2 Samuel 5:1-25
1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
2 Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel.
3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel.
4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.
6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking,a David cannot come in hither.
7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.
9 So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.
10 And David wentb on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.
11 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons:c and they built David an house.
12 And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake.
13 And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.
14 And these be the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
15 Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
16 And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.
17 But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold.
18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
19 And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
20 And David came to Baalperazim,d and David smote them there, and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim.
21 And there they left their images, and David and his men burnede them.
22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
23 And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.
24 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.
25 And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Gebaf until thou come to Gazer.
2 Samuel 5:2. Thou shalt feed my people. Probably the highpriest, or a prophet, delivered a short coronation charge, as Samuel had already done. This divine promise is made the final reason why they came to place David on the throne of all Israel.
2 Samuel 5:6. Went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites. This city is called Jebus, Judges 19:10; and Salem, Genesis 14:18; Psalms 76:2. The lower part of it, falling to the lot of Judah, was taken and burnt; but the upper part falling to the lot of Benjamin, and being always deemed impregnable, had never been taken.
2 Samuel 5:9. Millo. It was wise to take the stronghold of the Jebusites, that the centre of his kingdom might have an impregnable fortress.
2 Samuel 5:18. Rephaim. The LXX read, the titanes or the giants; they had once, it would seem, lived there. Genesis 15:20. They are called Aseans in the Samaritan. From this name Asia, or the land of giants, is supposed to be derived.
2 Samuel 5:24. The sound of a going. The Lord caused the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots and horses, and in so terrific a manner that they fled precipitately from the siege of Samaria. 2 Kings 7:6; Isaiah 7. Xenophon wittily makes Cyrus, when going to battle on the plains of Babylon, and on hearing a peal of thunder on his right, say, “We follow thee, oh Jupiter.”
REFLECTIONS.
The house of Saul being extinct, and the nation now exonerated from the oath made to that family, hasted to anoint and receive David for their king. This was done by a deputation of military captains and elders from all the tribes, who gladdened the occasion by a feast of three days in Hebron. The arguments they used were highly becoming the occasion. First, that David was their own flesh; and being no stranger, he would seek the good of the empire. Secondly, they conferred on him the crown as the reward of his former victories. They had farther in view in the offer of the crown, that David should feed the people by preserving and exemplifying the true religion, and defending the country against all its enemies. And with these views Christ reigns at the right hand of God.
The first great design which the hero of Bethlehem formed, after his full inauguration to the throne, was to carry the fortress of Zion, and to fix the seat of empire in the more central and commodious city of Jerusalem. But the reduction of this strong place being found impracticable by open assault, Joab won the chief command by forcing his way through the subterranean gutter. This was a most laudable action in a martial view; for the enemy had boasted, on being summoned to surrender, that the blind and the lame were competent to its defence. So Satan, long seated in the sinner's heart, boasts of his impregnable fort. He has inspired the man of sin to mock at conscience and deride danger. Our temporary and irresolute efforts to besiege him in his fort, have been so often assayed, and so often abandoned, that he already boasts of his invincible hold; but emboldened by the presence of the true David, let us make another and a successful effort to vanquish sin in the strength of our God. Armed with the might of his Spirit, all things are possible to the believing soul; the strong man of sin shall be destroyed at a stroke, and by the breath of the Lord.
David, after taking the fortress by storm, purged it of idols, adorned it with splendid buildings, made it his residence, the palace also and the seat of the divine glory. So will Jesus do in the faithful and victorious soul. He will cleanse us from all our idols, and from all our filthiness, as David cleansed his Zion; yea he will put his laws in our heart, and write them in our inward parts. Surely the Jebusites possessing the fortress, while Israel possessed most of the city, may convey much instruction and reproof to those lukewarm and indolent souls, who have long been enlightened by the gospel, but who to this day are controlled by unbelief and the carnal mind. How long shall sin insult the soul, as the enemy insulted David, by saying that the blind and the lame would keep him out. Let us make efforts: like Caleb, or like Joab, let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. So will the Lord give us purity of heart, and make us his temple and the habitation of his glory for ever.
The hero of Israel having defeated the enemy within, next opposed the enemy without. Twice did the Philistines conspire against him; and twice in the counsel and might of the Lord he routed them without much apparent loss. But the second defeat was the most remarkable. The Lord bade him make a circuitous approach, which on one side cut off their retreat. He next bade him wait till he heard a going of wind on the top of the mulberry trees, or otherwise the going of an army at the entrance of the mulberry trees. Then, confident of victory, he smote them to the gates of their capital, because they had dared to trouble him a second time. Oh what enmity is stirred up in the hearts of the world, to see Messiah triumphant! But while the wind of Pentecost blows on Zion, let her fear neither the multitude nor the enmity of all her foes. Animated by the power of faith and the comforts of the Holy Spirit, we have the pledges of victory; and those hallowed pledges which cannot fail in the day of combat.