WHEN THE KING TAKES OVER

2 Samuel 3:1-39

An old TV program called the “A-Team” was famous for a line that showed up in many of the episodes: “I love it when a plan comes together!” Don’t we all?

When there is a well-designed plan being executed by the right people doing the right things, the results can be very good. Whether it is a business plan with all the right players doing their jobs, or a family with each member carrying his/her own weight, or a sports team with each player fulfilling the assigned role—the results can be very satisfying.

But if the wrong people try to take over responsibilities best accomplished by those most suited, the results can be disastrous.

Peter Principle: The theory that employees within an organization will advance to their highest level of competence and then be promoted to and remain at a level at which they are incompetent. A good salesman gets promoted to management and fails because he is better at selling than managing. A great teacher gets promoted to be an administrator…everyone is miserable!

When we find ourselves functioning at a level of incompetence, the odd thing is we try to hold onto our new position at all costs. If we consistently keep failing, should it not occur to us that maybe we are in the wrong place doing the wrong thing?

In this period of David’s life, the Lord has cleared the way for His plan to come together—David is now intended to be king over all Israel. But God’s design is pushed aside in order to press another agenda…Abner disregarded God’s will and decided to make Saul’s son Ish-bosheth the new king of Israel. He was the wrong person at the wrong time in the wrong place…and the result was chaotic, bloody and destructive.

When we violate God’s purpose and try to substitute our own plan instead, we will always suffer for it! God wanted David to be king of all Israel…He also wants Jesus Christ to be our King.

THESIS: The only way for us to enjoy the reign of the King of kings is to give Him complete control of the throne of our lives.

When we assume the throne of our own lives and push Jesus aside, we commit to a path of utter incompetence that will end in disaster unless we allow Him to take over as the rightful King who alone can rule over our lives and have God’s plan come together!

In David we find a king worthy of being God’s choice to lead Israel.

I. A KING WITH THE ANOINTING OF HIS GOD

--David had been declared by God to be the rightful one to reign on the throne of all Israel…he had be promised that place and anointed to that holy calling.

--Therefore, now that Saul was dead, the time had come for a new king to be crowned.

--What kind of king was this anointed one turning out to be?

A. A KING WITH A CAPACITY FOR COMPASSION

1. His Lament over Saul and Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:17-27)

--After all that Saul had put David through for the past several years, one would hardly expect to find him composing a memorial song for the funeral of Saul and Jonathan.

--But God had given David a capacity to see beyond the personal affront Saul had been to him and recognize in him a man who had once been especially chosen by the Lord God Himself to serve as king over Israel.

--The ability to overcome personal differences and appreciate the loss—perhaps even the waste of a life full of opportunity—made David special not only in the eyes of those around him but in the eyes of God.

2. His Commendation of the Men of Jabesh-Gilead (2:4-7)

--After Saul and his three sons were killed by the Philistines at Mt. Gilboa, their bodies were mistreated and abused…hung on the walls of the city of Beth-shan.

--Several men walked all night from Jabesh-Gilead, a city ten or more miles away, to steal the bodies and take them back to given them a decent and respectful burial.

--When David found out about it, he sent words of commendation for their bravery and blessings on them for their kindness to Saul.

--David did this even though they were not a part of Judah—in fact were some 60-70 miles into the kingdom of Israel which would be ruled by Saul’s remaining son, Ish-bosheth, David’s avowed enemy.

3. His Grief over Abner (3:31-38)

--Some time later, after bridges had been built in forging a covenant of peace with Abner, the commander of the armies of Israel and principle advocate for his rival king, Ish-bosheth, his own commander, Joab, committed a reprehensible act of murder against Abner.

--David was appalled on two counts:

· Abner, his newly restored ally had been murdered

· Joab, his old ally had brazenly and defiantly usurped the authority and demonstrated a complete lack of respect for the king

--Yet, in order to make his true sentiments known, David…

…publicly rebuked Joab and announced that his house would be cursed for this heinous shedding of innocent blood; and then

…honored Abner with full honors in a burial in the city of Hebron (an honor because of its place in Israel’s history as the burial place of the most respected leaders of Israel—Sarah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all entombed there); and

…commanded Joab to lead the funeral march along with all the people with torn clothes and sackcloth in order to mourn the death of Abner.

--Then David himself not only wept over Abner but then spent the day in fasting because of his compassion over one who was once his persistent enemy.

B. A KING WITH THE WISDOM TO WAIT

--If David had learned anything in the years of his exile, running for his life from the constant pursuit of Saul, it was the value and wisdom of patiently waiting for the Lord to accomplish His purposes.

