2 SAMUEL 21 PURSUE GODS HEART FOR YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES2018 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Samuel 21 Pursue Gods Heart For Your Circumstances

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2018. 2 Samuel chapter 21, as we continue our journey.

And we're in the home stretch now. We just have a few verses left here in 2 Samuel. Not a few verses, a few chapters left as we make our way to the end of this book and this series. And I do invite you to be praying with me about what happens after 2 Samuel.

2 Samuel and what the Lord might have in store for us and it's something that we're seeking the Lord about. So we have a few more weeks left, probably about four weeks left here in 2 Samuel, but we're continuing to look at the idea and the concept of pursuing God's heart. Now as we work our way in these closing chapters, I said this at the beginning of 2 Samuel, but it's been a while, but

♪♪

that most likely happened at different points in David's history. So not necessarily after the sin with Bathsheba and, you know, that kind of thing, but at different points in the history of David being king, these different events happened. And so we're going to be looking at a few different circumstances tonight and continuing that over the next several weeks. And so let's begin our journey through 2 Samuel chapter 21 this evening.

by reading verses 1 through 6, and then we'll get into the message that God has for us. 2 Samuel chapter 21 verse 1 says, Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered, It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites. So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them.

Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites. The children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah. Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord? And the Gibeonites said to him,

We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us. So he said, whatever you say, I will do for you.

Then they answered the king, as for the man who consumed us and plotted against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel, let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us. And we will hang them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord chose. And the king said, I will give them. Here as we look at chapter 21, we have a very interesting situation here.

And maybe a little bit of a difficult one for us to grasp as we read through it and are far removed from the context and the culture that these things were happening in. And yet in the midst of that, there is some great insight that the Lord has for us as we look at the example of David in the midst of this situation. I've titled the message this evening, Pursue God's Heart for Your Circumstances.

Here, David finds himself in the midst of this circumstance where there is a famine that's been going on for some time. And he begins to ask God what's going on. He begins to realize there's something more going on besides just the lack of water and the rain hasn't been coming. But

but that there's a spiritual issue going on. And so he begins to pursue God's heart. Now, as I mentioned at the beginning, this probably didn't happen at the end of David's reign. This probably happened early in David's reign. He was in Jerusalem at this time, and so he had been king for a little bit,

But it's probably earlier in his reign when this happens. Soon after, he takes over from Saul, and that's why it's such a prevalent part of the situation and the circumstances that are going on here. And so he finds himself as the king now in the midst of these circumstances and trying to figure out what needs to happen. He calls out to the Lord. And so a good example for us to pursue God's heart in the midst of the situations, the circumstances that we face here.

We need to find out from God what's going on and why are we facing the things that we are facing. Well, there's five things we'll walk through as we work our way through this chapter. The first one is found in verses one and two, and that is that famines might be a judgment for sin. And this may not be exciting for us to consider, but it is a truth that we need to consider that

There are famines, there are hardships and difficulties that we face, and they might be a direct result of sin that has taken place. In verse 1 again it says, Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered, It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.

So as the famine is going on, it's three years consecutively. So it's not, you know, a year and then a couple years later, there's another famine and then a couple years. No, it's back to back. Three years in a row, they've had an ongoing famine.

And food is beginning to run out, and it's hard to find, you know, the fruit and the vegetables and the crops. And they're having to scramble. And, you know, the first year of a famine, you can imagine, you're like, okay, you know, this happens from time to time, and next year it'll be better. And then the second year hits, and it's like, okay, maybe we need to start to ration a little bit. Maybe we need to prepare ourselves. And then the third year hits, and now David's like, you know, this isn't just natural cycles, right?

Something's going on. And so it tells us then at that point that David inquired of the Lord. He begins to realize this is not just normal life and circumstances, but there's something that God probably wants to speak in the midst of this. And there's probably something that has happened that has caused God to allow this to take place in our lives. Pastor David Guzik puts it this way, David didn't see a spiritual reason in every problem,

But he did not shut his eyes to the hand of God in circumstances. And there's a little bit of a balance that we need to walk in in the midst of this concept in that not every problem, you know, is a direct result of sin or judgment from God. But we also need to be careful not to go too far to the other side in circumstances.

you know, assume that no time in our lives is the problems that we face and the difficulties and the famines that we experience a direct result of sin. Sometimes famines are a direct judgment for sin that God is allowing in our lives.

