2 Samuel 22:41

2 Samuel 22:41 says, Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me. David said it was God Who was responsible for his victories over his enemies, and He is still responsible for our victory over sin in the world today, and we should praise Him and give Him credit for it.  As Christians, I don't believe we should ever claim to be a self-made man or woman.  God should always be given the credit.  Verse forty-two adds, They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.  David said his enemies looked for someone to save them, but there was none who could, because they were fighting against God and His people.  There still will never be anyone who can save a person if they do not put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, yet people continue to look for someone who can.  Verse twenty-three continues,  Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.  David said by God's power he totally destroyed his enemies, and by God's power all our enemies have been spiritually destroyed today.  Still, this does not mean that we are to physically destroy them.  Verse forty-four states, Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me.  David said God had also saved him from his own people and had made him the ruler over strangers, who were referred to as heathen.  Unless we are a part of God's family by faith in Jesus Christ, we can still be referred to as heathen., but God calls us to be a part of His family if we will accept salvation made available by Jesus Christ.  Verse forty-five adds, Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me.  David said God had made him so powerful that strangers would submit to him simply by hearing his name.  No one will ever be more powerful than Jesus Christ, and the only way we can find forgiveness for our sins is to submit to His name.  He will never force anyone to put their faith in Him.  Verse forty-six continues, Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places.  It would be nice if this was true today, but too often those who oppose God still fight against Him instead of fading away in fear.  Verse forty-seven declares, The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation.  We as Christians should still be proclaiming this to the world today.  Jesus is the Rock of our salvation, and we should build our life on the Rock.  Verse forty-eight adds, It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me,  As David said then, It is God Who avenges all the wrong done to His people and this means that it is not our responsibility to do so.  Verse forty-nine continues, And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.  David gave God all the credit for his success as king, and so must we today as followers of Christ give credit to God for any success we have in life.  Jesus Christ has already defeated all our enemies, so all we have to do is live faith in Him.  Verse fifty says, Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.  Like David, we need to be giving thanks to God for our everlasting salvation and singing praises to Him in the lost and dying world.  We do not need to live as though we are defeated people.  Verse fifty-one adds, He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.  David said that God was the tower of his salvation and would show mercy on him and his children forevermore.  Jesus Christ has always been the tower of salvation, but we cannot establish a relationship between our children and Him.  All we can do is share the gospel with them.

2 Samuel 22:31

2 Samuel 22:31 says, As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.  As David said, God's way is always perfect and He is a source of strength to those who trust in Him. Verse thirty-two adds, For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?   David asked who else was God bedside God Himself, and the answer is no one.  Verse thirty-three continues,  God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.   Like David, we need to acknowledge that God is the source of our strength and if we are obedient to Him He will make our way perfect.  Verse thirty-four states, He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet: and setteth me upon my high places.  David said that God made him sure-footed in the high places where he might have slipped and fallen on his own.  If we follow Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, He will still keep us safe in  dangerous places.  Verse thirty-five adds, He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.  David said God also taught him how to be successful in war, and I believe that was by being faithful to God.  If we are to be successful in our war against sin and evil in the world today, it must be by being faithful to God.  We cannot do it on our own.  Verse thirty-six continues, Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.  As David said then, God has given us the shield of His salvation and His love and gentleness with us have made us great.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, His salvation will always be a shield to us.  Verse thirty-seven says, Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.  David said God had enlarged his steps and kept his feet from slipping.  As we serve God, we should be able to undertake even greater challenges without slipping and falling, as long as we are be directed by God.  Verse thirty-eight adds, I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them.  David said that he had pursued his enemies and didn't turn aside until he had destroyed them.  Though I believe that we should destroy all the sin in our life, I believe that we should pursue the enemies of God with the gospel and not to kill them.  Jesus died for them just as He died for us and commissioned us to reach them with His gospel.  Verse thirty-nine continues, And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet.  David said he wounded his enemies so that they might not rise again.  It would be nice if we could destroy sin in our life so that it would not rise again, and if we remain faithful to Jesus Christ at all times we can.  It is a daily decision to follow Him by faith though, even though we are forever saved.  Verse forty concludes, For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.  David was speaking about God giving him strength against physical enemies and destroying them, but I believe that we should apply this to spiritual enemies instead.  We may not always defeat our physical enemies in this life, but if we are Christians, God has already destroyed our spiritual enemies by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

