The Weightiness of Elders (Titus 1:5–9)

“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

—Titus 1:5–9

Unless you’re some kind of 9Marks junkie, you probably don’t get excited when “church polity” is the focal point of the sermon or your Bible reading. The atonement of Christ, regeneration, union with Christ, assurance of salvation, holiness, even eschatology may whet your spiritual appetite, but the qualifications for an elder? Yes, you may realize it is important, but you don’t turn the page of your devotional on tiptoe, hoping the next reading will address church polity. But consider this, where you go to church and thus who you entrust the oversight of your soul to, is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. As a disciple of Christ, you should zealously seek to be in covenant membership with a local body of believers, and as you do so, you should ask yourself two questions: What does this church believe? Who teaches what they believe? The weightiness of this can be felt in Paul’s instructions to Titus here.

Albert Mohler has introduced the idea of theological triage, calling us to properly access truths according to theological urgency. First order doctrines are those that are essential to the Christian faith, such as the trinity and the gospel. Second order doctrines are those in which we may disagree, but they require us to be in separate churches, such as baptism or church polity. Third order doctrines are those in which we may disagree but remain in the same church, such as eschatology. 

Church polity is a second order doctrine, but we must understand that nonessential does not mean unimportant. As Jonathan Leeman points out, church polity is not the gospel, but it is for the protecting of the gospel. You see that here, “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (v. 9).

Church polity is not the gospel, but it is for the gospel. To truly feel the full weight of Biblical church governance then, we must feel the weight of the gospel itself—the truth of God, sound doctrine, apostolic teaching, the trustworthy word. What is this trustworthy word? Listen to how Paul unfolds it for Titus in two towering passages from this little letter.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you” (Titus 2:11–14).

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people” (Titus 3:4–8).

The gospel of God, that I declare to you now as a shepherd of Christ’s church, with the authority of His apostles’ word is this: We are everyone of us completely disqualified in every way before the holy God of heaven deserving nothing but His eternal wrath and condemnation. But the Father gave His Son to live righteously and die cursedly in the place of sinners so that they might be qualified—justified by faith and reconciled to God. Sinner, by this trustworthy word, Christ is set before you, the Savior of sinners. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

The doctrine of church polity is nowhere near as weighty as this gospel, but it is heavy with grave importance because of this gospel. It is for this reason that one of the biggest decisions you will ever make is where you will go to church and thus who you entrust the oversight of your soul to. This is why it is critical that you ask of a church, “What does she believe?” and “Who teaches what they believe?” Of first and essential importance is what she believes about the gospel. Of secondary and vital impotence for the health of the church and your souls is who teaches the gospel.

A Big Introduction for a Little Letter (Titus 1:1–4)

“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.”

—Titus 1:1–4

The little letter of Titus begins big. The introduction to Titus, is not only notably longer than any other of the pastoral epistles (1 & 2 Timothy), it is the third longest of any of Paul’s letters, exceeded only by Romans and Galatians. And inasmuch as this introduction identifies the sender, this little letter is topped only by Romans, and yet, I would argue, it is the more focused or concentrated statement identifying Paul.

Which immediately throws us into our text with this question, if this letter is from Paul and to Titus, why does Paul elaborate so? Paul and Titus are not strangers. Paul identifies Titus as “my true child.” In 2 Corinthians he refers to him as “my brother” (2 Corinthians 2:13), and “my partner and fellow worker” (2 Corinthians 8:23). Titus knows Paul. Titus has no doubts as to who Paul is. So why does Paul go on so? The answer is found at the very end of the letter—the last sentence of the letter. “Grace be with you all” (Titus 3:15). This letter, addressed to Titus, is intended to be overheard by all whom Titus addresses in Crete. This is not a piece of private correspondence. This is a public proclamation.

When Titus tells them what Paul tells him to tell them, Titus has this letter telling them that Paul has told him to tell them what he tells them. And in this letter, Paul explains that he is a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and for their knowledge of the truth that accords with godliness.