1. His Inquiry of the Lord (2:1)

--David had learned the hard way that rushing out ahead of the Lord leads to trouble.

--Not only does he ask the Lord IF he should go ahead to Judah, but to which of the cities.

2 Sam. 2:1 Then it came about afterwards that David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” So David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “To Hebron.”

--Although the audible voice of God came to David, we now have His Word in written form that offers us very specific instruction if we are willing to ask for it and look where it is found.

2. His Patience for a United Kingdom (2:8, 11)

--Since the time of his anointing by Samuel, David knew that the time would come when he would be the king of all Israel…but he needed to wait for the Lord to make that happen.

--He waited for Judah to come to him (2:4), and then watched to see how the Lord would orchestrate the uniting of the kingdom under his rule.

--Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, had other plans and tried to overturn God’s promise and put his plan in place instead.

2 Sam. 2:8-11 But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim. ⁹ And he made him king…The house of Judah, however, followed David. ¹¹ And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

--So for seven and a half years, David chose to wait on God’s timing, fighting the armies of Israel and defending Judah, growing stronger as Israel grew weaker.

3. His Confidence in the Promise (3:9)

--David could wait patiently because he knew the promise of God to him, that he would one day be the king.

--Others knew the promise also…even his enemies…and were fighting not only to defeat David but also to reverse the purpose of God.

--After an altercation with Ish-Bosheth, Abner decided that the time had come to give in to God’s will and do what he knew was right.

2 Sam. 3:9-10 “May God do so to Abner, and more also, if as the LORD has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him, ¹⁰ to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba.”

--Even though he knew God had sworn to give the kingdom to David, Abner had been fighting the hand of God…David in the meantime had simply chosen the wise course of waiting on God!

4. His Appreciation for the Adversary (3:39)

--However, not everything was working out perfectly for David because he had his three cousins to deal with…men with great influence and power.

--Joab was the commander of David’s army, but he was also head-strong and defiant, doing what he chose even as he professed undying loyalty to David.

--Joab murdered Abner and David realized that beyond a public scolding and distancing himself from any support for such a wicked deed, he knew that taking on Joab in a power struggle would be devastating for Judah and Israel and would be more damaging than allowing him to remain in his position.

--But he also had the wisdom not to entrust Joab with the kinds of responsibility he had once held.

Most of us have had to make those kinds of choices in our lives. We had to pick our battles carefully and wisely. Men like Joab and Abishai proved to be a constant source of exasperation for David, but he knew better than to go head to head with them…winning was not the issue for he knew the promise of God, but the casualties along the way would be too costly.

So we too must exercise wisdom in choosing our battles sometimes. Those who are against us may be doing us great harm, but not as great as they could if we allowed them to divert our attention from the bigger issues to deal with them.

Sometimes we have to swallow hard and then ask the Lord to deal with them in His time and His way.

C. A KING WITH A MAGNETISM OF MANNER

--David’s leadership was recognized and affirmed right from the beginning as his natural appeal and God-given charisma always moved him to the front.

1. Commander of Saul’s Army (1 Samuel 18:5)

2. Hero of All Israel (1 Samuel 18:6-7)

3. Captain of the Mighty Men (1 Samuel 22:1-2)

4. Bodyguard of the Philistine King (1 Samuel 28:1-2)

5. Benefactor of the Elders of Judah (1 Samuel 30:26-31)

6. Chosen King over House of Judah (2 Samuel 2:4)

7. Preferred King of the Elders of Israel (2 Samuel 3:17-18)

8. Anointed King over a United Kingdom (2 Samuel 5:3-5)

--Wherever he went, whatever he did, David exhibited the kind of magnetism and leadership that only the hand of God on his life could have given him.

--God had promised not only that David would be king and had anointed him toward that end, but that from him would come Another King, the Son of David, who would reign forever and ever…the Messiah, Jesus Christ!

--David proved himself to be worthy as the one anointed by God; Jesus Christ had nothing to prove…He is worthy to be King forever!

II. A KING WITH THE ALLEGIANCE OF HIS PEOPLE

Alan Redpath – Many of us have been, or may be even now, like those people in Israel to whom Abner spoke. We have sought in times past for David’s greater Son to be King over us…We have thought about the prospect, but somehow we have hesitated. The problems are too great; the consequences might be too serious, the complications would interfere too much with our lives. Like David, the Lord Jesus has never enforced His authority; He has taken, as David did, only what we offer Him. David stepped to the throne at Hebron when it was offered; he stepped to the throne of all Israel when that was offered to him. He never moved one inch until the invitation came. (The Making of a Man of God, p. 138)

2 Sam. 3:17-18 Now Abner had consultation with the elders of Israel, saying, “In times past you were seeking for David to be king over you. ¹⁸ “Now then, do it!...