2 Samuel 22:16

2 Samuel 22:16 says, And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.  David said that God could shake the foundations of the earth and even dry up the seas with His breath alone.  God did not need David in order to defeat His enemies, but He chose to work through Him.  The same is true for Christians today.  Verse seventeen adds, He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters;  I believe that David is acknowledging that it was God from above who gave him victory over his enemies at all times.  We need to let the world know that as followers of Christ our victory over sin in the world comes from Jesus Christ alone.  Verse eighteen continues,  He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.  David continued to give God credit for his victories, saying that his enemies were too strong for him to defeat on his own, and as Christians, our enemies will never be too strong for God to defeat if we put our faith in Him.  Verse nineteen states,They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.   David said that when his enemies kept him from victory that God was his stay, his source of strength and peace.  God has already given Christians victory over sin and death, so we should live at peace secure in our everlasting salvation.  Verse twenty adds, He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me.  I believe that David was saying God gave him authority over Israel because God delighted in him.  I believe that as long as we as Christians are doing what God has called us to do that He will delight in us and that is all that should matter.  Verse twenty-one continues, The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.  David said that God rewarded him for his righteousness according to how well he obeyed God, but we know that our own righteousness will only bring us condemnation.  The righteousness is Jesus Christ is all that can save us.  Verse twenty-two says, I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.  David said that he had kept the ways of the LORD, and he may have kept many, but he failed in some.  We cannot find salvation by our own following of God's commandments, because we all rail to keep them all.  Verse twenty-three adds, For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.  Again David said he kept God's statutes before and did not deviate from them.  Again, this was not true of all of God's commandments or there would have been no purpose in Jesus coming to die for the sins of all mankind.  If David had perfectly kept all of God's laws he could have been saved by the law, and no one can.  Verse twenty-four continues,, I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity.  David continues to speak about his faithfulness  in keeping God's commandments, and we should try to keep them, but we cannot be saved by doing so.  Verse twenty-five states, Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight.  Again, I don't believe that God chose David because of his own merit but because of what God knew He could do through David as long as David was faithful to Him.  Our usefulness to God comes from our relationship to Jesus Christ and not from our own righteousness.  Verse twenty-six adds, With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.  David said God would show mercy to the merciful and would be upright with those who were upright, but we can never earn God's forgiveness by our own actions, other than accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse twenty-seven continues, With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.  I do believe that once we accept Jesus Christ we are made pure through His shed blood and we should live in purity before God, but we often fail.  Verse twenty-eight states, And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.  David said God would save the afflicted and bring down the haughty, but this is true only if we accept Jesus Christ.  Being afflicted does not save us, nor does being haughty condemn us.  Verse twenty-nine adds, For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.  As Dassid then, God is our light as Christians and He will brighten our darkness.  Verse thirty concludes, For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.  David said that God was the One Who empowered him, and as Christians,  God is still the One Who empowers us today as long as we are obedient to Him.