This is the purpose of Paul. He is for the faith of God’s elect and for their knowledge of the truth. Paul is for you. He is for your faith. He is for your knowledge of the truth. He is for your godliness. As Titus is read today, by any faithful preacher of the word, Paul’s identity should come to bear down on them still. A prayer you should pray as we go through Titus, and any time you read Paul, or any apostle, or any prophet—any time you read the Scripture—a prayer you should pray is , “O Lord, give me faith. Give me knowledge of the truth. Sanctify me by your word. Your word is truth.” This is the particular grace and peace the letter of Titus is meant to convey to you all.

How to Roll Up Samuel (2 Samuel 24:1–25)

24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.

—2 Samuel 24:24–25

As one prepares to roll up the scroll of Samuel, it’s helpful to roll it all the way back out so that you can roll it up neatly to properly store in your heart. Taking in the whole, we are reminded that this narrative is enveloped in song: Hannah’s song at the beginning, and David’s song at the end.

Hannah sings at the tabernacle rejoicing over the longed for son, anticipating the hope of God’s king.

“The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; 
     against them he will thunder in heaven. 
The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; 
     he will give strength to his king 
     and exalt the horn of his anointed” (1 Samuel 2:10).

David’s song rekindles this hope, pointing to to one beyond David.

“The God of Israel has spoken; 
	the Rock of Israel has said to me: 
When one rules justly over men, 
	ruling in the fear of God, 
he dawns on them like the morning light, 
	like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, 
	like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. 
For does not my house stand so with God? 
	For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, 
	ordered in all things and secure. 
For will he not cause to prosper 
	all my help and my desire? (2 Samuel 23:3–5).

David’s house stands so with God, because God has made with him an everlasting covenant. In that covenant, God pledged to build David a house, a dynasty, from which a son would come who would build God a house. So as the book closes, we are longing for a son who will be both David’s house built, and God’s house builder. We are still longing for a son at the close of this scroll, but we have gone from tabernacle to temple.

Now, as we roll up the scroll, I believe the most significant thing the author wants us to see is easily missed by our western eyes because we’re not as keenly aware of the geography in plY as the ancient Israelite was. When David builds the altar on the threshing floor of Araunah, this explodes with meaning for both what will happen there and what has happened there.

What will happen here? Immediately after David offers these sacrifices so that the judgment of God is averted, Chronicles tells us that David declares, “Here shall be the house of the LORD God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel” (1 Chronicles 22:1). Samuel ends by taking us from tent to temple as we long for the son of David.

What has happened here? Listen to the account of what will happen and see if you cannot catch the clue as to what had happened. “Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite” (2 Chronicles 3:1). Mount Moriah! What had happened on Mount Moriah? Do you know how many times Moriah is mentioned in the Old Testament? Only twice! The geographical connection is impossible to miss. Here it is.

“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you’” (Genesis 22:1–2).

On this hill, Abraham was called to offer up a sacrifice that would cost him everything. The father ascended that hill with a knife and fire in his hand and the son with the wood on his back. When Isaac asked where the lamb was, Abraham answered, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8).

Do you see the foundation God has been long in laying on this hill through Abraham and David and Solomon? You who have see the angel of Yahweh standing between earth and heaven with sword drawn over Jerusalem, do you now see the Son of Man suspended between earth and heaven on a cross? Do you see the King acting as Mediator and Substitute bearing the curse for the people?

Look to this hill! Behold what God has done! Look to God’s King, the Mediator and Substitute, crucified and risen, Sacrifice and Temple, Priest and King. Believe on Him. Trust Him. Bow before Him. Worship Him. This is how one must roll up the scroll of Samuel, by so treasuring Jesus in their heart.

God Speaks to and by His King (2 Samuel 23:1–39)

“The God of Israel has spoken;
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules justly over men,
ruling in the fear of God,
he dawns on them like the morning light,
like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
“For does not my house stand so with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
For will he not cause to prosper
all my help and my desire?” (2 Samuel 23:3–5)

Yahweh speaks both to His king and by His king. Yahweh speaks to His king about His king and this is His message by His king to His people. So what does Yahweh say to His king?

