Well beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ tonight we'll continue God helping us with considering the life of God's servant David and we're going to cover seven and a half years of his time as he traveled from the death of Saul till his actually being installed as the legitimate king over all of Israel. So I'm going to read just short sections as we lead up to the message. And it would do us good, I believe, to read through these passages of chapters maybe one through five this week to remind ourselves of the things we're considering tonight. But we're first going to turn to chapter two. 2 Samuel chapter 2, 1 through 11. This is after David had heard about Jonathan, his dear friend, and his father Saul, Jonathan's father Saul, having gotten killed in the battle, and he wrote a song, a psalm, and this is immediately following. It happened after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said to him, Go up. David said, Where shall I go up? And he said, To Hebron. So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. And David brought up the men who were with him, every man with his household. So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, The men of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul. So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh, Gilead, and said to them, you are blessed of the Lord, for you have shown this kindness to your Lord, to Saul, and have buried him. And now may the Lord show kindness and truth to you. I also will repay you this kindness because you have done this thing. Now therefore, let your hands be strengthened and be valiant, for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them. But Abner, the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Ish-boseth, the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahaniim. And he made him king over Gilead, over the Asherites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel. Ishbosheth, Saul's son, was 40 years old when he began to reign over Israel and he reigned two years. Only the house of Judah followed David. And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. Let's turn to chapter 3 and pick up at verse 21. And we'll read to the end of that chapter. Chapter 3, picking up at verse 21. And Abner said to David, I will arise and go and gather all Israel to my lord the king that they may make a covenant with you that you may reign over all that your heart desires. So David sent Abner away and he went in peace. At that moment, the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them, but Abner was not with David and Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. When Joab and all the troop that were with him had come, they told Joab, saying, Abner, the son of Ner, came to the king, and he sent him away, and he has gone in peace. Then Joab came to the king and said, what have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why is it that you have sent him away? And he is gone already. Surely you realize that Abner, the son of Ner, came to deceive you, to know you're going out and you're coming in and to know all that you are doing. And when Joab had gone from David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it. Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach so that he died for the brother of Ashio, his brother. which was recorded just before this in this previous chapter. Afterward, when David heard it, he said, my kingdom and I are guiltless before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. Let it rest on the head of Joab and all his father's house. And let there never fail to be one in the house of Joab who has a discharge or is a leper or who leans on a staff or falls on the sword or who lacks bread. So Joab and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner because he had killed their brother Ashiel at Gibeon in the battle. Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, tear your clothes, gird yourselves with sackcloth and mourn for Abner. And King David followed the coffin. So they buried Abner in Hebron and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner. all the people wept and the king sang a lament over Abner and said should Abner die as a fool dies your hands were not bound nor your feet put into fetters as a man falls before wicked men so you fell then all the people wept over him again And when all the people came to persuade David to eat food, while it was still day, David took an oath, saying, God, do so to me and more also if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down. Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them, since whatsoever the king did pleased all the people. For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king's intent to kill Abner, the son of Ner, Then the king said to his servants, Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? And I am weak today, though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zariah, are too harsh for me. The Lord shall repay the evildoer according to his wickedness. And then in chapter five, the first five verses. Then all the tribes came to David at Hebron and spoke saying, indeed, we are your bone and your flesh. Also, in time past when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in. And the Lord said to you, you shall shepherd my people Israel and be ruler over Israel. Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron and king David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord and they anointed David king over Israel. David was 30 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 40 years. In Hebron, he reigned over Judah seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem, he reigned 33 years over Israel and Judah. And so ends our reading this evening of God's inspired, infallible, holy word. Well, we come today to make a transition, if you will, into the kingly reign of David. The time in which finally the promise that he as a young boy had heard from Samuel the prophet and was no doubt looking toward the fulfillment of throughout these past number of decades. Here is a man, David, we have seen through these decades that God has been leading and teaching. God used him as a mighty instrument of blessing, bringing down the giant Goliath and leading forth the armies of Israel and then being pursued by Saul the king. We have seen him to be a man after God's own heart. We have seen him also in the valleys. We have seen him struggle with his own remaining corruption and sin. And that will be no different as we consider this transitory period, a transition from being a fugitive, if you will, and living in Siglag, to coming to the throne in Israel. And so I want to look at this theme this evening. David anointed king of Israel, and these three thoughts. First, the waiting. The period in which David is waiting on the Lord. Then secondly the failures that we see even in David at this time and then lastly the coronation of King David. Saul and Jonathan had died in the battle and the report had come back to David and he lamented. He genuinely lifted up his voice, not only for his dearest bosom friend, Jonathan, but for Saul. That indicates, I think, something to us of David's heart. He was his enemy, a sworn enemy, King Saul, who was seeking to eliminate him at whatever cost. And yet, Here is David, hearing of his death, and if you read this song later this week, you will hear him lament also. The one who God had anointed, the one who God had put forward in Israel to be king, had now fallen. And David laments. There's no bitterness. There's no anger. We see the grace of God in David's heart. And at this point already, we are reminded perhaps of our own injuries, our own having been sinned against. This man after God's own heart is a beacon to us to remind us to be like Christ, to forgive those who have offended us. Are you forgiving those who have sinned against you? Or are you living a life of bitterness and anger and enmity that eventually will eat you, as it were, alive? But not David. He's been taught many lessons in the experience of Saul persecuting and pursuing him. David had learned throughout these years of pursuit to trust in God. And what is the first thing that we read in the passages we began to look at? What's the first thing David does when he is confronted with, now what? King Saul is dead, you're anointed to be king, what do you do? Go into the land and rush to the throne and declare yourself to be king? He could have. It was his rightful place, but it's not what David had learned. It happened after this that Saul inquired of the Lord. Lord, what do you want me to do? And the Lord gives him a specific direction. Yes, go back. Go up and go to Hebron. Go to your own people there in Judah, in the southern part of the kingdom. So David is traveling now from Ziklag, which is probably still a burned heap that we had looked at a number of times ago. And he's returning now to Israel itself, to the cities of Hebron. And there were these of the tribe of Judah who accompanied him, but not the other tribes, the majority of the tribes, the ten other tribes. And the question would naturally surface for us as we read this history, what's David going to do? How is he going to respond to this dilemma? Well it seems as you read this account that David is simply going to wait. We read as a call to worship, we sang a couple of songs that David has written that remind us of this reality. That as the people of God who have the word of God and his promises, there are times in our lives he calls us, wait. Trust me, be patient, sit still, Wait. David isn't going to try to bring about this kingdom and this uniting of the tribes in his own strength, in his own wisdom. What we're going to see as this history unfolds, there were enough people who had selfish ambition to try to make this United Kingdom of Israel into a people and rule over them, but it was not David. David wisely does not take the offensive against them, but he waits on God. Yes, we'll see he made some mistakes along the way, but ultimately, as a man of God's heart, he's looking to the Lord. although the kingdom was not fully united under Saul when he was king there was a separation still between the north and southern kingdoms and this became apparent now at this time in Israel's history and you could hear as David is told that the men had come to take away the bodies from the northern kingdom, had taken the bodies of Saul and Jonathan, had risked their lives to preserve this memory of their beloved king. And so David sends messengers to commend the men of Jabesh who risked their lives to do this service for the fallen king. And yet at the same time, David is subtly, if you will, sending the message to them. And by the way, we commend you for what you have done in service of Israel. But by the way, the men of Judah have anointed me to be king. And if you notice, I emphasized it in verse 8. Right after this message had gone to the northern tribes, we read this historian Samuel Count say, but Abner. It's a great contrast. Here is David patiently waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise, but Abner. And there's two particular men, children and young people tonight, that we need to look at in this history and understand what's taking place. Abner and Job. David knew these men well. They were both known to him. The first is Abner, the son of Ner. He was a very ambitious man. He was self-motivated, it seemed. He had great strength and great vision. And yet, it