Anointed King of Hebron

Hi, this is Pastor Daniel Bracken. You're listening to Kings Alaska Podcast. I hope the Word encourages you and you get a touch from God that brings transformation and equips you to experience life with people, power and purpose. Thank you for joining us. Enjoy the Word.

Turn with me to Second Samuel, Chapter two. And at this juncture in David's life, Saul is dead. We talked about that last week, and the response that he has, that David has is profound. Once again, the series, which is, I, I don't know how many messages it is. I think we're, I don't know, around 14 right now, something like that.

And we are preaching this midweek also Sunday nights as the Lord directs. And then, just so you know, I am. I take the liberty to put aside whatever series I'm in to bring any special word the Lord might give me, which happens on a fairly regular basis. Just concluded a series on Sunday mornings, and that was great. So we're, we're wide open Sunday morning, and so we'll just be moving along as God leads us.

But we're going to stay in this series. Would you stand on your feet with me? 2nd Samuel, Chapter two. Let's read four verses of Scripture. Are you ready?

It happened after this that David inquired of the Lord. What did he do? He inquired of the Lord, saying, shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord answered him and said, go up. David said, where shall I go up?

And he said, to Hebron. So David went up there with his two wives, Anohim the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. That's significant. Verse 3. And David brought up the men who were with him, every man from his household.

So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. Verse 4. Then men from Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David saying, the men of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul. Let's pray.

Father. Thank you. Move in great power. In Jesus name. Amen.

You may be seated. So I have to be careful on review because there's so much. But I would encourage you to go back and listen to the messages that have been preached. I would also encourage you get your Bibles with your family, with your kids, read through the life of David. Study the life of David.

Ask questions while you're reading through it so that when you come, it's not something that you've just, oh, what was that? You already read it. So, I mean, you. We're going to go possibly through vert, chapter four. We'll see.

Um, and the, the, the challenge I have in preaching to you is bringing you what I sense the spirit of God is saying, specifically through the text that we're studying. Uh, we, we go line upon line, but then skip some sections. Uh, if we were to do every single verse, we would be doing the life of David until Jesus, Jesus split the eastern sky. Although I'm all for going through book by book, line upon line, precept upon precept. It's a powerful way of studying.

In fact, it's vital to your growth and God. Pastor Karen teaches on Thursday mornings.

Line upon line, precept upon precept. And there's been many that have participated in that and have grown, learning how to study the Word. But let me just review a little bit. David chosen by God to be the next king. But he has to go.

There's a long. It's a lot of waiting. He's an incredible worshiper. So much so that he's brought to the White House, which is a cute way of saying gibeah. It's the center of the nation.

Saul is an evil king. Well, he's rejected the Lord, I should say. He didn't obey the Lord, and the Lord rejected him. Is the better way to say that the Spirit of God left the anointing, the power of God left Saul, yet he still remains king. And the power of God increased more and more on David.

And he's going to become king. But he's not king yet, of course, until you get to this text. And so we see the life of David and how he's this young boy, dysfunctional family, and yet he killed the lion and he killed the bear, and he dropped Goliath. And he. He's elevated.

He becomes a national hero in the killing of Goliath. He's 17 years old. I mean, serious elevation and promotion. And it's amazing. Gets married and tax exempt, but his boss hates him.

Saul is demonized, and David is to be the next king. Saul tries to kill him, ends up chasing him. 3000 men hunt him all over for years. Not for like a couple months for years. And David's tested and he fails.

He. He does all kinds of things that he's not supposed to do, supposed to stay in. In Israel. He doesn't. He goes off to the Philistines.

He. He does all kinds of things. And yet it encourages me because David's the only one that is spoken of by the Lord in his word that says that he had the heart after God. He's the only one that is defined by David, who has a heart after God. Man looks at the outward appearance.

God looks at the, at the heart. And so you see David failing and lying. And there's. He's fearful, he does some crazy stuff, but he's always coming back to loving God, always coming back to seeking God. And he's maturing now profoundly.

