2 Samuel #01: an exposition of 2 Samuel 1:1-16. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, January 27, 2013.
Intro:
We, as the people of God, are call to be a “peculiar” people. A people governed by different principles; driven by a higher standard. It seems to me we are quick to expect, in fact demand, behavior from the world but are not willing to govern our own. We call for a boycott of Disney while ignoring sin in our midst. I remember some time ago when there was a scandal involving a minister. A pastor commented to me, “They are holding him to a higher standard than they are demanding of themselves.” I said, “Well they should!” More is expected of us as God’s children. Don’t forget Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” That’s a high standard. We are to bear the family resemblance. If we are the children of God we should appear godly. This evening as we think about living according to kingdom principles I want us to consider the first chapter of Second Samuel.
Text: 2 Samuel 1:1-16
- Even a casual glance at 2 Samuel reveals that David is the key character.
- His life dominates the pages of the book.
- However we must remember 2 Samuel isn’t about David.
- It is about God!
As Dale Ralph Davis says, “We must divorce ourselves from this People magazine approach to biblical narrative.” His point being that we get caught up in the stories of individuals and forget they are only part of a larger drama. The Scripture is God’s revelation. Its purpose is to make Him known. We read the Bible to discover who God is, what He has done, how we can know Him and how we are to live.
Davis goes on to say, “Again and again as we read 2 Samuel we have to shake ourselves and say, ‘This is not about David; it is no even about covenant kings; it is about a covenant God who makes covenant promises to a covenant king through whom he will preserve His covenant people.’”
Thus as we read we need to be asking, “What does this say about God and how we are to relate to Him/live?”
As we open chapter 1 we are reminded that we are in the middle of a story. 1 and 2 Samuel are actually one book. Chapter 1 is the continuation of the story begun 1 Samuel. In reading the first 16 verses there is a part of me that says, “What am I to make of this? What lessons can be learned from a lie, wailing and an execution?” Just what I need for an uplifting Sunday evening message.
But there is something of great importance for us in these opening verses.
For here we are reminded that…
Thesis: Life in the Kingdom of God is guided by some basic principles.
I want to point out 3 of them from this text.
- God will not be mocked, your sins will find you out! (1:1-10)
- Life in the kingdom is about God’s glory and the well being of His body – not personal fulfillment. (1:11-12)
- Holy fear motivates kingdom living. (1:13-16)