seems this ambition and vision seem to be also about himself. Nur was uncle to King Saul, which makes Abner the first cousin of Saul. And we read of Abner when David defeats Goliath. Saul was there, you remember. He asked the question of his commander-in-chief, Abner. Who is this young man that is asking to go to fight and who is this young man who defeats Goliath? And so there was no doubt between David and Abner this relationship because remember David was then promoted later to be a captain within the armies fighting under the commander-in-chief. They had to have communication and relationship over these past decades when David was still serving King Saul. And it would have been known, I suspect, that Abner perhaps came to hate David as well because David was seeking to kill the king. And it was David, you remember, twice over that he entered into the camp and he sort of embarrassed the commander when he came into the middle of the camp and everybody was sleeping and he got the cruise of water and the spear from King Saul. Then he goes back to the hill and he asks, in essence, Abner, aren't you supposed to be protecting the king? David said these words. He said, if the Lord have stirred thee Saul up against me, let him accept an offering. But if it be the children of men, and I wonder if he meant Abner here, stirring up Saul as well to pursue David, cursed be, David says, the children of men. I suspect Abner's pride had also been injured. And no doubt Abner knew David had been anointed to be the next king. As we look in chapter 3 and 17 and 18, Abner himself is going to be acknowledging that he knew and believed David was to be the next king. Yet we read in these chapters shows us that Abner had other agenda. And it seems even though he appoints and he pushes Ish-boseth to the throne, Saul's son, it seems that behind the scenes, it's Abner who's pulling all the strings. Abner, it seems, has other plans. He's a mighty man of valor and courage with worldly ambition. It's true. that this took place, it seems as you look at the account, five and a half years for Abner to persuade all the ten tribes to finally get behind Ish-boseth. Because we read together that actually Ish-boseth only reigned two years. So for these several years up until this point, about five and a half years, it seems that Abner is working behind the scenes in the ten tribes trying to get them behind Ish-boseth. Now as Abner was a relative of Saul, Job was a relative of David. Job's mother was David's sister. And Job had two brothers. So when you read this account this week, you'll see that these two brothers were Abishai and Ashiel. And these three had been with David from the time he had left Israel, when Saul was pursuing him, had gone to the cave of Adullam and been with him the whole time of his exile. David, of course, will be considered the commander of the army until Jerusalem would be taken and then we see that the power, the commanding authority, will become Job's. This is Job as we'll continue to follow him in this history. Job also is a mighty man of valor. And it seems to me that we will meet with Job more in the following of David's life and see him as a faithful and wise man. However, he was also a man of revenge. It will be Job, we'll see that when David is going to be numbering the people, Job's going to say, David, You shouldn't do this. It's Job who is going to the city of Rabbah and they're just about ready to conquer it. And rather than doing it himself, he's going to send back calling for David to come and actually make the final assault on the city and get the glory. So Job isn't a man who's seeking his own glory. It's Job who's going to be the one who tries to bring reconciliation between when a problem arises in David's family with Absalom. It's Job who's going to try to bring these two back together for the sake of Israel. And it's Job who's going to actually kill Absalom because of his rebellion. And it's Job who's going to say, don't keep mourning for your son. You have a kingdom to take care of. Job was wise. He was faithful. but he was also violent, revengeful. He doesn't ask a question later when actually David is going to send a note to him and say, put Uriah in the front of the battle. He does it without question. And yet, if he thinks he knows better than David, he does what he wants to do. Because eventually, he will be involved in the conspiracy with Adonijah, when David is at his last days, bringing him to the throne rather than Solomon. And for that, he was going to be put to death. But in the history before us now, we find these two kingdoms are divided. These two parts of the kingdom are divided. Joab is with David and Abner with Ipsoseth and Abner travels down to find and speak, if you will, with the other commander-in-chief, Joab. And they meet together at a well. And just like at the time of Goliath, you remember when they would each send out a person of their armies to fight and whoever's the winner would be likely the winner of all. Well, Abner makes the suggestion to Joab, you send 12 men and I'll send 12 men. Let's let them fight and see who wins. And if you go back and read the story, what happens is these 12 of each side came together, they grabbed each other by the heads, and they thrust each other through. All died. 24 men. And then the two armies started fighting against each other. And as Abner was fleeing away, Asiel, who is Job's brother, begins to run after him. Now Asiel was light of foot. He was catching up with Abner. And Abner knows if he kills him, Joab will be waiting to get him. He knows the heart of Joab. And he warns then Ashiel, stop chasing me. Go off to the side. No one will know. Turn off to some of the other men or I have to kill you. And yet