Category: <span>2 Samuel with Select Psalms and Proverbs</span>

The initial chapters of 2 Samuel reveal that David had concern for a reputation of purity as he established his reign over all Israel. David was a man of great integrity. He knew that since God had promised him the throne (see 1 Sam 16:12), he need not scheme and assassinate his rivals. Even foreign leadership recognized David’s greatness, which David demonstrated in leading Israel’s army against Israel’s enemies.

On the heels of the assassination of Abner, Ish-bosheth was distraught “and all Israel was dismayed” (2 Sam 4:1). Perhaps this was in part because Abner was of greater prowess than Ish-bosheth (see 2 Sam 3:6-11). Further, the only other rightful claimant to the throne was Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, who had been crippled from childhood (2 Sam 4:4-5). Two men, Baanah and Rechab, leaders of raiding parties in Israel, assassinated Ish-bosheth and brought his head to David in Hebron (2 Sam 4:5-8). Just like David had responded to the man who brought him the head of Saul (2 Samuel 1), David replied to Ish-bosheth’s assassins saying, “Should I not require his blood from your hands and wipe you off the earth?” (2 Sam 4:11). He did: “David gave orders to the young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron” (2 Sam 4:12).

When the tribes of Israel gathered at Hebron, they surrendered themselves to Judah’s king and swore allegiance to David (2 Sam 5:1-2). One of the psalmists, reflecting on David’s greatness, wrote that the Lord “chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; He brought him from tending ewes to be shepherd over His people Jacob—over Israel His inheritance. He shepherded them with a pure heart and guided them with his skillful hands” (Ps 78:70-72). Psalm 78 is a reminder that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a storyline recounting God’s acts of redemption for Israel and in Christ.

(1) Matthew cited Ps 78:2 in Matt 13:35 to explain Jesus’ use of parables. The Psalmist began his poem by telling his readers that he was declaring from them wise sayings, mysteries of God’s past work handed down from their fathers (Ps 78:2). The pinnacle of the former may have been the reign of David over all Israel, inaugurated in 2 Samuel 5. One should observe the flow of redemptive history from the exodus (Ps 78:12) to the time of David’s reign (Ps 78:70). The author of the Psalm was concerned that Israel remember God’s acts and teach them to their children, so that they might trust in God and keep His commandments—unlike their forefathers who were stubborn and rebellious (Ps 78:7-8). The psalmist acted as teacher in Psalm 78, instructing his readers through his poem. Matthew noted that Jesus also taught in wise sayings (parables) to instruct His audience. Like the psalmist, Jesus wanted His audience to heed instruction but knew that some among them were stubborn and unbelieving. Parables ensured that those who could hear would receive His teaching and that the hard-hearted would be further sealed in their unbelief.

(2) The New Testament authors described Jesus as a shepherd, echoing 2 Sam 5:2 and Ps 78:71. The pinnacle of Psalm 78 is the Lord’s call of David to provide stability for Israel as he shepherded the people with a heart true to God. Toward the end of his life, Moses asked the Lord to provide a new leader for His people so that they would not be like sheep without a shepherd (Num 27:15-17). The Lord called David from shepherding the flocks to be the shepherd of His people, a role confirmed upon David in 2 Sam 5:2. When Jesus proceeded through the towns of Galilee, He felt compassion for the people because they were spiritually oppressed by the teaching of the Pharisees and rampant disease. They were like sheep without a shepherd (Matt 9:36). After the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus intended to get away with His disciples in private but when the crowds followed, Jesus gave His attention to them because they were like sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:34). In John 10:1-21, Jesus described Himself as the Good Shepherd who would lay down His life for the sheep. The author of Hebrews concluded his epistle by describing Jesus as the great Shepherd who had been raised with the blood of the everlasting covenant (Heb 13:20). In John’s vision in Revelation, one of the elders told him that the Lamb would shepherd those who had been martyred, compassionately guiding them to springs of living water and wiping away every tear from their eyes (Rev 7:17).