Saul the king is now dead, but so is Jonathan. That's a sad day for Israel. And David responds in a way. I'm just giving you some context of what, what we read in 2nd Samuel, chapter 2, Saul's death. David saw Saul's death through the, through the lens of the spirit.

And in fact he writes, he writes a whole song in the, in the, in the past chapter about how the mighty have fallen. And that was the last message that I preached. It says in Second Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 16 there from now on, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. So you read through this song about Saul who was rejected by the Lord and didn't obey and was basically cursed. And you see how David's like, oh, he's this great man.

He's this great king. And it's. He's grieving over the loss of his father in law, he's grieving over the loss of his son, he's craving over the loss of Israel. Oh, daughters, verse 24 of 1st 2nd Samuel 1. O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul who are clothed in scarlet with luxury and ornaments of gold and apparel.

How the mighty have fallen. Verse 25, which as I said last time I preached, how the mighty that's mighty in God the mighty. And God can fall. How sin, Sin wipes out any mighty man. And there's a lot of that going on around the body of Christ.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. So it's a. Unusual response because it's not ding dong, the witches dead, Wicked old witch. That's not what he's doing. He's not rejoicing.

Thank God, that loser dead. Because I'm gonna be the king. That's not what he's doing. Come on. If the one who harassed you tried to kill you, thousands of people chasing you, finally he gets offed, finally he gets smoked.

You think he'd be excited like, oh yeah, he got what was coming to him. Welcome home. He got what was coming to him. And he doesn't respond that way. And it's an example of how we're to respond.

Even when are those who have harassed us and harangued us. One of the greatest tests, as I said last week, of spiritual maturity is how do you respond to. To people when they hurt you?

How do you respond to people when they hurt you? Matthew 5 and 44. Love your enemies and bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. I told a story about a guy spitting on me as I witnessed.

And I think that's the only thing some people heard of that whole message. I talked about this guy who just spit in my face. And I was wondering about hepatitis C and how I learned to rejoice in the midst of really very momentary, very light affliction.

So David passed many tests in leadership. He kept his heart before the Lord, so now there's nothing in the way to stop him from becoming king.

That brings us to where we're at. And it happened after this. After what? After he wrote that song he made. By the way, the song that he wrote.

It's from chapter. Chapter 1, 2nd Samuel 1:19 through 27. He made the na. He made the children learn it. He made it a national song.

And all of that, you know, had to put confidence in people like man. I guess he's not going to treat us like Saul. I guess he's honorable. I guess he's noble.

So after all of that, it happened.

Saul's dead. And David prays. He inquired of the Lord, and it happened after this that David inquired of the Lord. To inquire means to pray. Now, what do you think the.

The logical thing as a strategist and a military leader is like, let's go get everything together. We're. We're charging on the capital. We're going to. We're going to take it.

But he doesn't do. He says, lord, what do you want me to do? It's a fascinating thing. He had a promise of becoming king. But he doesn't just go after the promise.

He checks with the one who gave it. And that the. The issue of God's promise and the issue of God's timing are two separate things. And I will tell you, I have gotten myself in a world or hurt trying to make the promise happen in my timing. Don't.

Don't shout me down when I'm preaching. Good. You have a promise from God. It's yes and amen. The timing is important as well.

Timing is the right thing. At the wrong time is the wrong thing. So God's given him this promise. He's anointed him as king. I mean, even when he was a Boy back in, back in Bethlehem, he's anointed the son of Jesse.

He's chosen, but he's pillar to post. And the cave of Adullam years are now over and Saul is dead. He's been in the seminary of Saul, as we've said, and he's learning to. He's learning to abide. He's learning to stand on God's promise and, and not go left or right, but.

But to hear him. So he inquires, God, what do you want me to do? It seems logical, you just go and take. You just go and take that, that king position. He inquired, David inquired throughout his life.

That terminology is used.

Should I go up? See, he's. He's focused on doing God's will, not being the king. He's focused on doing God's will, not being the king. And I know in my own life, I have focused at times on fulfilling the thing he told me he's going to do instead of just remaining his son.

