God had promised David that He would subdue all his enemies (1Chron.17:10). But that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any war. The war, in fact, was the means God would most often use to bring about what He had promised. It is the same for David as it had been with Joshua who had led the people into the land of Canaan, to possess it so many years before. Joshua was given incredible promises. His campaign cannot fail. Going with him were all the promises the Lord had made for hundreds of years to the patriarchs. Even more, the God of heaven had sworn to him personally, “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses” (Josh.1:3). But the promises are bound inseparably together with the people going forward. Indeed, the people going to battle is the means God would use to give them possession of the land of promise. And so it is with David. God had made him precious promises, but the battle field was often the means by which these promises were fulfilled.

There are some things we don’t know about the text. Did these events take place chronologically as they appear before us? Or had these battles taken place earlier (see 1Chron.20)? There is also the question of the identity of the man called Goliath in verse 19. Wasn’t Goliath already dead? These are not unimportant questions, but perhaps it is better to spend our time on what we do know rather than speculate about what we don’t. Whenever these events took place, the Holy Spirit was pleased to put them here in our text, in connection with the previous passage. As for Goliath, either it is the first giant’s brother (cf.1Chron.20:5), one of his sons called by his name (v22), or a different warrior of the Philistines called by the same name.

The Christian life is a war. If you find it any differently friend, you are in a fearful place, for the true soldier of Christ is constantly at battle. The are enemies on the outside. Satan wants to destroy us, and he has had thousands of years of practice. We are surrounded by a world that serves and loves him. We are like soldiers making our way through the mine fields. There are traps all around, at times some of our dearest friends fall to the ground dead right before our eyes. Other times we ourselves become entangled in some snare; some of which are so deadly we must leave behind a hand or a foot to escape with our lives.

As if this were not enough, there are enemies on the inside. The believer is constantly at war with his sin. Though new creatures in Christ, our hearts are still infected with that awful disease we inherited from our father Adam. The death blow has been dealt at the cross. But just like a snake can still do much damage even after its head has been severed; or just as a branch having been freshly cut is as good as dead but will take time to be fully drained of its life-sap, so it is with the believers’ indwelling sin and corruption. To let our guard down for one moment is to give ground to the enemy. Our motives deceive us; our hearts deceive us. The Christian hates his sin and is constantly at war with it. Not only in his outer appearance, but in the secret places of his heart, he belongs wholly to the Lord. The true Christian wages war with his sin because it is truly his most hated enemy. Just like David, believers are given wonderful promises of victory. But the victory comes through the battle. There is no victory without it, for Scripture declares, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

David and his men fought the Philistines because they were at war with Israel (v15). David and his fellow soldiers went out against the Philistines to protect the people. When he was a boy, David delivered his father’s sheep from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. Now, as the shepherd of Israel, he delivers God’s people from those who would attack them. Before, he delivered sheep from the mouth of the bear and lion; now he delivers Christ’s sheep from the mouth of the sons of Ammon and the Philistines. David must not only protect the sheep from the foreign enemies on the outside, but from those on the inside; such as Absalom and Shimei. And he learned the hard way that he must at times protect them even from himself. For this reason Paul says to the elders of the church at Ephesus, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Indeed, the calling to the ministry of the gospel is a serious and weighty calling. What would we think of a king that wouldn’t protect his people? Even the wicked and ungodly kings of the pagans fought to defend their people. What would we think of David if he sat in his palace and let the Philistines attack the Lord’s inheritance? But to be a minister of the gospel is a much greater and weightier responsibility, for the eternal souls of men are entrusted to our care. It was rightly said, “The labours of the ministry are fitly compared to the toil of men in harvest, to the labours of a woman in travail, and to the agonies of soldiers in the extremity of a battle. We must watch when others sleep.” Flavel goes on, “It is a less hazard, to put an ignorant rustic into a chemist’s shop, to compound and prepare medicines for men’s bodies, than to trust a man, destitute both of faithfulness and prudence, with the dispensation of Christ’s ordinances to men’s souls.”¹

