Scripture Daily

Context No. 1186 of 4322 · 2 Samuel

Context · Reflection

2 Samuel 5:6-12: in context

6The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, “The blind and the lame will keep you out of here,” thinking, “David can’t come in here.” 7Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion. This is David’s city. 8David said on that day, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites, let him go up to the watercourse and strike those lame and blind, who are hated by David’s soul.” Therefore they say, “The blind and the lame can’t come into the house.” 9David lived in the stronghold, and called it David’s city. David built around from Millo and inward. 10David grew greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of Armies, was with him. 11Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, with cedar trees, carpenters, and masons; and they built David a house. 12David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake.

David captures the fortress of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, who had taunted that even the blind and lame could keep him out, and makes it his capital, the City of David. He settles in and builds, and Hiram of Tyre sends cedar and craftsmen to build him a palace. The narrator notes David growing greater and greater, because the LORD of hosts was with him. And then a telling line: David perceived that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

The revealing sentence is the last one: David perceived that God had exalted his kingdom for his people's sake. At the very moment of his rise, secure in a new capital, a palace of cedar, growing greater by the day, David understands something that ruins most people who reach the top: that his exaltation is not for himself. God had lifted him up, but for the sake of the people he was to serve, not for David's own glory. That single perception is what separates a servant-king from a tyrant. Power almost always tells the one who holds it that it exists for his own benefit, his comfort, his name; David sees through that lie and grasps that his throne is a trust held for others. It is the healthy way to hold any position of advantage, to perceive that whatever height you have been given is for the sake of the people it lets you serve, not for your own aggrandizement. David grew greater because God was with him, and he knew the greatness was not his to spend on himself. The blessing was for Israel's sake.

Whatever height or advantage I have been given, do I perceive, like David, that it is for the sake of the people it lets me serve, not for my own aggrandizement?

Sources