And so as David inquires of the Lord, he hears from the Lord. And this is a clue for identifying when those times of, you know, famine might be times of judgment. The Lord will tell you when you ask him, okay? Sometimes we're calling out to the Lord and we're not hearing something back. And that's probably a good indication that it's not necessarily a direct result of sin, but

But when God is bringing some severity on your life because he wants you to address a situation, when you ask him about it, he will tell you about the situation that's at hand and why he's allowing the things that he's allowing. And that's what we see happen here in verse 1. It says, Now there's a little bit of history here that says,

That helps us to understand why this was such a serious thing that God would bring this type of famine upon them to call it to their attention. And so the author here of Samuel explains a little bit to us in verse 2.

And so here's the context for why this is a big deal and what's going on here. It goes back to Joshua chapter 9. Remember when Israel first went into the Promised Land?

And they're starting to conquer and, you know, they conquered Jericho and they are defeated in Ai, but then they come back and they conquer and news is beginning to spread. And these messengers come from a great distance away and their bread was fresh, hot out of the oven when they left. But now it's moldy and crusty and their clothes are falling apart because they've come such a long distance. And they said, we've heard about your God and we want to make a treaty with you.

And Joshua and everybody looked at that and said, wow, look at this bread. It's really old and moldy. It must be true. They're from a far distance away. And so they made a treaty with them. We will not attack you. We will not hurt you. We will be allies together and we will protect you. That was the covenant that they made in Joshua chapter nine. And then a couple of days later, they get to their city and they realize this is our neighbors. They're not from a far distance away. They tricked us into this covenant.

promise, into this commitment that we made with them, but it's a commitment nonetheless. And so they hold to that commitment until King Saul. And in his zeal, it says, for the children of Israel and Judah. It's a misplaced zeal. It's a misguided zeal. It's a passion and a zeal that was applied incorrectly. But in his zeal,

Apparently, he started to attack the Gibeonites and tried to drive them out of Israel. It was a violation of their covenant. It was a sin against God. And God was so offended by it that he decides, this, I can't just let it go. There needs to be some reparation for the damage that was done. It's a sin against

And I need to call your attention to it. And so God allows a famine in Israel for three years, year after year after year. Some famines, some distresses, some afflictions, some difficulties in our lives are direct judgments for sin. Not all famines. And so again, we have to walk the balance here. Don't make the mistake of Job's friends and say, Job, you're suffering, there must be sin. No.

But then don't go too far to the other side and say, you're suffering, but it must not be sin. The reality is, you're suffering. Well, it's appropriate to inquire of the Lord and ask the Lord what's going on.

Because sometimes it is of sin. Sometimes it is a result of what's going on. Now, think about what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11. Now, he wrote this specifically about communion, but I think you'll understand it. It applies in a pretty general way. In verse 30 of 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says,

For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world.

Paul here talking about the way that they were partaking of communion and how they were doing it in a way that was not glorifying and honoring to the Lord. And he attributes that, he says, for that reason, because of the way that you are approaching the body of Christ, many of you are weak and sick and even some have died. That there is a...

a direct causation of these things happening in you. And he says, if we would judge ourselves, if we would deal with the sin ourselves, then we wouldn't have to experience that kind of chastening from the Lord. But God brings that chastening to separate us from the world, to help us identify these issues of sin. He allows famines in our lives so that we can recognize sin and repent and turn from it.

And so this idea of famine being a judgment for sin, don't think of it as a, well, God hates you, so he brings a famine, but God loves you. So he allows things to get dry. He allows things to get difficult, to get your attention, to call you out of sin, to call you to repentance, that you might experience what he has for you. Famines might be a judgment for sin. They're not always a judgment for sin. Again, there's that balance.

But also, we can't just say it's not for sure guaranteed an issue of sin. It might be. It's something that you and I will wrestle with probably until we're Harvey's age. And he's gotten over it now, so he doesn't have to wrestle with it anymore. But until then, we're going to have to wrestle with this. This past week,

Kim and I got to have a fun experience. Our refrigerator died, and our ice tray was turned into a swimming pool, and all of our food in the freezer and fridge, you know, well, it didn't go well. And so, you know, Pastor George told me it's probably God trying to deal with my sin of gluttony, and he's, you know, direct judgment for it. No, I'm just kidding. But, you know, things like that happen, and

I have to stop. I have to say, Lord, is there something that's going on? As we go through experiences as a church, as we go through experiences as a family, it's appropriate to inquire of the Lord and give God an opportunity. God, is there something you want to say to me about this situation, through this situation? Is there something that you're calling me out of in this situation?

It's important to understand, though, as God calls us out of sin or as he allows famines to deal with sin, it's always done with mercy and grace. And I want to remind you of what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 103. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.

He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep us his anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. Here's what you need to understand about these famines that might be judgment for sin. Those judgments are still merciful and gracious and slow to anger. It's not that God is angry in the sense that he's done with you and so he's striking you with a famine. It's

In his mercy and grace, in his abounding mercy, in his patience, he could just take you out and that's what you and I probably just deserve. But in his mercy and grace...

