Amen. Let's turn to 2 Samuel chapter 2. And this is the conclusion of our Samuel series. As we come to a turning point in the history of the people of God, a turning point in, therefore, the history of the world, the kingdom of God takes a visible form on earth. David is anointed king. 2 Samuel chapter 2. We'll read and consider verses 1 to 11. Page 324. Most of the Bible's in the seats. 2 Samuel chapter 2, beginning at verse 1, let us hear the word of God. After this, David inquired of the Lord, shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said to him, go up. David said, to which shall I go up? And he said, to Hebron. So David went up there and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household. And they lived in the towns of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. When they told David, it is the man of Jabesh Gilead who buried Saul, David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead and said to them, 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 be valiant for David your Lord is dead and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them. But Abner, the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and brought him over to Manahiim. And he made him king over Gilead. and the Asherites, and Jezreel, and Ephraim, and Benjamin, and all Israel. Isbosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But 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. And so far the reading of the Holy Word of God, the grass withers, The flower fades, the word of God endures forever. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we read in chapter five, verses four to five, David is 30 years old at this time. He is 30 years old when he began to rule. And so while we don't know exactly how long David was on the run, And we know he was a teenager, a young man when he was anointed, and then when he fought Goliath, and then when he came into Saul's court. And so there has been about 15 years for all of those events. And it may be some good portion of those 15 years were as a fugitive, as one on the run. But now after all of this time, About 15 years after being anointed by Samuel, David is finally publicly anointed and crowned as king. But the work is not over. The Saul of the world has passed, but the Abner's of the world remain, and it is only the tribe of Judah which will be quick to recognize the Lord's chosen king. For all the other tribes, they will either go with another king for two years following Yisbasheth, or they'll just sit and wait and not come and not have anything at all for five and a half years. Only Judah for the first seven and a half years will be following David as he rules from Hebron. This is not because the other tribes are not invited. Indeed, we have a detail of one specific invitation in verses five to seven. But mankind is slow to accept God's chosen kingdom. Remember, David is God's chosen king. He, in many ways, represents God's kingdom on earth. To reject David is, in so many ways, to reject God. Mankind is slow to accept God's chosen king. Mankind is quick to reject God. Mankind does not naturally follow the kingdom of God. Will the institutions of God placed upon this earth, the kingdom of Israel, the church, will they always look powerful? And sure, no, they will not. Sometimes it'll look like one little tribe ruling from one town. But God does call us to follow him, to join his kingdom. We consider that call to follow God to join his people as we look at this turning point in the history of the world. God's kingdom takes a new earthly form. God's anointed king is crowned. And so we reflect on the call to serve God. Our theme is this, come to serve God's anointed king. And we're gonna move from David to Ispacheth and back to David for our three points. David, a publicly anointed king. And then Ishbosheth, a precariously established king opposing David, marching into war against David in the following verses. And then David, our third point, we'll come back to him. And then we'll have a little bit longer conclusion as well as we bring our series on Samuel to a close. Well, first, David, the publicly anointed king. David has heard the news of the death of Saul and Jonathan. David has the crown of Israel. He has Saul's crown, which the Amalekite delivered to him from the battlefield. It's in his hand. And now he's leaving the burned town of Ziklag. But he remains in control of that city, as we were told back in 1 Samuel 27, verse 6. But David, as he's leaving the town, he's finally cutting all his ties with the Philistines. Just a few days before this, the narrative, sometimes the narrative moves a lot of time in a short amount of of space but the last four or five chapters only covered a few days and it's just a few days ago he was marching with the Philistines but God has delivered David from this and brought him to this point providentially protected him and so David's now considering his next move and what is he going to do at this time of transition he's going to move by making inquiry of the Lord. And David inquired of the Lord, verse 1. And what does the Lord answer? The Lord answers that he is to go to Hebron. And so David and all his family and all his men and their families, they moved to Hebron. It's the most important city in Judah at that time. It's a large city. It's a city of high elevation. It's a city of deep covenant history. This is where Abraham and Sarah were buried. This is where Isaac and Rebekah were buried. This is where Leah, the mother of Judah, was buried, and even Jacob was brought back from Egypt to be buried in the cave of Machpelah, which is in Hebron. Indeed, one might say that this seemed rather