The flow of 2 Samuel 3 is dramatic. After the author described the gravity of the initial situation between the house of David and the house of Saul, there was a ray of hope for unity when Abner stated a desire to transfer Israel to David’s reign. But in the end, Joab’s revenge over the murder of Asahel his brother caused David further woe—and delayed his rule over a united kingdom.

The author wasted no words in describing the situation in Israel. He wrote, “The war between the house of Saul and the house of David was long and drawn out, with David growing stronger and the house of Saul becoming weaker” (2 Sam 3:1). During the war, Abner grew stronger, making Ish-bosheth, the king of Israel, a puppet for Abner’s wishes (2 Sam 3:1-6). When the king accused Abner of immorality, the latter snapped. Abner swore allegiance to David and initiated a plan to hand Saul’s territory over to David (2 Sam 3:9-10). David responded favorably to Abner’s request for peace, desiring only that Michal, Saul’s daughter and his first wife, be returned to him (2 Sam 3:13-16). Abner, showing the sincerity of his heart, labored for a diplomatic transfer of power to David, meeting face-to-face with Israel’s leaders and David himself (2 Sam 3:17-21). All seemed well.

But with the mention of Joab, the tone of the text immediately becomes abrasive. When Joab heard of the king’s covenant with Abner he was livid, saying, “What have you done? Look here, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he’s getting away” (2 Sam 3:24). Straightaway, Joab, without David’s knowledge, instigated a ruse to eliminate the threat posed by Abner. He sent messengers to bring Abner back to Hebron (2 Sam 3:26). Joab pulled Abner aside “as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach” (2 Sam 3:27). Joab’s assassination of Abner was more personal vengeance than political calculation.

David replied to Joab’s aggression by prophesying, “May the house of Joab never be without someone who has an infection or leprosy or a man who can only work a spindle or someone who falls by the sword or starves” (2 Sam 3:29). This attitude would characterize David’s reign. In Ps 25:3, David wrote, “Not one person who waits for You will be disgraced; those who act treacherously without cause will be disgraced,” and in Ps 55:23, “You, God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and treachery will not live out half their days.” David “ordered Joab and all the people who were with him” to mourn over the death of Abner (2 Sam 3:31). David’s lament in Ps 120:6-7, “I have lived too long with those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war,” illustrates his demeanor upon the death of Abner.

In 2 Samuel 3, David was concerned for all to know that he had nothing to do with the assassination of Abner. As the newly anointed king of Judah, David did all that he could to unify the north and the south, establishing his rule over all of the descendants of Jacob. David worked to establish peace in Israel, exemplifying what Jesus would teach in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God” (Matt 5:9). Nevertheless, David’s early rule also has points of contrast with that of Jesus, a contrast formative in the storyline of Scripture. David was set on unifying the territories of Judah and Israel; Jesus recognized that His very presence would bring division. When Jesus sent the twelve to preach the good news of His kingdom, He told them that He did not come to bring peace but division. He said that those who wished to follow Him might even be opposed by members of their own family, requiring that disciples have a greater commitment to Him than any relationship or personal pursuit. (Matt 10:34-38//Luke 12:51-53).

At the end of 1 Samuel, the author alternated the reader’s attention between David’s situation among the Philistines and Amalekites and the Philistines’ attack on Saul. After the death of Saul, the author of 2 Samuel was free to give undivided attention to David. Although David had been disciplined and trained by the Lord to shepherd His people Israel, he would have to endure more difficulty before his rule could be confirmed over a united people.

In Psalm 22, the psalmist suffered internal anguish, physical pain, and social ostracism. He began the psalm saying, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1). Though previous generations had cried out to God and received His aid when they were in distress, the psalmist felt that God had turned from him (Ps 22:4-5). But others watched. The psalmist’s opponents saw his destitute situation and mocked him (Ps 22:7-8). He was surrounded by dogs and these opponents would rip his clothes off of him and cast lots for them (Ps 22:9-18). Despite the psalmist’s present moment of grief, he committed himself to trust God and praise Him among His people (Ps 22:22-31). Jesus and the New Testament authors saw in Psalm 22 expressions of suffering and commitment that helped them explain what Jesus endured for sinners in His incarnation and death.

