Samuel | Week 5 | Day 3

Reading

2 SAMUEL 21-24

This is the end of 2 Samuel and David’s life. Notice that David praises God until the end of his life.

There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted for three years, so David asked the Lord about it. And the Lord said, “The famine has come because Saul and his family are guilty of murdering the Gibeonites.”

So the king summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were all that was left of the nation of the Amorites. The people of Israel had sworn not to kill them, but Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had tried to wipe them out. David asked them, “What can I do for you? How can I make amends so that you will bless the Lord’s people again?”

“Well, money can’t settle this matter between us and the family of Saul,” the Gibeonites replied. “Neither can we demand the life of anyone in Israel.”

“What can I do then?” David asked. “Just tell me and I will do it for you.”

Then they replied, “It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in the territory of Israel. So let seven of Saul’s sons be handed over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord at Gibeon, on the mountain of the Lord.”

“All right,” the king said, “I will do it.” The king spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the Lord. But he gave them Saul’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whose mother was Rizpah daughter of Aiah. He also gave them the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, the wife of Adriel son of Barzillai from Meholah. The men of Gibeon executed them on the mountain before the Lord. So all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the mother of two of the men, spread burlap on a rock and stayed there the entire harvest season. She prevented the scavenger birds from tearing at their bodies during the day and stopped wild animals from eating them at night. When David learned what Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, he went to the people of Jabesh-gilead and retrieved the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan. (When the Philistines had killed Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa, the people of Jabesh-gilead stole their bodies from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them.) So David obtained the bones of Saul and Jonathan, as well as the bones of the men the Gibeonites had executed.

Then the king ordered that they bury the bones in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father, at the town of Zela in the land of Benjamin. After that, God ended the famine in the land.

Once again the Philistines were at war with Israel. And when David and his men were in the thick of battle, David became weak and exhausted. Ishbi-benob was a descendant of the giants; his bronze spearhead weighed more than seven pounds, and he was armed with a new sword. He had cornered David and was about to kill him. But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men declared, “You are not going out to battle with us again! Why risk snuffing out the light of Israel?”

After this, there was another battle against the Philistines at Gob. As they fought, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, another descendant of the giants.

During another battle at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair from Bethlehem killed the brother of Goliath of Gath. The handle of his spear was as thick as a weaver’s beam!

In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, they encountered a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all, who was also a descendant of the giants. But when he defied and taunted Israel, he was killed by Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimea.

These four Philistines were descendants of the giants of Gath, but David and his warriors killed them.

David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang:

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;

my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.

He is my shield, the power that saves me,

and my place of safety.

He is my refuge, my savior,

the one who saves me from violence.

I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and he saved me from my enemies.

“The waves of death overwhelmed me;

floods of destruction swept over me.

The grave wrapped its ropes around me;

death laid a trap in my path.

But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;

yes, I cried to my God for help.

He heard me from his sanctuary;

my cry reached his ears.

“Then the earth quaked and trembled.

The foundations of the heavens shook;

they quaked because of his anger.

Smoke poured from his nostrils;

fierce flames leaped from his mouth.

Glowing coals blazed forth from him.

He opened the heavens and came down;

dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.

Mounted on a mighty angelic being, he flew,

soaring on the wings of the wind.

He shrouded himself in darkness,

veiling his approach with dense rain clouds.

A great brightness shone around him,

and burning coals blazed forth.

The Lord thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.

He shot arrows and scattered his enemies;

his lightning flashed, and they were confused.

Then at the command of the Lord,

at the blast of his breath,

the bottom of the sea could be seen,

and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.

“He reached down from heaven and rescued me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

He rescued me from my powerful enemies,

from those who hated me and were too strong for me.

They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,

but the Lord supported me.

He led me to a place of safety;

he rescued me because he delights in me.

The Lord rewarded me for doing right;

he restored me because of my innocence.

For I have kept the ways of the Lord;

I have not turned from my God to follow evil.

I have followed all his regulations;

I have never abandoned his decrees.

I am blameless before God;

I have kept myself from sin.

The Lord rewarded me for doing right.

He has seen my innocence.

“To the faithful you show yourself faithful;

to those with integrity you show integrity.

To the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

You rescue the humble,

but your eyes watch the proud and humiliate them.

O Lord, you are my lamp.

The Lord lights up my darkness.

In your strength I can crush an army;

with my God I can scale any wall.

“God’s way is perfect.

All the Lord’s promises prove true.

He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.

For who is God except the Lord?

Who but our God is a solid rock?

God is my strong fortress,

and he makes my way perfect.

He makes me as surefooted as a deer,

enabling me to stand on mountain heights.

He trains my hands for battle;

he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.

You have given me your shield of victory;

your help has made me great.

You have made a wide path for my feet

to keep them from slipping.

“I chased my enemies and destroyed them;

I did not stop until they were conquered.

I consumed them;

I struck them down so they did not get up;

they fell beneath my feet.

You have armed me with strength for the battle;

you have subdued my enemies under my feet.

You placed my foot on their necks.

I have destroyed all who hated me.

They looked for help, but no one came to their rescue.

They even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer.

I ground them as fine as the dust of the earth;

I trampled them in the gutter like dirt.

“You gave me victory over my accusers.

You preserved me as the ruler over nations;

people I don’t even know now serve me.