Ashiel doesn't stop. And you remember with the back end of the spear, Abner takes and thrusts him through and he dies. Asheol falls to the ground and the men of Joab and his other brothers stop at that place. Abner says, as he calls out from the other hillside to Joab, you know David will not like this. David doesn't want this kind of thing happening in Israel. And Job replies, it's you who started this in the first place. And so he stopped pursuing. This is really the beginning of the civil war that took place over these years until David comes to the throne. We are told here it's a war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And we read this expression, and the house of David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. it's an amazing statement because David isn't even mentioned in this whole history of ever going out to fight a single battle during this civil war. Rather what we have learned already is David is waiting on God. Abner is following his own agenda, Joab is now going to be seeking revenge. And we read that while this was going on, Abner made himself strong in the house of Saul. And we see that basically Ish-boseth is a puppet king. But things did not go well for Abner. He couldn't defeat Joab. He had to kill Ashiel. He had to turn away from David. And now he's come to the place where he recognizes God is going to bring David to the throne. And so he comes back to David and he visits David in peace. He says, as the Lord has sworn to David, even so do I to him to translate the kingdom of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah. It seemed like Abner had run out of options and he comes to David to make peace. The problem was that Abner didn't fully, I believe, see the hand of God. It wasn't his kingdom to give. He wasn't in charge. Abner was still selfish. It was about him. And when you read the account, you recognize he even took one of Saul's wives as his own, as a sort of an indication, as a thrust in that direction of, I want to be king, because that's what those who took over a new country would do, is take the wives and the harem of the king who was conquered. Now Abner comes to David and he seeks peace between the north and the south. And by the time that that event with David had taken place and they had spoken together and spoken about peace, and he's on his way back home, Job, who had been out in battles, comes back at the tail end of this feast and is told, Abner has been to see David and David has made a truce with him. Job comes and he rebukes David. And he sends men, without David's knowledge, to go bring Abner back to Hebron. David has no part of this. And while he comes into the city gates of Hebron, Job, the revengeful man, kills Abner. David wants no part of this. He says, I and my kingdom are guiltless. I am free from the blood. The blood of Abner lies on Joab and his father's house. And it's because now of how David, a man after God's own heart, responds to this whole civil war, disastrous situation of the two kingdoms. And it's because of David's humility as a genuine shepherd king. that he wins the hearts of the northern tribes. Because we hear that when Ishbosheth heard of what had happened, he went to lie down and two of his brothers, Barathites, came into his room and killed Ishbosheth, who had been anointed king in the northern tribes, as he lay on his bed. And these men thought, we're going to now bring the kingdom to David. And they bring the head of Ishbosheth. You remember when someone brought the instruments of what had happened to Saul from the battlefield to David. David was not pleased. And he is again not pleased with the actions of these two men who killed Ish-boseth, even though it was of Saul's household. They come and they say, Behold the head of Ish-boseth, the son of Saul, thine enemy, which sought thy life. And the Lord hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and of his seed. But David had made a promise. He would not destroy the house of Saul. There's no way that David was going to go and overtake Saul's family for his own kingdom. And David is seeing there's no place in his kingdom for those who would commit murder, puts them to death. David was waiting on the Lord. What do we see in Job? What do we see in Abner? Fleshly zeal. Fleshly ambition. And that can happen in everyday life with businesses and committees that we serve on or even in the church. This was the people of God. Fleshly ambition for selfish purposes, even though we're called to use the gifts and talents God has given us for the extension of the kingdom. These men, Job and Abner, had their own agendas and their own desires. But David is waiting on the Lord. And David recognizes what we all need to recognize. This was seven and a half years. Even longer, if you consider the period David was running upon the mountains away from Saul before the promise was actually fulfilled. It's understandable David's waiting from the time he was anointed because Saul was king. But as soon as Saul died, you would expect, well, then you're king. Seven and a half years. How long have you waited, have I waited, in praying for someone who rejects the Lord? A family member, a child, a loved one, a neighbor, a work associate. Do we plead God's promises and patiently, actively waiting upon the Lord? God will also test his promise. God isn't bound by time. His promise is certain, is steadfast, is sure. So if I ask you, will the church prevail till the return of Christ? We all would answer, absolutely, yes. But when we see the church falter and stumble and not be the light we are called to be in this present world, do we question God's promise? Will this promise fail? David asked that question too at times in the Psalms, but he always ends