This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see
what’s happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

The ending of Samuel can seem confusing.

There are two poems, two battle reports, and two strange
narratives that don’t seem to connect with one another.

But Samuel has carefully paralleled these texts, and each
helps us see David as the ideal king of Israel.

At the beginning and end there are
two plagues that come against Israel.

And both end because of David’s willingness to admit
wrong, accept the consequences, and make things right.

Then we have two accounts about several
impressive victories won by David’s soldiers.

And the most important fact we’re told about
these men is that their strength came from the Lord.

Then finally, there are two climactic poems that
celebrate God’s power and presence in David’s life,

and God’s promise to continue
David’s dynasty forever.

One of these poems is even
recorded again in Psalm 18.

It seems, David is the ideal king.
But being ideal doesn’t mean being perfect.

David proudly orders a census of his
soldiers. But he is repentant and forgiven.

He listens to God’s voice, and both he and his soldiers rely
on God’s power more than their own wisdom and strength.

David is Israel’s ideal king because he knows that
ultimately, he’s not in charge, God is.

These final poems, battle reports,
and narratives all prove that point.

That’s also why the author isn’t
afraid to mention David’s sin.

David might be an ideal king, but
he certainly isn’t their ultimate King.

Besides, David is getting older and weaker.

So, 2 Samuel ends with an invitation not only to imitate David,
but to hope that a son of David will rise to power,

be like his father, and rule
Israel as her next ideal king.

[music]

It’s hard to overemphasize David’s
importance to the Bible’s story.

David established Israel as a kingdom, and
God promised his sons would rule forever.

God didn’t promise this to David because he was a perfect
king, but because he was a humble king.

Saul lost his kingdom because
he proudly refused to listen to God.

And the only reason David
keeps his kingdom is because

his heart is more concerned with
honoring God than honoring himself.

Even when David murdered Uriah
and stole his wife, he humbly repents.

And when David sinfully counts his soldiers, he acknowledges
it as treason and throws himself on God’s mercy.

David knows he’s not Israel’s true monarch.

He knows he is subject to
the laws of a higher Kingdom.

That’s what made him a great king and
why Israel thrived under his leadership.

The fate of the nation was tied up to the
humility of its leader.

And as David’s story ends, Israel hoped
another son of David would take the throne.

And in Jesus their hope for
a humble king comes true.

Jesus is a son of David
who has God’s own heart.

Jesus humbly admits that he is
subject to a will higher than his own.

And since he never sinned, Jesus couldn’t repent
or accept the consequences for his own failures.

So, instead, he humbly takes
responsibility for ours.

This is something David
wanted to do but never could.

As David watched 70,000 of his own people
die because of the proud census he ordered,

he begged God to punish
him instead of his sheep.

Jesus is the ultimate humble King because
he was crucified not for his sins, but ours.

And the fate of a nation born from the humble death
of its King is resurrection power and an eternal throne.

Jesus is not only an ideal
King, but a perfect one.

All who humbly repent as David
did, will live with Jesus forever.

So, may the Holy Spirit open your eyes to see the
God who takes down the proud and lifts up the humble.

And may you see Jesus as your humble King, whose
death has sealed our place in a Kingdom that will never end.