Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What's the Story and Who's the Hero? | David in 22 | 2 Samuel 22-23

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10 minute Bible talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. And I'm Patrick Miller. Right now, we're working through the story of David's life in First and Second Samuel. One of the ways I was taught to read the Bible when I first became a Christian in college, especially the Old Testament stories in the Bible, was that you would read about a certain person and how they lived and acted and then think, okay, I'm supposed to be more like them. So, you know, be a better leader like Moses or be more courageous like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abindigo, or be more faithful like Daniel, or be a better leader like Nehemiah.

Starting point is 00:00:43 And the problem with that is that I can never do it. I mean, there's all kinds of problems with it, but just in my personal life, the main problem was that it was like, well, thanks, but where do I get the power to do that? I can't be like these people. And then there was also another problem is which part of them was I supposed to be like? Was I supposed to be like the murder that Moses was? Or impatient with God like he was? Or was I supposed to be the fighter and the brawler that Nehemiah was? You see, there's this tension in the people in the Bible that they're far from perfect.

Starting point is 00:01:25 They're not like polished characters in a story. They are real people with kind of flaws and baggage. They're mixed bags just like I am. And not only could I not live up to their ideals and the best way they lived and acted, but I wasn't sure that I really wanted to live up to all parts of their life. I wasn't sure I was supposed to imitate all of that. Somewhere along the line, I was taught, I don't, not sure if it was in seminary or just from a good book, or I don't really know where to trace it back to in my life, but I was taught that,

Starting point is 00:01:59 The hero of the Bible are not the individuals found in its pages, but in God. The only hero of the Bible is God. We're going to see that today in 2nd Samuel 22 and 23. We're coming near the end of this series on the life of David, and it turns out we are coming near to the end of the book of 2nd Samuel. And the way this story ends, I think, emphasizes the truth that God is the hero. And if you'll stay with me to the end today, there's kind of a surprising twist at the end of chapter 23. But we start back in chapter 22, and it starts in the first verse this way.

Starting point is 00:02:42 David sang to the Lord the words of this song, when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And then it launches into a song or into a psalm. More specifically, it launches into Psalm 18, because if you turn it. to Psalm 18, it's almost the exact same text. Psalm 18 and this Psalm in chapter 22 of Second Samuel are almost identical. The variations are very minor. Now, it's interesting because that means that First Samuel and Second Samuel, if you think of them as one story in one book, and I think that's for sure how we should think of them, they begin, that this book begins with Hannah's Psalm or prayer or song in 1 Samuel 2, and it ends with this Psalm in 2 Samuel 22, and it is the

Starting point is 00:03:38 Psalm of David. And I think there's a theological point here to all of this. That is that God is the one who brackets our life. God bracketed this whole story. God is at the front, and God is at the back. and everything that happened in between is due to God's grace and God working things out in accordance with his will. So 1 Samuel and 2nd Samuel are bracketed by this truth. God is a God of power, of glory, of wisdom, of goodness, of strength. And it's also teaching us that David's story, it was part of a bigger story. It's part of the big God's story. not only of what God is doing in Israel, but also in what he's doing in the entire world.

Starting point is 00:04:29 And that same truth applies to our lives. We don't always see it in any given situation. But our life isn't about our life. It's not about our successes or our failures, our needs, our wants. No, we need to see our life as part of the bigger story that God is writing. it's then we find meaning and purpose and hope and joy when we realize that we're a small part of God's bigger story. Back in chapter 22 in this Psalm that we find there, there are two key words that we see repeated. One is that God is a rock and the other is that God saves or sometimes it says

Starting point is 00:05:14 God delivers. I think those two words are trying to show us that God has been David's unyielding strength, and it is God who has rescued him and delivered him on numerous occasions. That none of that is due to David's power or David's wisdom or David's strength, but it was God who was at work, sometimes overtly, sometimes behind the scenes. But God was using David to fulfill his greater purposes. Now, there's an interesting section down in verses 21 to 25 of the, this Psalm. And I just want to read it, and I just want you to think about David being the author of

Starting point is 00:05:56 these words. He writes, The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands, he has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord. I'm not guilty of turning from my God. All his laws are before me. I have not turned away from his decrees. I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. Really? Really? I mean, when you hear those words, if you've been following along in this podcast series, if you've been reading along in first and second Samuel, how in the world does David have the gall to say that he has clean hands before God, that he's blameless before him, that he has kept himself from sin?

