2 Samuel 8:1-14
The story is told about a pastor that got up in the
pulpit and apologized for the Band-Aid on his face.
He said “I was thinking about my sermon while
shaving and cut my face.”
Afterward the treasurer found a note in the
collection plate “Next time, think about your face
and cut the sermon.”
This morning we are going to look at 2 Samuel 8. This
chapter shows how God kept His promise to David from
chapter 7.
God promised to give His people a place. He promised to
plant them and He promised to give them rest from their
enemies.
We are going to see how David conquered, with God’s
help, territories in every direction around Israel.
There are two key verses in this chapter; verse 6 and 14.
These verses help us understand that every victory was
because the Lord gave the victory to David.
Before we read God’s word, let’s ask Him to speak to us
and help us understand what He wants us to learn from
the pages of His holy inspired word this morning.
2 Samuel 8:1
Enemies to the West
Philistines
The Philistines have been enemies of Israel for years. If
you remember they defeated Israel and captured the ark
of the covenant. Saul was supposed to have eradicated
the Philistines, but he failed to obey God.
But now the Bible tells us that David defeated the
Philistines and subdued them.
The Bible says David took Methegammah out of the hand
of the Philistines. Some commentators think this is the
name of a city, but it is actually describing the main city
of Gath.
How do we know this?
1. The word Methegammah means “bridle of the
mother city”, Gath is the most prominent city of the
Philistines
2. 1 Chronicles 18:1 “After this David defeated the
Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and
its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.”
God kept His promise to give Israel rest.
God provided the victory over the Philistines in the
West.
2 Samuel 8:2
Enemies to the East
Moabites
Next God helped David defeat the enemies to the East,
the Moabites.
Let’s talk about the significance of Moab.
Moabites were related to the Jews because Abraham’s
nephew Lot was the father of their ancestor Moab.
The Lord declared war on the Moabites when they hired
Balaam the prophet to curse Israel.
The Moabites also refused to allow Israel to pass through
their territory when they were leaving Egypt.
On a positive note, David was related to the Moabites
through his great grandmother Ruth, who accepted
Israel’s God.
Mercy at Moab
David didn’t completely annihilate the Moabites, he put 2⁄3
of them to death, but spared 1⁄3 of people. The ones who
survived became servants of David and brought tribute.
This is a reminder of Paul’s words in
Romans 9:14-15 “What shall we say then? Is there
injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says
to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have
compassion.’”
Again, God is keeping His promise to give Israel rest.
God provided the victory over the Moabites in the East.
2 Samuel 8:3-12
Enemies to the North
Zobah and Damascus
In the north we see David defeat Hadadezer king of
Zobah.
The name Hadadezer means Hadad is my help.
It’s funny that he was really no help and definitely no
match for the one true living God.
David took his horsemen and his foot soldiers.
David also hamstrung his horses except 100. Hamstrung
is a word describing the act of cutting the rear tendon in
the hock joint of a horse’s leg. It’s the equivalent of
cutting a person’s achilles tendon.
By not taking all of the horses, David is heeding the
qualifications for a king from Deuteronomy 17:16. The
verse says a king should not acquire too many horses for
himself.
David knew he must keep his trust in God, not horses.
Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots and some in
horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our
God.”
As David was routing the men of Zobah, some men from
Damascus came down to help.
Again, it’s kind of ironic that the king, called Hadad is my
help, needed the people of Damascus to come help him!
But they were really no match for David because God
wanted him to have rest.
David put garrisons (which is another word for troops) in
Aram of Damascus and the Syrians became servants to
David and brought him tribute.
And here is our key verse, And the Lord gave victory to
David wherever he went.
God is keeping His promise to give Israel rest.
God provided the victory over Zobah & Damascus in
the North.
David took the shields of gold from the servants of
Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.
Verse 9 describes a different kind of victory for David.
This is one of those situations where the enemy of my
enemy is my friend.
King Toi of Hamath had previously been at war with
Hadadezer.
When he heard how David defeated Hadadezer and his
entire army, rather than get into a fight and lose, he tried
another tactic.
He sent his son to go to David and ask about his health
and to bless David.
He also sent his son Joram with gifts of silver, gold and
bronze for David.
David decided to dedicate these items to the Lord rather
than keep them for himself.
David also took all of the silver and gold from all the
other nations he subdued and dedicated it all to the Lord.
What a great reminder that everything belongs to the
Lord anyway, right?
David was a cheerful giver.
He could have kept part of it and given some to the Lord.
He gave it all to the Lord.
Possessions are from God and we should use them for His
glory and to express gratitude to Him.
2 Samuel 8:13-14
Enemies to the South
Edomites
Verse 13 describes the fact that David defeated 18,000
Edomites in the Valley of Salt. It also says that he made
a name for himself after doing it.
We must remember what God promised David earlier.
God will make David a house. What that meant was God
will give David a legacy. In fact, the son of God would be
a descendant of David.
Once more David put garrisons around Edom and they
became his servants. And then the focal verse is
repeated.
And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
Finally, God kept His promise to give Israel rest.
God provided the victory over the Edomites in the
South.
APPLICATION
What we can learn from today’s text is that;
God Fulfills His Promises
We don’t always know when He is going to do it, but we
know for certain that if God makes a promise, God keeps
that promise.
God is faithful and he never goes back on His word.