2 Samuel (1 Chronicles)

Introduction: A Tale of Two Perspectives

If you would, pick up your Bibles and turn to 2 Samuel. If you have downloaded the charts for the series we are trekking through called Generations—where we are going through the entire Bible—we are going to be looking at the entire book of 2 Samuel tonight, and we are also going to look at 1 Chronicles.

Some of us might be asking, “Hey PJ, how come we’re looking at 2 Samuel and then, a few books after that, 1 Chronicles?” Well, it’s a lot like the New Testament. The New Testament has Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. If I asked you what the book of Matthew is about, most of us would say the life of Jesus Christ. If I asked what the book of Mark is about, that is also about the life of Jesus, but from a different perspective.

There are books in the Old Testament that work the same way. 2 Samuel is about the life of King David. 1 Chronicles is also, for the most part, about the life of King David, but from a completely different perspective. We’re going to look at 1 Chronicles briefly, but we’re going to spend the vast majority of our time in 2 Samuel.

The History of Judah: Why Chronicles Matters

If you look at the 1 Chronicles chart first, you’ll see it is the “History of Judah, Part One.” There are a couple of distinctions I want to make before we dive in. First, when you start reading, you’ll notice the first nine chapters are all genealogy. It’s the whole “this person begat this person” and all these different family trees. I thought to myself when I first read it, “Oh my goodness, here we are again. I thought we got over this in Genesis and Numbers.” And you know it’s going to be long because the first word is “Adam.” You know you’re in it for the long run!

Why is that there? The clue is that it’s a lot like Genesis. One of Moses’ purposes was to show a group of people who had never lived in the Promised Land that they belonged there. They had been in slavery for 430 years; they didn’t know where they came from. Moses was writing down their historical roots to say, “This is why we aren’t Egyptian. We are a different, called-out people.”

1 Chronicles is much the same. It was likely written by Ezra much later than 2 Samuel—probably after the kings were gone and the people had spent seventy years in exile in Babylon. As they returned to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, the writer was telling a new generation, “We don’t belong in Babylon. This is where our roots are.”

You’ll also see several chapters at the end about the temple—David talking to Solomon and the people about how to build it. We might feel like we don’t need all that technical information, but the people coming out of Babylon did. They needed to see how it all began so they would know why they were going back to rebuild it.

While Chronicles focuses on David’s accomplishments, 2 Samuel focuses more on the man and his character. That’s why stories about David’s personal failures aren’t in Chronicles; they didn’t serve the writer’s purpose of encouraging the returning exiles. But they are essential for us to understand who David was.

Establishing a Kingdom: David’s Triumphs

Let’s move into 2 Samuel, which we’ve entitled “Establishing a Kingdom.” It has three basic parts: David’s Triumphs (Chapters 1-10), David’s Tragedies (11-21), and David’s Legacy (22-24).

Chapter 1 picks up right where 1 Samuel stopped. David hears the news that Saul is dead. An Amalekite comes to him taking credit for killing Saul, hoping for a reward. He brings Saul’s crown and armband to David. David did give him a reward, but it wasn’t what the man expected: David had him killed.

As we go through this, I want to point out a huge strength in David: he truly trusted the will of God. He knew God would accomplish His will in His own time, and God didn’t need any “help” to do it. This is different from Abraham, who, when told he’d have a son, basically said, “Great! How can I help?” and ended up making a mess. David knew God had anointed Saul, so David wasn’t going to touch him. He believed that if God wanted to transfer the kingdom, God could do it without an assassin’s help.

In Chapter 2, David asks God what to do, and God sends him to Hebron. The tribe of Judah anoints him as king, but the other tribes follow one of Saul’s surviving sons, Ishbosheth. This leads to a civil war for several chapters. Eventually, two men sneak in and kill Ishbosheth while he’s sleeping, bringing his head to David. Again, they didn’t get the memo. David puts them to death because they took it upon themselves to destroy the house of Saul.

