Seeking

Seeking the Lord and Waiting on the Lord (2 Sam. 2:1-7, 5:1-5) David spent a great deal of his time waiting. David had to wait something like 15 years from the time he was first anointed by Samuel to the time he became king over Judah. It was another seven years before David was anointed king over all Israel. This means David waited over 20 years of his life to be made king. David's life during the days we have been studying can teach us a great deal about “waiting on the Lord.” One would be hard pressed to say Ish-bosheth has been installed as king over Israel by popular demand, or out of the godly motives and intentions of Abner. Abner seems to be seeking his own interests in appointing Ish-bosheth king. Nevertheless, David grants the fact that he is, indeed, king, and thus that it is God who ultimately put him in this position of power and authority. He will not resist the king, even to become king in his place. Furthermore, David made a promise to Saul, a promise not to cut off his descendants, and not to destroy his name from his father's household. David will not remove Ish-bosheth because he cannot do so and keep his word to Saul. Here is a man of principle, a man who will wait seven more years just to keep his word, just to wait on the Lord. I am inclined to think God providentially removes Abner so that David will not become king thanks to Abner, the king-maker, but rather thanks to the King-Maker. Abner's reasons for switching his allegiance from Ish-bosheth to David are questionable. In some ways, Abner's approach to David seems similar to Satan's approach to our Lord in His temptation (Matthew 4:111; Luke 4:1-12). Like Satan, Abner claims that the kingdom he offers is really his (compare 2 Samuel 3:12; Luke 4:5-7). Abner wants David to enter into a covenant with him (2 Samuel 3:12), but when David does become king of all Israel, he enters into a covenant with them (the people) “before the Lord” (2 Samuel 5:3). Somehow, I see Abner's offer as a shortcut, an easier path to what God wants to give David another way. If so, Abner's death and the resulting delay in David becoming king make sense. (2) The delay in David becoming Israel's king is not unusual, but it is typical of the way God brings about His promises and purposes. Stated concisely, God is not in a hurry. God has all the time in the world. In fact, God is bigger than time and certainly not limited by time. Throughout the Bible I find God promising things men must wait to receive: • God promised Abram and Sarai a child, but they had to wait 25 years to get him. • God promised Noah there would be a flood, but it was a long time coming. • God made Jacob wait 14 years to get the wife he wanted.21 • Joseph had to wait a considerable time to see his father and family, and he did not get back home until after his death (they carried his bones back to the promised land). • The Israelites had to wait 430 years in Egypt, before returning to the promised land. • The writer to the Hebrews tells us that all the Old Testament saints had to wait for us (Gentiles?) before they could see the promised kingdom (Hebrews 11:39-40). • For 2,000 years, saints have been waiting for the Lord's return and the coming of His Kingdom. Waiting is a part of the divine design of things. Waiting is no accident, it is purposed

(3) It is in times of waiting for God that many have failed in their faith and obedience. Waiting is a form of adversity, a test of our faith and endurance. 13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16). For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God (1 Peter 2:20). Many of the failures we see in the Bible are failures related to waiting. 1 This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. 3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:1-4). Satan seeks to undermine the faith and obedience of God's children by deceiving us about God's goodness in divine delays We come in 2 Samuel 5 to the point where David becomes king of all Israel and, at the same time, he finally obtains a place of his own. The place has been known as Jebus up to this point in time, and its inhabitants, were called the Jebusites. But from our text onward, Jebus becomes Jerusalem, Zion, the “city of David.” In the next chapter, Jerusalem will become the dwelling place of God, as the ark of the covenant is brought to the city, where Solomon will later build the temple. 2 Sam. 5:1-5, Israel’s obedience in recognizing David as king. The spirit of impatience 2 Kings 6:33 (The King of Israel did not want to wait on the Lord to break the siege/famine of Samaria by the Syrians and he ordered Elisha to beheaded) The Israelites freed from Egypt, did not wait on God’s counsel but instead gave into their cravings (Psalm 106:13-14) Some of David’s Psalms of Waiting on the Lord2 Psalm 27:14 (Wait and Take Heart), 37:7 (Wait and Do Not Fret) & 34 (Wait and Keep His Way), 40:1 (Wait Patiently and Your Prayers Will Be Heard) 59:9 (Wait and Watch), 69:3 (Wait and Pray), 130:5 (Wait and Put Hope in His Word)

Proverbs 20:22 (Wait for God’s Justice instead of Seeking Revenge) Isaiah 8:17 (Wait for and Trust in God), 30:18 (Wait and Be Blessed) Lamentations 3:25-26 (Wait for, Seek and Hope in God and God Will Be Good to You) Hosea 12:6 (Return God, Maintain Love & Justice and Wait on God Always) Micah 7:7 (Wait and watch in Hope for God) Habbakkuk 2:3 (Wait for God’s Answer and Though It may Linger, It Will Come) Zephaniah 3:8 (Wait for God to Act in His Time) Luke 12:35-40 (Watch, Wait and Be Ready for the Lord’s Return) Romans 8:18-25 (Wait Patiently for Future Glory) Galatians 5:5 (Wait by Faith)