“When one rules justly over men,
ruling in the fear of God,
he dawns on them like the morning light,
like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth” (2 Samuel 23:3b-4).

Yahweh says to His king that righteous and reverent rule is Edenic. Righteous rule falls like light and reverent rule falls like rain. Godly rule is the perfect mix of sunshine and rain causing the kingdom to flourish as a restored Eden. Godly authority is neither a scorching heat that causes drought, nor a flood that carries away. Righteous rule is not curse, but blessing. Here is how James Montgomery sang of it.

He shall come down like showers
upon the fruitful earth;
love, joy, and hope, like flowers,
spring in his path to birth.
Before him on the mountains,
shall peace, the herald, go,
and righteousness, in fountains,
from hill to valley flow.

This is what Yahweh says to His king. Now, what does He say by His king? What is David’s response to this word? As we look to the answer, two things must be kept in mind. First, David’s response to God’s Word to him is God’s Word to us. Second, David has sinned grievously against God. In the matter of Uriah the Hittite, David did not act justly; he did not fear God.

So what does David say in response to God’s Word as God’s Word to us? “For does not my house stand so with God?” This has reference to David, yet it is bigger than David. “House” here refers to a dynasty. David says “my house.” It refers to David (my), but it is bigger than David (house). This hope of a righteous and reverent Ruler bringing Edenic blessing to God’s people refers to David, yet it is bigger than David.

Why does David say this? Because Yahweh spoke to him. “For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure” (v. 5b). Yahweh had spoken to David a covenant (2 Samuel 7). David reflects on God’s Word to him here in light of God’s Word to him back there, and what God spoke to him back there, was an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and secure. This is why David, reflecting on God’s Word concerning the righteous and reverent rule of His king, can exclaim, “For does not my house stand so with God?”

This hope carries you through the scroll of Kings as you see glimpses of light and days of darkness in David’s sons. But while his sons can become darker, they virtually never shine brighter. Still, this hope carries you on. David’s house stands so with God because of an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and secure. This hope carries you on until the fulness of time, when from the stump of Jesse, a shoot comes forth.

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed,
great David’s greater Son!
Hail in the time appointed,
his reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
to set the captive free;
to take away transgression,
and rule in equity.

The Beauty of Grace Shows Us the Ugliness of Sin (2 Samuel 13)

1 & 2 Samuel are among the most cherished narratives of the Scriptures. They are a delight to read. The depth and drama have no match in the Old Testament, save for perhaps the exodus. But this chapter is no pleasure to read. We wince. We recoil. We’d rather look away. But the Bible will not allow us to do so. We would rather not look upon sin without her makeup. We like her dressed up in beautiful lies. But here we are forced to behold the ugliness of sin.

Ralph Venning knew the ugliness of sin’s curse and he knew sin was uglier still. Venning had seen the Great Plague of London wipe out roughly fifteen percent of the city. The work that we know as The Sinfulness of Sin, he originally titled The Plague of Plagues.  He wrote therein, “Sin is the worst of evils; the evil of evils, and indeed the only evil. Nothing is so evil as sin; nothing is evil but sin. As the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us, so neither the sufferings of this life nor of that to come are worthy to be compared as evil with the evil of sin. No evil is displeasing to God or destructive to man but the evil of sin. Sin is worse than affliction, than death, than Devil, than Hell. Affliction is not so afflictive, death is not so deadly, the Devil not so devilish, Hell not so hellish as sin is.” Sin is ugly. Do not look away. Be repulsed. Be angry. Hate sin.

In The Patriot, Benjamin Martin has this chilling line, “I have long feared that my sins would return to visit me, and the cost is more than I can bear.” Deuteronomy 29:29 warns us that the secret things belong to God. Too often, when we dare to stare the ugliness of our trespasses in their unadorned face, we live in fear of our sins rather than hope in God’s grace. Don’t waste time worrying and trying figure out if your current sufferings are a result of past sins. Simply look to God for comfort in your sufferings and look to God for forgiveness for your sins.