Finally, in Chapter 5, David is anointed king over all Israel. He is 37.5 years old. Remember how old he was when he was first told he would be king? He was probably about twelve. He waited twenty-five years! He was willing to wait as long as it took. I am struck by his patience. God was forming him into what he needed to be at the exact right time. Would you be that patient? We usually give God about two weeks to line things up before we get restless. David waited a quarter of a century.

David was also different from Saul because his heart was for God’s people, not his own ego.

2 Samuel 5:12 (NASB)

And David realized that the LORD had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.

Saul thought the kingdom was all about him. David knew the kingdom was about God and the people.

The Davidic Covenant: A Promise for Eternity

David establishes Jerusalem as his capital and defeats the Philistines. He is victorious because he does things God’s way, asking for direction every time. In Chapter 6, he decides to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The first time he tries, he does it his own way—putting it on a cart rather than having the priests carry it—and a man named Uzzah dies when he reaches out to steady it.

David eventually humbles himself and learns his lesson. He goes back and moves the Ark the way God commanded. Once the Ark is in a tent in Jerusalem, David looks at his own beautiful palace and feels a sense of conviction. He tells Nathan the prophet, “I’m living in this great house, but God is in a tent. I want to build Him a house.”

Nathan initially tells him to go for it, but God intervenes that night. God tells Nathan to go back and tell David, “I never asked for a house. I don’t need a building.” In Chronicles, we learn that God tells David his son Solomon will build the temple, but David won’t. However, God turns the tables and makes David an incredible promise. He says, “You’re not going to build Me a house; I’m going to build you a house.”

2 Samuel 7:16 (NASB)

‘Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.’‘’

This is the Davidic Covenant. It is an unconditional promise. Historically, David’s descendants sat on the throne for 400 years until the exile. But the ultimate fulfillment is in Jesus Christ, the descendant of David, who sits on the throne and rules as King of Kings forever. Way back here in 2 Samuel, God is making a promise about King Jesus.

By Chapter 10, David is incredibly powerful, rich, and respected. He controls territory from Egypt to the Euphrates. It was all because of God. I so wish the book ended at Chapter 10. We could all go home early, and the last verse could say, “And they lived happily ever after.”

The Turning Point: David’s Tragedies

Unfortunately, there is a Chapter 11. David sends his armies out to battle, but he stays behind.

2 Samuel 11:2 (NASB)

Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.

David sees Bathsheba, sends for her, and sleeps with her. He thinks it’s over until he gets a note saying, “I’m pregnant.” Even then, he doesn’t panic. He tries to cover it up by bringing her husband, Uriah, home from the front lines, hoping Uriah will sleep with his wife and think the baby is his. But Uriah is a man of integrity. He refuses to go home to his wife while his fellow soldiers are out in the field.

David even gets him drunk, but Uriah still won’t go home. So David moves to “Plan B.” He sends a note back to the commander, Joab, with Uriah himself. The note says to put Uriah in the heat of the battle and then retreat so that he is killed. Joab does it. Uriah dies. David gets the news and basically says, “Well, that’s war.” He marries Bathsheba and figures the problem is solved.

You can keep a secret from people, but you can never keep a secret from God. The last sentence of Chapter 11 says, “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.”

Facing the Prophet: Confrontation and Consequence

God sends Nathan the prophet to David. Nathan tells a story about a rich man with many sheep who steals a poor man’s one and only pet lamb to feed a guest. David is irate. He says, “This man deserves to die! He has no pity!”

And Nathan says, “You are that man.”

2 Samuel 12:9 (NASB)

’Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.

Nathan then delivers four heavy consequences for David’s sin. First, the sword would never depart from his house—he would never know peace. Second, evil would rise up against him from within his own family. Third, his own wives would be taken and shamed in public, just as he had sinned with Bathsheba in private.

David’s response is immediate.

2 Samuel 12:13 (NASB)

Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ And Nathan said to David, ’The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.

David repents, and Nathan tells him God has put away his sin. He won’t die. But then comes the word “nevertheless.” The fourth consequence was that the child born to Bathsheba would die. David begs and pleads with God for the baby’s life, but the child dies anyway.

2 Samuel 12:20 (NASB)

So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed [himself], and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate.