--There were three responses to David, just as there are three responses to the Son of David:

A. OFFERING HIM NOTHING

--To no one’s surprise, there are many who refuse to recognize that Jesus is Lord at all, much less Lord of all!

--He is offered no place in their lives, unless it is a token acknowledgement that they do believe that He does exist and plays some role in the affairs of the world—just that He has nothing to do with them.

B. OFFERING HIM ONLY HEBRON

--When we only accept the reign of the Son of David over the portions of our lives that promise not to interfere with our own control of the rest of our little kingdom, we in effect offer Him Hebron when He must rule over all.

1. We Can No Longer Ignore Him Completely

--Before we offered Him lordship over part of our lives, we owed Him nothing and seldom gave much thought to His will or His interests.

--Now we find that we cannot enjoy the things we once pursued without conscience because we are aware that Another sits on the throne.

Some have described it this way: “I am no longer comfortable at either a cocktail party or a Bible study…I am caught between the two and out of place at both!”

2. We Cannot Rest In Him Peacefully

2 Sam. 3:1 Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David grew steadily stronger, but the house of Saul grew weaker continually.

--A war rages to see who gets to rule…who will call the shots and make the decisions and choose the way.

--A not-so-civil war keeps us from enjoying His peace and from the blessing of living under the bounty of His perfect and sovereign reign.

--Rather than finding rest and peace because we have yielded to Him in all things, we find that we are at war within ourselves, fighting to retain control over those areas in which we think we know better than Christ!

Gal. 5:17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

--Your will puts you into direct opposition to the will of your Sovereign King until you surrender your will to Him and allow His will and your will to be the same—His!

So few Christians ever get to enjoy the true peace of Christ because they offer Him only Hebron and hold out the rest for themselves. Only when He reigns over all will we find His peace and enjoy the pleasure of His dominion over all things in our lives.

C. OFFERING HIM EVERYTHING

--Even among those who oppose Him, there is often a clear sense that they are on the wrong side of things!

--They are too proud or too stubborn to do anything about it, but they know that Jesus is the only One in whom salvation can be found.

2 Sam. 3:17-18 Now Abner had consultation with the elders of Israel, saying, “In times past you were seeking for David to be king over you. ¹⁸ “Now then, do it! For the LORD has spoken of David, saying, ‘By the hand of My servant David I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.’”

--Abner and the elders of Israel already admitted that they were backing the wrong king, following in the wrong direction, and placing themselves and their people in danger by opposing the only hope they had for survival.

-- Abner took the initiative to make things right and offer David his allegiance and that of all Israel.

2 Sam. 3:21 And Abner said to David, “Let me arise and go, and gather all Israel to my lord the king that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may be king over all that your soul desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

--What keeps you from offering Him everything today?

· Do you honestly think you have a better plan than He does for your life, that your way of doing things is better than His?

· Are you afraid you might miss something important, something desirable, if you accept His complete, unrestricted reign over your life?

--Like many, in your rational moments you can admit that you want Him to be Lord of everything but when the decisive moments hit you, you back down from allowing Him to be King over you.

--The time comes to heed the challenge Abner laid out for the elders of Israel—“You want to make Him your king…then DO IT!!”

If you know that God has a plan…and that He has designed that plan to be fulfilled with His Son, Jesus Christ, ruling each of our lives, then how foolish is it to know that and continue to pursue personal promotion to the extent that we prove our incompetence to run our own lives?

Those who have occasionally and temporarily desired to turn over the management of their lives to someone more competent than they are, or ever can be, God’s Word makes it clear that Jesus Christ stands ready to take over the job.

Yet even though we admit He can do it better, and that we would be a lot better off if we let Him do it, we stubbornly persist and keep messing things up hoping that eventually we will get better. The truth is, we will never get any better at doing what God never intended for us to do in the first place!

Only Jesus Christ can and should be King and rule over our lives. If we know it, it is time to listen to Abner’s advice: —“You want to make Him your king…then DO IT!!”

Those who have trusted Him to be Lord and King have a simple message to convey to those who are still wondering if it is worth it to yield the throne to Him. “God’s plan works…nothing else does! So, when Jesus reigns, the plan comes together.”

The only way for us to enjoy the reign of the King of kings is to give Him complete control of the throne of our lives.

“In times past you were seeking for David to be king over you…now do it!”

“In times past you were seeking for Jesus to be King over you…now do it!”

January 9, 2005

Providence Baptist Church

Sermon outlines are copyrighted in the event of future publication.

They may be used for preaching and teaching purposes

but may not be published or sold.