2 Samuel 2 (Part 1) Bible Study (David Anointed King of Judah/ Ish-bosheth) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

If we can, just to, start a little differently, if we can stand again, Let's stand again. And let's call out to God together as a church. And, we're gonna make this a regular thing. I mean, as the spirit leads, obviously, but we're living in amazing times. And whenever I bring that up, my intent is for your heart to be moved by the reality of of our day, and at the same time, not to not to bring doom or gloom, but to realize that God has called us to stand in the gap as a church.

I know many people in here have their own personal trials, their own temptations, their own battles to fight. Yet at the same time, we have to look beyond ourselves and see that there are those who are perishing for all of eternity. And and it is it is creeping in at an accelerating rate, and I I I personally I do not know how much time the church in the West will have to be able to proclaim the truth as freely as we are now. And God can change that. God can change that.

But I look to the North and I see Canada. You've heard me mention this so many times. And I look to our own news stations and our own education system and even the state of many American churches. And if our hearts are not moved to cry out to God. One person said this, you may disagree with it, but I I agree with it now more than ever.

He's a preacher who's long gone, but he said if the church in the West does not concentrate on prayer, they will soon pray in concentration camps. That sounds wild, doesn't it? Doesn't that sound crazy? I believe it. You'd be amazed to know how things can quickly change.

And so before we enter into a text and before we break down and study it together, may we call out to God. May we may we respond to that verse that we heard between the worship set. Seek me. I did not say to my people, Jacob, seek me in vain. Let's seek the Lord.

Lord, we come before you in this place tonight, God Almighty. Lord, our hearts are stirred. Lord, our hearts are broken. Lord, we look out into our world and we see depravity and wickedness. Truth has fallen in the streets.

Lord, we see that there's so much compromise, so much attack upon the truth, and we ask, Lord, that you have mercy on The United States Of America. Lord, we ask that you would pour out your spirit in a fresh way. Lord, you have brought two great awakenings in the past. We pray that you would bring another one. One that would touch coast to coast, oh, Lord.

One that would revive your people onto holiness. One that would revive the truth being proclaimed from your pulpits. We ask, oh God, that you would have mercy upon our government. Oh Lord, we see our our children and what they're being exposed to by wicked men who have power and authority to determine laws that would violate the image of God. Lord, we know that Satan hates you.

And we know that he hates the very thing that reflects you, namely us. And so he is out to warp the image of God and destroy the image of God. And so Lord, we just pray as first Timothy tells us to pray that you would save our government, Lord. That you would redeem them. That you would send an avalanche of conviction, Lord, upon those who have authority and ability to determine laws.

Lord, we pray. We pray, Lord, that we would stand firm in the truth no matter what compromise comes our way, no matter what threats, Lord Jesus. No matter what kind of persecution is on the horizon, Lord, we ask that your church in the West would stand strong, stand firm, would not bend the knee, oh God. And we pray for this local assembly that as we come week after week to receive the truth, that it would penetrate our hearts and it would make us strong in the faith and that it would prepare us to be faithful unto you when it will count the most. Lord, we ask for our time together to be led by the Spirit of God.

May the Spirit of God rest upon the ministry of the word. And Lord, may it translate into practical Christian living. Lord, please convict us where we need to be convicted. Lord, please comfort us where we need to be comforted. And we ask oh Lord that we would see the wisdom of God.

We would behold the beauty of God. And that Lord, we would have our affections reset and woo towards you, for you are worthy. You are worthy, oh, Lord, of all that we have and all that we are. In the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray and ask these things. Amen.

Amen. May be seated. Second Samuel chapter chapter two is our text today in our bible study through this book. Second Samuel chapter two. You and I should be excited about this chapter because as we approach it, we realize that it is a pivotal moment in the story and life of king David.

Because up to this point, for many, many chapters, many, many Friday nights, you and I have been studying David the fugitive. The fugitive of Israel. Not a legitimate fugitive, but forcefully made a fugitive because of injustice and jealousy and envy of a man who had power and authority to make someone who was innocent and blameless, a fugitive, at least on the surface. But what's what's gonna happen here is that the days of David the fugitive are coming to an end. They will cease.

And and now something is going to begin and it is not David the fugitive anymore. It is going to be the ascension of King David to the throne that was promised to him. The throne that he was anointed to occupy. This is the door that is now opening for this man to be elevated and exalted to that rightful place that God Almighty had determined because he had found in him a heart that was after his own, unlike Saul, unfortunately. But what's amazing is we took weeks and months to come to this point, but in actuality, it was years for David.

In real time, it took years for him to arrive to this point, and it is glorious. And if we can if we can look back and and try to see an overarching theme of those chapters in David's life, we can rightly say that it would be how God is patient and preparing his servants before positioning them for greater responsibility in his kingdom. Listen, the Lord does not train his people with microwave methods. He is in no rush. He takes his time.

