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Tara Leigh Cobble
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Leigh Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Apart from the Psalms, it's been a while since we've checked in on David and his storyline. The last time we saw him was 10 days ago on day one 11. Let's do a quick refresher of where we are in the story before we jump into today's recap. Before today's reading, David has been king of the tribe of Judah for about seven years. The other tribes had been following Saul's son Ish Bosheth, but then two of Ish Bosheth's military leaders murdered him. And right before that happened, Ish Bosheth's military commander, Abner, stepped down from his position and went around convincing all the other tribes that they should follow David instead. So that's where we are when we pick up today's reading. We hit 2 Samuel 5 first, then jumped over to 1 Chronicles 11 and 12, which recounted a lot of what we just read in 2 Samuel 5. And that's often how it will be when we incorporate Chronicles into our reading. But remember that it will often give its own lens on things, taking out some things that are less favorable, adding in some things that we don't see elsewhere. Let it flesh out your understanding of these stories a bit more, since these chapters mostly covered the same stories. Today, I'll do the recap as an overview of all three chapters at once. Finally, David is anointed king over the other tribes, unifying the nation of Israel. David was 30 years old at this point, which means he had to wait roughly 15 years between the time Samuel anointed him as king over Israel and the time he actually became king over Israel. Up until this point had been reigning in Hebron, which was the religious capital at the time, but he's got his heart set on moving the capital to Jerusalem. There's only one problem. The Jebusites live there. The Israelites haven't been able to drive them out on any previous attempts, in part because of how Jerusalem is on a hill, surrounded by valleys, surrounded by hills. It's almost like a topographical fortress with a natural moat. The Jebusites who live there taunt David, saying that he's so weak and that Jerusalem itself is so fortified that they could practically appoint blind and lame people as their security guards on the wall surrounding the city, and he still wouldn't manage to get in. And just like he did with the battle against Goliath, David opted for brains, not brawn. He outwitted them by going up through a water shaft instead of attacking the walls and gates. The water shaft they used to enter the city is still there, and you can walk through the water tunnels, just like David and his mighty men did, except without the fear of death. Unless maybe you're claustrophobic. Also, it's important to note that David doesn't actually hate the blind and the lame here, despite what he says. In fact, we'll see later that he has a special bond with Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, who is lame. But what's happening here when David says he hates the blind and the lame is that he's making reference to the people the Jebusites said would keep him out of the city, which is likely just a general reference to the Jebusites as a whole. I love how 1 Chronicles 11:5 summarizes the situation. It says the inhabitants said to David, you will not come in here. Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion. That is the city of David. Did you see that? They forbid David from entering the city that is now named after him. That's so funny to me. I love the irony. Anyway, David takes Jerusalem and makes it the new capital. So they move everything over from Hebron to Jerusalem, and David builds his castle there. You can walk into it. They only discovered it a few years ago. They even found what is almost certainly his private toilet. Shortly after David is made king over all of Israel, word gets back to the Philistines. Remember how David had moved to Philistia when Saul was trying to kill him and he pretended to be conquering Israelite cities, but was actually conquering Philistine cities and lying about it? Well, now the Philistines finally realize that the guy they thought was on their side fighting for them is actually the king of their enemies. So they come after him. He seeks God about what to do, and God promises and delivers victory. Scripture says that the Lord of hosts was with him. That term, Lord of hosts, points to Yahweh, the Lord as the commander of armies, the hosts. This could refer to either literal armies or perhaps an army of angels, or maybe even both in battle, David had a habit of inquiring of the Lord and obeying him, and he saw success in this area. But in his private life, like when it comes to women, he did not inquire of the Lord, and the outcome made that obvious. Despite his great victories, Scripture makes it clear that he wasn't perfect. He starts accumulating new wives and concubines right away. Despite God's command against this in Deuteronomy 17. In addition to accumulating women, David also accumulated an army of mighty men. These mighty men included three main warriors, a core group of 30, plus a few bonus guys who joined in. From time to time we see some stories about how powerful and victorious they are, but we also see that they make some foolish moves out of loyalty to David. And today's reading ended by reflecting back on some of the ways God protected David before he rose to power. We saw a long awaited promise fulfilled today. Where in the storyline did you see God's character on display? My God shot was in 2nd Samuel 5, 10, 12. These verses make it clear that David's greatness didn't originate with David and didn't terminate on David. It says he became greater because God was with him, just as he has been since David was anointed king in 1st Samuel 16. And it also says that God exalted David's kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. This was about something much bigger than just David. God is the source, supply and goal of all of this. Or as Romans 11:36 puts it, from him, through him, in and to him are all things. I'm grateful we can relate to David's humanity and imperfections. But I'm also grateful that the stories we read and the stories we live aren't about us, that they point us to something far greater than any flawed human. They point to an eternal God who is working all things together according to his will, which is also for our joy. Because he's where the joy is. Starting in September, you can get the Bible Recap Bible, that's right. All in one book. You'll have each day's Bible reading followed by that day's recap. And it's all laid out in chronological order. You can choose from four different options for the TBR Bible. We've got a hardback vegan leather options in pink or brown and our exclusive black genuine leather version that is only available through the TBR store. They're all the English Standard Version, which is the version I use to create TBR. Head to the TBR store at thebiblerecap.com store or click the link in the Show Notes.