But sometimes it will be plain that we suffer for our sins. The connection and causality will be crystal clear. David knew. David knew that though the condemnation of his sin had been taken away, the consequence of his sins were sure to follow. Nathan assured David, “the LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13). But he also promised, “the sword shall never depart from your house” and “I will raise up evil against you out of your own house” (2 Samuel 12:11).

So let us begin to look at length at the consequences of David’s sins. Let us look, hate sin, fear God, and thank our God, because beholding the ugliness of sin is a grace of God for us. It is the beauty of God’s grace that shows us the ugliness of sin.

If you would truly behold the beauty of God’s grace in showing you the ugliness of sin, look not to David, but to the righteous Son of David crucified on a cross, bearing the wrath of His Father in the stead of sinners. O sinner, do you not see the beauty of God’s grace in showing you the ugliness of sin? O how ugly sin is! O how beautiful grace is.

Coming Back Around, but No Going Back (2 Samuel 12)

As we boomerang back from the middle of this chiasm in chapters 11 and 12, we’re both hopeful and fearful of what may come back around. Chiasms are literary devices that have an ABCBA kind of pattern to them, bringing us back to where we began. Therein is our hope—that we will boomerang back to the David we knew before all of this mess. Bring back the lion-like conqueror and the lamb-like servant of Yahweh who shows covenant lovingkindness!

But we’re also afraid. We’re afraid of what David’s sin might bring back around from earlier in the book of Samuel. The prophet comes with a word for David in his sin. Every time the word of God came to Saul, it only exacerbated his sinfulness. The prophet comes to Saul with a Word from God. Saul disregards the prophet. The prophet returns with another word. Samuel declared to Saul, “Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23).

But Saul was a king like the nations. He was never a man after God’s own heart. The saints may sin like sinners, what sinners cannot do is rise like the saints. They cannot repent and pursue righteousness as the saints do. Thomas Brooks wrote, “Ah, souls, you can easily sin as the saints, but can you repent with the saints! Many can sin with David and Petter, that cannot repent with David and Peter, and so must perish forever.” The saints can sin the same sins, but they cannot sin in the same way, for they have a new heart—a heart that hates sin and loves righteousness.

Still, sin deadens and deafens. Sin is drifting and sin causes us to drift. What truly separates the saint from the sinner is the Savior. The answer for faith and repentance is always never found within but without. The saints persevere because God preserves. God not only saved David in the past. He is saving David in this moment. And He does so, by His word.

David is both the most dramatic picture of the Messiah and the most dramatic picture of our need for the Messiah. Walter Bruggeman says that this text tells us “more than we want to know about David and more than we can bear to understand about ourselves.” This is a hard word, but it is a gracious word. It tells us all that we are sinners. It tells us all that Yahweh is a Savior.

Nathan’s word of judgment proves to be a word of grace, bringing David to repentance. This hard word softens hearts. By His Word, God saves sinners and sanctifies the saints. David in his climb has been exemplary and stunning, but David in his fall is comforting. There is grace for sinners. There is grace for saints.

There is comfort. There is grace. But there is no going back to the way things were before. But perhaps there is hope for something even better in the future? Surely David’s story left some Israel saying, “Oh, if only the Lord’s Anointed could come to us and manifest Yahweh’s grace without the sin!” Perhaps this was the hope held out for his son, Jedidiah, beloved of Yahweh. No. He too would fall.

But then came great David’s greater Son, the true builder of the true temple. The High Priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, who in every respect has been tempted as we are and is yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). The sinless Son who died for sinners. Here is great David’s greater Son, who died so that David, and all sinners might know forgiveness. We have not a sinful king who lived. We have a sinless King who died. And then He rose triumphant over all, over Satan, sin, and death. We have not gone back to where we were before. We have gone forward to something far better. Though we too fall, though we may not go back, we have assurance that something better lies ahead.

Sinful Sending (2 Samuel 11)

“David sent…”

—2 Samuel 11:1, 3, 4, 6, 27

David sends Joab to besiege Rabbah.

