Bible Studies
A King’s Broken and Contrite Heart (Psa. 51:16-17)
Series: Studies in Second SamuelIntroduction:
1. For the past several months we have focused our studies on the books of Judges, and 1 and 2 Samuel. 2. We observed the cyclical pattern in Judges.a. For a time the people of God would be faithful to the Lord.
b. Then they would be drawn away after idols.
c. God would raise up an oppressor.
d. The people would repent.
e. God would raise up a deliverer. They would be faithful for one generation and then devote themselves to the idols again. And so, the cycle continued.
3. They were dissatisfied with the Judges and asked for a king that they might be like the nations around them. This was a radical request and reflected their direction away from the Lord and toward the world. 4. But there were individuals among them who depended upon God. Hannah was one such individual. She depended upon God and was given a son whom she promptly gave into God’s service. 5. Their new king Saul seemed just what they wanted.a. Good background, a Benjaminite.
b. Descended from a man of valor.
c. Choice and handsome.
d. A head taller than any of his people.
6. But Saul was like his people—He never quite humbled himself under the authority of God. And so, he and his lineage were rejected and God raised up David, a man after His own heart. 7. David was not always faithful to the Lord. His adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah marked the rest of his life with heartache and grief. 8. But the closing chapters of Second Samuel remind us that God was always faithful to David.Discussion:
I. Chapters 21-24 are commonly regarded by scholars as an appendix.A. It is believed by some that 1 Kings chapters 1 and 2 directly continues the narrative of 2 Sam. 20.
B. The question is then raised about chapters 21-24—what is the author’s purpose in placing this material at this place?
C. I believe the author has a very defined purpose in doing this. I believe it is a purpose that he has been communicating throughout 1 and 2 Samuel. And I believe it conveys a very powerful message to us.
II. What transpires in these chapters.A. There are two songs in this section.
1. The first (chapter 22) praises God for delivering David from all his enemies.
2. The second (23:1-7) is similarly a song of praise reminding us of how God rules over men and has blessed David with an everlasting covenant and will continue to make David’s house grow.
3. The message: God is always faithful.
B. Chapter 21 tells the story of how David gave seven descendants of Saul into the hands of the Gibeonites. They were killed and hanged in public display because Saul had violated the covenant with the Gibeonites(Josh. 9:3, 16-21) by trying to exterminate them.
1. This account shows how seriously God takes the commitments that we make.
2. David’s actions may seem brutal to us, but they reflect the seriousness of covenant making and the need for faithfulness to promises.
3. God had made a promise to David and He would be faithful to it even though David was not always faithful to the Lord.
4. The message to us: Saul was not faithful and his unfaithfulness led to the death of his descendants.
C. Chapter 23:8ff enumerates and describes the 30 mighty men of David. Cf. 1 Chron. 11:10-47; 27:2ff. Chapter 24 describes David numbering of Israel.Cf 1 Chron. 21:1ff.
1. God was angry with Israel. The reason is unstated. The author assumes that we recognize that it is because of some unfaithfulness of the people because his theme is that God is always faithful.
2. When the anger of the Lord burns against Israel there is a withdrawal of blessing (recall the cycle of Judges).
3. In response David seeks to number his forces to measure his power. But Joab knows that it is the Lord’s power that is behind their victories (24:3).
a. It is not the numbering of Israel per se that is the problem (cf. Ex. 30:12).
b. But David’s lack of dependence on God.
c. Joabfor 9 months assembled the numbers, but not completely (cf. 1 Chron. 21:6) because the command was abhorrent to him. He numbered about 1.3-1.5 million men that could be called up to fight.
4. David is presented with an option.
a. Seven years of famine.
b. Three months of fleeing from his foes.
c. Three days of pestilence.
5. David chooses rather to fall into the hands of God than his enemies. This choice is reflective of the nature of his sin of not depending on the Lord’s faithfulness. Now he will depend on the Lord’s faithful mercy and not on his military strength.
a. A plague destroyed 70,000.
b. And the Lord relented.
c. The demanding arrogant David of verse 2 becomes the humble confessing David in verse 17.
6. Thus, the “man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14) has his lapses and departs from his identity, but he keeps coming back to it.
7. He builds an altar and sacrifices to God (24:18ff).
III. Like David we act in selfish determination, arrogant and demanding, we are called to humility, self-sacrifice and submission to the will and power of God.A. David’s sacrifice was evidence of his repentance, his humility, his acknowledgement of his sin and his responsibility before God. Thus, the Lord was moved and the plague was held back from Israel (24:25).
B. David is effective because he is obedient.
1. Hannah (at the beginning of 1 Sam.) was dependent upon God’s faithfulness.
2. David had his temptations and lapses but he ended dependent on God’s faithfulness.
3. He is unlike Saul who experienced his challenges, but ended his life without depending on God’s faithfulness.
C. The author of 1, 2 Samuel leaves us asking—Who will depend on the faithfulness of God?
Conclusion:
1. Will you? 2. Being a man or woman after God’s own heart is not about being sinlessly perfect. Like David we have our lapses. These question is will we come back to depend on the faithful God who forgives? 3. OR will we be like Saul and refuse dependence upon the Lord? 4. David summarized it well when he said, “The Lord does not delight in sacrifices. He is not pleased with burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Psa. 51:16-17). 5. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what it means to be a man after God’s own heart.