And sometimes he allows us to endure similar trials to try to teach us the same lesson until it is embedded in our souls. And God is extremely creative in using different tests and tribulations as tools to carve in you and me a character. Listen. A character that will be able to sustain the challenges that come with promotion. The challenges that come with greater opportunity.

The the challenges that come with greater influence. God takes his time because he he's in it for our longevity ultimately because our longevity in holiness and humility is a reflection of who God is, and he wants to reflect his son through us. We've had way too many falls, as you've heard so many times in leaders in these past few years. And there are many reasons for that which we will not get into today. But as David here is graduating to a new to a new classroom in God's school, What you and I will see in this chapter is that the previous training was effective.

The previous training from his private anointing to this moment will prove to be effective because we see wonderful fruit from David as a man in these few verses here. Let's read beginning in verse one. After this, David inquired of the Lord, shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said to him, go up. David said, to which shall I go up?

And he said to Hebron. So David went up there and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal, of Carmel. And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. Let's pause here.

The first two verses, after this, after what? The death of Saul. After the the news had arrived to David and his men that their sworn enemy has been put to rest. They mourn this. They grieve this in great humility.

They displayed a love for Saul, though he was undeserving of such love. But after this, the time of mourning has come to an end because there was still a program to fulfill God's agenda. And David was the man for that job. And we see here is remarkably after this, after the obstacle in Saul has been removed and the red carpet has been laid out for David to just effortlessly it seems, walk up to that throne, sit on it and rule and fulfill his calling, he does something. He does something quite inspiring, exemplary.

He inquires of the Lord. He pauses and he does what? He prays. He seeks the Lord. David doesn't jump ahead of himself.

David doesn't assume that this is something that he should just take advantage of. David postures himself to just pause and wait on the Lord and sense God's leading precisely of how he should move forward in this. And I believe, since scripture tells us that the old testament has been given for our instruction, for our encouragement, that when we look at an example like this, it provides some kind of illustration of how you and I, as people who seek to serve the Lord, should be careful and mindful of seeking God, especially when there is something of a new beginning in our lives. New opportunities that lie ahead of us. You'd be amazed to know how how people move on without what Paul said, to to just walk and to pray without ceasing, without inviting God's wisdom into the matter, without declaring your dependency upon the Lord, without assuming that you can figure it out because it seems so easy and plain and obvious.

David here in great humility stops and he seeks God with what would seem to us as something as obvious as just do it. It's there. It's it's prepared for you. You know what it is. You know what to do.

He doesn't he doesn't assume that. And I think that's incredible because there are things around his life, circumstances around this this moment that make it even more inspirational. And here's the first one. Think about you've been here week after week. Think about how long this man waited for this time.

Think about the agonizing wilderness season. Think about the moments of doubt. Think about the pain that he inherited just by trusting God for years. And and all of that now is evaporated because the dawn of God's promise being fulfilled has now come. And yet with with all of that, he still comes to the place where he says, Lord, what do I do?

What do I do from here? Where do you want me to go? How do we how do we move forward in this? And I think that's amazing to see because there are many people, again, as I said earlier, who move on without the Lord who move on without the Lord so so easily without his counsel, without considering him. And David was not not that type of man.

And we see secondly something else. Consider the atmosphere. Consider the environment that he was in when he sought the Lord. Where was David praying from? Who remembers?

What location was he in? He was among the Philistines, but where exactly? Ziklag. What was Ziklag at this time? Was it a standing town?

Was it a standing city? Or was it burnt to ash? It was burnt to the ground. This is a very uncomfortable scene. There's nothing promising.

There's no life here. It's not even inhabitable. And so the awkwardness of the moment, the the difficulty of the moment, the the atmosphere that promised nothing to him would make anybody anxious to say, let's just get out of here. And yet despite the fact that the predicament he was in had no promise for him, it didn't even make sense to even remain there. To some it would say, why would you even pray?

Your your home is burnt to the ground. You have nowhere to sleep. You have you have nothing to do here. David still, he still inquires of the Lord. He still stops to seek God and he's not going to move until God says to move.

And I find that extremely comforting and encouraging for me. Because there are many Christians who are under the false impression that unless where they are, unless what they're doing, is exactly to their liking, Unless it all works in their favor, they are ready to move on to something else or someone else even. And that would be a shame, Because you'd be amazed to know how God would instruct you to remain somewhere, where in the natural it doesn't make sense to remain. And you would be amazed to know how God would tell you to rise up and go somewhere, when in the natural it doesn't make sense to leave what God is calling you to leave. And I see that in so many places in scripture.

And one of the places where I see it is when Paul wrote to Timothy in that first epistle, that first a pastoral epistle. And Timothy was a pastor of a very messy church, at least at that point. Things were out of order. People were doing things. There was no structure.

