Pursuing What Pleases the King

Pursuing What Pleases the King

2 Samuel 4-5 

 

Illus. Opinions.

 

            As we continue through 2 Samuel and into chapters 4 and 5 this morning, we will look specifically at three ways we can pursue what pleases the Lord in the lives we are living. While many seeks to please others or self in their lives, those who have given their lives to Christ as the Lord of their lives have a commission not pursue what pleases self, but what pleases Him.

            In Revelation 4, we get a glimpse into heaven. It is a scene where all of creation is worshipping the Lord, and in verse eleven, we read these words, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of your will they existed, and were created.” Because of His will are all things. That word translated “will” is also translated pleasure. The word is one that points to what God desires, what pleases Him, what is in line with His will. It is the same word Jesus used when He told us to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s kingdom come, what pleases Him be done on earth as it is in heaven.

            By definition, to please is to pursue the will of another. And throughout Scripture, we are pointed to the importance of living lives that please the Lord.

 

Romans 12:1, Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

 

We are to surrender our lives as a living sacrifice. In surrender, we pursue what is acceptable to God. The word there for acceptable, is also translated, “pleasing,” or “well pleasing.” The pursuit of the pleasing the Lord is something consistently shown as important in the Scriptures… 

 

1 Thessalonians 2:4, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not intending to please people, but to please God, who examines our hearts.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:1, Finally then, brothers and sisters, we request and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel even more.

 

2 Corinthians 5:9, Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

 

            The pursuit of pleasing the Lord is something important, that said, it is important then to know and lives what is pleasing and inside the will of the Lord, and what is not. Then, to go in the direction of His will, to walk out what is acceptable, and to pursue what is pleasing to Him.

            As we look at the pursuit of the pleasing the king this morning, we will pick back up in the story of David in 2 Samuel. David is on the cusp of being anointed king over all Israel. In the chapters leading up to this, we learned that Saul, the first king of Israel had died. After his death, there was great division in the land of Israel surrounding who would be the next king. God had anointed and declared that David was to be the next king after Saul, but after Saul’s death, 11 of the 12 tribes of Israel did not do as God had directed.

            An army commander who once worked for Saul, set up Saul’s fourth son as king in the norther territory of Israel. He made him king of 11 tribes of Israel. And only one tribe, the tribe of Judah chose David as their king. What ended up happening was a civil war broke out. It was largely provoked by Abner who is shown as one who wanted to be in power. Last week, we saw that his life was taken, and today we will see that with him out of the way, the power behind the seat in northern Israel is essentially gone.

            The current king of the north is a man name Ish-bosheth, and this morning we will see his life taken and then David finally take his seat at king over all Israel. What is revealed through it all, however, is that there are good ways people go about putting him in place, and not so good. Some seek right things by wrong means, and ultimately, we will see David pursuing the Lord his king for direction.

 

Read: 2 Samuel 4:1-4

 

As the chapter begins, we learn that after Abner, his army commander had died, Ish-bosheth’s courage failed and all Israel was horrified. Other translations say they were alarmed, anxious, afraid, or disturbed. His courage failed because Abner was the one who set Ish-bosheth in place, and he was the real power behind the seat. With him gone, Ish-bosheth likely knew that he too would soon be gone. Ish-bosheth had lost his dad, his brothers, and now the commander who put him on the throne, and the picture we have been given of him thus far is, he really wasn’t up to the task. Not only this, but we also know that he knew the Lord had previously declared that David was to be the next king.

The rest of the chapter gives us insights into the fall of the house of Saul as Ish-bosheth’s life is taken. In verse 4 we learn that there is only one other “son of Saul,” he was his grandson named Mephibosheth who we will learn more about later in chapter 9, but what we know from chapter 4 is, he was disabled in both feet and would not be able to take over for Ish-bosheth.

In verses 2-3, we learn about two men who were commanders of troops for Ish-bosheth’s army, but upon learning that Abner had died, and Ish-bosheth’s courage had failed, they turn on him and pursue a plan to end his life. We will look at the details of it all, but what we will find is that they thought David would look kindly on their pursuit of taking Ish-bosheth’s life, but they will learn that their actions were not right in the sight of the true king, and that lead me to our first point in pursuit of what pleases the king this morning.

 

1. Set Your Sights on His Point of View

 

2 Samuel 4:5-9, So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day, while he was taking his midday rest. And they came to the interior of the house as if to get wheat, and they struck him in the belly; and Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped. Now when they had come into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him, and they beheaded him. And they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night. Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; so the Lord has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his descendants.”

 

• These two commanders in Ish-bosheth’s seem to have known some things about Ish-bosheth, perhaps they knew that he enjoyed afternoon naps in the heat of the day, maybe, but they certainly knew that if they showed up pretending to get wheat from his headquarters, then they, as commanders of troops in his army, would likely be let in.

