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Where do you see God’s faithfulness to His people and His covenant with them demonstrated in 2 Samuel? Explain.
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17 Replies
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Throughout 2 Samuel we see God continue to establish the people in the land He had promised them. Through David and his military might God continues to enable Israel to claim more of the land He intended for them to have.
God remains faithful to Israel, even though they, and at times their king, David are disobedient to His commands. When David did not follow God’s commands in transporting the ark of God, God does not remove His presence from them. He gives David and the people a second chance to bring the ark to Jerusalem. When David displeased God by calling for a census in 2 Samuel 24, God requires that David and the nation of Israel to suffer consequences, but God does not change His eternal plans for them.
God enables David and his army to conquer Jerusalem and bring it under Israel’s control. The Jebusites who had inhabited Jerusalem for centuries, and had sucessfully resisted Israel’s prior efforts to take the city, could not stand against David’s army.
God remained faithful to Israel in spite of David’s personal sins. He committed adultery and murder, but God did not remove him as king. David suffered the consequences of his actions. His child, conceived in adultery, died but David was allowed to father additional children with Bathsheba including Solomon. It was through Solomon that God continued the royal line.
God is faithful to David and Israel through the rebellions of Absolam, Sheba and others. These would have been difficult times not only for David and his family, but for the nation as a whole.
In 2 Samuel 7 God gives the Davidic Covenant. This covenant expands on the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12. When God gave his promises to Abraham, David was in His mind and part of His plan. Though he lived an imperfect life, David remained in God’s eyes as a “man after My own heart.” God’s purposes were not thwarted, nor His plans destroyed by David’s sins. God was faithful to David and His chosen people.
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The Davidic Covenant.
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Although the people had not driven out the pagan peoples and were easily influenced by them into idolatry and immorality, God continued to fulfil His promises to them of land and descendants, especially during the reign of David. Through him, God began to drive out the other peoples and complete their possession of the land. Although David sinned grievously (e.g. in his adultery with Bathsheba, murder of Uriah, and census-taking), God forgave him each time when he repented, and was faithful to fulfil the promises concerning the Davidic king (and ultimately the Messiah) through him.
#2Samuel
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God’s faithfulness to His people is demonstrated in the mercy shown to those that walked away from Him. David is an example of failure, sin and restoration through the faithfulness of God. The people of Israel as well are an illustration of this. God never lack faithfulness and if we are faithless He will remain faithful for He cannot deny Himself. It is a central attribute and theme of God to see His faithfulness weaved within the lives of His people throughout the reading of 2 Samuel and the Bible as a whole.
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The Lord continues to be faithful to the people by using David as king and military leader to finish obtaining the land inside the Promised Land. Once David is king, he conquers the people who still resided in the Promised Land and takes the land for God’s people. Also, the Lord shows his faithfulness in how He is kind to David after David has committed some serious sins. God still allows him to lead and shows him favor. The Promised Land at this point is protected and his people therein are also safe.