2 Samuel 5 today..... 2_Samuel 6 tomorrow....

Read it.
Sandj


Chapter 5: verse 1-3... the people knew God wanted David to be king, and they believed in his ability to be a good king since they had already experienced what he could do.
verse 4-5... wow! David reigned and lived a good long time!... also, I am amazed by all that had taken place during his short life up to this point... yet, God was not done... sometimes I think we think that the only thing is what God is doing now... we forget He is not done with us yet... we also forget all that He has already done... to properly worship and trust Him, we must not forget our past, we must not neglect our present, and we must not dispell our future... God is a God of all ages, and His plan is eternal, not momentary... we must remember the words of Paul in 2 Corinthains 4:18, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." A PS on these verses is that the study notes ask what is significant about age 30 and the number 40? I don't know for sure, but I have been told that the Jewish people (and others I'm sure) put alot of weight on numerology, so there is probably a reason for that, however, I can't say that I know what the meanings behind these numbers are, if any... I do know that Joseph was thrity when he because under the service of Pharoah (Genesis 41:46), Saul was 30 when he became king (1 Samuel 13:1), and Jesus was thirty when He started His ministry (Luke 3:23)... as for 40, the rain fell on the earth during the flood of Noah for forty days and nights (Genesis 7-8), the Isrealites wondered in the desert for 40 years (Exodus 16:35... or at least ate manna for forty years, Numbers 14:34), and Moses was on the mountain getting the 10 commandments for 40 days/nights-both times (Exodus 24:18, 34:28), Moses and Caleb were both forty years old at significant (turning) points in their lives/service to God (Joshua 14:7, Acts 7:23) also, Jesus fasted for 40 days/nights just prior to starting His ministry (Matthew 4:1-2)... maybe there is significance in these numbers because they are modeled in Jesus, I don't know, however, there are a bunch of other years/numbers that are used throughout the Bible for many things, so I don't know how much weight I personally put on the idea of significance in numbers... I might be wrong here, which is very likely as I have not formal theological training to really speak of, but it seems to me that there are more important things to put our time and understanding into than the possible significance of numbers... your input on this subject would be greatly appreciated. :)
verse 6-8... apparently David was stronger than the blind and lame... haha :)... isn't that one major rule of combat: never underestimate your opponent?... the study notes point out that in Judges 1:21, the Bejamites had failed to get rid of the Jebusites in Jerusalem before when God had given them their inheritance land.... the Jebusites were apparently good fighters and victorious then, but they let is get to their heads, as God does not accept defeat... defeat is not part of who He is and can not ever happen because He is too powerful. On a different note, there could be some prophetical parallels here in that the 'blind and lame' will not enter the palace of God, either, and that is why Jesus came, to 'give sight to the blind and heal the lame'... although He did this physically, the metaphor is more for the spiritual side of things... so they (and all of us) can see God and His glory and do His work (Psalm 146:8, Matthew 11:4-6, and others)
verse 9... the City of David?
verse 10-12... at least he gives credit where credit is due: "because the Lord God Almighty was with him"... also, a show of how God keeps His promises and gives the land He had promised to the Isrealites, to them.... I like the question in the study notes: "If you had absolute assurance that 'the Lord was with you,' how would your coming week be affected? What fears would dissipate? What new mission would you take on? What old habits would you break?"... the only part of this question that I don't like, is that it is asked as if we don't have that assurance, though, and the Bible clearly states that as children of God, we are fully equipped with His power to do all He has called us to do (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 13:20-21, Philippians 1:3-6)... as long as we remain in His will, we can be assured of that 'the Lord is with us' (John 15:5)... and what would His will be?... well, how about living by/with the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), fulfilling the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20), being victorious over Satan and evil (James 4:7-10, 2 Timothy 1:7, Ephesians 6:10-18), etc... we can break those bad habits, we can start that new mission, and we don't have to be afraid, because when we are living within the will of God, the Lord God goes with us wherever we go (Joshua 1:9)
verse 13-16... I wonder what God thought about David taking more wives and having more children with them?
verse 17... did they go to attack him because they were angry since he had tricked them and lived among them claiming to want to fight the Isrealites and now he was their king (1 Samuel 27, 29) or for other reasons?
verse 18-21... interesting how David trusts in the power of God and he defeats the Philestines, and David's confidence in God grows... yet, the Philestines trust in their idols, who let them down, and so they abandon their idols... uncertain if David and his men carried off the Philestines or their idols... hopefully, if it was the idols, they then disposed of them. I like that the name of the place, according to the footnotes was "the Lord who breaks out"... kind of a cool name. :)
verse 22-25... again, God comes through... interesting to note that even though he was in God's will, God desired for David to take a second battle to complete the task... sometimes we think we have failed if it takes us more than once to do something, yet it may just be God's will to take more time, and it is usually for our benefit, and definately for the benefit of God's kingdom... so with that in mind, if we are giving our all to God, why should we worry about the time it takes to 'win the battle'... God is in control and it will happen when He is ready for it to happen. Cool how the imagery is in the idea of hear the sound of marching overhead, and that being a sign that the Lord's army has gone ahead to secure victory... we may not hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, but we can be sure that God has gone before us and secured the eternal victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-58, also all of 1 Corinthians 15 for more explaination, as well as other passages for Jesus's victory over darkness, sin, evil, death, etc)
sandJ