How many of us would worship God after He took our child? David did. He knew God was a God of perfect will. Even in the midst of permanent consequences, he knew God loved and forgave him. He was humble. A few verses later, we see God affirming His love for David as Bathsheba gives birth to another son: Solomon. Even in the mess, God was still accomplishing His will.

The Ripple Effect: Chaos in the House of David

However, the consequences continued to unfold exactly as Nathan predicted. In Chapters 13 and 14, we see unrest at home. David’s son Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar. David is angry but does nothing to punish Amnon. So, Tamar’s brother Absalom takes matters into his own hands and has Amnon killed.

Absalom runs away, and it takes years for him to be restored to David’s house. By then, it is too late. Absalom has lost all respect for his father. He conspires to take the throne. In Chapter 15, he rises up in rebellion. David, unwilling to fight his son, flees Jerusalem.

When Absalom enters the city, he asks for advice on how to show his power. His advisor tells him to sleep with David’s concubines on the roof of the palace.

2 Samuel 16:22 (NASB)

So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

This was the fulfillment of the third consequence: what David did in secret was now happening to him in the sight of all Israel. Eventually, a great battle takes place. David tells his men not to harm Absalom, but Joab finds Absalom hanging by his hair from an oak tree and kills him.

David is heartbroken. He has lost two sons and his household has fallen apart. Joab actually has to rebuke him, saying, “You better pull yourself together or no one will follow you.” David pulls it together, but the kingdom remains in turmoil. There are rebellions, famines, and constant wars with the Philistines. The text repeatedly says, “There was war again… and again… and again.” The sword never left his house.

A Sobering Legacy: The Census and the Altar

Through all of this, David continued to worship. He wrote Psalms. He praised God’s character. He knew he deserved death, so whatever God gave him, he accepted with humility.

In Chapter 23, we see a list of David’s “mighty men.” These were his closest cohorts, men who would die for him. It is a sobering list because the very last name mentioned is Uriah the Hittite. It’s a reminder of the cost of David’s sin.

Even the end of the book isn’t on a great note. David sins again by taking a census. It seems he was looking at his people and thinking, “These are my people,” rather than trusting God’s provision. A pestilence strikes the land, and 70,000 men die. David repents, taking full responsibility, and asks God how to stop the plague. God tells him to build an altar on a specific piece of land. David buys the land, builds the altar, and the plague ends.

The significance of that piece of land is that it became the site where Solomon eventually built the temple. Even in David’s final recorded failure, God was preparing the place for His future presence.

Three Lessons on Sin and the Heart

As we look at 2 Samuel as a whole, it challenges three common misconceptions we often have.

First, we think our sin is private and doesn’t affect anyone else. That is not true. Sin is like a hand grenade. You throw it, it explodes, and the shrapnel hits everyone around you. David had no clue that his sin with Bathsheba would lead to the death of his sons and the near-destruction of his kingdom. We must take sin seriously.

Second, we think that if we truly repent, God will remove the consequences. Repentance brings forgiveness, but it doesn’t always mean the removal of discipline. God uses consequences to form us into the image of Jesus. We can trust Him even when the discipline is long and painful.

Third, we misunderstand what it means to be a “man after God’s own heart.” It doesn’t mean David didn’t sin. The difference between David and Saul wasn’t the absence of sin; it was how they responded when confronted. Saul made excuses and blamed others. David said, “It is all me. I have sinned.” When faced with consequences, Saul got bitter, but David worshipped.

So, what about your heart? How do you respond when someone confronts you with your sin? Do you share the blame, or do you take responsibility? And when you face consequences, do you grumble that it’s “been long enough,” or do you humble yourself and say, “He is God, and I will worship Him”?

Let’s be a people who, like David, trust God’s character more than our own comfort. Let’s worship Him today, knowing He is in control and His will is good.

Lord, it is heavy stuff, but You are so good. I’m so glad You showed us a real person struggling with real things and yet having a heart for You. God, I pray we would honestly look at our hearts. Help us to respond to our sin and its consequences with the same humility and worship we see in David. We trust Your character and Your control. In Jesus’ name, Amen.