2 Samuel 22:1

2 Samuel 22:1 says, And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:  This chapter is actually a song, or psalm of David.  Verse two adds, And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;  David declared God to be his, rock, his fortress, and his deliverer.  God is still all those things to us today, but most importantly He is our Deliverer through our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  Verse three adds, The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. David continued to list all the things that God was for him, and said that he would trust in Him as his rock and the horn of his salvation.  Jesus Christ is our rock today, and He is the horn of our salvation, pouring His love and blessings out on us freely if we remain faithful to Him.  Verse four states, I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.  We, like David said then, must call on the Lord, Who alone is worthy to be praised, and Who alone can save us forever from our enemies.  Verse five adds, When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; David began to list some of the times that God had saved him from a terrible situation.  Though we have everlasting salvation through our faith in Jesus Christ, He will still many times save us from bad situations in this world, and we need to thank Him for it.  Verse six continues, The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;  Though David was speaking of times when he was physically in danger, we need to realize that as Christians, spiritually Jesus Christ has saved us from the sorrows of hell.  Verse seven says, In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.  Just like David said God heard him when he cried out in distress,  God will hear us today when we cry out to Him when we are in distress or at any time.  Verse eight adds, Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.  David said God shook the earth and the foundations of heaven because He was wroth or angry.  God is still in control of all His creation, except for people who refuse to accept His call and Satan and his forces who have been allowed temporary power.  One day, God will assert His authority over them as well.  Verse nine continues, There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.  David said God could send fire out of His mouth to devour His enemies, and since He spoke everything into existence, we should not be surprised that He can speak everything into destruction.  Verse ten states, He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.  God has always been in control of heaven and earth, and the darkness of sin can never exist in the light of God's love.  Verse eleven adds, And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.  God can be seen everywhere if we are looking to Him by faith.  Verse twelve continues, And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.  God can make all the darkness fall under His light.  Verse thirteen says, Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled.  God does kindle the fires of hell through the brightness of the salvation made available by His Son Jesus Christ.  Verse fourteen adds, The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice.  Matthew Henry said many of these things did not happen in David’s lifetime, but David knew of them because of His scripture, and we may not see all these things in our lifetime, but if we put our faith in God and read the Bible, we will know of His power to do them. Verse fifteen continues, And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them.  God can still scatter all our enemies even when we feel helpless, if we put our faith in Him.

2 Samuel 21:15

2 Samuel 21:15 says, Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.  The Philistines were once again at war with Israel, and though he was now old as Matthew Henry points out, David went to fight against them.  After fighting against them, David became faint from his efforts.  We are always going to be at war with the lost and sinful world today and at times we may become faint from the battle. David’s strength was no longer what it had been, but his willingness to go into battle was still strong.  As we get older, our strength may wane, but our willingness to fight against the enemies of God never should.  Verse sixteen adds, And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.  Ishbibenob, the son of the giant, sought to kill David.  Like David, at times we may be facing giants, but also like David, our God will always be bigger than them.  Verse seventeen continues, But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.  Abishai helped David regain his strength, and Matthew Henry says that it was David who then killed the giant.  As followers of Christ, we may at times be the one in need of help and at other times be the one giving help, but we are all in the battle together and need to support one another.  The people of Israel told David that he would no longer go into battle with them and risk being killed and quenching the light of Israel.   As Christians, Jesus Christ is our Light, and we never have to fear that He will be defeated. Verse eighteen states, And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant.  The battle against the Philistines continued, and David’s men continued to beat the giants, first with Sibbechai defeating one at Gob.  As Christian leaders get older, we need to know that God is calling others to replace them.  Verse nineteen adds, And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.  In another battle, Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath, another giant.  Earlier, when David killed Goliath, the men of the army of Israel had been afraid to face him, but now they were facing and defeating giants.  We should grow in faith as we begin to understand more what it means to be a follower of Christ.  We are already victorious through faith in Christ, so there should be no giant that we are afraid to face.  Verse twenty says, And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.  Verse twenty-one adds, And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of David slew him.  At Gath, there was a giant with six fingers 9n each hand and six toes on each foot who defied Israel, and Jonathan, David’s nephew and not Saul's son, killed him.  David’s family may have questioned his ability to be king, but at least some were now supporting him.  We never need to question Jesus Christ's ability to rule, and we need to be willing to face anyone or anything that attempts to defeat us today, and we need to do it for His glory.  Verse twenty-two continues, These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.  The giants all fell by the hand of David and his men, just as all the giants we face today will fall as long a we are faithful to Jesus Christ. 