He allows famines. In verse 9 of Psalm 103, he says he will not always strive with us. There is a striving with us. There is a wrestling that goes on. And again, God is using these circumstances to wrestle with us, to pin us down, to get us to cry uncle and call out to him and invite him to speak to us about what he wants to do. But I always appreciate verse 10. He has not dealt with us according to our sins. No matter what judgment God allows us,

For us in this life, no matter what famines God allows for us in this life, it's never the fullness of what we actually deserve. He never deals with us according to our sins and measures out to us exactly what we deserved.

That's not the way that God deals with us. He doesn't punish us according to our iniquities. He does punish us in dealing with our iniquities, but not at the level that we deserve. He strives with us, but not for forever. And it's to call us in his mercy and grace to repentance and to right relationship with him. And so pursuing God's heart for your circumstances. We all go through hardships. We all go through trials. We all go through afflictions. Many times,

They're just part of the things that happen in life and part of the trials that God is using to shape us. But sometimes...

We need to allow God to speak to us because it might be a judgment for sin and we might need to allow God to deal with our hearts in some area. And here God points it out. He calls it out. Again, it's not some mystery. It's not some thing where you're never going to find out and so he's just going to keep on punishing you. No, God knows how to speak to you and so invite him to show you those things that he is speaking to you about through the circumstances that you are dealing with.

Well, moving on to verses 3 through 9, we get point number two, and that is restitution for broken commitments may be needed. Here, this covenant was broken. The covenant that was made between Joshua and the people of Gibeon, now Saul has broken that covenant, and God has allowed this famine. The sin has already been committed, and Saul has already died, but

The issue is not resolved because, well, some payment needs to be made. In verse 3, it says, And so when we're dealing with situations where a famine might be a judgment for sin, here's something that we need to ask and consider is,

What can I do to make this right? This is what David asked them. How can I make this right? And how do you know when it's right? Well, David says at the end of verse three, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord. Right now, the Gibeonites are not in a position of, we're so blessed to be near Israel. We're blessed to be related to Israel or to know Israel, to be part of Israel. They can't bless the inheritance of the Lord that is the nation of Israel. They can't bless them.

Because they've been wounded. They've been hurt severely. And so David says, how can I make this right? How can I, what can we do to help you come into a position where you can say, bless Israel. Lord, may you bless them. What do we need to do? How can I make atonement? What shall I do for you, David says. This is something that we may overlook many times in our broken commitments, in our

Hurts that we've inflicted upon people and our issues that have, you know, caused problems for other people. Sometimes we overlook this understanding of restitution. And not just apologizing and not just confessing, but above and beyond that, making the hurt, the harmed person whole. In God's law, he spoke about restitution.

As he was establishing the nation, he said, look, when things are stolen, they need to be returned, but then not just that by itself, but plus on top of that, there needs to be some extra given in order to compensate for the loss and for the time without.

And depending on the type of crime and stuff, he gave different amounts of restitution and different ways of figuring that out. But I would ask you to consider this one that he shares in Numbers chapter 5. He says,

He shall make restitution for his trespass in full, plus one-fifth of it, and give it to the one he has wronged. Notice a few things here in this instruction that God gives. First of all, it's a matter of unfaithfulness against the Lord. It's a broken commitment. You broke that relationship with God. You broke that commitment to obey God, to walk with God in some form or fashion. He says, you're guilty.

But it's not just the Lord who's involved because at the end of verse 7, he talks about the one who is wronged. And so sinning against someone is a matter of unfaithfulness against the Lord. That is a reality. When we sin against the Lord, usually someone else is wronged. Someone else is hurt and harmed when we sin against the Lord. And so here's what he says we should do. First of all, we should confess the sin.

And we have the great and glorious promise of the New Testament through Jesus Christ that when we confess, he's faithful and just to cleanse us and to forgive us and wash us from all unrighteousness. Great, but that's not the end. He shall make restitution for his trespass.

So however you wronged, whatever was hurt, whatever was harmed, whatever was, you know, has gone missing or needs to be replaced, that needs to be done. But then on top of that, he says, plus one fifth of it. That needs to be given as well. This is a requirement that God has for his people.

And it's, again, something that we may overlook, this aspect of broken commitments and our unfaithfulness and the hurt and the harm and the things that we do to people and against people. We may just try to like, you know, apologize, confess, and then just move on. But it might be appropriate for you to consider how to make things right, to change things so that that person that was hurt, that was harmed, that was wronged, could turn around and say, may the Lord bless you.