Foreign nations cringe before me;

as soon as they hear of me, they submit.

They all lose their courage

and come trembling from their strongholds.

“The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock!

May God, the Rock of my salvation, be exalted!

He is the God who pays back those who harm me;

he brings down the nations under me

and delivers me from my enemies.

You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;

you save me from violent opponents.

For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;

I will sing praises to your name.

You give great victories to your king;

you show unfailing love to your anointed,

to David and all his descendants forever.”

These are the last words of David:

“David, the son of Jesse, speaks—

David, the man who was raised up so high,

David, the man anointed by the God of Jacob,

David, the sweet psalmist of Israel.

“The Spirit of the Lord speaks through me;

his words are upon my tongue.

The God of Israel spoke.

The Rock of Israel said to me:

‘The one who rules righteously,

who rules in the fear of God,

is like the light of morning at sunrise,

like a morning without clouds,

like the gleaming of the sun

on new grass after rain.’

“Is it not my family God has chosen?

Yes, he has made an everlasting covenant with me.

His agreement is arranged and guaranteed in every detail.

He will ensure my safety and success.

But the godless are like thorns to be thrown away,

for they tear the hand that touches them.

One must use iron tools to chop them down;

they will be totally consumed by fire.”

These are the names of David’s mightiest warriors. The first was Jashobeam the Hacmonite, who was leader of the Three—the three mightiest warriors among David’s men. He once used his spear to kill 800 enemy warriors in a single battle.

Next in rank among the Three was Eleazar son of Dodai, a descendant of Ahoah. Once Eleazar and David stood together against the Philistines when the entire Israelite army had fled. He killed Philistines until his hand was too tired to lift his sword, and the Lord gave him a great victory that day. The rest of the army did not return until it was time to collect the plunder!

Next in rank was Shammah son of Agee from Harar. One time the Philistines gathered at Lehi and attacked the Israelites in a field full of lentils. The Israelite army fled, but Shammah held his ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

Once during the harvest, when David was at the cave of Adullam, the Philistine army was camped in the valley of Rephaim. The Three (who were among the Thirty—an elite group among David’s fighting men) went down to meet him there. David was staying in the stronghold at the time, and a Philistine detachment had occupied the town of Bethlehem.

David remarked longingly to his men, “Oh, how I would love some of that good water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem.” So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew some water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out as an offering to the Lord. “The Lord forbid that I should drink this!” he exclaimed. “This water is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it to me.” So David did not drink it. These are examples of the exploits of the Three.

Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was the leader of the Thirty. He once used his spear to kill 300 enemy warriors in a single battle. It was by such feats that he became as famous as the Three. Abishai was the most famous of the Thirty and was their commander, though he was not one of the Three.

There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. Once, armed only with a club, he killed an imposing Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it. Deeds like these made Benaiah as famous as the Three mightiest warriors. He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him captain of his bodyguard.

Other members of the Thirty included:

Asahel, Joab’s brother;

Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem;

Shammah from Harod;

Elika from Harod;

Helez from Pelon;

Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa;

Abiezer from Anathoth;

Sibbecai from Hushah;

Zalmon from Ahoah;

Maharai from Netophah;

Heled son of Baanah from Netophah;

Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah (in the land of Benjamin);

Benaiah from Pirathon;

Hurai from Nahale-gaash;

Abi-albon from Arabah;

Azmaveth from Bahurim;

Eliahba from Shaalbon;

the sons of Jashen;

Jonathan son of Shagee from Harar;

Ahiam son of Sharar from Harar;

Eliphelet son of Ahasbai from Maacah;

Eliam son of Ahithophel from Giloh;

Hezro from Carmel;

Paarai from Arba;

Igal son of Nathan from Zobah;

Bani from Gad;

Zelek from Ammon;

Naharai from Beeroth, the armor bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah;

Ira from Jattir;

Gareb from Jattir;

Uriah the Hittite.

There were thirty-seven in all.

Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah,” the Lord told him.

So the king said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Take a census of all the tribes of Israel—from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south—so I may know how many people there are.”

But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God let you live to see a hundred times as many people as there are now! But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this?”

But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out to count the people of Israel. First they crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer, south of the town in the valley, in the direction of Gad. Then they went on to Jazer, then to Gilead in the land of Tahtim-hodshi and to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. Then they came to the fortress of Tyre, and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went south to Judah as far as Beersheba.

Having gone through the entire land for nine months and twenty days, they returned to Jerusalem. Joab reported the number of people to the king. There were 800,000 capable warriors in Israel who could handle a sword, and 500,000 in Judah.

But after he had taken the census, David’s conscience began to bother him. And he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, Lord, for doing this foolish thing.”

The next morning the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, who was David’s seer. This was the message: “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’”

So Gad came to David and asked him, “Will you choose three years of famine throughout your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”

“I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”

So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days. A total of 70,000 people died throughout the nation, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south. But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

When David saw the angel, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family.”

That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

So David went up to do what the Lord had commanded him. When Araunah saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. “Why have you come, my lord the king?” Araunah asked.

David replied, “I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there, so that he will stop the plague.”

“Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice.”

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen.

David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

Reflection

In chapter 22, David praises God because he realizes that all he accomplished is because of God. When God works on your behalf, does this kind of praise come out of you? When was the last time you praised God like this?