Is it two separate issues? Well, you can get ahead of God that. Ah, that's right. Are people that have actually done that. So for all of you that have your concrete that's still wet, you can get ahead of God.

You can try to force his hand. It's, you know, you can't ever go wrong if you just be, wait. If you just wait and be patient now. Yeah, I've seen people wait so long, they miss the opportunity. I'm like, God, can you give me a second chance?

You know, sometimes second chances don't come. He'll forgive you, but you might not have that opportunity again, so. Well, that's kind of complex. I know. You just have to walk with him and he'll.

He'll. He'll guide you. He'll lead you. So he's more focused on being someone who loves God than someone who's going to be the next king. He saw himself before God before he saw himself as becoming king.

It's very different. Make that your top priority. Pastor Karen preached a great word. As I said numerous times tonight, Mary is chosen. A one thing is needed.

One thing is needed. That is a one thing is necessary. Pardon me, one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better portion. That's covenant language.

It's. He chose. Chose me rather than doing all those other things. And as she said in her message, I believe that gave her an awareness that he was going to die. No one else under.

Very few under. She's one of the very first ones among all of the disciples that understood that Jesus was going to die. And that's why she broke the alabaster box. How do you think that happened? Because she's at his feet.

And sometimes we charge to become king or fulfill that thing. And we've. We've missed this at his feet. Moment of. Of focus.

And I'm going to say again, the promise of God and the timings of God are two separate things. Turn with me, please, to first chapter of the book of Acts. Acts, chapter one, Verse 6. Acts 1 and 6. Therefore, when they'd come together, they asked him, the Lord, lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

And he said them, it's not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father has put in his own authority.

The disciples were asking a kingdom question, but Jesus is speaking to them. So listen. It's not. This verse has helped me so, so frequently where I want something to happen. And the Lord's like, relax, relax.

You will be endued with power. It's not for you to know the times and seasons, but you'll be endued with power from on high. What kind of an answer to, is this the time? Are you going to do it now? Are you going to give me the thing now?

Is the fulfillment coming now? And he says, you'll be endued with power. What kind of answer is that? Because the key is seeking first his kingdom. He'll fill you so full of God that the time will come about in his perfect way.

And there's a time to push. I'm a driver. That's how I am. But if it wasn't for Pastor Karen, I'd drive right off a cliff and die. I'm like a kite.

She's like, keeps me tethered to the earth. Together we've learned to do this. This dance.

It's a crazy dance, she calls it. Should we show it to him? Let's show. Maybe later. Okay, Turn to Psalm 40.

Psalm 40.

Some 40 is the Psalm of David. And they do not know exactly when he penned this.

It is a favorite psalm of ours in the Bracken family. I first came to the Lord. They sang this song. I waited. And every time they sang it.

I'm talking about the first time I was in church as, like, a new believer. Psalm 40, verse 1. I waited. I waited patiently. That's.

That's interesting. The phrase is a double emphasis in Hebrew. I waited patiently. It means like, I waited. I waited.

It's not just I waited, it's I waited and continued to wait. Some people don't Wait patiently. They wait with an aggressive, angry spirit. It's a, it's so powerful. I waited for the Lord the incline to me.

That word incline is to, to bend your ear down and to listen. He, God inclines his ear to you. This is the Old Testament. How much more in the New Testament? We have access and privilege before the throne that we can come to him.

I waited for the Lord on high I waited and he heard my cry I waited I waited, waited, waited. That's that 90s feel right there. For the Lord on high I waited and he heard my cry. Anybody know that song? All four of you used to sing that.

Weeping tears running down my face Because I realized all my life I waited to be reconciled to the One who made me. And though I was in my 20s, I felt like I was 70. And I'm so grateful that God has saved me. Anybody else? I'm God.

Let's get this crazy. From quicksand to the rock. It's just a great song. Maybe we could learn it and sing it with our tough fit. Amen.