Heresy was coming in. And with all of that, one of the first thing that Paul charges Timothy to do, with that setting in mind, is in the first few verses of of first Timothy. In chapter one verse three, he says, as I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus. Remain at Ephesus. Now why would Paul say remain at Ephesus?

Maybe because Timothy was tempted to ditch Ephesus. I'll remain here? People think I'm young. People think, I shouldn't be in the position I'm in. People disrespecting me.

There's chaos. People are doing this. People are doing that. People are threatening. I'm out of here.

And yet Paul says, remain. Stay exactly where you are. God has called you to be there. And with my apostolic authority, I am charging you to stay there and to fight and to pour in and to plant and to do what you need to do until God makes it clear otherwise. You'd be amazed to know, especially in ministry settings, it can get so difficult and the easiest thing to do, and I'm talking to people here that I know who serve the Lord and it's challenging at times, the easiest thing to do is to get up and walk away.

And there are times where the Lord will say it's time to move on. But what will make the difference is when you do what David does and he just he just stops and he says, Lord, everything is to dust here. And And it would make sense for me to move on. But Lord, where do I go? What do you want me to do?

Where is it that you want me to be? Now, let me give you an opposite example. Remember Philip, the evangelist, the revivalist. He goes to Samaria and he preaches and crowds are coming to Christ. Miracles are happening.

Revival is in Samaria. And all for a sudden, in the midst of that, in the climax of such a move of the spirit, what do we read? We read in Acts eight that the angel an angel of the Lord said to Philip, rise. Get up and go toward the south of the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza. Get up and leave.

And in the natural, are you sure that, Lord, there's a move of God happening here? You are aware of it. Is this really the time now to press the eject button and to to go to a wilderness of all places? And so you'd be amazed to know how God would tell you to leave and to move on when you have the comfort of your family, when you have such wonderful fellowship with people and an amazing ministry that you are a part of, and yet the Lord needs you to be somewhere else. How do we ensure that we are in step with God?

Well, just do what David did. You meet many people who wanna know where am I supposed to go, what am I supposed to do? Here's here's what I can give you according to the scripture, and I don't wanna get into it now, but in first Corinthians seven, Paul gives very practical advice to those who had that same question. Well, I'm not circumcised. Should I be circumcised not that I come to Christ?

And their marital status and all these things, and he says, remain as you are. Remain as you are. In other words, do what you're doing now until the Lord makes it obvious for you to do something else. That's all. You see this with many people who first get saved.

They get saved and everybody who gets saved wants to be a missionary to Africa, it seems. I wanna serve the Lord. I wanna go overseas. Wonderful. I'm not I'm not mocking that.

I'm not I'm not bringing that down. But what I'm saying is, sometimes we're so eager to know where it is that God wants us to be to the point where it paralyzes us in the moment. And that would be counterintuitive. What the Lord would say through his word by example and by clear instruction is remain as you are. Stay exactly where you are until the Lord makes it clear.

And listen, God is more eager for you to fulfill his will for your life than you are. Sometimes we try to convince God. We seem like we're convincing God that we want his will. God wants you to fulfill his will more than you do. And he's a God who is very clear in the way he leads and speaks, so trust in that as well.

But look at the second part of the verse. After this David inquired of the Lord, shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said to him, go up. David said, to which shall I go up? What do you notice about God's answer to this prayer?

If you see it, feel free to answer it. What's interesting about the Lord's answer? Yes. Okay. So you said something.

He said go up, and he wasn't what? Specific. He wasn't specific. He says go up, and then what does David do? He asks again, and then God gives the specific location to where he's supposed to go.

Here here's what I'm seeing. I'm reading that and I'm being honest before the Lord and his word. I'm saying, Lord, why wouldn't you give the whole answer the first time? Why wouldn't you just say everything at once? Because before us is an illustration of how generally God leads us.

He doesn't give you all the answers at at once. Moment by moment. Step by step. God can give you the entire blueprint for every question that you have about your life. But God is very wise in knowing how to keep his children near to him.

And God is very wise in knowing how to make you continually aware of your dependency upon the one who knows your tomorrows. And so, one way God does that is that he veils all the answers. And he allows you to come to him over and over again. So that in that, we would not just ask him for answers, but that we would also pursue him and worship him and love him and praise him and adore him. God knows how to keep us near.

He does it in many ways, sometimes affliction and many times, if not all the time, step by step. I I I'm blessed by that because even a man like David did not have all the answers for his life. And so I should not fret and I should not be frustrated because I don't understand the next what next week is gonna bring or how this is all gonna play out. All I'm called to do, my responsibility is to sit at his feet and to come before him as many times as I need to come before him and to trust that his responsibility is to make it clear when he sees fit to make it clear. And that is such a blessing because you and I have no reason to be discouraged.

This is how God does it with his with his men, with his woman, with the best of them. And the way that you and I can ensure God's leadership is to do exactly what David is doing. What is he doing? He prayed once. Did he stop praying?

