2 Samuel - Chapters 8-10 with Psalm 60 & 108

David becomes king of all Israel and establishes Jerusalem as the capital. He expands the borders of Israel, defeating the Philistines, Moab, and the Edomites. David's victories are attributed to the Lord. He appoints leaders in various positions and shows kindness to Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son. David also defeats the Ammonites after they dishonor his messengers. The story emphasizes David's justice and righteousness. Mephibosheth is grateful for David's kindness and dines at the king's table. The passage concludes by encouraging listeners to accept Jesus' invitation to be part of God's family. I am Louie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at vab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are covering chapters 8-10 of 2 Samuel with Psalm 60 and Psalm 108. David is now king of all Israel. His first task was to take the city of Jerusalem, which is on Mount Zion, to be the capital of the nation, and David brought the ark of God into the tent in Jerusalem. This will now be the worship center for the Hebrews. Chapter 5 verse 12 says, And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. One way of exalting his kingdom was to take all the land that the Lord had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Through the time of Joshua, the Judges, Samuel, and King Saul, the Israelites had never taken all the land. So David keeps trying. Chapter 8 verse 1 says, In the course of time David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Amah from the control of the Philistines. The Philistines were west of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea border. He still did not take all of Philistia. Then we find in verse 2 that David took Moab, which is on the eastern border across from the salt sea. Verses 3 through 6 tell us David took land all the way up north to the Euphrates River. Verse 13 explains that David took down the Edomites, which were south of the salt sea, which made David famous. In other words, David expanded the borders of Israel on every side. Verse 6b tells us, The Lord gave David victory wherever he went. Verse 11 tells us that he would bring special articles from the war and dedicate them to the Lord. Then verse 14 restates, The Lord gave David victory wherever he went. Verses 15-18 say David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people. Joab son of Zeruah was over the army, Jehoshaphat son of Ahilad was recorder, Zadok son of Ahithab and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests, Sariah was secretary, Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were royal advisors. Psalm 60 is entitled, For the director of music, to the tune of the lily of the covenant, a miktam of David, for teaching, when he fought Aram Naharam and Aram Zobah, and when Joab returned and struck down 12,000 Edomites in the valley of salt. So this psalm was written with today's verses in mind. Psalm 60, You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us. You have been angry, now restore us. You have shaken the land and torn it apart, mend its fractures, for it is shaking. You have shown your people desperate times. You have given us wine that makes us stagger, but for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow, Selah. Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered. God has spoken from his sanctuary, in triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine, Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter, Moab is my wash basin, upon Edom I toss my sandal, over Philistia I shout in triumph. Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies? Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies. Now Psalm 60 is in book 2 of the Psalms, but it is like Psalm 108 which is in book 5. Psalm 108 is entitled A Song, A Psalm of David. Some people believe that during worship, if the 5th book of the Torah was read, then possibly the 5th book of the Psalms was used, which may be why some parts of the Psalms are repeated in different books. Psalm 108 starts a little bit different, but then it ends the same. Here is Psalm 108. My heart is steadfast, O God, I will sing and make music with all my soul. Awake, harp and lyre, I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations. I will sing of you among the peoples, for great is your God, higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the sky. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth. If you notice, with Psalm 108, it is a personal hymn and it starts off with singing my and I, whereas Psalm 60 is us throughout the whole Psalm. Now the second half of Psalm 108, and you will see how similar they are. Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered. God has spoken from his sanctuary. In triumph, I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine, Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter. Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal, over Philistia I shout in triumph. Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Is it not you, O God? You who have rejected us, and no longer go out with our armies, give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies. Now back to 2 Samuel. Chapter 8 covered David's victories, and chapter 10 covers David's defeat of the Ammonites which are located on the east side of the Jordan River. And sandwiched between these two chapters, David asked, is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake? If you remember in 1 Samuel chapter 20, David and Jonathan made a pact and Jonathan asked him to never cut off his kindness from his family. In chapter 24, when David spared Saul's life the first time, Saul had David swear that he would not cut off Saul's descendants or wipe out his name from his family. Now David wanted to keep his word on this matter. He found out about Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, who was crippled in both feet. We learned in chapter 4 verse 4 that he was 5 years old when his dad and grandfather died. He was not born crippled, but after the Philistines killed both Saul and Jonathan, they raided the towns and people fled. His nurse picked him up, and because they were in such a hurry to leave, he fell and became crippled. David restored all the land that Saul owned to Mephibosheth and said he would always eat at the king's table. His response was, what is your servant that you should notice a dead dog like me? David then had Mephibosheth's servant and his family to take care of the land. And verse 11b says, and Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. Now the story of the Ammonites in chapter 10 begins with their king dying, and David sent men to his son, Hanun, to express their sympathy, because they had been at peace. The elders told the son these men came to check out the land, so Hanun dishonored them and shaved off half of the men's beard and cut off the garments up to the middle of the buttocks and then sent them away. When David heard about it, he sent messengers to them and said to stay in Jericho until the beards grew back, because they were so embarrassed. When Hanun realized they had angered David, they gathered forces with neighbors. David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men. Joab said, be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight. Verse 12, Joab's men won because Hanun and his men retreated, but then they regrouped and this time David gathered all Israel for the fight. They retreated again, but David had killed 700 of their charioteers, 40,000 of their foot soldiers, as well as their commander of the army. Verse 19 reads, when all the kings who were vassals of Hadadazer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore. To be a vassal means that a weaker country is allowed to stay as their country, but in order to do so they needed to pay tribute money or taxes to the stronger country. Here we see that Israel is the stronger country. King David reigned by doing what was just and right for all his people. He faithfully looked to the Lord and sought his ways, and the Lord blessed him. Mephibosheth asked David, what is your servant that you should notice a dead dog like me? At first Mephibosheth was afraid of going to the presence of the king, but because of the kind of king David was, and because of the king's love for Mephibosheth's father Jonathan, that fear was subsided, and he enjoyed fellowship with the king each evening at dinner as if he were his son. Ladies, in similar manner, depending upon our life circumstances, at times we may see ourselves as a dead dog or a nobody, yet because of the kind of heavenly king we have, and because King Jesus loves our father in heaven so much he was willing to pay the price for our sins, we too can be accepted into the king's palace as part of the family, if we accept his invitation to come to him. In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 11 verses 28-30 Jesus says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. If you have heard his voice today, please don't harden your heart, instead let's be women who come to the one who is calling, the one who wants us to be a part of his family, and let us hear and obey. Until next time, and thanks so much for listening.