Inclined his ear to me. David wrote this. So he. So the path to becoming king is basically open. And yet he prays.

You know, I've found that God, certainly what God is doing with David and I, I can say for me that God, when you go through these waiting periods of fulfillment, he is preparing something in you that would not be prepared any other way. I, I, I, I wanted to be where we are. I've said this before. One of the be where we are in this building 15 plus years ago, had no idea it would take seven years to build this facility. And I had no idea that I didn't have a capacity to carry it.

Did you just say that? Oh, yes. You know, gestation period, which I know from a man's perspective because men can't get pregnant. For those of you that might be confused on that. And there's no such thing as chest feeding either.

My God, though, the times that you were pregnant all those months, I think we grew at the same time. I was quite large at the Amen. We just ate together. Every time she had a craving, I enjoyed. And so we partake.

We weren't, we thought they were having like.

Anyway, God did something in me as a man and during that gestation period. So when that baby comes and he does something in a mother, all you first time mother, second time. All the moms know when that gestation period is like, you getting ready, you're getting ready. You know, the waiting that you're going through right now is preparing you for what he has. And you have to allow that process.

And inquiring, I think is a significant, a significant thing. Inquiring of the Lord. Seasons of waiting, they're never, they're never wasted. Don't ever waste a good trial. Don't ever waste a good weight.

Those who wait upon the shall renew their strength. That word in the Hebrew yaka, it means to be braided together. It's not, it's not like, okay, come on, that's not what it is. There's an abiding, there's a braiding in with God's plan and God's purpose and a trust in him. And he knows that, that you know, and you know that he knows.

And you're so full of the spirit, you don't really care what time it is because he's going to bring it about in his perfect timing. In the fullness of time. God sent his only son.

David's anointed king of Hebron. First of all, the Lord tells him go up. So he tells him go up, go up to Judah. But he doesn't tell him what city. Can you put that up there?

2nd Samuel 2 and verse 1. It happened on this day that, that after that, that David inquired of the Lord. It's on the screen now. Thank you so much. Saying, shall I go up to the cities of Judah?

So he asked him and the Lord says go up. And then David asked specifically there's a specifics in his request. The Lord says go up. He says super where? And he tells him you should go to Hebron.

And the fact that he goes to Hebron is, is truly amazing, significant city. Abraham dwelt there. It's a covenant city. It's a very special place. And it refers all the way back to the covenant history of Israel.

And he's called to Hebron, which is. It's profound. Patriarchs are buried there. David's kingdom begins on the place associated with Hebron. Go do a study on Hebron.

And all that happened in Hebron, it's amazing, goes on to say, so David went up there with his two wives. Now this is profound to me. Somebody say whoa, really? Whoa, really? It's profound because his wives, the Jezreelitis and, and Abigail from Carmel, Carmelite, those two cities are in the same region of Judah.

And so literally by David who didn't sin and killing Nabal and, and remaining abiding in God and allowing that, the Abigail who intercedes for him and makes all the difference and Nabal ends up dying. It is said that those two families are very possibly significantly powerful families. And David had no idea that he was going to need the backing of the people of Judah. And that's what God did. God went ahead of him years before, weaving these relationships in the very place that he would soon be king.

Now, that promise of going to be the king over all of Israel, he only got 1 12th. There's 12 tribes. He only got one tribe, which is like, anybody ever get a partial fulfillment? You're like, where's the rest of it? It's on the way.

He does become king over all of Israel, but he has to go to Hebron. One twelve Judah, one trace, one tribe, one out of twelve, and it becomes king there for seven years. And it is. To me, it's remarkable how God went before him and sowed these relationships together in that region. So he becomes king.

And I love how he doesn't forget those who shared his trials in the wilderness. And this is verse four through seven.

Look at verse four through seven. We didn't read it together, but we're going to go there. And they told David, the men of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul. So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead and said to them, you're blessed of the Lord. You've shown kindness to your Lord, to Saul, and you've buried him.