How are we to fight the good fight? With what weapons? We are not told in detail here, but we are given instruction in other portions of the sacred pages of God’s holy Word. The Word of God is our chief weapon of attack against the powers and principalities that wage war against us. Our Savior showed us by example in the wilderness how to fight off the attacks of the evil one, drawing His sword from the sheath with the words, “It is written…”. With the sword of the Spirit we are able to fight off temptation. With the promises of God we are equipped to fight off discouragement and despair. Too often we fall in battle because our sword is left undrawn in its sheath. Secondly, we fight the fight of faith through prayer. We have this example also in our Lord Jesus, who often would draw away to the mountain or some other secluded place to communion with the Father. He knew He needed it; and we are not stronger than He. In many ways, prayer is a preventative of evil. If we spent more time on our knees, we would find ourselves stronger and more prepared in the hour of attack. It is through prayer that the the armor of God is to be employed (see Ephesians 6:18). We have not because we ask not. The branch that abides not in the vine will soon wither up. It is through prayer that we are enabled to walk and live in the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ showed us this as well, for it was as He was praying that the Spirit descended upon Him at His baptism (Luke 3:21); and it was after spending much time in prayer in the wilderness that He returned again to Galilee in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). Thirdly, we are to fight our battles by the Spirit. Actually, there is an intimate connection in our Lord’s earthly ministry between all these three—prayer, power, and the Spirit. This is also hinted at even in the furnishings and activity of the Tabernacle, for the incense was to be burned on the alter at the same time that the lamps were trimmed (Exodus 30:7). So too we are filled with the Spirit through prayer: “How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13). So too, when we pray we are to pray “in the Spirit” (Eph.6:18). Paul declares in Romans 8 that it is only by the Spirit that we are to put to death the deeds of the body (verse 13). We also need each other in our waging war against sin. We see this in our present passage, for David grew weary. We have every reason to think that David would have been a dead man without valiant Abishai coming to his aid. Where would David have been without Nathan the prophet? Though David was king he was not above needing help from other saints. When the author of Hebrews speaks of the deceitfulness of sin, the primary means he mentions in guarding against it is to “encourage one another day after day” (Heb.3:13). The testimony of the Scriptures as well as church history have proven the folly of neglecting or rejecting this precious means God has given us for our spiritual warfare. Lastly, we are to fight the good fight of faith by keeping our eyes on the reward of Christ for faithful service. We have mentioned this earlier; we repeat in brief here. Moses had his eyes fixed on the reward; which enabled him to flee all the passing pleasures of the land of Egypt (Heb.11:26). Our Lord bids us look to the reward for faithful service: “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions” (Matt.24:46-47). It has been well said, “The true minister lives less for the present than the future. He has eternity in his eye…He lives and acts, he preaches and prays, for eternity. And millions of ages hence, his life and actions, his sermons and his prayers, may be remembered by millions of beings beside himself, with unutterable joy or grief.”² What John Flavel spoke upon to fellow ministers applies to all believers: “O sirs! We serve a good Master. He keeps an exact account of all your fervent prayers, of all your instructive and persuasive sermons; and all your sighs, groans, and pantings, with every tear and drop of sweat, are placed like marginal notes [by] your labours in his book, in order to a full reward.”³

We have to deal now with the darkest moment in the life of king David. We would never have thought David capable of doing the detestable things we read of in this chapter. We would never have marked him out as one who would fall into such grievous and devastating sin. Should the eyes that were continually upon the Lord (Ps.25:15) drift away and set their gaze upon another man’s wife? Should the mouth who sung praises to his God command his servants to call a strange woman to his house? Should the hand that played so skillfully to the Lord on the harp actually lay hold of the wife of his friend? Should the pen that wrote such eloquent prose to his Savior write such abominable words to Joab? It is an awful and frightful thing that happened in 2 Samuel chapter 11. David that day lost a certain pureness of heart, and he gained that day reproach that would not be blotted out. The sober words of Proverbs prove true of king David: “The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; he who would destroy himself does it. Woulds and disgrace he will find, and his reproach will not be blotted out” (6:5-6). The consequences were devastating, lasting, and irreparable. It is likely that his servants would never look at him the same again. Surely his wife Abigail would never look at him the same again. In one moment of temptation David lost what he would never be able to buy back with all the riches of his kingdom. And we would do well to brand this warning gravely upon our hearts. For if David was not above above adultery and murder, then neither are you, and neither am I. May God use the tragedy that has already been written as to frighten thousands of others from falling into the same depths.

