Today, David will take the high road and not dwell in disappointment or rejection, God will grant him victory in every direction as He promised in the Davidic Covenant, and David will prove that all the success has not gone to his head. In the Psalms, we'll be warned about not walking in sinful intentions and provided with so many reasons to praise!

Today's Scripture: 2 Samuel 8-9, 1 Chronicles 18, + Psalm 33, 36, and 39

Scripture Read or Referenced:

2 Samuel 9:1-8

Psalm 33 (all)

Psalm 36 (all)

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Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary, Spurgeon's Treasury of David

This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox.

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Today, we're studying Second Samuel

eight through nine, the corresponding

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story in First Chronicles 18, and Psalm

thirty-three, thirty-six, and thirty-nine.

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Today, David will take the high road.

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God will grant him victory in every

direction as He promised in the Davidic

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Covenant, and David will prove that

all the success has not gone to his head

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In the Psalms, we'll be warned about

not walking in sinful intentions and

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provided with so many reasons to praise.

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In Second Samuel eight and First

Chronicles 18, we learn that David

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had victory in every direction.

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As someone not as familiar with

the geography of that time, I

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definitely saw the theme that David

was defeating a lot of his enemies.

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But it wasn't quite as clear to me

that there was an enemy from the north,

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the south, the east, and the west

that God had given him victory over.

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We also learned that David

collected gold, silver, and bronze.

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Why is this so important?

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Because in the last chapter, God

told David, " I'm not going to

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let you build a house for me.

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Your son will."

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Instead of David sulking and being

disappointed that he doesn't get to be

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involved in the building project more or

choosing to leave all the work to his son,

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he intentionally gathers materials that

will be used for the glory of the Lord.

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He still works to provide everything

he can to bless and honor God.

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I love what this shows us about David.

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We also read that David has some judicial

roles as well, and that he continues

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to reign with justice and equity.

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Moving on to Second Samuel nine, it

reveals that all of this prosperity

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did not go to David's head.

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was still looking for how he

could bless the house of Saul.

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And David said, Is there still anyone

left of the house of Saul, that I may

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show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?

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Now there was a servant in the

house of Saul, whose name was

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Ziba, and they called him to David.

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And the king said to him, Are you Ziba?

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And he said, I am your servant.

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And the king said, Is there not still

someone of the house of Saul, that I

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may show the kindness of God to him?

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Ziba said to the king, There

is still a son of Jonathan,

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he is crippled in his feet.

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The king said to him, Where is he?

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And Ziba said to the king, He

is in the house of Maker, the

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son of Amiel, At Lo-Deber.

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Then King David sent and brought

him from the house of Maker,

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the son of Amiel, at Lo-Deber.

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And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan,

son of Saul, came to David and

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fell on his face and paid homage.

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And David said, Mephibosheth!

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And he answered, Behold,

I am your servant.

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David said to him, Do not fear, for I

will show you kindness for the sake of

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your father Jonathan, and I will restore

to you all the land of Saul, your father.

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And you shall eat at my table always.

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And he paid homage and said, What

is your servant that you should show

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regard for a dead dog such as I?

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Mephibosheth probably thought that

David was going to kill him, even

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though he was lame in his two feet.

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Usually the descendants of the former

king could represent a threat, but

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not only did David not lift his hand

against God's anointed, he actively

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looked for ways to bless Saul's line.

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Maybe you remember the covenant he

made to Jonathan that they would always

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be faithful to each other's children.

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Just think about your best friends.

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If one of them passed away, wouldn't

it be such a delight to regularly be

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in the presence of their children,

to see them grow, and to see the

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likeness of your friend in them?

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I love how David honors him.

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I have to ask, though, because it's fresh

on my mind about Michael's character.

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I'm just wondering why she never

thought to seek out her nephew.

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Michael and Jonathan

were brother and sister.

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Saul had four sons and several daughters.

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Why wouldn't she have wondered

what happened to her nephew?

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And why wouldn't she have looked for him?

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He was five at the time of the accident,

and now he's married and has a son.

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There's quite a passage of time.

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It doesn't seem that David had to look too

hard to find him, and I'm just wondering,

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was she so wrapped up in her own misery

that she wasn't thinking about her family?

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I don't wanna read too much into

it, but I couldn't help but wonder

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and Psalm 33 is so, so good.

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So let's read it all.

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Shout for joy in the

Lord, O you righteous.

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Praise befits the upright.

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Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre.

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Make melody to him with

the harp of 10 strings.

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Sing to him a new song.

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Play skillfully on the

strings with loud shouts.

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For the word of the Lord is upright, and

all his work is done in faithfulness.

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He loves righteousness and justice.

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The earth is full of the

steadfast love of the Lord.

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By the word of the Lord the heavens

were made, and by the breath

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of his mouth all their host.

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He gathers the waters

of the sea as a heap.

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He puts the deeps in storehouses.

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Let all the earth fear the Lord.

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Let all the inhabitants of

the world stand in awe of him.

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For he spoke and it came to be.

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He commanded and it stood firm.

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The Lord brings the counsel

of the nations to nothing.

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He frustrates the plans of the peoples.

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The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

the plans of his heart to all generations.