back with God. He always ends back trusting God in his word of promise, and that's the lesson we learn here. God is testing us. He's testing his children. Will you believe my promise? Will you rest on my word? Or will you do your own thing? Will you try to fulfill it yourself? Can you think of any occasions in the scriptures where God had given a promise and his people had to wait? Abraham promised a son. He had to wait and wait. He tried to even fulfill the promise himself. It didn't work. It ends up in the conflict we see even till today between the Jews and Palestinians. What about Joseph? We've looked at him. He had the promise to be ruling over his family. Ends up going through the way of being sold into slavery, being put into prison, And yet God's promise stood, was faithful. What about the children of Israel who were brought back? When Joseph was still king, they had to wait 430 years. What about the children of Israel as they're wandering in the wilderness? 40 years. God is faithful. He tests us. It seems to me that in some ways Christ is testing his church also today. There's mass confusion in our world. Many lies are propagated and we really don't know what's happening, do we? I don't. I read a lot. A lot of things, it seems, that have happened that we've never been told. But there's one thing that's unchangeable. I am with you always, even to the end of the age. It doesn't change. It doesn't falter. Our senses may not feel it, may not see it as we would want to see it, but it doesn't change it. And we ought to be like David, the man after God's own heart, to be waiting. Even the Old Testament, we are told in Hebrews that there were those in the Old Testament who died in faith, not having received the promise, but they saw it far off. And the church, we ought to be living today, lifting up our eyes. We're looking for our Lord to return. He's living. He's real. He's sitting on the throne. He's alive. That's how we ought to live. Yes, we're pilgrims and strangers just as those who Hebrews quotes. But we have great and precious promises far beyond what the Old Testament believers had. We ought to be living more independence, waiting, anticipating our Lord's return. And we learn in these times of waiting that many of the children of God stumble and fall. Abraham turned to Hagar. The children of Israel couldn't wait for Moses to come down from the mountain, and they built a golden calf. Saul, the king, couldn't wait for Samuel to offer a sacrifice, so he offers it himself. How often are we tempted ourselves to seemingly fulfill a promise that God may have given and do not wait for him. Not David. He's not manipulative. He's not seeking his own agenda. He's waiting on the Lord. And that's not to say that David did not make mistakes. There are those mistakes David made, and we're going to learn from them, too. That's our second thought. There are two major things I want to look at here. The first deals with David's political maneuverings, and the second deals with his family life. There are three things, perhaps, that are failures. We see his allegiance to Abner, which was probably unmerited, If you read this account as well, you're going to learn about David calling back for Michael, Saul's daughter, whom he had married, and then also his not dealing with Joab. Now I understand David's desire for peace. But David here, we don't read from chapter 2 into this whole civil war period that he inquired of the Lord. And I think that just as we saw when he's scrolling on the doors of the gate of King Hayab as a madman, God rescued David from himself. And in spite of these failures that we are going to see with David here, God will nevertheless preserve him and care for him and watch over him. David called for Michael. who was given to him of Saul. Not to really end up being together as a man and wife. David had many wives at this point. But I think it was just to send a signal to Saul's family and the rest of Israel that he was the political king over Israel. But I do believe there's another failure and that is he did not deal with Job. Job was a vengeful man. And it seems that David, in some respects, was afraid of him. He tells him, you murdered Abner. And yet he does nothing about it. He just talks about them. I am weak today, at the end of verse, chapter three. Though anointed king, these men, the sons of Zariah, are too harsh for me. He fails in bringing justice in the nation. Consider this. Hebron was one of the cities of refuge, a place where someone who had killed someone else, also innocently, could run to. And here is Abner coming back at the request, he thinks, I suspect, of David himself to this city, unrealizing that Joab is waiting to kill him. Job's killing of Abner was in cold blood. It was vengeance. David does not speak. Other than saying, I'm weak today. But the second failure, I think, is even overshadowing the first. And this follows David his whole life. It's his family. As you read this account, you will read of all the number of wives, also from the neighboring nations and the children who are born to these wives, who David had taken to himself. I want to read to you Deuteronomy 17. David knew this. God told Moses what the requirements were. He said, When you are come into the land which the Lord thy God gives thee, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shall say, I will set a king over me, like the other nations that are around me, you shall in no wise set a king over thee whom the Lord thy God shall choose. That's the one you shall point. One from among thy brethren shall you set as a king over you. You may not set a stranger over you who is not your brother. And then this. He shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that they should