Did he? No. He prays again. David perpetually prays. He perpetually seeks the Lord.

And that is the that is the spiritual discipline that eliminates any fear. And I've heard it be a fear of many people of God that that do not want to be outside of the will of God even for a moment. Praise the Lord for that. And may I give to you what a friend told to me, that the very fear of being outside of the will of God is the evidence that you are probably right dead center in it. And when God sees a a a child of his seeking him, Lord, I I I want to know what you have and I I wanna be in your will, Lord.

I'm not looking for an audible voice. I'm not looking for a sign in the heavens. I'm just looking for you even providentially to guide my life. When God sees that, he is so faithful to lead you. And there should be no fear, no fear in your life that you will miss out on what God has planned for your life.

Now, if there's no seeking of God, and if there's this idea that that God needs me and God, you know, I'm doing God a favor, then I I fear for you. But for the man that just says, oh Lord, please, day by day, God, I wanna be where you are. I wanna be exactly where you want me to be. As you heard earlier, he never says seek me in vain. And I think that is an exciting truth to realize even from a verse like this, how God leads and how we can ensure his leadership in our lives.

Do you have that conversation with the Lord? Is that how it looks like in your life? Lord, I wanna be exactly where you want me to be. Please, Lord, whatever whatever you need to do with my short breath of an existence, please don't let me waste it. Please, Lord, guide me.

He will do it. Now let's look what we see here. So David went up there, and we read in the rest of verse two down to verse three, that his wives are mentioned, and that the men who had traveled with him into the wilderness are also coming back with him. Again, the way to revelation in the word of God is is having a conversation with a text, so to speak, and you ask the question, why is it? We know who's with David.

We we know, we've we've seen it over and over. Why are we being told, even by name, that they're going back with him? And I believe, at least one application, is that these men and his family, those who chose to be associated with David when it was the most difficult, when it was it was the most costly, are now going to reap the reward as David now is about to be elevated to a prominent position. They too will know a sense of exaltation. And all of those difficulties, and all of those sleeping on rocks, and not knowing what you're gonna eat, and all the fear of Saul coming and attacking with his 3,000 men, all of that will be a distant memory as David now is about to ascend to the throne.

And that is a picture of our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a time coming that you and I will be elevated, will be exalted, will be rewarded. And all the things that we have to do now because we are associated with his name, the son of David, All the attacks, all the hatred, all the slander, all the evil, all of that will be a distant memory as we will enjoy the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ as he will rule and reign on this earth forever and ever and ever and ever. What am I trying to say to you tonight, my fellow pilgrim? This is what I'm trying to tell you.

Some of you look weary. I hope you're not weary in the heart. It's gonna be worth it. It's gonna be worth it. You fight that temptation.

You stand firm in your conviction. And and you will know the great joy. You will know the great joy when Christ calls you by name. And you will look back and you will realize exactly what Paul said about the severe affliction he knew. He was he was bold enough to say, it's a light momentary affliction.

And that is certainly true. David was not the only one who was gonna go up. Those who chose to be with David when it was not popular to be with David were also going up. And I think that's a wonderful, glorious thing for us to consider about our walk with the Lord. There's a song, I don't know if people know it, it's an old song, so most likely not.

I'm not gonna sing it for you. Sorry. But that one line, I can repeat it over and over. It will all be worth it when we see Jesus. It will all be worth it when we see Jesus.

Look at verse four. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. What do you notice about that verse? Read it carefully. And the men of Judah came and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

This is first of all David's first public anointing. Where was his first private anointing? First Samuel, does anybody remember the chapter? 16. That was his first private anointing.

This is his first public anointing. There's gonna be another public anointing in a few chapters. But one thing to notice here, another another exemplary thing from David's character. As David arrives to Hebron, we are told in the verse before, they, being him and his people, lived in the towns of Hebron. Full stop.

You and I would expect that in going to Hebron, as God highlighted that being the headquarters, at least temporarily for his throne, he does not seize any throne. He comes, he lives in the towns and he waits for what? The men of Judah came and there they anointed David. They came to David and they anointed him. They elevated him.

They promoted him. And what we make of this is an amazing illustration to practical Christianity. If you haven't noticed, the intent of this Bible study more than anything else is to translate these truths for practical Christian living. And here's another thing to consider. This is important for those who are eager to serve the Lord, who wanna be consistently in the will of God and be used for the most that God would have them be used for.

There is a temptation among the ambitious within the kingdom of God to grab opportunities or to force doors to be open for either promotion, or for a platform, or for a title. Instead of simply resting and trusting that if God called you, God will make it come to pass. Listen. Very, very important. Though David was anointed by Samuel and though Saul was removed from the scene as he comes to this place, he does not take hold of the throne with his own hands.