And you need to consider

How you might be able to do that. Well, verse four tells us the Gibeonites' response. It says, and the Gibeonites said to him, we will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us. So he said, whatever you say, I will do for you. Then they answered the king, as for the man who consumed us and plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel, let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us

So here's the request of the Gibeonites. We're not going to try to use this to get money. This isn't like some bribe. We were seriously offended. We were seriously hurt. He tried to kill us. And we don't want you to just go kill random people. No, the household should pay. Saul should pay. He's dead, so his descendants. Deliver to us seven of his descendants...

They will die before the Lord, and that will be sufficient for us. And David responded, yes, good plan. I agree. I will give them to you. Verse 7. Verse 8.

So the king took Armani and Mephibosheth, a different Mephibosheth than you're thinking of, and the two sons of Rizpah, the daughter of Ai, whom she bore to Saul, and the five sons of Mishael, the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel, the son of Barzillai, the Mehalothite,

And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord. So they fell, all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days at the beginning of the barley harvest. So this is their request, seven men from the household of Saul, David,

to the request and delivers over these guys who are named here, not Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, and we'll talk about that in just a moment. That's what's in verse 7. But these other guys, similar names, but complicated names, some of them too. But they're delivered over to the Gibeonites. They are put to death,

before the Lord, it says, this is, you know, not just some random senseless thing, but this is before the Lord that they are judged in response to the situation that's at hand as a result of Saul's behavior against the Gibeonites.

This is a little bit difficult for us to wrap our minds around, I think, in our mindset, in our culture, in our society. But it is a reality that when there is a king, when there is a leader, an authority, and sin is committed by that authority, by that leader, it affects the people under his authority.

When you as a parent sin, it affects your children. Whether you sin directly against them or not, there is an impact. There is an effect. And this is what we're seeing played out here in this account. This is something that God takes seriously. It's a serious issue. It's not a minor thing that has happened. William MacDonald, the commentator, puts it this way.

You can look at this and say, look, that commitment that they made to the Gibeonites, that was hundreds of years ago. Like seriously, that was longer than that.

then the nation of the United States has been in existence. You know, from us to the beginning of the United States, when Saul behaved this way to when that promise was made to the Gibeonites, it was more time than that. So think about that, okay? If, you know, we as a people promised at the beginning of our nation to relate to certain people in a certain way and made an oath and made a commitment, God says, okay, I'll hold you to that.

It's that serious. You make a commitment, you make a promise, you give your word, you promise before the Lord. It's something that he takes seriously. So much so that when that commitment is broken, several hundred years later, and it's not dealt with, he says, you know what? I need to bring a famine upon this people. I need to bring a famine to get their attention because they've done something serious. They've broken this commitment that they made, this covenant that they made.

This is a really good reminder for us to how God feels about our commitments. When we vow, when we promise, when we agree, God wants us to be men and women of faithfulness. And when we agree to something, when we commit to something, he holds us to that. It's a serious thing before the Lord. And when it's broken, that's a serious thing. And even if a long time has passed, we're still going to be faithful.

We don't know how long exactly passed between Saul's death and now when this famine hits in the land of Israel, but it doesn't really matter because if God's holding them to that commitment that was made 200 years or 400 years earlier, at this time, it doesn't matter how much time has passed between the crime and now this famine, God's saying, this is important. I need you to deal with this. Restitution for broken commitments may be needed. God may be requiring that. This is something for us to pray about. Things that we have lost

Done. Broken commitments, broken promises, hurts and harms that we have inflicted upon others. It might be important and appropriate, and some of the situations that we face directly today might be a direct result of us not really making things right in those circumstances, in those situations.

Again, not every time. And sometimes, hey, things are done. They happened a long time ago and God may just say, just wash the slate clean. You're never going to pay that back. Don't even try. That's what he does with us in our relationship with him. He says, don't try to pay me back. You can't earn your salvation or earn forgiveness. No, just wipe the slate clean and, you know,

Like he told the woman who was caught in adultery, you know, go and sin no more. We're not going to try to just stop that. We'll wash that away. Now go forward and sin no more. And many times that is the way that God works in our lives. But sometimes it's something we need to consider and not just, you know, throw out the idea. Restitution for broken commitments may be needed. There was a situation a while back here within the church where

There was someone who was stealing from people within the body. And as we became aware of it, we had to go through the process of church discipline. And we sat down with the person and talked through and set some parameters and sought a path for repentance and reconciliation. Part of that was, well, there needs to be an effort to pay back what was taken. And it didn't go that way. And

We don't see that person around. Now, a long time has passed. What if that person comes back? You know, it may be appropriate for us to just say, wash the slate clean, go and sin no more. But it also may be appropriate to say, repayment is important. It's a part of repentance. It's a part of making things right. Restitution for broken commitments might be needed.