How did this happen? In one sense it did happen in one moment. But we know that if Christ be treasured in the heart, the heart will keep the eyes. The man who cannot keep his eyes has already fallen in his heart; the man who cannot keep himself from adultery argues a heart that has become nearly lifeless, having already given his eyes over to roam unrestrained. Colossians 1:23 warns against being shifted away from the hope of the gospel. It is only when lust has conceived that it gives birth to sin, and sin gives birth to death (James 1:15). David had not kept his heart. He had been victorious; he had conquered foreign lands. And he had forgotten his God. We do well to take note that it is often after our greatest victories that we lie vulnerable to the most grievous sins. It is not for no reason that the Scripture tells us pride comes before a fall. Add to it the parched dryness of lethargy and boredom and you have the perfect condition for a massive forrest fire at the spark of a match.

There is a carnivorous plant that attracts flies with a sweet aroma at the bottom of its shoot. The fly descends gladly down the stem only to realize after reaching the bottom that it cannot get back out. For there are thorn-like spikes that are angled just enough for the fly to descend, but make it impossible for what is inside to ever exit again. So it is with sin; and David had become its willing prey. So far gone was David already before he gave the order to call Bathsheba, that not even the answer of his servants could restrain him now. For when he asks the identity of the woman, he is told that she is not only the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s mighty men; but she is also the daughter of Eliam, another of his mighty men according to 2 Samuel 23:34. Even the meaning of the names themselves should have been a restraint to David. Uriah carries the meaning, “Jehovah is Light”; Eliam bears the testimony, “God is my kinsman”; Bathsheba was named by her father, “daughter of an oath”. But sin is like a magnet that pulls stronger the closer we come to it, and the pull now is so powerful David cannot resist its lure. Sin as it pulls will not tell you about its consequences; it will not tell you it will cost you your life.

When we consider the devastating consequences of sin, we who have been in any way prevented by grace ought to praise God for our afflictions. God sends affliction in part to spare us from the sorrow and shame of such grievous sin. He saves the afflicted by their affliction. Like their Savior the saints learn obedience through that which they suffer. He sends bodily disease to keep us from spiritual disease. He scourges His children with the whip to keep them from the devastating scourging of sin. David cried out to God as he hid from Saul in the caves like a wild animal, but perhaps another few months in the caves would have kept him from the sin that so deeply stained his whole character. He prospered in the caves like perhaps he never did in the palace.

Uriah, what a man of integrity. We marvel at his words. He was a Hittite, a Canaanite; yet represented his God as perhaps none who ascended to the throne in Jerusalem. His death is sealed by David’s letter. Joab’s words to the messenger are very telling. If Joab gave so many words for describing the foolishness of approaching so near to the city wall, surely a mighty man in David’s army would have understood the folly of such an action. If Job knew it was folly to approach that wall, so must have Uriah. But that didn’t stop Uriah from obeying the king’s order. Uriah must have known in his heart the foolishness of the order, and that his death was a likely probability. But Uriah would rather obey his king than keep his life. Though the order was a death sentence, if his death should please the king, he will go gladly to that wall, and fight with all his heart, and spill his blood on that battle field. The innocent Uriah gladly gave his life for the sake of his king. The innocent gladly gave his blood to cover the guilty. Behold the picture of our Savior. Behold the One who went gladly to His death for the sake of the guilty, and to please His King from whom He received the order. Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. At the cross justice was satisfied, and human love blushed with shame.