Much is often made of nothing. David does nothing, and much trouble comes from it, so we are often told. It is true, doing something good is the best way to keep from doing something bad. If you don’t want to love an idol with any of your heart, then love God with all your heart. It is said that an idle mind is the devil’s playground. Liberty towards leisure leads to licentiousness. Truly man is incapable of idling. Fallen man has no neutral. An idolatrous heart cannot have an idle mind. Man is either working and resting unto God or he is working and resting unto self.

Are we then making much of nothing? Is this mountain really a molehill? Was David’s staying home in Jerusalem a sin? If mom and dad go into town, it is not, in itself, a bad thing if the kids say they’d like to stay home, though it might prove better for them to have gone along. Staying home can mean playing with matches or washing the dishes. Certainly, we may imagine that it may have been much better if David had gone out to battle. But just because going out may have been better does not mean that staying home was bad.

The real failure isn’t that David didn’t battle with his men; it is that he didn’t battle against his sin. If we are not always about this battle, it does not matter where we are or what other battles we are or are not involved in.

David sends to inquire of Bathsheba. David sends for Bathsheba.

David saw. David does not mortify his lust. He indulges his curiosity and abuses his authority. He saw. He sent. He took.

When the opportunity is fertile for sins’s pleasures, it is also fertile for sin’s consequences. Sin is always pregnant with death.

David sends for Uriah. David sends Uriah to Joab.

David tries to undo his sending with more sending. We try to undo our sin with more sin. We try to wash our sin with sin, but we only smear the mud, rub it in, and add to it. David is not in control and he only creates more problems by continuing to act as though he were. Sin is the problem that the more you try to solve it, the more you complexify it. You can only ask for help.

David tries to hide and cover up his sin. But his fig leaves easily wither. Sin cannot be covered by man. It can only be cleansed. And it can only be cleansed by the nail pierced hands of the Son of God. Trying to hide sin is like hiding fungus; if you put it in the dark, you only get more fungus.

Joab sends a messenger to David.

Joab is concerned David might be upset. Other men have died with Bathsheba. But the king expresses no anger. It maters not to him. Uriah is dead.

David admirably mourned the deaths of Saul and Abner, but sin has so callused, so hardened, so blinded, so deafened, so darkened, so deadened him, that he expresses no grief at the loss of these men and this devoted servant.

David is fearful of the consequences of his sin, but the worst consequences have already taken root in his soul. Left in the dark, sin corrodes. We fear our sin being exposed when we should fear it remaining hidden. We fear sin hurting us without when we should fear hurting us within.

David sends for Bathsheba to take her as his wife.

Notice the strength of Scripture’s written account of David’s sin. There is no detailed drama to draw us in so that we see and take. The account is not romanticized. It is not given any sensual indulgence. The truth is told of it, not the lies.

This will be the last time David sends. God will do the sending in chapter 12, and he will send because “the thing David had done displeased the LORD” (v. 27).

The Crest before the Crash (2 Samuel 10)

2 Samuel 10 is the crest before the dreaded and unexpected crash. It’s not like the crest of a roller coaster. There the fall is the thrill—the fall is anticipated and expected, though fear is mingled with it. This is more like a trip up Pike’s Peak gone wrong at the very top. Tumbling down Pike’s Peak is not the reason you went up.

Because you know how this scenic trip up the peak is going to go, you may wish you could just stay on top and enjoy this view. You may wish for a short 2 Samuel concluding with chapter 10. The end. Or, you may find it difficult to make the trip up at all. It’s like the sad movie you don’t want to watch again, though it beings so beautifully.

Don’t let the anticipated fall rob you of the majesty of this peak. If you are truly to understand the depths to which David falls in chapter 11, you must appreciate the height to which he rises in chapter 10. If you fail to appreciate the height, you can’t grasp the fall. Glory in the height that you may gasp at the fall.

Paradoxically then, I’m bringing up David’s sin now because I don’t want you to think about it. David’s valley is critical for rightly interpreting this peak, but you must not let the shadow dim this light. The light is meant to carry you through the valley. On top of this peak, you are to get a heavenly view and bearings to carry you through darker days.