2 Samuel 21:10

2 Samuel 21:10 says, And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.  Rizpah, one of the mothers of those hanged, set up a tent of sackcloth where she could sit and mourn them.  She didn't attempt to do more than that since their bodies hanging in public was part of their sentence, but she did show her love for them.  We should mourn our dead, but not to the point that we do nothing else, and once someone dies, their everlasting sentence is already passed, and it can never be changed.  Verse eleven adds, And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.  Someone brought news to David about what the woman, Rizpah, was doing.  No one has to bring news to our King, God Himself, about what we are doing, but if someone is grieving excessively someone needs to be made aware of it. Verse twelve continues, And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:  David went to Jabeshgilead and got the bones of Saul and Jonathan from where they had been buried after being stolen from the Philistines.  Matthew Henry says they had been buried as common men instead of being buried with the honors of a king and his son, but I personally think that we are all equal in death, so the funeral of one person is no more important than the funeral of another.  Verse thirteen states, And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.  When David brought the bones of Saul and Jonathan, he took the bodies of those hanged as well.  They were descendants of Saul's after all and like Jonathan would have been in line to become king. David evidently believed there was no need for the further humiliation of having their bodies hanging unburied.  I don't believe that as followers of Christ we should ever abuse the dody of someone who is dead, even if they had been our worst enemy.  The body is going to be reduced to nothing in time anyway, and the fate of the soul is already determined.  Verse fourteen adds, And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.  They buried the bones of Saul with Kish his father, and I assume the others as well. Then, they entreated God about rain on the part of the people.  We can do nothing to help those who have died, but we do need to always be in prayer for the living.

2 Samuel 21:1

2 Samuel 21:1 says, Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.  After David was returned as king, there was a drought in the land.  David asked God why, or prayed about.  God answered him that it was because of Saul's having slain the Gibeonites.   When we have concerns, we should take them to God in prayer, and He will answer if we are listening.  Verse two adds, And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)  David called out to the Gibeonites, who were not Israelites, but were the descendants of the Amorites, whom the people of Israel had made an agreement with to not harm them, and Saul had broken that agreement.  We as Christians come from different backgrounds, but we need to support one another instead of trying to destroy one another, and w are not called on to destroy others in order to keep Christianity pure.  Verse three continues, Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD?  David asked the Gibeonites what he could do for them to make atonement for Saul’s actions.  If we as followers of Christ have harmed others, we need to be the ones to ask what we can do for them to make atonement.  Of course, our atonement with God can only come from putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse four states, And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.  The Gibeonites told David that they didn't want silver or gold, nor did they want David to kill any Israelites to avenge what Saul had done.  As Christians, we should never look for material reward if someone has harmed us, nor should we want them to suffer.  We should reach out to them with the love of Christ instead.  Verse five adds, And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,  Verse slx continues, Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.  Though they said they didn't want David to kill any man of Israel because of them, they then told Dato send them seven sons of Saul and they would hang them in Gibeah, Saul’s home.  They said they would do this to the Lord.  We cannot seek vengeance against others and claim it is being done for God.  David agreed with their request.  Verse seven says, But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.  David spared Mephibosheth because of his covenant with Jonathan, just as God will spare Christians because of their covenant with Jesus Christ.  Verse eight adds, But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:  Matthew Henry says these were the sons Michal had when Saul had given her as a wife to another man.  Verse nine continues, And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.  David delivered seven of Saul's sons, two from one of his concubines and five of his grandsons from Michal, to the Gibeonites and they were hanged.  These seven may have had nothing to do with Saul's mistreatment of the Gibeonites, but they paid the price.  Jesus has nothing to do with our sinful actions, but He willingly paid the price for them, and if we put our faith in Him as our personal Savior and Lord, then we are forever restored to God.