There is a word of comfort here for those who have likewise fallen. It was through Bathsheba that Solomon is born, and his line was one through which the Savior was born (Matthew 1:6, 16). How true it is, “But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children” (Psalm 103:17). That God would truly forgive such sin is unfathomable. So what word can we use to describe how He uses the broken shards of such sin to form stained-glass windows that radiate beams of His glory all the more? Such truths may perhaps give the ungodly more excuse to give themselves over to their sins, but in God’s children it produces a very different reaction. Punishment gives one type of fear; the depths of the grace of God give another. “But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared” (Psalm 130:4). When the storm came upon the boat¹ the disciples became afraid. But when Christ calmed the wind and the waves and everything became still, another greater fear swept over them: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” It is the depth of His grace that teaches us to fear. As the prophet Ezekiel declares, “You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” (16:63, NLT).

God had made precious promises to David in chapter 7 and then fulfilled them in chapter 8.  But what do those promises look like fleshed-out? We saw in chapter 8 that Christ will be victorious—both in the future as well as now in the present age. But what will His victory look like? The kingdom of God surely will fill the earth as the waters do the sea. But what does that mean?

We find out what it means in chapters 8 through 10. Here we see both grace and truth upheld in all their purity. Here we see an incredible combination of terrifying judgement and the sweetest of mercy. In these chapters we are both terrified of David’s severity and blown away by his gentle tenderness. We find he carries with him both a sword for his enemies and candy in his pocket for his little children. He slaughters the Moabites, yet he takes the lame into his home to feast with him at his table. Who is this king? What matter of man is he? David is a reflection and prefiguring of the coming One who would be known as both the Lion of Judah and the Shepherd of Israel.

For Christ is indeed the most tender and gentle of shepherds. We see this demonstrated in the narrative of David’s kindness to Mephibosheth. Isaiah says of Him, “Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes” (40:11). Ezekiel likewise foretells, “’As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day…and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel…I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,’ declares the Lord God” (34:12-15). Matthew likewise attributes the prophecy of Isaiah to Jesus in chapter 12 of his gospel: “A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out” (v20). Reeds are common enough. A battered one is of no use and most wouldn’t think twice about throwing it away and just getting a new one. But not Jesus. He is tenderest with the weakest. He is the most gentle with those of little faith.

Richard Sibbes, a beloved and renowned puritan pastor, wrote an entire book on this Scripture entitled, The Bruised Reed. It has become one of my few favorites. He is well worth quoting at some length. In drawing out the tenderness and gentle dealings of the Savior, he writes:

…let all know that none are fitter for comfort than those that think themselves furthest off. Men, for the

most part, are not lost enough in their own feeling for a Saviour. A holy despair in ourselves is the ground

of true hope.”¹

“His tenderest care is over the weakest. The lambs he carries in his bosom (Is.40:11). He says to Peter,

‘Feed my lambs’ (Jn. 21:15). He was most familiar and open to troubled souls.”²

“Let us not be cruel to ourselves when Christ is thus gracious.”³

“The husband is bound to bear with the wife, as being the ‘weaker vessel’ (1Pet.3:7), and shall we think

Christ will exempt himself from his own rule, and not bear with his weak spouse?”⁴

“We must know for our comfort that Christ was not anointed to this great work of Mediator for lesser sins

only, but for the greatest, if we have but a spark of true faith to lay hold on him. Therefore, if there be

any bruised reed, let him not make an exception of himself, when Christ does not make an exception of

him. ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden’ (Matt.11:28).”⁵

“He who died for his enemies, will he refuse those, the desire of whose soul is towards him?”⁶