There is a complete trust that if God has really anointed me for this, then God will make it known to these people that I am the one who's to be king over them. You know what that's called? Called many things. I'll use the word etiquette. This is humility.

This is very important to God. So important is it to God that Jesus Christ himself taught on it to a certain degree when he was in a room filled with people who lived for the best seat of the house, and to be recognized by those wherever they enter into. Do you remember when he taught about that? If you don't, go to the gospel of Luke with me and see it. This is this is to spare you and I from inheriting shame and embarrassment as a consequence.

Because again, even among the redeemed, there is this temptation for some that needs to be tamed of trying to promote ourselves. In Luke 14, what do we see in Luke 14? Jesus says here, beginning in verse seven. Now he told a parable to those who were invited when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, when you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him. And he who invited you both will come and say to you, give your place to this person.

And then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place. So that when your host comes, he may say to you, friend, move up higher. Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

I love the Lord. This is important to him. And he longs for his people to reflect him in every detail of life. Do you realize that the Lord, our Lord, our master, deserves and deserved even then while on the earth, the highest honor, the highest praise? And yet, he willfully chose the lowest to become obedient as a slave to the point of death, and not even just death, but death on a cross.

The most humiliating and the most gruesome way of dying. And even in his life, Christ willfully chose the lowest place. He chose to take upon himself to act as the lowest type of slave who would wash the feet of of men who walk through the desert streets collecting dust in their toes, who would enter into the house, take off their shoes, and then wash them. Jesus longs for his people to reflect them. And what he is essentially saying here is, listen, there is no need, my child, to manipulate, to coerce, to trumpet yourself, to push, to shove, and to do anything to try to get you into a better position or a better opportunity.

Because all we really do while doing that is positioning ourselves to be humbled by God. That's all you're really doing. That's all I'm really doing. No matter what we think we're trying to gain, all we're really doing is the one who has the sovereign ability throughout the globe to raise up and bring down to do the same to us. Listen, the most satisfying experience of any type of honor in this life is knowing that God is the one who elevates you.

God is the one who promotes you. And I have seen in my life personally why a parable like this is so applicable and is so needed. Because you have people who who will die on the hill of making sure they arrive somewhere with a position or a title, even though the opportunity is not given to them. And listen, it gets ugly sometimes. It gets really, really ugly.

And so I totally understand why the Lord would teach on this for many reasons. Ultimately for our testimony as followers of Christ, but even within the household of God. Oh, you have people who will go to war for a title, for, one of these things. They will cause war. Humble yourself.

Just just trust the Lord. Rest in his ability that if he's really called you for something, he will move the hearts of men to recognize you. If there needs to be any elevation, if there needs to be anything, God will ensure just like he did with David to move the hearts of men, to bring him to that place. David would not dare, though he had a right, and though he had the anointing, though he had a promise from God, he did not dare move forward again. Trusting in God to lead him in that.

That's what we're really seeing as a theme in this. And ultimately, you can see this in a salvific sense that as God is in Christ is speaking about this, we can relate it to salvation. You have to just simply humble yourself if you want to be saved. Humble yourself, and he will exalt you. When you try to promote yourself in your righteousness, you will be humbled.

And you'll be humbled for all of eternity. And so we come back to this text. Right? What else do we notice about this verse? Not only the fact that you will preserve your energy and you will preserve much embarrassment, And just simply giving all that you have to where God has called you in that moment and letting God have the responsibility solely to bring you up if he wants to bring you up.

But notice something else. And the men of Judah came. What was David anointed for? To be king of Judah or Israel? Did Israel come to make him king?

Who made him king? Judah alone. Why? Why? Why is this happening?

Why why isn't Israel recognizing David? I thought we were coming to the ascension of David. I thought this is the fruition of the promise of God. Why is it only that Judah is recognizing? Now, we know the prophetic sense in which Judah was told back in Genesis.

That it would be the royal line through him. Yes. But in a practical sense. I think it's what we see later on. If we come down to verse eight, notice.

But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army took Ish bosheth, the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanim. And he made him king over Gilead, and the Ashurites, and Jezreel, and Ephraim, and Benjamin, and all Israel. Who is Abner who remembers? Abner was related to who? Saul.

Saul's uncle, commander of his army. At the same time, what you have is Abner taking one of the sons of Saul and making him king over the rest of the nation of Israel. There is resistance here. There is opposition here, and we'll get to that in a moment. But consider with me, as you meditate on the mysteries of God's ways, We fall into the trap of though we declare God as sovereign, and that his ways are not our ways, and that his thoughts are not our thoughts.

We fall into the trap of really thinking that we can predict God's ways. And even almost interpreting situations as though God is going to do something in a certain way, when in fact he has a completely different script. Saul is dead. What makes sense to me in the natural? David is king.

Done deal. The the greatest opposition is now removed. Again, red carpet laid out. What can possibly go wrong? And yet instead, what you see is only one tribe recognizes David, and David remains the king of Judah alone for how long?