(1) In Heb 2:12, the author of Hebrews explained Jesus’ incarnation as His confession of Ps 22:22. The author of Hebrews compared angels with Jesus and noted that Jesus was superior to these mediators of the old covenant. Jesus carried out God’s will in creation, laid down His own life for the forgiveness of sins, and took His place of honor at God’s right hand (Heb 1:1-4, 13). Jesus was the eternal Son who would never change, and angels were transient as flames of fire (Heb 1:5-12). Jesus was lower than the angels in one aspect: He took up human flesh. Jesus was not ashamed to call humanity His kin and thus effectively spoke Ps 22:22, “I will proclaim Your name to My brothers; I will sing hymns to You in the congregation” (Heb 2:12). Jesus boldly sang about His identification with the human race. Jesus had to be human in every way, so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest, satisfying God’s wrath against human sin through the sacrifice of His own body (Heb 2:17).

(2) The Gospel writers cited Ps 22:18 to describe Jesus’ shameful state on the cross. In Psalm 22, as the psalmist’s opponents continued to attack him, his strength evaporated, and his bones were exposed. The psalmist felt so distraught before his opponents that he said, “They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing” (Ps 22:18). The psalmist’s destitute state in Ps 22:18 helped the Evangelists explain that Jesus was crucified bare and in shame. After nailing Jesus to the cross, the Roman soldiers cast lots for His clothes (Matt 27:35//Mark 15:24//Luke 23:34//John 19:24).

(3) The Gospel writers described the crucifixion scene in language that the psalmist used to explain his own suffering. While Jesus was on the cross, the crowds who passed by raised their voices and shouted insults at Him as they shook their heads in disgust at His appearance (Matt 27:39//Mark 15:29). Hanging exposed on the cross, Jesus did not fit the expectations of an eternal king who would establish God’s rule on earth. The Evangelists saw in the psalmist’s confession, “Everyone who sees me mocks me; they sneer and shake their heads” (Ps 22:7), and the shouts of the psalmist’s opponents, “He relies on the LORD; let Him rescue him; let the LORD deliver him since He takes pleasure in him” (Ps 22:8), a means of vindicating Jesus. The chief priests, scribes, and elders who witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion mocked Him saying, “He has put His trust in God; let God rescue Him now—if He wants Him!” (Matt 27:43). Since the psalmist was taunted in his darkest moment—and yet confidently praised God in full assurance that his situation was not outside of God’s plan—Jesus too could trust God while the world mocked Him.

(4) On the cross, Jesus quoted Ps 22:1. The psalmist opened his poem with a question of lament, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1). His plight was theological as much as physical, social, or emotional. The psalmist recalled how God faithfully answered the prayers of His people in days gone by. He said to God, “They trusted You and were not disgraced” (Ps 22:5). But the psalmist felt disgraced, and for the psalmist disgrace was evidence that God had forsaken him. Jesus’ use of Ps 22:1 on the cross (Matt 27:46//Mark 15:34) established the degree of His spiritual anguish and reinforced that one can trust in God even while feeling abandoned by Him.

(5) In John 20:20, 27, Jesus showed the disciples His scarred hands and feet, echoing the psalmist’s injuries in Ps 22:16. The psalmist’s opponents attacked him viciously like an animal approaching its prey. He called them bulls, lions, and dogs (Ps 22:12, 13, 16). When the psalmist’s adversaries confronted him, they pierced his hands and feet (Ps 22:16). He had scars to prove his suffering, suffering that God knew, suffering that inclined him to seek God for deliverance. On the evening of the day when Jesus presented Himself alive, Jesus showed the disciples the scars on His hands and feet (John 20:20). All who saw Jesus’ scars rejoiced. But one of the Twelve, Thomas, was not with them when the Lord appeared that evening. Even though the other disciples told Thomas that they had seen Jesus alive and observed the scars by which He died, Thomas said he would not believe unless he saw Jesus’ scars with His own eyes. The next week, Jesus again appeared in a room where the disciples had gathered, and Thomas was present. Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and observe My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Don’t be an unbeliever but a believer” (John 20:27).