Verse 6. Go to verse 6. I also will repay you this kindness. He's. He's showing his character and he's building trust through the kingdom.

God is setting him up. It is truly, truly amazing. Can you put my map up? Do we have my map?

So understand now, you can see on the. On the left hand side, Ziklag. That's where his base was. You see, Ziklag was given to him by the Philistines. That's where he was attacked.

And he lost everything. Except God said, pursue, overtake and recover all. Do you remember that message? And. And he did that.

And he had a fight, even though he had a word from the Lord. Mount Gilboa. You can see where Mount Gilboa is all the way up. Number two. That's where Saul dies.

This is just giving you a picture of the geography of where this all takes place. Hebron. David's anointed at Hebron. Here's Hebron, right in the middle. Number three.

Number four, Jabesh Gilead. So you can see where number four is. It's all the way up there.

And now Gibeon, understanding Gibeon there comes A civil war. Now you read through chapter four. There's this, there's this. There's a war. The Philistines are in Gibeah.

There's battles there.

Civil war begins, verse six, number six on the map.

There's this Abner, who takes Ishbo Seth. Now, we, we didn't read this just yet, but he makes him king. And it seems that he makes him king. If you study it in the fifth year, you said, you're losing me. I'm teaching you.

In the fifth year of David's reign in, in Hebron over Judah in the fifth year, it seems that the son of king Saul, who's 40 years old at a place Abder picked. I don't even know how to say that. Mahana, Mahanayam, that he moves the capital from. He moves the capital from Gibeah to Mahanaim.

And so it's this picture of, of what's taking place here. Read this on the bottom. The big picture. After Saul's death, the nation was divided. David ruled Judah from Hebron, while Ishpuseth ruled Israel from Mahonym.

Through conflict, patience, honor God's timing, David's kingdom gradually moved. Everybody say gradually, gradually moved forward.

I want to point out something that has really impacted me in the study of this. And I'm just scraping the surface, the surface of it all. There's civil war that begins second Samuel, chapter three. There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David.

All right, I want you to look at second Samuel. Go to second Samuel, chapter three, verse one, which reads, now, there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David, but David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

I have found in Scripture and in my own life and in the lives of others that there's a process where God wants to bring us to a place of fulfillment. But he's working in you. I, I, I think I said earlier that I wasn't ready for this 15 years ago. What? I just didn't have a capacity for it.

My faith wasn't at the level where my faith has gone sky high. I've been. I had PTSD for building the building, but then I got healed. Amen. Let's build another one.

Maybe, he said, maybe. I don't know. One thing's for sure. I remember someone said to me, I don't want to do that. I'm busy.

Well, then you might miss God. You're saying you're busy? I don't wanna do that and it costs too much, really. I'm all about doing stewardship. But the bottom line is it's about the word of the Lord that you have to get.

And you can't be afraid of doing work of the sacrifice or what that looks like. And God's a good steward. So there's a. There's a balance in being led by him. And in the whole process, he's molding you and making you into his man.

He's molding you and he making you into his woman. And there are times of delay. And God will work in you things in those times of delay that are not able to be worked in any other way.

But I don't want the delay. I want it now. Yeah, that's your problem. When your face changes and that, that squeaky, whiny voice that you have before the Lord changes, then maybe you'll be ready to be promoted.

You missed a great place to say amen.

Little by little, bit by bit, they grew.

My, my, my. You'll see in the book of Deuteronomy how God isn't going to give him the promise altogether. Look at the land all at once. Look at Deuteronomy 7. 22.

I honestly feel like this is where we're at in our church. This is where we're at in the state. This is where we're at in, in the vision. Because the transitions in the kingdom many times are slow.

And this, and I think God's wisdom for that takes years to unfold sometimes. Deuteronomy 7, verse 22. You all there? Who's got that text?

Deuteronomy 7, verse 22 dot thank you, sir. Appreciate that. New living translation.

The Lord your God will drive out the nations ahead of you little by little. Wow. You not clear them all away all at once. Otherwise a wild animals will multiply too quickly for you. But the Lord your God will hand them over to you.