 

• Their plan to get in worked, and they struck Ish-bosheth immediately struck him while he was in his bed, took his head and escaped. They carried his head through the night, going from a town called Mahanaim to Hebron which was about 60 miles.

 

• The two army commanders bring Ish-bosheth’s head to David. And they say to David, “Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, so the Lord has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his descendants.”

 

• When the soldier brought Ish-bosheth’s head to David, they implied that it was something the Lord was in line with the Lord’s will, “look what the Lord did for you David!”

 

• David could see through it.

 

2 Samuel 4:9-10, But David replied to Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, when the one who informed me, saying, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ also viewed himself as the bearer of good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

 

• David’s response reveals that he was not looking at the situation the same way they were.

 

• They were looking at it as the ends justify the means, and David was looking at it as their means would justify their end.

 

• Justice would be brough to them, just like the man who came and told David he had taken Saul’s life on Mount Gilboa.

 

• David points back to what took place in chapter 1, when the man brought Saul’s armor to David, thinking that David would view Saul’s life being taken as a good thing, as something pleasing to the king, but he didn’t.

 

• Specifically, David said, “the one who informed be, saying, ‘behold, Saul is dead,’ also viewed himself as the bearer of good news…”

 

• That statement directs our attention to how we view things and what we view according to. In other words, are your views on things pleasing in God’s sight?

 

• These men were caught up in the situation that was going on in their society. Take down one king, put in another. David says, what you are doing is not a good thing! David respected authority…He says, you guy are viewing something as good that is not good!

 

• The word there for “viewed” also has an interesting backstory…

 

Judges 17:6 and 21:25, In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

 

Illus. Genesis 3:1-7.

 

1 Samuel 16:7, God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

 

• The men celebrated their deed, saying, “let’s celebrate, now we get you as our next king”…David said, “what you did is not a good thing.”

 

• David was willing to wait. he wanted what would come from the hand of God alone, he was seeing things from God’s point of view.

 

• He had opportunities to take Saul out himself, and he did, why?

 

1 Samuel 24:6, He said to his men, “Far be it from me because of the Lord that I would do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to reach out with my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.”

 

• David was not going to take matters into his own hands. He knew God had a plan, and trusted Him. David pursued God’s point of view.

 

Illus. A different king.

Psalm 19:14, May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

 

• As chapter 4 ends, we see David making these men another example of those who had done wrong. He showed that he was not against the house of Saul, and these men were not on his side. He likely wanted to much sure that people knew he did not instigate the murder of his rival. So, he acted with swift justice, showing he had not approved their plot, he was not pleased with their plan, and their actions were not an extension of his hand.

 

• This leads us to chapter 5, where we see David’s anointing as the king over all of Israel. It had been a long time coming, and as he takes his seat, it is a situation where we finally see a moment where all of Israel agrees with God’s will to accept David as king.

 

• In accepting him as king, they are agreeing with God’s revealed will.

 

1. Select His Will as the Why to Your Way

 

Read: 2 Samuel 5:1-5

• While there has been much that was challenging to make sense of in 2 Samuel so far, and though there will be others verse we study and wonder the why’s of the way things are going, these verses are easy to understand because the way of the people here is in line with God’s will.

 

• The people acknowledge David as one of their own, “we are your bone and flesh.”

 

• They acknowledge that even when Saul was king, David was the one who was leading them to victory.

 

• And in verse 2 they acknowledge that David was told by God that he would Shepherd God’s people Israel, and would be the leader over them.

 

• In ancient times, it was a high honor for king to be called a shepherd. It gave indication that the king would watch over, protect, and care for the people as a shepherd over his flock.

 

• That David is called shepherd is another association he has with our shepherd, Jesus, who is our “good shepherd” (John 10).

 

• It is a beautiful picture, the people appointing David just as God had spoken nearly 15 years earlier. David had been anointed king in Judah two years earlier (2 Samuel 2:9), now, he is anointed over all Israel and would serve as king for 40 years in total.

 

• It is wonderful to see God will win, and the people point back to what the Lord had spoken as the why to their way, but it is also important to recognize that they are choosing David when he was the only choice.

 

• We see all the difficulty that took place in the nation, civil war, people going against one another resisting God’s chosen king.

 

• In most of the decision we make in life, there are many options to choose from or directions we can go in.

 

• May we select God will as the way right away, not just when other options fail.

 

Romans 12:1-2, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

• The picture there is of one with a life surrendered to what pleases God. A life that is not conformed to the world, or the way of the world, but one that is transformed, with a renewed mind. A life that is walking in the will of the Lord, and the will of the Lord is good, pleasing, and perfect.

 

Colossians 2:6-7, Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith…

 

• To walk in Him is to be rooted in Him. To make Him the reason for the steps you taken, the direction you go in….To make him the “why to your way.”

 

• Jesus modeled this when He walked on earth…

 

John 6:38, I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

 

Illus. Why this way?