multiply horses. For as much as the Lord said to you, you shall henceforth no return that way. And then, neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away, neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver or gold. Now twice in these chapters, when the civil war and the transition of the kingdom is taking place, what we're going to find is that twice we read about David's wives and their children. And later in the chapters, we're going to find the same thing, but a longer list of his wives and concubines. And you know that the first son that was born was Amnon. And if you remember the history of David and his family, That was a great disgrace of incest within the family. And then Absalom rises up and kills his brother Amnon. And he tries to take the kingdom to himself. And we read in 1 Kings 1 verse 6, Never once had David pained or displeased his son. David did not discipline his family. It seems in some respects he was busy in the kingdom, he was fighting battles, but he never intentionally was involved with his covenant children. And we know that David obviously had weakness in his flesh, and his sin with Bathsheba will attest to it. Yes, David was a man after God's own heart. But the scriptures are not silent about his weakness, his struggles, his sins. And it speaks to us today. It speaks to you. It speaks to me. We may be those men and women who are following after to know the Lord. And yet this is a reminder to us that there are things in our lives that God is pointing out to us that need to be put to death. And so in light of this passage, I ask two things. Where are your children? Are they walking in the way? Not just outwardly. If they go to church, they're in the right path, but do they know the Lord? Are they serving the Lord with gladness? Are they devoted to him because they've seen you as a father and a mother leading him in this way? Oh, we know God is sovereign. God indeed chooses of our children who He wills. But our calling, our desire and delight ought to be with our children. And we see here what happened in the life of David as a beacon, as a warning. Watch out! You can be busy in many religious things, but take heed. Don't follow David in this way. David too was a man who needed God's grace. He wasn't made king because he was better than we are. He was made king because God delighted in him. You are a child of the king if you've come to Christ because, just because he delighted in you. And he's now calling us, he's calling you and me, Walk in my way, follow me, that you and the seed that I give you would walk in his way, that your children would see and hear from your mouth who the Lord our God is, why he's worthy of being served. And I commend you, parents, fathers in particular, let this be a recognition of your calling and family. And secondly, David's weakness in his sinful flesh, his desires, which broke out as he's standing on his palace wall, was not there at that moment only. You see it woven throughout parts of his life. It's just not one moment that a man decides to go out to commit adultery. It's woven into the fabric of what's leading up to that event. What I'm saying to you men is, and women, kill, put to death, all those slightest inclinations of lost desire. Whatever you see on the internet, whatever your mind may gravitate to as you look David is given here as an example for us, lest we fall as he did. But the last thought I want to see here is the coronation of David. We read this, the tribes of Israel come to him, indeed we are bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. What's this expression? Well, we use that expression from the very beginning of the creation of man. It's what Adam said when he sat up after he woke up from this event of Eve being created. He saw this woman, flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone is really a song that he sang. He was overjoyed to see this woman, this help God had made for him. And so it's likewise here. Israel is overjoyed to be united as one whole nation before God. And we ought also to realize, not only in our marriages, this is what we're called to be, flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone, committed to each other in this relationship, but Paul says in Ephesians 5, this is pointing us to the reality of bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. Every Lord's Supper you communicate here in this church is a reminder of this. Every time we eat of the bread and drink of the wine, Jesus is saying, this is my body, this is my blood, you are one with me. And to be a united church, to be a united fellowship, a communion of believers, we must have this perspective that finally dawned on Israel. David was king, anointed by God. And when we come to this realization that every one of us, though we have different backgrounds and different convictions about some things, there is one common uniting reality. Jesus is our husband. He is our king. He is the greater David. And we serve Him. We love Him. We want to follow Him. Is this your desire? Your longing? Then crown Him Lord of all. Let's pray. Merciful and gracious God, we come to the end of this hour together We have seen your servant David waiting, anticipating, expecting, longing. And we also, Lord, in some measure do the same for the greater David who is coming. And so we pray that we may be found as the five wise virgins ready and not foolish, who had no oil in their lamps. And so, Lord, test us, whether we indeed are united to this glorious King, the Lord Jesus, or we are simply serving selfish ends and purposes as often seen in the lives of Job and Abner. Lord, help us to follow Thee fully. Bless us in this week. Go with us, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen.