2 Samuel 5:17-25 (KJV)
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.
The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
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.
And David came to Baalperazim, 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.
And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.
And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
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.
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.
And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.
After waiting on the Lord for somewhere near 21 years, David was finally anointed king of all of Israel.
· He had not forced his will on the people
· He had not made the will of God to happen
David had waited patiently on the Lord and He had heard his cry.[1]
It was at this point an old enemy of Israel, the Philistines, raised their ugly head to see if they could not knock Israel back into submission.
The Philistines had been a problem for Israel ever since they entered the Promised Land.
· Isaac had trouble with them when they, for envy, filled the wells Abraham had digged.
· It was the Philistines who eventually captured, blinded and killed Samson.
· It was the Philistines who had taken the Ark of God away from the children of Israel in the days when Eli was priest.
· It was the Philistines who had battled with King Saul and
· It was a Philistine giant named Goliath that David had killed as a young man.
It is my understanding that the term Palestinian is a modernization of the word Philistine.
So they are still a problem today.
A Baptist preacher who was born and raised Jewish once told me that every time we refer to the land of the Middle East as Palestine; we are proclaiming that the Promised Land rightfully belongs, not to Israel, but to the Philistines.
Let me give you three simple lessons from the text:
I. DAVID ENQUIRED OF THE LORD
In fact the Bible says he did it twice.
2 Samuel 5:19 (KJV)
And David inquired 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.
2 Samuel 5:23 (KJV)
And when David inquired 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.
A. The book of Jeremiah contains a subtle parallel.
In the book of Jeremiah, Israel was being attacked by an enemy, Babylon.
Jeremiah’s job was to try to convince Jerusalem not to resist, but to surrender to this enemy.
Jeremiah was unsuccessful because the Jews had gotten to the place where they didn’t think they needed God to tell them God’s will.
· They were so sure that God would always bless Jerusalem
· They were so sure that God would never bless Babylon
That they were sure that God would never want them to surrender to Babylon.
It did not matter what the preacher said.
They knew God’s will……
B. David, a man the Bible says, after God’s own heart, was of a different mold.
He was the king of Israel.
His power was growing every day
There was no doubt that the Philistines were the enemy.
And the Philistines were the aggressor in 2 Samuel 5.
But David still enquired of the Lord whether they should go up against the Philistines.
To not go up would be the about the same thing as surrender.
So David asked God the question; “Should I fight them, or should I surrender.”
Either way, his plan was to obey the Lord.
C. We get messed up about this
· We think God is only good and
· We think God can only bless us and
· We think we can only follow God
If God defeats our enemies.
· David understood something we are missing today.
· David understood that God was the real prize.
He understood that being a slave of the Philistines, and a servant of the Most High God was far better than being the leader of a free people, and being rebellious against the Almighty.
David sought the Lord.
The second thing I notice in the text is that
II. DAVID ENGAGED THE ENEMY
2 Samuel 5:20-21(KJV)
And David came to Baalperazim, 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.
And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.
The first time God had promised,
2 Sam 5:19 (KJV)
…. I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
And David had won a great victory.
· They defeated the Philistines and
· The destroyed their idols
David and his men were thrilled.
David renamed the place of the battle Baal-perazim, master of the breaches, to commemorate this great victory and said,
2 Samuel 5:20 (KJV)
….The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. ….
The name “master of the breaches” means that:
· God is the one who broke through the enemy lines.
· God is the One that gave them the victory.
· God broke forth like a flood and swept away the enemy.
But then the same enemy attacked again.
2 Samuel 5:22 (KJV)
And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
A. David did not get disheartened
That would have been so easy to do.
You would have thought the Philistines would leave them alone now.
You would have thought that if God had broken forth upon the enemy that the enemy would never bother them again.
But there they were:
· The very same enemy in
· The very same valley
Hey, listen; there are some enemies we are going to have to fight over and over and over again.
Don’t get disheartened.
B. David did not turn away from God
It would have been easy to blame the Lord for the Philistine’s return.
· “God, I thought You said You would deliver the Philistines into my hands.”
· “Lord I thought You were the master of the breaches.
· “God I thought You had poured through the Philistines and given me victory once and for all.”
Sometimes we misunderstand God’s promises.
When we do, we can’t blame God. We were the ones that misunderstood, not the Lord.
David did not turn against God when the enemy showed up again.
But neither did,
C. David trust himself
That could have been another reaction.
Since he had enquired of the Lord the first time, and since that obviously did not solve the problem.
David might have decided he could take on the Philistines this time without enquiring of the Lord.
After all David had,
2 Samuel 5:12 (KJV)
… perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake.
Not David.
When
2 Samuel 5:22 (KJV)
… the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
David again enquired of the Lord.
One of the biggest problems we have as human beings is that we no sooner have the blessings of God upon our lives than we forget that the blessings are the blessings of God.
And we begin to take credit for them ourselves.
“Sure God blessed me.
· But it is because I did this
· Or it is because I can do this
· Or it is because and came here
· Or it is because I said that.”
David did engage the enemy and
David did defeat them both times
But David never forgot that it was the Lord that granted the victories.
Which leads me to the third thing I learned in this passage
III. DAVID’S EXPECTATION WAS ON THE LORD
2 Samuel 5:18-19(KJV)
The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
And David inquired 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.
A. The first time the Philistines spread themselves in the valley
David enquired of the Lord and notice that he asked two questions:
1. Shall I go up to the Philistines?
2. Wilt thou deliver them into mine hand?
The question was not just, “Shall I fight them?’
The question was “Will You fight them too?”
It reminds me of Moses in the wilderness after Israel had worshipped the golden calf.
God told Moses,
Exodus 32:34 KJV
Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.
The angel God says he will send is not God Himself, but one of His created beings.
So Moses says in,
Exodus 33:15 (KJV)
… If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
Moses essentially told God, “If you’re not going, we’re not going.”
David said, “Lord, I don’t want to fight this fight without You.”
And that attitude is what led David to give God all the glory for the victory.
B. The second time the Philistines spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim
We are not told David’s questions, so we can assume they are the similar.
But God’s response was not.
2 Samuel 5:23-24 (KJV)
And when David inquired 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.
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.
David was told to go behind the Philistines and wait for the sound in the Mulberry trees.
Most commentaries believe the sound in the Mulberry trees was the armies of God going before.
I think it might be the Holy Spirit of God.[2]
Just like the believers in the Upper Room in Acts chapter 1 were waiting on the promise of the Holy Ghost, David wasn’t supposed to do anything until he knew God was there.
This is our problem…. I know it is.
No one waits until God shows up anymore.
We have
· Programs and
· Plans
We have:
· Mentors and
· Coaches and
· Pastor’s schools
Why should we wait on the Lord?
We can find two dozen resources that will help us get what we want right now.
Three things about God’s instructions
· There was a definite place
· There was a specific sound
· But it was not a wild miracle
Just a rustling in the leaves.
Conclusion:
When you really analyze what happened in the Old Testament two things come to the forefront
1. People in those days were not that much different than we are today
2. God is no different than He was back then. He changes not.
What is different today is that there are very few willing to:
· Get out of the front of things,
· Go find a quiet place and
· Wait on the Master of the Breaches
to lead us into battle.
Our only hope is to get on our knees and tell the Lord we won’t move until He does.
[2]John 3:8 (KJV)
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Acts 2:1-4 (KJV)
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
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