There's this process of little by little. Proverbs talks about increase. Little by little. Proverbs talks about it. There's this, this plan that God has where we want it all at once.

But he's calling us, causing us to grow. And that's what's happening with David. He's learning to lead. He's learning to. He's learning to be the king.

Now he gets 1 12th. Let's see how faithful you can be with 1 12th before I give you the whole kingdom. Come on. God's looking to promote you. But if you fail the test that you're currently in, it's okay.

Because you can take it again. You can go around the mountain one more time. David is an example of a man of God. He's a. An example of how we're to live before the Lord and inquiring, not grasping, not striving for, but knowing what the promise is, and then looking for God to fulfill it in his time.

Time and not get ahead of God. And then in that process, there's a lot going on. I mean, to. To be the king over the whole nation. There's relationships being built.

The people, the. The people of. Of Judah and Israel are watching how he dealt with Saul. They're watching how he deals with things. And there's trust that comes behind him.

It's a powerful picture. And the house of Saul is slowly withering away. But David grew stronger and stronger. You know what I've found? I've found that if you'll stay locked in and you will get stronger and stronger, if you continue to obey and you be faithful in the little things, he will make you ruler over much.

Not only in the age to come, but even now. He will elevate you. He will promote you. But you must pass the test of delay. Delay does not mean denial.

It's a. It's something. Something worked in you. Come on, lift your hands to Jesus. Can I have keys?

Lord, thank you for your power, for your presence tonight.

If you've been in the midst of a delay and you're needing God to strengthen you tonight, just stand right where you're at.

You're in delay. You're like, I need the Lord. Yeah, come on. Ask him down. Ask him in the midst of the delay.

You. What do you want me to do? How do you want me to respond? Do I go up? He asked him and he says, yes, go up.

Where do I go? Very specific, praying. I want you to go to Hebron. That makes perfect sense, Father, thank you. Come on.

You begin to talk to God tonight. Very simple message. Moving forward in the. The life of David.

Abner.

Abner. And is Bethesda. It's like nepotism. You know what that is? It's when you put your family all in charge of stuff just because of your family.

God has to deal with them. David shows himself faithful in Judah, 1/12 of the fulfillment. Only 1/12. If you can't be faithful with the 1/12, how could he possibly give you the rest?

Bump your neighbor and say, this is a test. Come on, say, this is a test. Come on, say, I'm going to pass my test, Lord. What do you want me to do? Go ahead, ask Lord, what do you want me to do?

We decree tonight that we are going to become stronger and stronger in God. We decree tonight that we're not going to be pulled to the right of the left. We're going to hear the voice of the Lord and said, this is the way you walk in it. We're not going to be filled with ambition and striving, trying to make something happen, though it might even be the prophetic promise over us. We will not strive to make something happen.

We will. We will lean on the everlasting arms. We will trust in you, leaning not on our own understanding, but in all our ways. We're going to acknowledge you and you're going to make our paths straight. We will wait patiently on the Lord and you incline your ear to us and release.

Supernatural strategy and planning, working behind the scenes, even years ahead. I found the Lord is done things already that are going to come to bear years from now. Relationships that you had when you were faithful, when you. When you. When you went the extra mile.

God brings relationships back and he's. He's weaving together a tapestry of his glory, causing you to will and act according to his good purpose. Don't be weary, don't quit, don't give up. God's gonna bring about his plan for you. Just yield to him and trust him.

When you don't know what to do, you just pray, inquire, ask him. Ask him to have his way on the inside of you. Lord, if there be anything on the inside of me that it's grieving you, Lord, would you reveal it to me? Help us. Come on, ask God to help you.

Help me. I don't want to miss anything of the development of Christlike character, because this is a test. The real things later on in the millennial reign. Help us to pass the test.

Well, I hope you were encouraged by God's word. Thank you again for listening to Kings Alaska podcast. God bless you. For more great content, go to Kings.

And may God's face shine upon you and give you peace.