Maybe there's some situations. Maybe there's some people. Maybe there's some, you know, conversations you need to have to go back to someone and say, how can I make this right? How can I turn things around so that you could say, may the Lord bless you. How can I, what can I do? And, you know, depending on where that person's at, they may have a reasonable request or they may have an unreasonable request. And, you know, that's something that you have to take before the Lord. But you need to ask the Lord for sure.

Lord, is there something I need to do to make this right, to deal with and make restitution for what has gone on? These things don't go away just with time. Hundreds of years could pass, and it'd still be an issue that God wants to address. An apology just by itself might not be enough. Confession by itself, hey, we're blessed with the promise, you know, we're cleansed and washed with confession, but that's good with helping you get back to right relationship with the Lord, but

But many times there is a little bit more that God asks of us. As you come back to right relationship with him now, make things right. Restitution may be needed. Well, sticking in this same passage, but looking at verse 7, we get point number 3, and that is keeping your commitments in

is a priority. And I just want to focus on this briefly in verse 7. It says, So here's David. He finds out Saul has broken a covenant, and God is upset about that and dealing with that, calling them to deal with that broken covenant.

Meanwhile, David has made a covenant with Jonathan that he would not harm Jonathan's descendants, that he would not harm Jonathan's family. And so David has to balance this. He has to deliver over seven descendants of Saul, but he spares Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan. Remember, he's the one who is lame and he brought into his house and sat at his table. Well, he spares that Mephibosheth

in order to keep his commitment, his covenant to Jonathan. Because, well, if he didn't know it before, he's learning it right in the midst of the situation. God takes those commitments and covenants seriously. He made a promise to Jonathan. And so he has to walk this balance. He has to find a way to fulfill the obligation without breaking his own promises.

And this is something I think that is important for us to consider because it is something that we will have to deal with. And that is, we've made promises, we've made commitments, we've made agreements, we've made covenants with people. And many times those commitments are going to be hard to keep. And maybe there is some working out that we have to do to try to do what's necessary, but also keep the commitment and the covenant that we've made.

And that's what we see David do. So he's fulfilling the obligation, but he's also being careful to maintain and preserve his own commitments to the Lord. This is something that God cares about. He cares about our word. He wants you to be a man or woman of your word, a man or woman who is credible when you say something that your word means something.

Jesus taught us to let our yes be yes and our no be no, and anything else comes from the evil one. That's Matthew 5, verse 37. We need to be faithful to the commitments that we make. I found this Psalm of David interesting. Psalm chapter 15. David is asking the question, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle?

Lord, who can live with you? And he walks through a bunch of things. He who walks uprightly, he who does not backbite with his tongue, you know, he is doing this and doing that. But one of the things he mentions there in verse 4 is he who swears to his own hurt and does not change. This idea of swearing is not cursing, it's promising. It's committmenting. It's covenanting. It's making an agreement, making a commitment that

And then you stick out that commitment, even if it hurts. You don't change. You don't flake on that commitment, but you hold fast to it. David, as he's thinking about who can abide with the Lord, who can walk with the Lord, he

He says, the one who is faithful to his word. Keeping your commitments, as far as God is concerned, it's a priority. It's something he cares about. And so David spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because the Lord's oath that was between them. They made a promise. And I understand it would probably be easy for us to kind of think like, well,

I mean, maybe we're just making this too big of an issue, you know, keeping your word and keeping your promises and, you know, so hard to do that. Here's the thing, though. We're talking about pursuing God's heart. What is God like? Does God keep his commitments? Does God keep his word? Does he ever say something that he doesn't intend to do? Does he make a promise and hold to that even to his own hurt, even to his own son's

Dying upon the cross for our sins. He absolutely does.

He made a way of salvation. He promised that way of salvation from the beginning in Genesis chapter 3, right? He promised he would bring a savior and he held that promise to his own hurt, at his own expense. This is the way that God is and so it's not ridiculous, it's not crazy for God to ask the same thing with us but also on the other side of that, oh man, it gives us such great confidence in the promises that we have of God. Pastor Dave Guzik puts it this way.

If God has such high expectation that men keep their covenants, we can have great confidence that he will keep his covenant with us. There is an emerald rainbow around the throne of God to proclaim his remembrance to his everlasting covenant with his people. That heavenly scene with the rainbow around the throne is

reminding God of his promises, of his commitments, of his covenants that he's made with us. He will be faithful to them. He will not go back on them. If he expects that of us, you can know he would be faithful to his own word, his own commitments.