Starting point is 00:06:41 I mean, there's been several instances where that is blatantly untrue. Just to take one, the whole incident with Bathsheba and Uriah. So it just seems silly to say that somehow David is perfect. So maybe that's not what this is saying. Maybe it's not saying that David is perfect, blameless, without sin. In Exodus 34, God declares his name. And part of his name is that he is a God who forgives sin. So I don't think the Old Testament ever set it up that we were supposed to be perfect before God.

Starting point is 00:07:21 And I don't think that David is claiming to be perfect. David is well aware of his sin, and so is the author of the books of Samuel. I think what he's saying is that I've lived inside the promises of God, that God is a faithful, forgiving God. If we will turn from our sin and put our hope and faith in him, cast ourselves on the mercy and grace of God, that we will find that he forgives and he cleanses of our sin. So David is not saying he is blameless as if he is without sin. He is saying that he is blameless in the sense that he has lived inside the promises of God, confess to sins to God, depends on God for his righteousness.

Starting point is 00:08:05 I think it's kind of what Paul meant when he said to King Agrippa in Acts 24. So I always strive to keep my conscience clear before God and man. I think what David is saying that his conscience is clear, not because he is sinless, but because he has acknowledged his sin, confessed his sin, repented of his sin, ask God to change him and to make him into the man and the king and the father and the husband that he wants him to be. Then in the next section of this Psalm, David refers to all of his military victories. But remember the key words in this chapter, chapter 22, are rock and

Starting point is 00:08:46 deliverer. God is David's rock. God is his deliverer. So even as he recounts all these military victories, there's this sense that God is the one who provided for him. God is the one who delivered him. God is the one who gave him strength. God is the one who gave him wisdom. Apart from God, he wouldn't have won any of these battles. Remember all the way back when David fought Goliath, he said to Goliath, this battle belongs to the Lord. Well, now at the end of his life, as he thinks about all that God has done in and through him. He says that God is the one who fought all these battles. God is the one who delivered me. God is the one who gave me victory. It's a way to praise God and to say this life I lived is not just about my successes or my accomplishments or even my failures,

Starting point is 00:09:34 but God was in it all. And now we come to the interesting twist. Chapter 23 lists all the mighty men of David. These were the men who fought with David, who were on David's side when everyone was against him, when Saul was chasing him. These are the guys that took care of him and who fought next to him in battle. And as you read through the list, some of the people get some explanation about their life or what they did or what they were known for. But a lot of names are just listed without any further comment. And the last name in the list is Uriah the Hittite. Do you remember him? He's the husband of Besheba, the one that David sinned against, the one that David sent to the front line in order to be killed.

Starting point is 00:10:21 And Yerai the Hittite was one of David's mighty men. He was one of the guys who had sacrificed his life on behalf of David, and David sinned against Yariah in a horrible way. And in that one name, all that whole story comes back to us. And we can say, yeah, David, you understood who God was. and you obeyed God, but you were a flawed, sinful, broken person. You sinned against Beshiba. You sinned against one of your mighty men in a horrible way. In some sense, for me, there's hope in that,

Starting point is 00:10:55 because I can never be like David. I can never measure up to this ideal standard of what a Christian is supposed to be like. I'm a flawed person. The same heart that sees really good things come out of it, also unfortunately sees a lot of sinful things come out of it. And so I identify with David. I too am a mixed bag.

Starting point is 00:11:17 But it reminds me that I can't read this story with the idea that I'm supposed to be like David, but instead I want to know the God who used a broken man like David, who showed mercy and grace to him. I want to know that God of love and power and wisdom and hope. Reading the name of Uriah the Hittite, It drives me back to the cross to say, have mercy on me, Jesus. It is amazing that you use a sinful person like me. Let it drive you there.

Starting point is 00:11:52 Let the story of David drive you to the God of mercy and grace and forgiveness. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps others find this podcast more easily. Also ask yourself who you could share this podcast. cast with. Texting an episode to a friend or family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What's the Story and Who's the Hero? | David in 22 | 2 Samuel 22-23

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