Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - David's Day One | Historical Books | 2 Samuel 2:1-11

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

What was David's first move as king of Israel? What does David's first action as king say about his future reign? Do you withhold good from others? In today's episode, Jeff shares how 2 Samuel 2:1-11 encourages us to give others the love we have received from Jesus freely. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Samuel 2:1-11

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jeff Parrott. For as long as people have had positions of leadership, there's a moment of transition that catches everyone's attention. That moment for any leader is known as Day One. It's the first day of true authority in the position of leadership. It's the day when talk is replaced with action. when promises are fulfilled, broken, or kick down the road.

Whether it's a new boss at work, a new teacher in the classroom, or a new politician in government, day one isn't just one day in a sequence of others. Day one holds symbolic power. It's like a bellwether that sets the tone and trajectory of what's to come. For better or worse, day one tells you a lot about what the world. rest of the days in power will look like. You find out what this new leader is all about, what their priorities are, what their presence will be like, who they really are. And furthermore, you find out about how that new leader will impact the surrounding world. Who's going to flourish

under this person's leadership? Who's going to flounder? All of that and more is previewed on day one. Day one is decisive. In the first, first 11 verses of 2 Samuel chapter 2, we get a front row seat to David's day one on the throne as king over Judah. Now, while he was anointed for kingship by Samuel back in 1 Samuel 16, here we get to see the first actions that David takes while functioning in the position of king. And while we won't get to see his reign over all of Israel until 2 Samuel 5 next week, this passage today in chapter two shows us the earliest moments the first moments of david on the throne over the tribe of judah david's day one reveals what his priorities are what his presence is like

who he really is at the same time it unearths this question who is going to flourish under david's reign how is his rule going to change the world around him as we dig into this passage we're going to see how day one for David really is decisive because it points beyond David to you and me today, all because ultimately it points beyond all of us, any human being, and points to the Creator King who holds all things together. Now as we get ready to approach God's word, let's slow down and ask for his grace, his kindness to move through our time. Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of life and breath. And thank you for the gift of your word. we bring before you our joys and our sorrows, our anxiety, our excitement, our calendars, and our

contingencies. God, would you meet us in this space together? Jesus help us abide in you, cling to you as we engage with your truth. In Holy Spirit, we ask you to move, to move powerfully through this time in Second Samuel. And as we read these words of yours, let these words read us and change us and restore us in Jesus name. Amen. Okay, so 2 Samuel 2 begins with David traveling to the city of Hebron among the towns of Judah, with his family, his men, and their families as well. In verse 4, the men of Judah gathered to Hebron and publicly anoint David as king over their tribe. And this creates an interesting situation for us to observe. What is David going to do in his first moment as king over Judah. What's his first move? And what does his first move reveal about himself

and his kingdom? What's the trajectory this is setting out? Now interestingly, in our English Bibles, we don't have to move beyond verse four to see what David's day one is all about. In the second half of verse four, David learns that the men of Jabesh Gilead buried Saul after his death. They treated the previous king, the Lord's anointed one, with honor and with reverence. Now, if you've been with us through 1 Samuel, you know that David took Saul's role as the Anointed King of Israel very seriously, because he took God seriously. This special care for the Lord's anointed prompts David to respond to the people of Jabesh Gilead in a special way as his first action on day one of his reign.

Versus 5 through 7 detail his message to them. This is day one. Here we go. 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. Now therefore let your hands be strong and valiant, for Saul your Lord, or master, is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them. Now, notice in verse 6 how David includes a blessing from the Lord, from Yahweh himself. But that blessing is wrapped up in the consistent description of God's character. May the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you.

Now, for an ancient Israelite who's hearing these words, they are setting off alarm bells, steadfast love and faithfulness, Hesed and Emmett. They reach back to one of the core description. of God's character in the Hebrew Bible back in Exodus 34-6. Who is the living God? He is the one who is full of steadfast love and faithfulness. That's who he is. Now in blessing the people of Jabesh Gilead,

David is calling upon God to release the fullness of his life creating power and love to them. His steadfast love and faithfulness, his He wants them to experience. he wants them to experience all of it. Now that's a huge statement here in verse 6. What a blessing to give someone. And as we rightly recognize and emphasize this part of David's blessing on his day one action, we also have to notice how verse 6 ends. Catch the ending here.

After blessing them with God's character, this is what David says. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. and I will do good to you. Not only is David calling upon the blessing of God for these people in his first act as king, he is promising to do good to them himself. The Hebrew word for good here is Tova. It's connected to the goodness of God in creation when our Creator King made all things good, or Tov.

So let's not miss this. The life creating power and love of God. God that spoke creation into a good existence into a tove reality that made everything tove. That is now being extended from King David to other people. All because God is the ultimate Creator King who's full of steadfast love and faithfulness, his character is working through David to touch other people. God's blessing cultivates David's ability and desire to be a blessing to other people. He is living as a conduit of God's goodness.

Now, why does that matter? Why is that not just an interesting observation? Well, because it's not uncommon for people, especially religious people, to embrace the theological truth of God's love for another person. Whether it's someone in your family, your workplace, your school, your neighborhood, your friend group, we can intellectually assent to the truth. Yes, God loves this person. but while we embrace that truth of God's love for another,

we can at the same time reject its necessary relational application. Yes, God loves this person, but I don't love them. I can't love them. I won't love them. I won't do good to them. Maybe I'll refuse to do good to them in my actions. I can just avoid them. Or I can refuse to do good to them with my words.

fitting in a nonchalant dig whenever they're not in the room. Or I can refuse to do good to a person with my thoughts, hiding behind a kind of public decorum while I'm privately demeaning them in my mind. And of course there's always a reason. We like to give ourselves permission slips to not do good,

to not think good or feel good about a person. We might even feel empowered to withhold goodness. if we notice ourselves in the crowd of other people who are following suit. But here's the problem. The tighter we cling to that permission slip of withholding good from others, the looser we're clinging to the God who is full of steadfast love and faithfulness. The more I refuse to do good to other people, the more I reveal a hard heart toward the God who created all things to be good.

David's first actions as king interrupt the disconnect between our theological posturing and our relational presence. This is how his day one is decisive. It's a reminder that God's people are meant to freely receive the love of God and freely give it for the flourishing of other people.

Yes, including the difficult people, all of them. His day one serves as a signpost of what every one of our days should be like. participating in the life-creating power and love of God with everyone we meet. More than just that, David's Day 1 stirs us to look to one who'd come after him, to another king, to King Jesus, the image of the invisible God, who died and rose again so that he can make all things new and truly good again. Now as we finish, I want you to invite you to just think of a person.

Maybe there's a group of people, but even if it's just one individual person in your life, that you've had a hard time showing goodness to. What kind of permission slip are you giving yourself to withhold good in your actions, your words, or your thoughts? What would it look like for you to go into this day or this upcoming week, doing good to them because God has been so faithful in showing you his goodness in Jesus. Heavenly Father, you have made all things good.

And though our world is not the way it's supposed to be, you promise that you will make all things perfectly good again one day. Would you draw us further into your work of renewal by your steadfast love and your faithfulness? Jesus, we praise you for doing good to us when we didn't deserve it, when we couldn't earn it. Your goodness has not only shown us great love, it has also created new life within us.

Holy Spirit, would you form us into a kind of people who bless others with our actions, our words, and our thoughts? In doing so, let your character shape our identities and influence the world around us for good. Do this by your grace, for your glory, in your story. In Jesus' name. Amen.