2 Samuel 5

1 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. 2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”

3 When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.

4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

6 The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” 7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.

8 On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies.” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”

9 David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inward. 10 And he became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him.

11 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. 12 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.

13 After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. 14 These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.

17 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. 18 Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 19 so David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”

The LORD answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.”

20 So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, the LORD has broken out against my enemies before me.” So that place was called Baal Perazim. 21 The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.

22 Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 23 so David inquired of the LORD, and he answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. 24 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” 25 So David did as the LORD commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

Points of Interest

• ‘you were the one who led Israel’--it’s a little hard for me to tell whether this admission is freely given or forced upon them by circumstances. Are they finally able to tell the truth now that they’re no longer afraid of Saul and his family, or are they flattering David since he now holds all the power? Regardless, it’s the truth, and it’s been a long time coming. Ever since he defeated Goliath, many years ago now, David has done most of the work of defending the country; he’s finally getting the recognition to match his work.
• ‘The king and his men marched to Jerusalem’--I think this would again be the king’s company, which in David’s case would be his 600 companions from the desert, the Mighty Men. David doesn’t draft the whole national army for this one, but just uses his own personal forces. Because of this, the city belongs to him personally, and is often called City of David. This, by the way, is the first time David is referred to simply as ‘the king.’ Finally, Samuel’s anointing takes full effect.
• ‘You will not get in here’--Jerusalem is a hilltop fortress, famously difficult to attack for any army; and David has brought a relatively small number of men, too few to attack the walls or effectively besiege the city.
• ‘the fortress of Zion’--Jerusalem is the name of the city; Zion is the name of the mountain on which it is located.
• ‘use the water shaft’--David apparently figures out that the weak point in Jerusalem’s defenses is the water main, bringing fresh water up from the valley below. David and his men climb through the water shaft to get around the defenses and attack the Jebusites by surprise from inside the city.
• ‘David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David’--David is interested in Jerusalem as a new capital, for several reasons. First of all, it’s fairly well-protected (though he himself has just proven that it is not completely impregnable). Secondly, it’s fresh. Not having been in Israelite hands before, it has no associations with either Ish-Bosheth’s kingdom or David’s Judean kingdom; it’s a capital that belongs to everyone, rather like Washington, D.C., which was built on previously uninhabited land so that no state could claim the capital as its own. Thirdly, it’s central. It’s located on the border of Benjamin (Saul’s tribal land) and Judah (David’s tribal land). Fourthly, it’s at the intersection of two major highways (Walton et al). This makes its placement ideal both for trade and for efficient movement of armies.
• ‘from the terraces inward’--there not being much available land on mountaintops, the area of Jerusalem was expanded by a system of artificial terraces (Walton et al).
• ‘Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David’--Tyre is one of the major cities of the Phoenicians, a coastal civilization in what is now Lebanon. The Phoenicians are today most famous as the inventors of the first alphabet. They’re also the founders of Carthage, Rome’s main rival for dominance of the Mediterranean later on in history. At the time of David, they are already a powerful maritime merchant nation. They specialize in trading hardwood and purple dye.
• ‘cedar logs and carpenters’--it being a very dry climate, what we might call full-sized trees were quite rare in the entire region in which our story is set. Pretty much the only source of wood were the cedars of Lebanon, which Hiram controls. Having a monopoly is usually advantage enough; but it just so happens that as well as being the only wood around, cedar--as anyone with a cedar chest or a bureau with cedar drawers can attest--makes a very attractive, high quality wood. So, the cedars were in spectacularly high demand. In fact, they were so highly coveted over such a large area, for temples and palaces particularly, that already by David’s time the forests were quite depleted (Walton et al). So, this is quite a lavish gift from Hiram. It’s an offer of strong friendship between their two nations.
• ‘David took more concubines and wives’--the establishment of David’s rule over the entire nation would provoke a whole new round of diplomacy, probably on a larger stage and scale than ever before. All of these treaties would be sealed with yet more marriages between David’s house and the royal houses of the other parties. It makes political sense; but it sure does seem like David’s new palace is getting filled with new wives more quickly than it can be built.
• ‘When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel’--for many years now, the Philistines have been able to maintain the upper hand because of the division between Saul and David. If David is able to completely consolidate his power, he would be an uncomfortably formidable opponent. So, the Philistines try to attack him and destabilize him before he has the chance to really establish himself.
• ‘went down to the stronghold’--I think ‘down’ here simply means down the mountain from the site of the palace complex and main fortress. David uses an outlying, smaller fortress as a staging area. Rather than waiting to be besieged by the Philistines, he takes the fight down to them.
• ‘The Philistines abandoned their idols there’--rather like David would take the ephod with him (see March 23rd, 1 Samuel 23) for good luck and guidance, other armies would bring the images of their gods with them. The Philistines are in such headlong retreat that they can’t even stop to grab their gods before they run.
• ‘Do not go straight up, but circle’--this is much more sophisticated advice than the yes or no answers David has gotten in the past (like in the above-referenced 1 Samuel 23). Is God saying more to David, or has David somehow gotten better at hearing what God has to say?
• ‘the LORD has gone out in front of you’--it’s not just that David and his men are that good. David has supernatural help, the anointing--the favor of and power of God--we talked about in our first passage.
• ‘struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer’--this is a complete rout. The Philistines hoped to nip David’s power in the bud. It turns out rather the opposite. The Philistines never quite recover from this defeat, and we don’t hear from them again for quite a while.

Taking it home

• For you: At one point David was shepherding herds of sheep in the hill country of Judea and leading smaller bands of men into random battles. Now he is shepherding an entire nation and leading battles to capture treasured cities. God doesn’t seem to let anything go to waste, but instead uses every aspect of David’s life to prepare for this next leg of the journey. In what ways has God been using your past circumstances to prepare you for what you are facing today? How does knowing that God is going to use everything you are experiencing now as a way to prepare you for what’s next change how you view your current circumstances? Are there particular seasons of your life over which you feel a lot of regret? Ask God to redeem these experiences.
• For your six: Ask God to send his favor out in front of your six. Pray that God would go before your six this week, giving them supernatural help along the way.
• For our church: David captures a city that was deemed impossible to overcome. Pray that God would give our church the same boldness to go after things that most would consider impossible.
• For families: Talk about ways that God has grown each of you throughout your life. Particularly take time to look at your family’s Lent poster, and praise God for all of the ways that He’s been answering your family’s prayers in the past few weeks. Ask God to help you grow in hearing his voice and following his direction for your life. Take time now to practice hearing God’s voice; it might be through journaling, sitting quietly, going for a prayer walk, or talking though your dreams.