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Blessed is the nation whose God

is the Lord, the people whom

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he has chosen as his heritage.

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The Lord looks down from heaven.

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He sees all the children of man.

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From where he sits enthroned he looks

out on all the inhabitants of the

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earth, he who fashions the hearts of

them all and observes all their deeds.

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The king is not saved by his great army.

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A warrior is not delivered

by his great strength.

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The war horse is a false hope

for salvation, and by its

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great might it cannot rescue.

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Behold, the eye of the Lord is on

those who fear him, on those who

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hope in his steadfast love That he

may deliver their soul from death

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and keep them alive in famine.

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Our soul waits for the Lord.

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He is our help and our shield.

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For our heart is glad in him,

because we trust in his holy name.

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Let your steadfast love, O Lord,

be upon us, even as we hope in you.

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That phrase from the first verse, " Praise

befits the upright," is something I've

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really been trying to meditate on.

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because if we walk in righteousness

and praise the Lord all the while,

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it will help keep us humble and

give God the praise He deserves.

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And if we hadn't been reading as quickly

through the Word as we have been, I don't

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know if I would've noticed this, but I

keep seeing this four-fold description

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of the Lord in the Psalms regarding

His steadfast love, His faithfulness,

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His righteousness, and His justice.

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That list was in four and five here,

and it stands out to me right now.

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Because when we were reading in 2 Samuel,

God helps David have a lot of victory

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in defeating the surrounding peoples.

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And part of me feels like, whoa,

a lot of people are dying here.

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I feel a little uncomfortable celebrating.

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But I'm reminded as I turn to Psalms

that God loves righteousness and justice,

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and that all His judgments are correct.

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And if God helped David

defeat any of these nations,

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it was the righteous choice.

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In verse 13, He looks down from

heaven and sees the children of man.

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Aren't you so glad that

God sees your kids?

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And multiple times we were told that

God's eye is on those who fear Him.

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This thread continues to be

woven throughout scripture.

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It's good that we have a holy reverence

of the Lord, and that understanding

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can prevent us from walking in sin.

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Which is a perfect

transition to chapter 36.

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It feels like the topic

shifts pretty radically.

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Listen to see if you notice what I would

say is kind of a lack of a transition.

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Transgression speaks to the

wicked, deep in his heart.

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There is no fear of God before his eyes.

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For he flatters himself in

his own eyes that his iniquity

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cannot be found out and hated.

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The words of his mouth

are trouble and deceit.

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He has ceased to act wisely and do good.

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He plots trouble while on his bed.

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He sets himself in a way that is not good.

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He does not reject evil.

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Your steadfast love, O Lord,

extends to the heavens, your

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faithfulness to the clouds.

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Your righteousness is

like the mountains of God.

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Your judgments are like the great deep.

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Man and beast you save, O Lord.

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How precious is your

steadfast love, O God.

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The children of mankind take

refuge in the shadow of your wings.

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They feast on the abundance of

your house, and you give them drink

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from the river of your delights.

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For with you is the fountain of life.

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In your light do we see light.

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Oh, continue your steadfast love

to those who know you and your

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righteousness to the upright of heart.

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Let not the foot of arrogance

come upon me, nor the hand

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of the wicked drive me away.

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There the evildoers lie fallen; they

are thrust down, unable to rise.

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At the beginning, we saw how sin can

deceive us and take root in our hearts.

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It was such a caution to me.

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Can you think about the places

or the times that you struggle

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with your thought life?

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Speaker 18: Sometimes if I'm angry

at someone, then I get in the

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shower, I'm like scrubbing the

shampoo like, "Err, err, err."

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And I'm just mad.

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Or if I'm cleaning my house and

scrubbing toilets and I'm frustrated

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with someone, my thoughts are

just not honoring to the Lord.

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I give myself over to cattiness.

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And if I can choose to play worship music

instead, it's so much better for me.

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Speaker 19: I think it's interesting

how this psalm begins talking about

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how unhealthy it is to dwell in sin,

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Speaker 18: And then it transitions into

focusing how great God's character is.

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And when we're praising Him,

It becomes so hard to dwell

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in our own sin, doesn't it?

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Speaker 19: It concludes reminding

us that God sees our kids, and that

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when we take refuge in Him, we have

abundance and delight in His presence.

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So we don't really need to dwell

on any way that we've been wronged

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or the shortcomings of others or the

things we're upset about, because

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we have so many reasons to praise.

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Heavenly Father, we thank

You for more evidence of Your

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character and Your perfection.

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Not only are You righteous, but everything

You do is righteous, and that's not

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limited to the times we're reading about.

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It's true now and in our lives.

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Thank You that Your eyes are on our

children and on the righteous, and we

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ask that You would help us to dwell with

You, letting You transform our hearts

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in the midst of all circumstances.

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I pray that when there is sin in our

hearts, that we would cast it off

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and choose to worship You instead.

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give us wisdom in how to

train our children to have a

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reverent honor and fear of You.

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Thank You that we can hope in Your

steadfast, never-ceasing love.

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As we read that praise befits

the upright, we choose to give

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You glory in all circumstances.

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It is in the most worthy name that we

could utter, Jesus Christ, that we pray.

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Amen.