We need to work hard. We need to do our best to keep our commitments and be careful to make commitments that we cannot keep. Be careful not to make commitments that we cannot keep and make promises that we can't fulfill on or follow through on. We need to be careful so that we are men and women who say yes and no and that's what we mean. That's our word.

Well, moving on to verses 10 through 14, we get point number four, and that is people should be treated with dignity that honors God. People should be treated with dignity. As we deal with different circumstances, this is an important one. We need to treat people with dignity in a way that honors God. In verse 10 through 14, it says this. Now Rizpah, the daughter of Ai, took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock and

And David was told what Rizpah, the daughter of Eai, the concubine of Saul, had done. Then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan, his son, from the men of Jabesh-Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them up after the Philistines had struck down Saul in Gilboa.

Now as these guys are turned over to the Gibeonites, in this passage,

we see some interesting behavior of the mom of some of these guys. She takes sackcloth and goes and spreads it out for herself.

either to lay upon or to be like a tent over her. And she is standing guard there where these men are executed and hanged. By the way, when it talks about them being hanged, don't think of a noose. The idea was that they would be killed and that their bodies would be hanged as a symbol, as a sign of judgment.

And so these guys are hanged there. They've already been executed and their bodies are, you know, pinned up in some form or fashion. And she is there to shoo off the birds, to keep away the beasts of the field by night, to protect the bodies from being devoured by the animals.

For a body to be devoured by the animals, for them culturally, for them in their mindset, that was the most shameful thing that could happen, to allow someone's body to just be eaten by birds or by dogs or whatever was going around. And so she went there to prevent that from happening. It's an interesting thing to think about. Matthew Henry talks about it this way. He says, she attempts not to violate the sentence passed upon them,

This is an interesting balance that this woman walks. And just, I mean, I can't even imagine what she must have been experiencing, really. Here she is, she's a mom. These are her sons, five of her sons hanging there.

There must have been all kinds of crazy emotions that she was going through. The horror of watching them decay. The time frame that's being described here is there's a couple months that are passing by.

The horror of watching that, the responsibility of shooing off. And can you imagine being there and shooing off animals of your own children, shooing away the birds so that their body would not be eaten? It must have been horrible things, but it is incredibly admirable how she restrained herself. She didn't just go take them down. I'm sure she wanted to. She didn't just go handle things and take things into her own hand, but she honored God and

and allowed the sentence, the judgment that God had provided. She submitted to God. But at the same time, she didn't just turn her back and walk away and say, you know, I can't think about it. It's too hard. She kept herself present to give her son's dignity and honor and to keep the animals away. But at the same time, she honored the Lord and didn't do all of the things that she wanted to do

with her sons that were there. It's an interesting balance that we see here.

She was treating them with dignity, but in a way that honored God. And you could see treating them with dignity, you know, and taking it too far, you know, and hey, this is my boys. These are my kids. I can't let, I can't see this. I can't allow this. I can't watch this. And, you know, swooping in, maybe even, you know, trying to prevent them being turned over to the Gibeonites in the first place, you know. She could have tried to prevent. She could have tried to work things out. But no, no, she honored God while at the same time

behaved well, and treated her boys with dignity. You know, sometimes we try to rescue people, and we need to be careful that we seek God's heart when we're swooping in to help people. It's good that we want to help people and have compassion, but sometimes we do it in a way that doesn't honor God because we're not really seeking God's heart. And as you know, it's hard to watch people

experience judgment or suffer, and maybe they need to. Maybe that's part of what God's doing, and we can't just help people because they're hurting. As crazy as that may sound coming out of my mouth, but we need to seek the Lord and invite the Lord to speak to us about how we can help in a way that honors Him. We treat people with dignity, and we don't just scowl and spit at the people who are being judged. You know, that's not dignity either, but

But there's that balance of walking with God, honoring God, and ministering to people who are experiencing judgment as a result of sin. God had some pretty strong words to say about the false prophets. He says that they've healed my people slightly, saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace.

The false prophets, seeing the people of Israel hurting at all the calamity of judgment that was coming, they would swoop in and say, God has promised there is going to be peace and he's going to do this work. And they were just promising lies and encouraging the people not to repent, which is what they really needed most. But instead of helping them repent, they kind of soothed them for a little bit until they continued on in that sin and destruction came. And sometimes we can be like that, swooping in and trying to rescue people

We're healing their hurts kind of slightly, temporarily, and we're not allowing God to do the real work that needs to be done in their hearts. So this woman provides a great example for us. People should be treated with dignity, a dignity that honors God. David is inspired by her behavior. As he hears what goes on, he goes and he takes their bones. He goes and collects the bones of Saul and Jonathan and

And he brings them all to their hometown and buries them. It gives them a proper burial there after the judgment is completed and the rain has come. He honors them as he hears about the way that she has behaved. He treats them with dignity. Again, Saul was an enemy to him. Saul, you know, and his crime, possibly the crime of these guys as well, you know, has brought three years of famine and hardship upon the whole nation. But they're still treated with dignity again.