 But we do well to remember also that Christ will one day be as a lion to His enemies. Indeed, He was broken for sinners. But one day He will return to break His enemies (Psalm 2:9). He is indeed the most gentle and tender of shepherds. But in the chapter we quoted earlier from Ezekiel, we read also, “but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment” (34:16). Just as David in the days of his youth delivered the sheep of his flock from the bears and lions, so Christ will execute judgment one day on the wicked: “Wail, you shepherds, and cry; and wallow in ashes, you masters of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and your dispersions have come, and you will fall like a choice vessel” (Jeremiah 25:34). The King of Kings wields a shepherds staff to lead His sheep but also a rod of iron to destroy His enemies in the day of His wrath (Psalm 2:9). It is a popular notion that hell will be the absence of God. This is not true. It is a terrifying truth, what Scripture declares of those who continue in rebellion against Christ: “he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb” (Revelation 14:10). We need to thus ask ourselves, am I His friend or His foe? Am I reconciled with Christ? Am I like Mephibosheth in chapter 9 or the Philistines, Aram, and Amalek in chapter 8? Please don’t misunderstand. Christ holds out his scepter of mercy now to all. He declares boldly that, “the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37). Every single person who comes to Him for forgiveness will be received. The door of the ark of salvation stands open for all who desire to enter; none will be refused who come. But the day is approaching, just as in the days of Noah, when judgement will come, the door of the ark will be closed, and then it will be too late.

Chapter 9 teaches us also about election. David set his heart upon showing kindness to Mephibosheth. There was nothing in Mephibosheth himself that earned or merited David’s favor. He was the grandson of his enemy. He was lame in both feet. After spending some time in south asia I believe I understand better the implications of Mephibosheth referring to himself as a “dead dog”. In south asia, there’s not much more loathsome than a living dog. So there’s no real words that can describe the worthlessness and abhorrence of a dead one. Yet, it pleased David to sit this lame man at the kings table; from that day onward he was to feast and fellowship with the king. Mephibosheth didn’t make a decision to come feast with the king in Jerusalem. It was David who first called Mephibosheth. So it is in salvation. Christ sets His heart on calling His sheep. It is not because they are less sinful or more worthy in any way. It is not because God looks ahead and sees that they would choose Him, for then faith would become something meritorious. God’s Word clearly declares that faith and repentance are gifts that God gives to those He desires (Romans 9 entire; John 6:44; Ephesians 2:8-9; Acts 5:31); just as David treated Mephibosheth with kindness because he wanted to.

Mephibosheth feasting at the table of king David evokes other images from Scripture. In Exodus 24:9-11 there is a sacred meal shared between God Almighty and the leaders of Israel. We read, “Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel, and they saw God, and they ate and drank.” On that mountain sinners of men did feast with the Holy One. We think also perhaps of another table of feasting with a much greater king than David. It was the night of the Passover celebration. Sinners feasted upon the paschal lamb in the upper room with the Son of God. Men shared table fellowship with the King of Righteousness. Jesus broke bread with former tax-collectors and fishermen. In the narrative of David and Mephibosheth we learn that the king does invite the lame and unworthy to His table of salvation. At the Lord’s Supper we learn how the Lord can look past the defects and impurities of the spiritually lame. Can the justice of God just sweep the sins of Mephibosheth and David under the rug? Can the King of Righteousness pretend that the sins David would commit two chapters later didn’t happen? Would a judge let a man-slaughterer walk free at a mere apology? No. God cannot just acquit the guilty. He will judge justly. But Jesus feasted that night with Peter, and John, James and the others, and spoke words of peace to them (John 14:27). He drank the Passover wine with them. This was because Jesus would drink another cup that night His disciples would not. It was the cup of the wine of the wrath of God. For Jesus did not only give up the crown of glory and kingly robes when He left paradise to come to earth. He gave up paradise itself. Moses begged of God that his own name might be blotted out of the book of Life for the sin of his kinsmen. But the Lord told Moses No. Moses couldn’t have done that even if he wanted to; only a sinless offering could be made. But God knew the plans He had laid up before the foundation of the world. It would not be Moses who would give up his place in paradise. It was the Son of God himself that Passover night who gave up His place in paradise. He placed in their hands the cup of salvation because he took from them the cup of the wrath of His Father. Indeed, the cup they drank together was the cup of the new covenant in His blood. This is why spiritual Mephibosheth’s can feast at the table of salvation at the table of the King.“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; 
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; 
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6, NIV).