Summing It All Up

2 Samuel 23:1-39

You learn a lot about someone by two things: the people that surround them and their final words. Here in chapter 23 we get both about King David. When you?re young, though you have creative ideas, much of life is a series of experiments. As more things go right you learn, so that by the time you are an elder, like David, hopefully you have amassed some knowledge and experience that can be distilled and passed on.

So too, David celebrates the men who he supported and who supported him. We learn some good lessons about how to be an effective warrior for the Lord.

1 ? 2

Of the 73 Psalms accredited to David, this last one is not included in the book of Psalms, but only here in 2 Samuel.

Basically in the first two verses he?s saying that everything I am came from God. I love how he identifies himself, not as the mighty warrior, nor as the great king, but as a song writer for his people, singing praises to God. At the heart the greatest thing we can do is lift up and worship the One who has done it all. I think that was the secret to David?s success, his reliance on God for everything and his giving glory to God in everything he got.

Notice as well that David realized the words he penned in those Psalms were the word of God. They are not just pretty songs to sing in church. So David was a prophet as well as a worship leader, warrior, and king.

3 ? 4

The relationship David had with Yahweh, and his reliance on God for everything translated into action in how he operated in life. David took God at His word and ?ruled justly.? It means ?power with righteousness.? And ?Power under the fear, morality, and reverence of God.? This concept forms the bedrock of the way David led his life and the way he led his people. ?God?s character ruling through men and women submitted to Him? is a way I?d put it.

It is so refreshing, given that the opposite is the default position of humanity. ?Power should reflect my character forced upon others so that I can get more power.? He uses three pictures: dawn (the night is over), morning sun (the storm is over) and rain (the drought is over). The combination of light and rain cause growth and bounty, just as a godly person in submission to God brings about growth and spiritual prosperity in the people he leads.

5

Verse 5 celebrates the fact that David?s dynasty would be eternal through the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

The end of verse five is a little hard to translate:

Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire? NIV

For this is all my salvation and all my desire; Will He not make it increase? NKJV

For all my salvation and all my desire, Will He not indeed make it grow? NASU

6 ? 7

Compare the pictures of verses 3 ? 5 with this section. Instead of bringing life, thorns bring hurt if you try to touch them unprotected. Instead of sweet rain that grows crops, those that reject the Lord?s rule over them end up dried up and burned up. Though I don?t want to read too much into the text, it almost sounds like David is describing those who will not be ruled by the Lord and his king.

Verses 8 through 39 detail the men who, in contrast to the last verses, were submitted to David and to the Lord. This section probably represents the military organization early in David?s reign. It?s paralleled in 1 Chronicles 11:1-3. There are 37 men listed (though more than 37 names appear in this chapter). The differences are minor and don?t add anything to our discussion. Let?s look at the most notable names here.

8

The mightiest. Josheb-basshebeth. He?s also known as Adino and Jashobeam. 1 Chronicles says 300. It?s unlikely that he killed all the men single-handedly with his spear but either was the leader and got the credit or did something else for them to perish.

9

Eleazar. He fought with David at Pas Dammin (1 Samuel 17:1) against the Philistines.

10

Shammah. He was also with David at Pas Dammin (1 Chronicles 11:13-14)

11 ? 17

These three men are unnamed. The event probably took place either when David was on the run from Saul or shortly after he was made king in Hebron.

These men risked their lives to get water but David would not drink it. Instead he poured it out as a drink offering, which was offered along with the sacrifice (the lives of his men put at risk).

18 ? 19

Abishai was David?s nephew and Joab?s brother (Joab is only mentioned here as he was disloyal to David and backed Adonijah as king rather than David?s choice of Solomon ? 1 Kings 1). He was loyal but a bit impetuous. He wanted to kill Saul in the cave (1 Samuel 26) and cut off the head of Shimei (2 Samuel 16 & 19).

20 ? 23

The meaning of the Hebrew word ?ariels? is unknown. It has been translated ?heros? or ?best men.? It can also mean ?lionlike men.? David ended up giving him the same job he had while under Saul?chief of the bodyguard.

24 ? 39

A few of the names here are familiar:

Asahel (vs 24), brother of Joab and Abiahai, killed by Abner (2:23), the first on the list and

Uriah (vs 39) whom David had killed (2 Samuel 11:14-17), the last.

Also note: Naharai (vs 37). As armor bearer for Joab he would have been one of the men who killed Absalom (2 Samuel 18:15).

Conclusions

We learn a lot of from the men who surrounded David. At the beginning they were ?distressed?, ?in debt?, and ?bitter in soul? (1 Samuel 22:2). Learning from David?s example both physically and spiritually, they end up as mighty men with their names recorded forever in Scripture.

They have some things in common we can learn from:

Persistent in following orders (Eleazar, vs 10)

Fearless in the presence of the enemy (Shammah, vs 11-12)

Loyal to their king even at great personal risk (the three in vs 16)

Steadfast even in poor circumstances (Benaiah, vs 20)

Creative in battle (also Benaiah, vs 21)