And they honor the Lord in the way that they do that. I was reading this week through Ezekiel chapter 18, where God says in verse 23, Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, says the Lord, and not that he should turn from his ways and live? God's never happy about the death of the wicked. Even when he brings the judgment, he doesn't do that gleefully. So we need to keep that in mind. People who are experiencing judgment,

They need to be treated with dignity in a way that honors God. Well, we're going to finish up now in verses 15 through 22. Here's point number five. Your role in God's work will change. Your role in God's work is going to change. Prepare yourself for that. Verse 15. When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines and David grew faint.

So again, this portion as we head into verses 15 through 22 says,

The context has probably changed. We don't know for sure, but it's probably not that this happened immediately after this incident with Saul and his sons and all of that. Again, the last few chapters here are probably collections of various things that happened at different points in David's reign. And so this looks like he's at the end of his reign now, and he is old, and in the midst of a battle, he gets tired. It tells us in verse 15, he grows faint.

He's winded. He's like, hang on, hang on, guys, hang on. Let me catch my breath. You know, he puts his sword in his, in his feet that, you know, he's like, you know, trying to catch his breath, but he's, you know, still on the battlefield. And one of the giants,

Looks like there's going to be several giants referred to here in this passage. Seems like they're all related to Goliath that David, you know, slew at the beginning of his life there in chapter 17 of 1 Samuel. And so here's this guy, Ishbi Benab, and he says, oh, now's my chance. Look at David there resting against that log and, you know, catching his breath. I can take him out.

And his spear was 300 shekels, which I think is like about 30 pounds, the head of his spear, just like this huge weapon that he wielded. He thought he could kill David. But Abishai, looking out for David, he sees what's going on and he intervenes and kills the Philistine. But it causes the men of David to say, look, David, you can't come out to battle with us anymore. It's too hard for us to protect you. You know, you're too old. Your time is done. When you were young, you

In your younger days, yes, he used to fight. He used to lead us into battle. And that was the appropriate place to be. And it's important to think about, right? One of the causes of the problems in David's life was when he didn't go to battle when he should have. At the time when kings go to war, he didn't. And that's when he had the issue with Bathsheba and all of the things that unfolded afterwards.

And the problem at that time was he should have been in the battle, but he wasn't. And now the time has changed later in his life. Now he should not be in the battle.

His role has changed. There are still giants to fight. In the rest of the verses, you'll see there's giants who are there. There's giants that need fighting. But David's role has changed, and it's not his place to fight them any longer. Verse 18. Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then it says,

Verse 20. So when he defied Israel, Jonathan, the son of Shimei, David's brother,

killed him. So there's still giants to fight, quite a few giants in fact, but David's role has changed. It's not his time to fight those giants anymore. He has to step back and let others engage in that battle. This is something that is difficult for us to accept many times in our lives. There are transitions, and again, it's why we come back to this idea of pursuing God's heart for your circumstances. It is easy for us to come to the next battle and to automatically think,

I know that I've been in this battle before. I know how to fight giants. And so this is what I do. It's easy for me to come to a situation, to come to a circumstance, whether it's a conversation or a, you know, opportunity to serve or some conflict or some whatever. And for us to just, hey, I know I've been trained. I've taught people how to do this. I've done this so many times. And yet there needs to be a real pursuit of God's heart that we don't just do things automatically, but that we...

We allow God to show us, you know, this season perhaps is coming to a close. It's not your turn to fight giants any longer. Now you need to pass that baton and let these other guys go fight some giants. Maybe there's other things. It's not that, David, you're just on the bench, you do nothing. There's a different responsibility that you have, but the battlefield is not one of them. G. Campbell Morgan puts it this way.

Let those who after long service find themselves waning in strength be content to abide with the people of God, still shining for them as a lamp and thus enabling them to carry on the same divine enterprises.

Such action in the last days of life is also great and high service. He says, look, when you're old and you're not able to do the things that you used to do, just being there with people and encouraging them to do the work is a great and high service. Now, your role may change because of age. Your role may change because of health.

Even if you're young, you may not be healthy enough to do the things that you used to do. Your role may change because your responsibilities have changed. Maybe you, you know, adopted 75 kids, and so your role changes. Pursue God's heart. Your role in God's work is going to change. That's guaranteed. That's for sure. You're not always going to do the things that you're doing now or the things that you've always done. Your role and the way that God wants to include you as part of His work, it's going to change. And so...

