2022-08-21: The Life of David — David Avenges the Gibeonites

Sermon Audio: David Avenges the Gibeonites
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: II Samuel 21:1-14
Duration: 28:53
Size: 19.8 MB

The Life of David
David Avenges the Gibeonites
II Samuel 21:1-14

These chapters look back over the whole period of David’s reign (and earlier). The text is not arranged chronologically but thematically.

As we consider the account of David avenging the Gibeonites, it may feel as if God has a little black book called “Le Petit Maurice.”

I. The Offended Must Be Appeased
I don’t think it is a stretch to add a worldwide coronavirus pandemic to the category of “natural disaster.”

We believe that man was made in the image of God, that every person is of intrinsic worth before God, and that every individual has a right to the fullest possible opportunities for the development of life abundant and eternal.

Although God told David that the reason for the famine was Saul’s slaughter of the Gibeonites, he did not tell David what to do to correct the injustice.

We should always go to the Lord in prayer and ask him if our difficulty is because of some unconfessed sin.

II. The Guilty Must Be Punished (II Samuel 21:7-9)
The author quickly takes us back to this horrible account, as he writes in verses 8-9.

They may have protested that they were acting on their father’s and grandfather’s orders, but under Old Testament solidarity laws, God held them liable.

III. The Devoted Must Be Rewarded (II Samuel 21:10-14)
It undoubtedly did not take away her grief, but David’s action bestowed dignity upon the slain.