1 Samuel 10 has profound ties to chapters 8 and 9. Chapter 8 provided us with a summary of David’s victories. Chapter 9 told us of his lovingkindness to Mephibosheth. David is the lion-like conqueror and the lamb-like servant of Yahweh who shows “hesed”—covenant faithfulness and mercy. The crest we arrive at here rides on those waves. But having appreciated the crest, we can now note its connections to the fall that follows.

“After this” or “And it came to pass” (v. 1), introduces a new section. The Ammonites form an inclusio around this section. Here, David first extends lovingkindness to Hanun the king of the Ammonites. Then he defeats him. In the middles of this section, the account of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah begins this way, “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1). The walls at which Uriah meets his death are those of Rabbah, the royal city of the Ammonites. But we don’t read of the fall of Rabbah and the Ammonites until after Nathan’s rebuke, the death of Bathsheba’s child, and the birth of Solomon in 12:26–31. The author has chosen to use the Ammonites to frame this section: their rise against David on one side and their fall before David on the other. After which, chapter 13 begins with “now,” or as the KJV has it, “And it came to pass” or, in the NIV, “In the course of time.”

Also, you may have noted that there is a lot of sending in this chapter. David sends servants to Hanun (v. 2). The princes of the Ammonnites accuse David of having sent spies (v. 3). Hanun sends the servants back shamed (v. 4). The Ammonites sent and hired Syrians (v. 6). David sends Joab and all the host of the mighty men (v. 7).  Hadedezer sends out for the Syrians beyond the Euphrates (v. 10). The word for “send” is used 32 times throughout chapters 11–12. Here’s just a smattering of the sending we will see in the next episode: David sends for Bathsheba (11:4). Bathsheba sends a message to David (11:5). David sends word to Joab so that Joab sends Uriah to David (11:6). Uriah is sent back to Joab with a letter from David (11:14). David sends for Bathsheba (11:27) Yahweh sends Nathan to David (12:1).

What role does chapter 10 play as it introduces this section? It prepares you for what lies ahead, not by making you begin to think less of David, but by making you continue to think much of David. David is loyal and kind. He cares for his servants and is courageous against his enemies. He is wise. He is Yahweh’s anointed, a man after His own heart. David’s fall disappoints us so because it is from such a height. It is almost like a second Adam because David almost is the second Adam—that is the very hope he is meant to manifest. Joab’s piety is not as surprising as David’s infidelity is shocking. We had hoped for so much more from God’s king.

But there remains hope for us in this disappointment. David was only ever a shadow, not the substance of the hope of the Israel of God. Yahweh had not promised that it would be David, but David’s Son who would build a house for His name. Yahweh will establish His Kingdom forever. (2 Samuel 7:13). And here is this blessed news: while David’s lovingkindness manifested the lovingkindness of God, David’s sin could not eradicate it. It could not eradicate it for God had promised David, “my steadfast love will not depart from him [you son], as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you” (2 Samuel 7:15).

David’s fall saddens us, because we had hoped for so much more. But is does not discourage us, because all that we hoped for was never to be realized in David. David’s fall encourages us, because it reminds us that our sins cannot destroy God’s promises.

We have a King who in every respect has been tempted as we are, and yet, is without sin (Hebrews 4:5). We have a King who never fell, yet came from the greatest heights to suffer the wrath of the deepest hell on the cross for our sins. We have a King whose crash into the curse raises us to the heights of blessedness. We have a King whose crest comes not only after the crash, but precisely because of the crash (Philippians 2:5–11, Ephesians 2:6).

Stronger and Stronger (2 Samuel 3:1–39)

“There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.”

2 Samuel 3:1

David grows stronger and stronger. The house of Saul becomes weaker and weaker. We expected this to be so. We have longed for this to be so. But, why is it so? How is it so? The answer is not only surprising. It is shocking. Don’t fail to connect this opening summary with what follows as an explanation thereof.

The house of David grows stronger by growing bigger. David has children, takes more wives, and has more children.

The house of Saul grows weaker as Abner grows stronger. A strong Abner grows tired of a weak Ish-bosheth.

The house of David grows stronger as Abner works to deliver Israel over to David.