We need to let God show us and not just be stuck in our habits and our routines and only do those things, but maybe God wants to do something different and use you in a different capacity. Still an important capacity, still a great way to serve God, but different. It's part of the way that God works in our lives.

You know, the Levites, in Numbers chapter 8, God sets some parameters that they should serve between the ages of 25 and 50. And when they turn 50, they're not to do the work anymore. And God tells them in Numbers 8, 26, These older Levites, they may minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of meeting to attend to needs, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall do to the Levites regarding their duties. You can come alongside and help the younger Levites,

You can meet their needs and serve them, but the actual work, you're not to do that anymore. And there came a time where that transition had to be made, and it was still an important role to play, but it was a different role. And we need to let the Lord show us those different roles that he has for us. Well, I want to finish with just a highlight from verse 22. It says, David didn't kill any giants in this chapter.

But David here is included in the credit. He was still part of the work. When we're part of the work of God, whether it be the ones who are on the actual battlefield or the ones coming alongside to help others who are on the battlefield, there's the credit, the reward. And it's not according to whether or not you were on the battlefield. It's according to whether or not you were fulfilling your role that God had given to you. What did God call you to? And if it was to pray for those who are on the battlefield,

then pray for those who are on the battlefield. If it's to be on the battlefield and others pray for you, then be on the battlefield and let others pray for you. In his younger days, David's place was to fight. Now in his older days, David's place was not to fight, but it was to be there as a lamp, as a light, as an encouragement. You got this, guys. I know it's a giant. I killed giants before. You could do this. You could fight this battle. You can be victorious. And he would encourage and help the guys in a different way

He wasn't the swing and the sword anymore, but instead he was there alongside of his men to help them get victories over giants. A different role, but an important role, a vital role. God changed it up. And this is the way that God works. And so we need to pursue God's heart for our circumstances. And you might be facing some of these things right now. And maybe there is a famine that's happening. Maybe there is some difficulty and affliction. Let God speak to you. Is there an issue of sin?

Is there some past thing that hasn't been dealt with that he wants to deal with and address? And so he's allowed these situations and circumstances in your life. Famines might be a judgment for sin. Perhaps it's a situation where there's been a broken commitment. There's been a hurt. There's been a harm. And maybe there's been an apology. Maybe not, but maybe there has. And

Yet, maybe something more is needed. There's some form of restitution. There's some action that needs to be taken so that the person can turn around and say, oh, may the Lord bless you. To change their heart, to change their attitude towards you. Maybe you're wrestling with some of the commitments that you've made. And boy, is it hard to keep them. But understand that keeping those commitments, what you promised before the Lord, what you agreed to before the Lord, He takes that seriously.

He calls you to keep it. Maybe you're dealing with people and dignity is the part that stands out. Dealing with them in a way that honors God, respects them, is honoring to them as well, is important to God and a great example for us in this mom as she ministered to her sons. And finally, maybe you're dealing with your role in God's work. Maybe it's a new role. Maybe it's an old role. Maybe it's something you want or don't want. Maybe it's something you've never done or maybe it's something you've done a thousand times before.

The important thing is what does God want? How does God want you to be involved in his work? You get credit. You get rewarded based on your fulfillment of that role. Pursue God's heart for your circumstances where you're at. Let's pray. God, I pray for each one of us. Lord, as we have a variety of things happening and sometimes all of these things are happening all at the same time in our lives. There's famines and hard people to deal with and I

transitions and changes and the things that you're calling us to and speaking to us about. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to come back to this understanding of our need to know what you desire. And Lord, sometimes we're so busy trying to figure out our own perspective and what we think and what we should do that we forget to stop and ask you, Lord, what do you want? What would please you in this situation? And so God, I pray that you would help us to pursue your heart, to be aggressive in

and intense about seeking you and knowing what you desire for us and what you want to work in the midst of the circumstances that we're facing. And Lord, I pray that you'd give us the boldness to obey you, to be obedient as you speak to our hearts and call us forward, to deal with perhaps things that are causing the famines or to bring restoration and reconciliation where there's been a broken commitment or a broken fellowship, Lord. I pray that you would help us to be men and women who believe

as jesus said our yes is yes and our no is no that we are faithful and we are able to walk in the things that we commit ourselves to before you but i pray that you would help us to be moldable teachable and to allow you to move us as you see fit to serve in whatever former fashion capacity you desire for us in your kingdom lord you're going to gift us that's we know that promise we know that we have the gifts that we need

But I pray that you would just help us to not get stuck and just do what we've always done or do what we prefer to do. Help us, Lord, to listen to you and to move into different roles, to serve you in different ways as you lead us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.