdom.” How long is this kingdom going to go on? Forever.

There's no rule on earth that goes on forever. No man keeps the throne, they all die, and they're gone. David's mind must be blown at this point. And remember, this is all David's doing really well. And God knows what's coming. But God still blesses him in that way. This must point to someone greater than a man who can live forever. This is how David's covenant with God affects your salvation. God promises someone to rule and to reign forever.

I don't know if you saw the interview. Ben Shapiro interviewed MacArthur awhile ago, and you know that he's very gracious. One's a Jewish man and the other man, MacArthur, is a Christian. And, you know, Ben looks at him and he says, you know, what's the biggest difference between being Jewish and being a Christian? And as you know, MacArthur doesn't really need a whole lot of, you know, encouragement to be direct. So he says, “Oh, well, that's, that's easy. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the difference.” And what's interesting is, and I don't know if Mr. Shapiro has ever looked into these things, but he said, “yeah, I've looked at all those texts. And I just think they're all taken out of context.” And MacArthur didn't launch into some thing. He's been preaching a little while, I guess he could have. He was very gracious. And he just said, “Well, you know, we believe Jesus to be the Son of God, the Son of Man.”

And I want to show you quickly that all the Old Testament prophets agreed. Century after century after century, that there would have to be someone greater than David because they kept speaking about David who was already dead, who would rule. Alright, you ready? Get those fingers ready. I'm going to flip through a couple of passages here. The first is Psalm 89. Beautiful passage, look in verses three and four [Psalm 89:3-4], “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah.” The Psalmists agree. David reigns in around 1000 BC.

What about Isaiah? You know, the prophet, Isaiah. He was around 700 BC, a few 100 years later. Look in Isaiah 55:3, “Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” David's already in the grave. Right? He is not dwelling on Earth, he's in heaven. Isaiah 9:6-7, right? We pull it out at Christmas time. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God…” Someone born is going to be called, “Mighty God,” Isaiah says. “Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.” The LORD of hosts will do it. 300 years after David died that was written, so it couldn't just be about a reign of Solomon. It had to be more than that. So Isaiah agrees that it was more than just David in his line that something had to come who would bring forth an Everlasting Father, a Mighty God,

The prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah 33:17, “For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.” That was 400 years after David died, Jeremiah said that! The prophet Ezekiel, “David my servant shall be their prince forever.” That's Ezekiel 37:25. How could a man who is already dead be their prince forever? It says, “And David my servant shall be their prince forever.” David, he's dead. How could David be their prince forever? David in Scripture is now a type looking for the Christ. The beauty of this is that the Christ was the fulfillment of this covenant, that brought about your forgiveness. Through this man, through his line.

We see this when the angel in the New Testament speaks to Mary and then speaks to Joseph. Look in Luke 1:30-33, “And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Last time I looked, there's no king in Israel. There's no pure lineage from the line of David. That's a big problem for the Jewish people. Big problem. Because if it is just through the line of David, which is very specific, then there should be someone there ruling and reigning through his line and there isn't. But you and I know there is someone ruling and reigning, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And friends, no matter what goes on in our lives, no matter what is going on in the world, no matter what happens at this church, or the church that I have the privilege of pastoring at, or any church. Jesus is in control.

When the angel spoke to Joseph, in Matthew 1:20, he says, “Joseph, son of David…” See Jesus is of the line of David. And he was the Son of God because he was born of the Holy Spirit through the Virgin. So his true, pure lineage came from Joseph. He had a right to the throne because of that. And he was the Son of God because of being born of the Holy Spirit. So he had the legal rights. He had the earthly rights, he had the eternal rights. And Jesus Christ comes to us and gives us access to the Father. He gives us access to forgiveness. David needed that. Do you need that?

I don't know if everyone here knows the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But I pray that if you don't, that today, right now, you give yourself to Jesus Christ, who rules and reigns and you can serve him now, or you can bow the knee later. But I beg you, you're in a wonderful church, who will love you and teach you the Word. And you're in a place where you can know that Jesus Christ can bring forgiveness for anything you've ever done. Scripture says David had the mind of an angel. Probably the second wisest person to ever live. It says that over and over and over again in the Scriptures. David, one lady came to him and says, “you know all things.” A little hyperbole. But knowing all things, he still sinned greatly. There's nothing you have done, that God cannot forgive. Nothing. No bitterness in your heart, he cannot forgive. No great transgressions, he cannot forgive.

Why not today? Why not take the opportunity to serve God and to love Him with everything you have. Just leave it all behind, all the earthly pursuits. Anything that gets in the way of your relationship with God, is not worth it. Anything! We bring trouble and trial on ourselves and we forget that God is the Blessed. God is the Sovereign. God is the One who brings joy as we will abide with Jesus Christ. Right, John 15? God is the one who brings these things to us. Why would we pursue anything else?

David realized that. He wrote what is called a song of deliverance. 2 Samuel 22:47 he says, “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation.” David knew God was not just his leader, he was his savior. “Great salvation he brings to his king,” 2 Samuel 22:51, “and shows steadfast love to his anointed, [and] to David and his offspring forever.”

See, Second Samuel is about God because it was God who gave David success on the battlefield. It was God who gave the hearts of the people to David. It was God's plan for him to rule and reign. And without God, David was nothing. But with God, the throne of David endures forever. God used David and his reign and his rule to bring about the greatest blessing the world has ever known. The forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our hearts should be invigorated today, that we have not and cannot derail God's ultimate purpose and plan for our lives. This day, this very day, you can live for Jesus Christ. We have worshipped him, you can continue to worship him all day. You can praise his name and you can be closer to Jesus. And friends, that's what he wants. He wants you, you specifically. He wants you and he has done everything to make a way for you to know him. I pray that we all can say with David, “Blessed to be the rock of my salvation.” Let's pray.

Lord God, we are so thankful for your love which is never ending. We thank you for showing that in Scripture, over and over again, even in David's life. That your plan and your purpose will come to fruition.

Father, we pray that you would grip the hearts of everyone here.

Friends, let's just take a moment right now and ask God to help us to live for him and to trust him with our entire lives.

Father, you are the rock of our salvation. You are the one who loves us and gave your son to die on the cross to pay for sin, that we might know you. Praise God! Amen.