Well look here in verse 11. And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. Sorry to disappoint you. If you were excited for David to become king over all of Israel, you're gonna have to wait another seven years. Seven years and six months.

After years of waiting, now the door is finally open, and once it's open, there's just another, just under ten years, ten more years. Just wait. Why? And here here's what I want to say. I don't really know.

And that's okay. All I can really say is whenever God makes his men wait, it's always for good. It's always for good. It's always in preparation for some kind of task or some kind of thing that lies ahead. God knows.

God knows. And it it makes you it makes you think that if you were to define your Christian experience in in any way, what would you say? I'm sure there are many things and they would all be right as long as they're aligned with God's word. But I wonder if this is in your dictionary of your experience waiting on God. Waiting on God.

It's there in example. It's there in charges in the book of Psalms. Waiting on the Lord. When I look at this, I can't help but think about Joseph's life and God leading him in a very very similar way. Here's Joseph.

Here's Joseph unjustly thrown into a dungeon, falsely accused of rape. He's there and as he's there, there's favor upon his life. He's made the overseer of the prisoners. And so there he is managing and being successful and all for a sudden there are two of pharaoh's employees who come and they have dreams. He interprets both of them.

One of them is the cup bearer and it's in his favor. You're getting out of here. And he makes this request. When you go back, would you please would you please tell pharaoh about me so that I too can leave this house? So I too can escape because I'm not supposed to be here.

Now up to that point, you and I, at least if you read it initially, you think, wow. God is amazing. Look at his wisdom. There he is in Potiphar's house serving as a slave, falsely accused, thrown into this dungeon. But look what the Lord is doing here.

He's going to now meet two of the employees of Pharaoh. One of them will die, one of them will go back to his position. And then now he's going to be able to have favor since he supernaturally helped this man to escape and move on with his life, only to to do what? To read what we read at the end of Genesis 40. The man forgot Joseph.

The man forgot Joseph completely. And then you go to Genesis forty one one, and what do you read? After two whole years, Pharaoh has a dream. Two years. Not not two days, not two weeks, not two months, two years.

And you think there's the door. It's gonna happen. Things are gonna change. This is what this is this is obviously God setting it up. And then that same door seems to slam right back in your face.

Lord, I I really saw it, really I saw your wisdom in it. Did God lose control? No. Did God changes my? No.

It was a part of his plan all along. I always wonder what would have happened if Dave if if Joseph rather, would have gotten his way and left immediately, was removed from prison? I I don't know. The the text doesn't tell us. But I but sometimes I just imagine this stuff.

Imagine him just saying, well, I'm out of here. I'm not a slave to Potiphar anymore. I'm just a free man. I'm going back to Canaan. I'm going back to my family.

I'm gonna, it's gonna be a big surprise when I show up. And yet God had brought him there to save his people. God, according to Psalms, tells us that he was brought there providentially so that he would be the savior and the preserver of his people, ultimately for the the Messiah. And what would it take for Joseph, unknowingly at the time? You gotta wait two more years.

You gotta wait two more years. It's amazing how we begin to bargain with God and argue with God and we've all fallen to that to some degree. When we we think that things are right and we think, Lord, I I am at the at the right age gap for marriage. So where is he? Where is she?

Or Lord, I'm young, I'm healthy, I have energy. Use me now. Send me out now. Look look at all the resources I've had. Lord, look at all the look at all the finances here.

It's just sitting here. Show me how to invest it. Show me maybe this is the opportunity. Why won't it why won't it go through? And we begin to begin to tell God the best way of doing it.

And that's when we need to come to examples like this, where God has given us real life testimonies of how he makes us wait for purposes that you may know in this life, but may not even know in this life. So David's gonna have to wait. But what does he do while he waits? Look at verse five. David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead and said to them, may you be blessed by the Lord because you showed this loyalty to Saul your Lord and buried him.

Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you and I will do good to you because you have done this thing. So he rewards the men of Jabesh Gilead. You've heard it a couple of weeks ago, I believe, where Jabesh Gilead were the people that came after Saul's body and his sons and they give him a proper burial and they honor them. What is David doing here? Though he is not king of Israel, though he is not seeing the fruition of his purpose yet?

He's serving God. He's doing what he can to the capacity that he can. He he is honoring God. He's being a righteous king, rewarding those who do good, punishing those who do evil. What's the idea?

While you wait, you worship. Not sing songs, though that's part of it. You worship God in your service. You honor God. Seven years he's gonna have to wait.

And what is he gonna do? This is not fair, God. I prayed so much. I've suffered so much. I've waited so much.

I don't understand. I want to be used by you. I want to do what you call me to do, so why aren't you letting me do it? None of that. No complaint, no murmur.

