TAKING THE STRONGHOLDS

2 Samuel 5:6-11 (KJV)

2 Samuel 5:12 (KJV)

2 Samuel 5:13-16 (KJV)

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, David cannot come in hither.

Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.

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.

So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.

And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.

And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.

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.

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.

And these be the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,

Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,

And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.

In Psalms 40:1 (KJV)[1]King David wrote,

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

Something near to fourteen years after he had been anointed to be king of Israel, God fulfilled His Word and David was king:

·   Not just of a rag-tag band of dreamers

·   Not just of the tribe into which he had been born

·   But of all of the tribes of Jacob, the children of the Living God 

And David did not hesitate to get busy serving God and his country under this newly acquired authority.

So what do you do when you have waited so patiently on the Lord and then receive the reward of the patience?

I want to point out to you four things I find in our passage.

For David, the first action was,

I. THE CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM

2 Samuel 5:6-9 (KJV)

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, David cannot come in hither.

Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.

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.

So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.

One of the first actions of David, once he was king of the whole of Israel, was to take the city of Jerusalem from the Jebusites. 

Jerusalem is built on three significant mountains[2]:

· Mount Moriah, where Abraham offered Isaac and 

·   Mount Zion, which David later called the City of David

·   Mount of Olives, where Jesus was want to pray and where the Bible promises He will return

It is believed that Jerusalem was known first as Salem, whose king was Melchesidek.

In David’s day it was known as Jebus and it had proven itself to be a difficult one for Israel to conquer. It fell into the lot given to the tribe of Benjamin but the tribes of Benjamin and Judah had joined forces to take what portions of it they did have previous to King David.

Why David targeted this city specifically, and why he chose it to be the capital of his kingdom is a matter of some speculation.

From a purely secular point of view, it might not have been the best place:

·   It wasn’t in the center of the country, making it more difficult to reign over the furthest outreaches and

·   It was in the mountains, making it challenging to travel to and from

But there is a spiritual draw to Jerusalem that I am convinced God made David aware of.

·   God had led Abraham there when he offered Isaac to the Lord.

·   It would be in Jerusalem, at the threshing floor of Araunah, that God would stop the plague brought on by David’s sin. David bought that threshing floor. Later Solomon would build the Temple there.

Deuteronomy 12:5 (KJV) told the Jews

But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

David wasn’t looking for

·   the most convenient place 

·   the most politically important place or

·   the most popular place

He was looking for the place God would choose.

That place, we now know, was Jerusalem.

Psalms 122:6 (KJV)

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

I do not believe it is in any way a stretch to point out the importance of finding the place God chooses for us to worship.

In the New Testament that is a local church.

Once we are saved, the very first thing a child of God ought to do is discover that church God has fitted them to be a part of and to unite together with it.

I did not say that it would be an easy thing to do.

·   There will be many who try to drive you away from it

·   There will be inconveniences and difficulties in being faithful to it

·   It will sometimes seem like other things are more important than it is

All of us who are firmly established in the membership of a church and faithful to attending every service of that church can tell you, it is a battle to get there.

It’s not easy to at first, it means a huge change in lifestyle.

Once we have won that war, it gets easier – we still have some minor skirmishes here and there, but most of us would tell you that we couldn’t imagine NOT faithfully attending church.

David conquered Jerusalem – the stronghold of Zion first and then the rest of the city.[3]

Once that happened, the Bible goes on to present two benefits that came to David.

II. THE CREATION OF A FRIENDSHIP

2 Samuel 5:11 (KJV)

And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.

One of my commentaries says that this first mention of Hiram is “somewhat abrupt” and suggests that there was some sort of relationship with Hiram even before David became king.

The relationship extended past David to King Solomon where this same man that helped David build his house helped Solomon build the Temple.

1 Kings 5:1 (KJV) says,

And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.

This phrase “ever of lover of David” is worth considering a moment.