obvious, that David would have just gone to Hebron anyway, but But let's pause right there and consider this principle. It is good that we would inquire of the Lord, that we would seek out the word of the Lord, which we no longer do with the Urim and the Thummim. We do it with the full revelation that God has given to us. But what do we do? We seek out the word of God and what the word of God says to us, both in times of uncertainty and in times when the next move might seem obvious. This is what David has done. In times when the situation seems impossible, when he's sitting in the burned city and wondering how he could ever chase the Amokites, and his men are considering mutiny against him. What does he do? It seems impossible. How can I even make my next move? David inquires of the Lord. Inquires of the Lord. A few days later, the next move seems very obvious. We'll go into Judah and start ruling, and the most important city in Judah is Hebron, so that's probably where we're gonna go. But what does David do? He inquires of the Lord. Young people, old people, children, everyone hear this. It is good. Whether we think the next move seems very obvious, or whether in a situation that seems impossible, we have no idea what to do next, or any situation in between. Seek out the Word of God. See His Law, His Principles, His Promises and let that be our guide. Let us inquire of that in all situations. Well, David has inquired of the Lord and the Lord does say, Go to Hebron and as he goes The king chosen by God is anointed. This is a turning point in the history of the people of God. When the temple was built, it was a turning point. God had a physical place for his special presence as he had directed the people of God. It was a turning point in the history of God's people and therefore in the history of the world. This is a moment like the building of the temple It is God's kingdom established upon this earth. Let us remember the language. This was quite some time ago now. I'm going to read 1 Samuel 16 verse 1. Let us remember the language of 1 Samuel 16 verse 1. The Lord said to Samuel, this is about 15 years before. The Lord said to Samuel, how long will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have provided for myself a king among his sons. Now anointings are not like baptisms. You can have more than one anointing. And so that first semi-private family affair, remember Samuel was afraid of his life for Saul, and so there's some level of secrecy at that date, again, about 15 years ago. That semi-private anointing is now, many years later, followed by this public anointing before all, David is crowned king of Judah. Now, the text doesn't tell us exactly how this happened, but somewhere along the way, that semi-private anointing by Samuel, more than a decade before, has become public knowledge. So along the way, it became known. So for example, in 1 Samuel 23, Jonathan says to David, 1 Samuel 23 verse 17, Do not fear, for the hand of Saul, my father, shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul, my father, also knows this. And then indeed, Saul did acknowledge it the first time that David saved his life. in chapter 24 verse 20, and Saul says there to David, and now behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. And then others, such as Abigail, said it in 1 Samuel 25. And so somewhere along the way, that first semi-private anointing by Samuel of David, God's chosen king, has become public knowledge. And now it's finally publicly ratified, but only by one tribe. Only by one tribe. Indeed, let's come now to our second point. Even Abner who is really the leader of the opposition of David, knows that David is the Lord's anointed king. So we're coming to our second point, Ish-bosheth, this precariously established king. Finally, God's chosen king is set up, but Abner, verse 8, the son of Ner, the commander of Saul's army, took Ish-bosheth. lesson of Saul, and made him king over all Israel, end of verse 9. 11 of the 12 tribes just follow someone else. Even though Abner, who's really, he's in control here, the language right here is making that clear, Yisbeth Sheth is his pawn, He's his puppet, that becomes even more clear in chapter three. Ishbosheth kind of tries to stand up to Abner, and then he, one of the texts says, Ishbosheth feared Abner. Okay, so this is really, this is a general leading through a puppet king, a pawn king, Ishbosheth. What does Abner know? Well, when it's convenient to him, when he wants to stand up to Yishposheth. He says to Yishposheth in chapter 3 verses 9 and 10, you know, God has given the kingdom to David. It's not because the people didn't know. It's not because the people weren't invited. The invitation of verses 5 to 7, we might say it's a little bit technical in the sense that Okay, so probably the most important word is valiant in the middle of verse seven. That's really, and be valiant, be a soldier, okay? And then the language that comes after it, it's David saying, come and be my soldier. Your Lord is dead, be valiant, be a soldier, come and be my soldiers, my men, come and serve me. And while the text doesn't detail it, We can assume that David sent out other invitations as well. This is just the wording of his invitation to the men of Jabesh Gilead. Abner knows, the people know, this is generally known, and yet, they don't follow David. They follow Ish-bosheth. The list in verse nine generally works out the three parts of the kingdom. So without Judah in the south, you've kind of got an L. You've got the north and the center, and then across the Jordan in the east, you've got the Transjordan. And so verse nine is kind of listing parts of each of those places, the