Category: Kings
Scriptures:
2 Samuel 5:1-5:12
2 Samuel 5:1-5:12
1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and spoke, saying, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
2 In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel out and in. Yahweh said to you, ‘You will be shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be prince over Israel.’”
3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Yahweh; and they anointed David king over Israel.
4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
6 The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, “The blind and the lame will keep you out of here”; thinking, “David can’t come in here.”
7 Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion. This is David’s city.
8 David said on that day, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites, let him go up to the watercourse and strike those lame and blind, who are hated by David’s soul.” Therefore they say, “The blind and the lame can’t come into the house.”
9 David lived in the stronghold, and called it David’s city. David built around from Millo and inward.
10 David grew greater and greater; for Yahweh, the God of Armies, was with him.
11 Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, with cedar trees, carpenters, and masons; and they built David a house.
12 David perceived that Yahweh had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake.
Commentary
David ruled for forty years altogether, seven and a half in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. David captured Jerusalem, which previously had remained the city of the Jebusites. Located outside the tribal territories, Jerusalem was literally the City of David. The choice of Jerusalem as capital did not favor one tribe over another.
David went from strength to strength. “It was because Yahweh, the God of the heavenly armies, was with him.” This translation boldly expresses the power of David’s God.
The short sentence “I am with you” is at the heart of the good news in the Bible. Moses thought up five excuses in Exodus 3-4 about why he should not be the leader in the Exodus. Then God said, “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12). God said, “I will be with your mouth” when Moses declared that he did not know how to talk (Exodus 4:12). Jeremiah had argued that he was only a teenager and therefore could not be a prophet. God countered, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1:8). In Matthew’s description of the significance of Jesus, he drew on the old word in Isaiah 7:14, “They shall name him Emmanuel, which means, ‘God is with us'” (cf. Matthew 1:23). And the last word of Jesus in that Gospel is: “And remember, I am with you to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
Why is “I am with you” so important? It means that David and all of us children of God are never alone. However sinful and however lacking in confidence we might be, God is not ashamed to hang around with us, as He did with David and Bathsheba. Hence, there is an implicit word of forgiveness in this simple sentence.