The word ever means, “all or whole” and one definition says, “from sunrise to sunset.”

This is a friendship that: 

·   Never ended, 

·   Extended to be a help to David’s son and 

·   Even withstood disagreement[4]

May I just say that this has been my experience as a member of a local independent Baptist church?

Since becoming a Christian, and then faithfully uniting with a local church, I have developed friendships, 

·   Some that have been lifelong

·   Some that have become great friends of my children and

·  Some that have withstood times of genuine disagreement

I don’t want you to think everything in church is rosy and sweet. There will be some times of true heartbreak when you get as close to people as you do in a local church.

But the benefits far outweigh the troubles.

Those benefits were so obvious to David that he developed

III. THE CONCEPTION OF GOD’S BLESSING

2 Samuel 5:10 (KJV)

And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.

2 Samuel 5:12 (KJV)

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.

There are two things I see in these verses

A. The Fact

2 Samuel 5:10 (KJV)

And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.

The fact was that God was with David.

May I tell you that the Bible promises the same to be true of you.

Isaiah 43:1-3 (KJV)

But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

This promise of God’s presence is both Old Testament and New Testament,

Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV)

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Hebrews 13:5 (KJV)

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

The Bible says, 1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV)

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

The Bible very clearly tells us that,

·   When we saved

·   When we are faithful and even

·   When we are tempted

God is with us and helps us.

Notice that there is not only the fact of God’s presence and help but,

B. The perception

2 Samuel 5:12 (KJV)

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.

It’s one thing to have the Bible promise.

It is another to believe it, to sense it and to live it.

The difference between the victorious Christian and those who struggle is just this difference.

·The one knows what the Bible promises

·   The other believes it and rests in it

For the most part the difference is just one of faith and acceptance.

Every one of us will be best if we will simply believe and behave according to what we learn in the Word of God.

Because it is in the passage and because it is Father’s Day I am obliged to point out one more piece of this passage,

IV. THE CONCUBINES AND CHILDREN

2 Samuel 5:13-16 (KJV)

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.

And these be the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,

Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,

And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.

There is this element that happens time and time again among the kings of Judah

·   God blesses them

·   They grow in strength and power and then

·   They get lifted in pride and do wrong

David was not exempt.

He abused his power and created havoc in his family because of it.

I don’t want to go into detail concerning David and his concubines just now.

I want instead remind you that God’s blessing does not give you permission to ignore the Word of God.

So long as you do as the Word says you will find that, though you still have struggles, you have answers and help through those struggles.

If, whether it is through rebellion, stubbornness or, as in the case of David and those kings who followed him, pride what you will discover is that those struggles that are natural in this world, become calamities with supernatural consequences; mostly for your children.

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[1]Psalms 40:1-7 (KJV)

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

[2]I understand I am being simplistic. The purpose of preaching is not to give every detail, but those significant to the point of the message.

[3]The passage is not at all difficult to understand, neither is it derisive towards the handicapped (at least not on David’s part).

When David approached to conquer Jerusalem from the Jebusites, their retort was that even their blind and lame would defeat him. David’s response was to view all the Jebusites as blind and lame, incapable of standing in opposition to the will of God. 

So are the lost today, they are handicapped, crippled, yeah even dead in trespasses and sin. 

•They cannot see the truth written plainly in God’s Word

•They cannot hear God’s voice, calling His own to follow 

•They cannot sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit 

•They are incapable of knowing, doing or resisting God’s plan 

And except that God quicken them, they will remain in this condition. 


A doctor does not hate the patient dying of a dreadful disease but he does hate the disease that is killing the patient. He fights with every resource possible to slay the disease. The same could be said of the Christian. We do not hate anyone. We do, however, hate the condition that renders them helpless. 

[4]1 Kings 9:11-13 (KJV)

(Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.

And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.

(Cabul means “displeasing.” Hiram was displeased with these cities and said so. Nevertheless they continued their friendly alliance for the rest of their lives)