north, the center, and then across the Jordan. I mean, it's a precarious situation. We would expect the capital to be in the center. That's where Benjamin is. That's where Ish-bosheth is from. That's where Saul's capital was. But the Philistines are too powerful, and so you've got to go across the river and get as far away from the Philistines as possible to set up your capital in Mannheim and that's in the territory of Gath. It's across the Jordan River. In other words, the geography is showing us that this is a precarious rule. It is a rule which is afraid of the Philistines who, as we know from the end of 1 Samuel, really control the Jezreel Valley. They occupied all of the most important cities there. And so then we might come to this question. Why did all Israel, 11 tribes, join this precarious rule and kingdom when they knew that David was the Lord's anointed? Well, the text doesn't say exactly, but I think People of God, we can make some informed guesses, and then let's apply what the objections, what the reasons might have been, and consider reasons why we might be slow to follow God and to join God's kingdom. So let's think about the men of Jabesh Gilead, who even we have the detail of their invitation from David in verses five to seven. Why might they join the son of Saul? Well, Saul did save them from the Ammonites. He won a mighty victory for them. In some ways it's logical that they would serve Saul's son. Maybe someone in the world has done something good for us. And it's tempting to then trust the strength of what the world does that seems so tangible sometimes, rather than trusting the unseen God and following his kingdom, which can seem so small and weak. Actually, that smallness and weakness, that may be a big part of this. Think about the men in the north. They're essentially cut off from the rest of the people by the Philistines controlling that Jezreel Valley. Maybe they think David is just too far away to help them, too weak to help them. That might explain why, even after Ishposheth's rule is done, Five and a half years go by with no king at all. You see, maybe the world just looks too powerful and the little kingdom of God on earth, the little church just looks too weak. The men of Benjamin may be thinking that while Saul had his faults, at least he was their man. He was from their tribe. And so now they'll serve his son. Maybe the world just looks like our people who like a lot of the same things that we like. And joining with the Lord and with His people just sounds too difficult or strange or weird. Or all Israel may have just been thinking that David has faults of his own. And if we think in terms of God's institutions on earth, it's true that God's institutions on earth have problems. So maybe we think that the church just has too many hypocrites to be the place where God wants us. But whatever the reason for refusing to serve God's chosen king to join with God's Kingdom established on Earth. Remember the language of 1 Samuel 16 verse 1? That is what David's rule is. It is God's institution on Earth. It is a picture, as we'll focus on later, of the much greater King to come, but it's also God's institution on Earth. Whatever the reason for refusing to serve God's chosen King, in the end it never goes well. The Kingdom of Israel will never have a righteous king apart from the line of David. We must repent of going our own way, of going our own path, however reasonable that might sound. We are called to serve God. We are called to follow God. We are called to join God and his people. Going against the revealed will of God is not a path of blessing. Whatever the objections, however reasonable the objections might sound, we must receive the call to follow God's chosen king in God's chosen way. Well, let's come back to that chosen king, David, for our third point. David, the patiently submissive king. And David has many faults, but he is the man after God's own heart, and one of the ways we see that is his patient submission. Just the timeline, the years that he waits for this, and then what does he do? Does he say, Hey, Saul's dead. You Northern Eleven tribes, you gotta bow to me. I'm gonna come conquering you. I'm gonna come defeating you. No, he only defends himself when Abner takes Ispacheth and marches down to try to meet him in verses 12 and following. And when David does reach out to the other tribes, it's not with the sword, but it's with a loving appeal. See this loving appeal of verses 5 to 7. And patience. After Ishmael is dead, they have no king. And yet there's no David marching through the other 11 tribes saying, join me now, join me today. He waits. He waits. And since we're ending our series right here, Let's just say he is anointed eventually king of all Israel. It's just going to take those seven and a half years. But what does he do? He is winsome. He is lovingly patient with them. And for most of that, we just know that it's seven years. But in verses five to seven, we get one detailed snapshot of how David dealt with the people of Israel who did not immediately follow him. He lovingly reached out to them, and then he waited for them. might make us think of 1 Peter 3 verse 15, which speaks about the appeal, the invitation, the giving of the reason for our hope, the reaching out and speaking of the Kingdom of God. And that verse begins with that language of hope, which may be familiar, maybe a verse you've memorized perhaps. But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. But then how does the verse end? Don't forget the last little part. Yet, do it with gentleness and respect. There is a definite gentleness and respect and loving patience as David waits for the whole nation, for all of God's people to follow him. David, who has been patient in suffering, he might have said, look at all the wars that I've already fought. He was a general from a young age, and of course fought Goliath from a very young age. And that was more than a decade before this. He might have said, look at all the things that I've already done for you. Here's my sword, come and follow me. No, no, he remains patiently submissive, patiently suffering in a sense. Although his greatest picture of suffering was his fugitive years. Now, as we give this picture, what is David? He is the one who finally is king, but not yet king of all Israel, not yet conquering the Lord's enemies, it's gonna be after, again, we're kinda looking ahead a little bit, because we're ending the series here, right? But it's after he's anointed as king of all Israel, that in chapter five, and so we see, then he goes out and he conquers the Lord's enemy, the Philistines, the Jebusites, et cetera. So who is David? He's finally king, he's not yet king of all Israel, he's patiently bringing in, all his people with a loving appeal, even as David has suffered to get to this point, to be their king. And he's also not yet conquering the Lord's enemies. That's going to come after he brings his people to himself. Now, does this sound familiar? If it does, that's because it should. What is the most important thing going on here? This is a foreshadowing of the much greater Think of that pattern, that pattern of finally being made king after suffering and then finally with loving appeal bringing all his people in and then finally conquering all the enemies who would refuse to come to him. What is that? It's a foreshadowing of the much greater king, of his much greater suffering, of his even so much greater loving appeal to come to me of his final conquest, which will be a conquest of all the earth with the saving of all of his own and with all who are in objection to him and rebelling to him, bowing the knee whether they want to or not. And so as we come to the conclusion of our series, let us have that foreshadowing of David, anticipating great David's greater son, Jesus Christ, be what brings us to our close. And let's read some verses from Philippians 2. Please turn with me to Philippians 2 to wrap this up together. And hear that pattern, see that pattern, see the suffering, See the drawing and see the conquering of great David's much greater son. Philippians chapter 2, we're going to read verses 3 to 11. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. What is Christ? One of the things that even our children should begin to learn, Christ equals anointed. David is an anointed king. Jesus the Christ is the anointed king. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ. anointed one, Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. Did David go grasping after the kingdom, or did he wait for God's timing? Did he wait for God's delivering all things into his hand? It is just a small foreshadowing of the much greater one who humbled himself so much more. So verse 7, But he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. The suffering of David is nothing compared to the suffering and humility of Jesus Christ. and therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father and so who is Jesus Christ he is the one who suffered And following his suffering is exalted. But that exaltation, it's something that finally comes, but it's not yet finished. He's ruling from heaven. But that rule is still in this Hebron form. It's still in this humble form. It still looks so small and weak so often. But what is it waiting? It's waiting his perfect exaltation. And as he's waiting that perfect exaltation, it's as though Jesus is saying, come, serve me serve me if you if you are not already giving your heart to me if you are not one who's saved from youth and let's say that's that's that's like those were the tribe of Judah if you have not heard the call here it now is patient it's loving but here now Come and serve the king. This is the perfect king. There is no reason not to serve him. If you have objections against serving David because he's imperfect, there's no objection here. He is the perfect Savior. He has died for us. If your objection is your own sinfulness, you don't think you're worthy, I don't think I can be a valiant warrior, soldier, servant for Him. What does He do? He takes your sins upon Himself and He says, come, serve me. I know that you are sinners. I died for you while you were yet a sinner. Come and serve me. Come and serve this kingdom. And that which is small and lowly is awaiting a full exaltation, a full rule. Jesus Christ will bring in every single one of his own, whether you have heard it now or whether it's those Christ is yet drawing to himself. But hear it now. Serve him. Serve him. And the day is coming. When that perfect, exalted rule will be over all and everyone will bow the knee, willingly or unwillingly. This is great David's much greater son. And that's the most important thing that's going on in 1 and 2 Samuel. As the anticipation of the greater King in the line of David. who will rule not from the Jordan to the Mediterranean, but will rule from sea to sea, as the Psalms prophesied, as we sang from Psalm 72. Whose suffering is the suffering of the humility of death on the cross for his people. That's the King who says, come, serve me. I am Jesus the Christ, the anointed one. And he will be exalted over all the earth. Amen. Let us pray. Lord God Almighty, we pray that we would see the unfolding of your perfect plan, that we would not be discouraged when your kingdom seems weak, and that we would not hesitate