2 Samuel 5

The Explanation

For years David had been waiting. He had been anointed with oil long ago, but Saul sat on the throne. Now, at last, men from every tribe of Israel came walking to the town of Hebron. Dusty roads, tired feet, hundreds of them.

"We are your bone and your flesh," they said. "You are one of us. And Yahweh said to you: you will be shepherd of my people Israel."

Shepherd. Not a king who sits still and shouts orders, but one who walks ahead and keeps the sheep safe.

So they poured oil over David's head. He was thirty years old. He would be king for forty years.

Then David looked at a city on a hill. Jerusalem. High walls, steep rocks, and inside it lived the Jebusites. They leaned over the wall and laughed. "Even our blind and lame people can keep you out!" they shouted. That is how sure they were. Nobody had ever taken that city.

But David took it anyway. His men found the way up through the water shaft, the tunnel where the water ran. The city on the hill became David's city. He lived there and built it up, stone by stone.

And the Bible says something short and very big: "David grew greater and greater; for Yahweh, the God of Armies, was with him."

Even a king far away noticed. Hiram of Tyre sent cedar trees, and carpenters, and stone workers, and they built David a house. David sat in that house of good-smelling cedar wood and understood something. This was not because he was clever. Yahweh had made him king.

Then came the Philistines. They heard about the new king and spread out through the valley like a swarm. David could have said, "I beat Goliath, I can beat them too." He did not. He asked God first. "Shall I go up?" And God said, "Go up; for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into your hand." David won. He said it was like water bursting through a dam.

But the Philistines came back. Again David asked. And this time God said something completely different. "You shall not go up. Circle around behind them. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then go, for then Yahweh has gone out before you."

Imagine standing there. Quiet. Listening to trees. And then, high above your head, the leaves begin to rustle like a thousand feet marching. God was going first.

David did exactly what God said. And the Philistines were driven all the way from Geba to Gezer.

What Does This Mean?

Notice what David did twice: he asked. The same enemy, the same valley, and God gave a different answer. If David had only copied yesterday's plan, he would have marched straight into trouble.

David was strong, but that was never the reason he won. The reason is in verse 10: Yahweh was with him. A shepherd king who listens is stronger than walls that laugh at him.

The Common Thread

God promised David a shepherd's throne, and God kept it. But David grew old and died, and his city was broken down later.

That is why God sent another King from David's family. Jesus was born in David's town. He is the Shepherd who really goes ahead of us, all the way through death and out the other side. He never needs to ask which way to go, because He always knows the Father's will.

For You

Before you decide something today, ask God about it. Not only the big things. "God, what should I do about my friend who is sad?" Then listen, like David listening to the trees. And do one thing you know He would want, even a small one.

Talk About It

Why do you think David asked God a second time, instead of doing what worked before?

When is it hard for you to wait and listen first?

Praying Together

Lord, You are the God who goes ahead of us. Help us to ask You before we run off on our own. Thank You for Jesus, our Shepherd King. Amen.