2 Samuel #11: an exposition of 2 Samuel 9:1-13. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, April 21, 2013.
Intro:
It just didn’t make sense. It was foolish, it was dangerous and reckless. Government officials must have been shaking their heads. What is he thinking? You’ve just consolidated your kingdom. You finally have achieved peace with your enemies. You’ve managed to unite a divided people – why ask for trouble? That must have been the reaction of those present when David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul?” Everyone knows conventional wisdom says, “When you take power eliminate all threats.” That means when you come to power kill anyone and everyone associated with the previous king. The confusion was not in his asking if anyone was left from the house of Saul. The confusion comes from his reason for asking. “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness?” Is there anyone left from my enemy’s house so that I may love him? Our text this evening is found in the 9th chapter of 2 Samuel.
Text: 2 Samuel 9:1-13
- This begins a new section in the Samuel material that runs from chapter 9 thru 20.
- In order to understand this passage you must understand covenant.
- Covenant is a word we use around church.
- We talk about God’s covenant with Abraham, with Moses and Israel etc.
- We talk about Old and New Covenant.
- We talk about the marriage covenant.
- We have a church covenant.
- The problem is we think of covenant as a “contract.”
- We think “binding legal agreement.”
- While a covenant is a binding agreement it is not a cold, lifeless document.
- Covenants are about promises, they are filled with emotion.
- The word “kindness” in our text is the Hebrew “hessed” or “chessed.”
I like Eugene Peterson’s description of the term:
“The word translated ‘kindness’ in our text is one of those large Hebrew words that radiates a spectrum of meanings like a rainbow of colors from a diamond in the sunlight: kindness, love, covenantal friendship, loyal love, and justice. It is a favorite word among the psalmists to convey God’s characteristic relationship with us; it is a favorite word of prophets to designate our most appropriate relationship with one another.”
The thing that drives David in this regard is the covenant he made with Jonathan. The reason he is willing to risk is that he bound himself by oath to love Jonathan and his family and though political wisdom said, “forget it” though common sense said, “protect yourself” David said, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul that I may love them for Jonathan’s sake?”
As we work our way through this chapter we discover that…
Thesis: David proves to be a shining example of covenant love.
I want to point out 3 things.
- Covenant love does the unthinkable. (9:1-4)
- Covenant love goes well beyond the bare essentials. (9:5-10)
- Covenant love proves to be extraordinary. (9:11-13)