 

Ephesians 5:10, You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

 

• We once walked in another way, but now we walk as children of the light. And children of the light are to walk and live lives that are pleasing in God’s sight.

 

• How do we know? We know the same way the people in David’s day knew, by looking back at what the Lord had spoken, and then making His words the why to their way.

 

• It took them some time to get to that place, but they were there in the beginning of chapter 5, and an important selection for the lives we are living.

 

• In verses 6 to 12 we see David’s first actions as king, which was to build a house for himself in Jerusalem. He took over that city by sending one of his men up a water tunnel.

 

• In verse 10 we read that David was becoming greater because the Lord was with him. We get another update on his family which had some issues. His family will end up being a weak point for David, we looked at last week and will see it in the future of this book.

 

• The reason why his family was a weak point is because it is clear to see that the way he set up his family, and his giving into his weakness with women shows clearly that area of his life, God’s will was not the why to his way.

 

• And at the end of chapter 5, we see that the Philistines a common and consistent enemy of the Israelites, find out that David had been anointed king, and devise a plan to seek him out.

 

• Ultimately, David is going to seek them out in return, but first he will turn again to God and seek Him for the next step he should take.

 

III. Steadily Seek Him for Direction

 

Read: 2 Samuel 5:17-24

 

• As soon as the Philistines hear David is king, they go after him. They weren’t seeking him to congratulate him, they head toward his territory, and in response David inquires of the Lord.

 

• So far in David’s life, whenever we have been reading about him and we read the phrase, “David inquired of the Lord,” we have seen good thinks happen.

 

• David had times where he inquired of the Lord, and times he didn’t. But it was the times when David sought the Lord that he has experienced great victory.

 

• It would seem then that a good direction was coming for David.

 

• David had lived in Philistine territory for 16 months. He had pretended to be on their side, spoke of going to battle with them, and seems to have been willing to attack the Israelites with them. He had sought being pleasing in the sight of the Philistine king by seemingly turning on the Israelites.

 

• David had ended up living in enemy territory after a time in his life when we see him make a decision without inquiring of the Lord….

 

1 Samuel 27:1, Then David said to himself, “Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to safely escape into the land of the Philistines…”

 

• Things changes when David began inquiring of the Lord again in 1 Samuel 30, then again in 2 Samuel 2, and here again in 2 Samuel 5.

 

• After inquiring of the Lord, David is told to pursue them, that they would be handed over to him. Just as the Lord had spoken, David defeated them. The glory was given to God, David acknowledge that it was the Lord who gave the victory, that He was the Lord of the breakthrough!

 

• The Philistines left their idols behind and David and his men destroyed them. But the Philistines were not done pursuing.

 

2 Samuel 5:24-25, Now the Philistines came up once again and overran the Valley of Rephaim. So David inquired of the Lord, but He said, “You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the baka-shrubs. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the baka-shrubs, then you shall act promptly, for then the Lord will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.”

 

• What I love about what happens here is that the same enemy is seeking after David and the Israelites, and they are stationed in the same valley they were just in.

 

• It may have been tempting for David to simply say, “oh, you want some more!” and go with the direction God had already given, but verse 23 tells us that David inquired of the Lord again.

 

• When David inquired of the Lord again, God gave him a different battle plan for the same enemy that way station in the same valley.

 

• God gives him a different strategy. David could have said, “I already prayed about it, God said to go, I went, I already know the battle plan, I’ve already been given the strategy, but David inquired of the Lord again.

 

• David was not going to take a step, without seeking God again. Though he had sought him already, he is seen here steadily seeking God, not taking a step unless it was the step God would direct.

 

• And in pursuing what pleases our King, seeking Him for direction, walking with Him, is pleasing to Him.

 

Hebrews 11:5-6, By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for before he was taken up, he was attested to have been pleasing to God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him.

 

• Enoch is someone in the Bible that we don’t know a great deal about, but from Hebrews 11:5, we that he was “pleasing to God.”

 

• Enoch had faith; without faith it is impossible to please Him. In Hebrews 11, we read about the faith people had and what they did, so the question is, what did Enoch do to please God?

 

Genesis 5:24, Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

• In faith, Enoch walked with God. That is what he did, that was his testimony, he walked with God, and Hebrews 11:5 tells us that he was pleasing to God.

 

• In summary, he walked with God, it was pleasing to God.

 

John 15:4-5, Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (NASB 95’)

 

• The word “abide” meant to not depart from, to continue to be present with, to remain in, or to remain as one.

 

• Jesus said abide in me!

John 8:29, He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.

 

• Jesus said, I am with you always. Even to the end. When you walk with Him, you recognize and realize that He is with you.

 

• Jesus said, the Father is with me, I am not alone, I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.

 

• When you realize that the Lord is with you always, it should have an affect on your ways.

 

Illus. He is with you.

 

Revelation 4:11, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

 

2 Corinthians 5:9, We make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. (NKJV)

2 Samuel 4-5