What I see here is a man who is satisfied. He's just floating in the will of God. He is just so at rest knowing that God is in control and all he's doing Okay, Lord. If this is where you want me to be, I'll serve you. I'll bless those who bless you.

I will reward those who walk in righteousness. Worship while you wait. Serve God while you wait. Touch people's lives while you wait. Waiting on the Lord is not a passive thing.

Waiting on the Lord is not literally just sitting there, like you're waiting for a bus to come by. It's actively waiting. And David gives us an example of that. Now let's come to verse eight as we close in a few minutes here. We see something quite interesting.

That's God's perspective. This is God's perspective on David's life, but there is a human perspective. And the human perspective of all of this is that there is a man who had some kind of authority, who had some kind of ability to resist David. To be in opposition to David and to fight again the purpose of God. And this is how he does it in a very clever way.

He takes one of Saul's sons, he brings him to a place of of prominence. He actually makes him king. He announced it to the people. He wins the affection and the affinity of the people. They say this is our king.

And I wonder why Abner is doing this. Remember, he's related to Saul. I have the hunch that Abner is doing this because he wants to secure his position. I am the commander of the army of Israel. I want it to stay that way.

And I know if David comes into this position that I will be removed and and maybe he had the same thought as Saul, maybe he'll even kill me since I'm related to Saul. And so for the sake of his preservation, though selfish, he he just maneuvers and moves things around to try to secure secure his desires and his passions. Here's my question to you. Do you believe Abner knew that David was to be king over Israel? Or was he doing this out of ignorance?

Who would say that he's doing this out of ignorance? He's just doing what he thinks he needs to be doing. I see some heads nodding. So you believe that Abner is doing this with the the knowledge that David should be king? There's no guessing in that.

Just go to a couple chapters later. What do you see? Actually, the next chapter. Look at verse nine of chapter three of second Samuel. Look what Abner says out of his own mouth.

God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the Lord has sworn to him, To transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah from Dan to Beersheba. He knew it. He was totally convinced that David was the rightful heir to the throne. That he was supposed to be inaugurated. He was supposed to be Cornelius king.

He believed it and yet with that understanding of the truth before him, he still fought against it. He still resisted it. And I would like in closing of our bible study to examine three thoughts concerning Abner in this situation and how it applies today. Here's the first one. There are those who will fight against the truth not because they don't believe it's true, but they know that by embracing that truth, they will have to sacrifice something of themselves.

And they don't want to do that. You have to understand here, enemies of the truth are not always enemies of the truth because they believe they have the truth. You have people who hate the truth because of what that truth demands of them. And though they cannot deny that truth, they will fight against it by mocking it, scorning it, even coming up with concepts that would try to refute it though it holds no weight. And so, I've been thinking, and you've been hearing me talk about it, we prayed about it.

I can't think of a more relatable example than the world that we're living in with this transgenderism agenda in our day. I mean, basic biology disagrees with your premise. Your whole ideology cannot even stand for a moment because common sense crushes it. And yet, would you like an insight to know why this is being propagated? Why this is being taught in our schools?

Why it's in our media and our cartoons? Would you like to know at least one reason? I'll give you one reason. Money. Money.

Because you'd be amazed to know how much big pharma is getting paid when a when a child under the age of consent will go in and have their bodies carved up because that day they felt like they were a girl when they're really a boy. You'd be amazed to know what kind of money is in this stuff. And so, let's pervert an entire generation for the sake of what? Filling our pockets. Wanna know another reason?

Because there are people out there who long to satisfy their perversion and they wanna make way for it to be so normal that when they execute upon their lust, they will not be punished for it. And so you have to see that this is not this is more than just people who are warped in their thinking. You have people who know exactly what they're doing. They know it doesn't make sense. They know that it it just it's just an assault on basic truth.

They know that but they know what's in it. They know what they can gain from it just like Abner here fighting against David. He knows he's fighting against what God wants. He knows he's fighting against what's true and right. But he knows that in doing so, he will secure his position.

He will secure his prosperity. And so what do you have? Well, prophetically what you have here, you have people who do not want to make Jesus king, but will rise up and raise up other lords and idols because they know that making Jesus king will demand reform and repentance. And they love their darkness more than light. You know what's amazing here is that there's a second truth to consider.

And it is this, every stage of advancement in God's work, personally, corporately, every stage will be met with new opposition. It's just true. When David had his private anointing by the hands of Samuel, who did he have to face for many many years? Saul. Here he is after his first public anointing and now who he has to deal with?

Abner. This is not to discourage us but to prepare us that if we are to be a ministry or church that seeks to take more ground for the gospel of Jesus Christ, you better believe that Satan will not sit on his hands. He will fight. And he will raise up people from within or outside to make sure that as the obvious move of God is taking place that it would be brought to a halt. And so be prepared, lest you become a foothold for the enemy to work through.