Joab murders Abner, but the people see David’s reaction and are pleased by it, understanding that he had nothing to do with his death. Even this works so that David grows stronger.

How is it that David grows stronger and stronger and Saul’s house grows weaker and weaker? The answer is as surprising as it shocking. It happens through sin, by sinners, and for sinners. This is not a tale of how good any man is, but how good God is to sinful man. What a mess. What grace. There is a Savior who is sovereign over sinners for their salvation.

David grows stronger and stronger and the house of Saul grows weaker and weaker, not because David is good and Saul is bad. No, all this happens because God is holy and God is gracious. He is Yahweh, “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6–7).

The house of David grows stronger not because of the plans of Abner or the plots of Joab or the righteousness of David, but the faithfulness of God. Abner’s plan turns against him. Joab’s plot is wicked and cursed. David’s righteousness falls short. But God’s faithfulness does not fail. The Sovereign God uses the surprising, even the shocking. He uses sinners to bring His salvation. Yes, David gets many sons by many wives, but one of those sons will be the son of David.

We see something of the doctrine of concurrence here. That doctrine is best summarized by Joseph when he tells his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20). “You meant.” “God meant.” Both meants are meaningful. They are both true.

The doctrine of concurrence basically tells us that though men are responsible, God is sovereign. It explains that God’s providence rules over all things, even the sinful actions of men, but in such a way that God does not sin while men do. Men sin. And God is sovereign. And here is the most surprising and shocking thing of all. He is sovereign over sinners and through sinners for the salvation of sinners. By His sovereign rule, over even the sins of men, the house of David grows stronger and stronger and the kingdoms of this world grow weaker and weaker.

Desperate sinner, behold the sovereign salvation of the Savior and do not fear that your sins are bigger than His grace. It is surprising and shocking, but the kingdom of Jesus is seen to grow stronger as He is sovereign over sinners and saves sinners through sinners. Behold Christ on the cross and hear the true and better Joseph declare, “You meant evil against me, but I meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

How the Mighty Have Fallen! (2 Samuel 1:1–27)

“Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!

How the mighty have fallen!

—2 Samuel 1:19

“How the mighty of fallen!” We often say this with a sarcastic smirk. David said it with sincere sorrow. David intends no ridicule. He grieves. The “glory” of Israel lies slain on her high places. He grieves for Jonathan his devoted friend. He grieves for Saul his devoted enemy. David has pled for justice, but he does not rejoice when his enemy falls (Proverbs 24:17).

David does not just lament. He leads in lament. This song is to be taught to the people of Judah. David has “friends” in Judah (1 Samuel 30:26). They have hid him from Saul. David does not hide his esteem of Saul from them. He would have the people of Judah mourn this Benjaminite king.

David remains Saul’s best and most devoted servant to the very end. David has nothing to do with Saul’s death. Should David have been on the battlefield that day, I believe we may be certain what David would not have done. He would not have put his hand out against Yahweh’s anointed.

David has nothing to do with Saul’s death. But Yahweh does. The kingdom has been taken from Saul’s hand and given into David’s hand. David does not take the kingdom with man’s violence, but he does execute God’s justice. Saul lost the kingdom for failing to execute God’s justice on the Amalekites, David comes into the kingdom executing God’s justice on the Amaleites. Vengeance is the Lord’s and David is the Lord’s king.

Three songs mark the beginning, middle, and end of the singular scroll of Samuel. Hannah’s song opens the scroll and puts a different tone to the words “How the mighty have fallen!” “The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:4, 6). God will bring redemptive reversal to his people by salvation through judgment in a king. Hannah sings, “The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed” (1 Samuel 2:10). “How the mighty have fallen!”

As the book draws to a close, David sings this song of praise, “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me, who brought me out from my enemies; you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from men of violence. For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever” (2 Samuel 2:47–51).

Yahweh shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever. David’s covenant faithfulness to Yahweh’s anointed is a faint echo of the unfailing covenant love of God towards His King. The Son of David was slain on the high place of Israel, crucified on a Roman cross. But the Mighty has not fallen. He is risen. The Philistines have no gospel and the true Israel of God has no reason for lamentation.