Now David has to deal with Abner. He didn't even catch a breath. And that is true for you and I. Listen, you and I for the rest of our lives know this, if you were to be an active Christian, a fruitful minister, if you were to proclaim the truth and win souls, if you were to even just be some kind of asset to the kingdom of God to any degree, your life in the spirit will be a continual fight. And what I am so encouraged by is that when those things do rise up, I feel as though I'm doing something right.

I hope you feel the same way. Lastly, the wide acceptance of Ish bosheth, the son of Saul, is a testament to this truth. Listen to this, to this truth. The majority isn't always right. The majority isn't always right.

The majority of Israel crowned this man as king, though David was supposed to be king. And so this is a clear and obvious example that what is popular doesn't mean it is right. Does anybody know, honestly, I would be surprised if anybody does, but you would never know what Ish Bosheth means as a name. What's the definition of that name? Anybody have an idea?

Somebody said it. Great. Somebody studied before the study. Very good. Did you hear it?

Ishbosheth means man of shame. And we see here that Israel as a culture had no problem popularizing a man of shame. And that that many times names in the Bible is a reflection of the the character of the person. And we have reason to believe that this man is a man of shame. He is old enough to go to war, but why wasn't he in battle with his brothers and his dad early on?

Either he he he did not go out of his own choice or he was incapable because he was not a man of valor to begin with. Whatever it is, I believe the name reflects a man's character and yet, the majority of Israel said, we want the man of shame to be our king. Welcome to America in 2022. We have no issue popularizing that which is disgraceful and embarrassing and disgraceful. I mean, just look at the incompetence of our politicians.

Apparently, he's the popular vote. Pray for him, yes. But look at the the judgment in such a selection. We make viral that which is despicable. We're willing to put money into things that are just plain foolishness.

So our culture is no different. We reject David, God's choice, God's will, God's beauty, God's purposes, and we elevate that which is shameful. And what we choose, listen, what we choose to entertain, what we choose to elevate is a reflection of what we truly desire. And just like Judah, there is a remnant even today, only a remnant that sees the infinite glory and worth that is in not David, but the son of David, Christ himself. God always has a remnant.

God has a remnant then. God had one then. He has one now. And I wanna be a part of that remnant. I don't care what is popular.

I could care less what the majority say. I wanna be under the lordship of Jesus Christ. I wanna be under his rule and his government no matter what my government says. I could care less. Do what you want to me.

Shun me as you would like. I want to please one person and one person alone, and that is King Jesus. And that is King Jesus. And so what you and I see as we close in this are many things. We won't continue because there is not enough time, but consider that for your own life in this day.

Are you waiting on God? Are you waiting on the Lord? This demographic, the majority, it wouldn't be prophetic for me to say probably. What are you doing while you wait? Are you worshiping him?

Are you serving him? Are you trusting him? Are you discouraged because you are serving the Lord and you're seeing satanic opposition? Know this, you're in the right place my brother. You're doing the right thing by the grace of God my sister.

Stand your ground. Don't retreat. Don't turn back. Remember the armor of God. Every part of the body was covered according to Ephesians six, except one place.

What is that place? Not the back. For two reasons. One, because as brothers and sisters, we're supposed to have each other's back. The the protection is the community of God.

But secondly, you can't retreat. You can't turn back. You can't walk away. You can't give in. You cannot surrender.

That is the most dangerous place to be. No matter what danger is before you, the most dangerous place to be is to throw in the white flag and to say I'm done and to turn your back on the cause of Christ. Stand firm. Stand firm. The Lord is with us.

And the Lord will use us if we simply humble ourselves to say, oh God, I'm not interested in any promotion. I'm not interested in names, I just wanna be in your perfect will. Oh, just be satisfied in that and God will do the rest. Let's pray. Lord, we ask humbly in this place tonight as we've come to this text.

Lord, we are so capable of forgetting. Would you give us the grace to retain? Perhaps some hearts have been stirred in this in this room, but, Lord, it is so quickly able, that same heart that was stirred, to become calloused and indifferent. Lord Jesus, by the Spirit of God, would you keep us soft? And Lord, we are weak.

If your Holy Spirit does not help us, we will fail. Even the delivery of this Bible study, Lord, if it's not accompanied by your power and grace, Lord, it will it will fall. But Lord, we pray that your spirit would drive it into our hearts. And that Lord, we would be a people who will apply these truths. And Lord, if there's any any consequence of this bible study tonight, maybe that you have won our affections afresh for Jesus Christ.

Lord, we wanna worship you. We wanna worship you as we wait. We wanna worship you for these truths. We wanna worship you for your mysterious ways. Lord, you are God.

You are king. You are Lord. We don't wanna be where you are. We wanna just trust you and give our lives to you. Do as you please with us, Lord Jesus.

And help us be satisfied with the lot that you have determined for our existence. We give you all praise and glory and honor. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Can we stand and worship the Lord together?