DAVID, the problem times

David was a man after God’s heart 1 Samuel 13:14, but unfortunately he was still a human and was therefore open to temptations and sin. In the following records of his life David was about to fall to temptation and sin but was very quick to accept his sin and ask for forgiveness, which God was prepared to give, 2 Samuel 12:13 but David was also to suffer the consequences of his sin, James 1:15.

David’s Great sin.

David’s sin with Bathsheba.

2 Samuel 11:1-27.

The Israelites were at war with the Ammonites, they were besieging Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites, but what was not normal for the time, was that David the king was not in control of the army, he had left that to Joab, while he remained back in Jerusalem. With nothing to occupy his mind, having so much free time, we find that it is the evening, David is possibly unable to sleep because of the heat at that time, so David walks upon the roof of the palace, this was a common act during the hot season. As he walks around he is able to see the houses below and unfortunately he was also able to see a beautiful woman bathing below in one of the houses. Oriental houses often have an enclosed courtyard as part of the house and it is possible that she was bathing during the night in this area, not considered immodest therefore but perhaps she should have realized that she could be seen from the palace roof which was on an higher level.
At that point it was just a mistake by both people but David took the next step, he asked who she was, "Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" she was the wife of Uriah, but that did not stop David.
David invited her to come to him, there he gave into the temptation and was carried away in his desires and lust. David’s desires, temptation, lustes, result was sin, now has to come the judgement.
James 1:13-15.

The sin gets bigger.

2 Samuel 11:6-27.

Bathsheba conceived so David attempts to cover up the sin by calling her husband Uriah home from the fighting, to rest and go home to his wife. Uriah, though a Hittite, he was a worshipper of the True God, his name means "Yahweh is my light." Unfortunately for David, Uriah is dedicated to his position and mission and refused to go home to his wife. David even made him drunk but he remained at the king’s house.

David was in terrible trouble, Leviticus 20:10 instead of admitting his sin he now makes arrangements to have Uriah murdered. It is sad that the instructions for Joab to put Uriah in a dangerous place during the fighting were in a letter carried by Uriah himself. As instructed Uriah was sent into the front line of the fighting, very near the city of Rabbah wall, where archers are able to kill a few of David’s soldiers and Uriah, verse 17.

David only had temporary relief on hearing of Uriah death, Bathsheba mourned for her husband as expected but then soon after David took her as his wife, David may have covered his sin from the nation but God knows all about his acts, verse 27.

David’s sin is revealed.

2 Samuel 12:1-31.;
Psalm 51:1-19.

God now moves, Nathan the prophet is sent to David with a parable story to make him realize his terrible sin and repent of his action. The story concerns a rich man and a poor man who has a single lamb. The rich man steals the poor man’s lamb. David pronounced judgement on the rich man, "As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die." David also demanded that the poor man should receive payment for loss, as stated in the Law of Moses,
Exodus 22:1.

David had committed adultery, Leviticus 20:10, and murder Leviticus 24:1 and deserved the punishment of death.

The Bible is very clear and records in detail of this terrible blot in the life of David. The record is obviously giving deliberately by the action of the Holy Spirit as we would not normally have expected the incident in the records of such a great man, especially since the Word reveals that David was a man after God’s heart,
1 Samuel 13:14.

Nathan now turns to David and said "Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, ..... Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight?" Nathan revealed all the facts of the action by David, nothing is hidden from God. Note that David did not personally kill Uriah, but he was still very guilty as he made the arrangements for it to happen.

Judgement is now given on David and his family, it consisted of two parts, David’s own family will bring evil against him and the wives of David will be taken from him,
2 Samuel 12:11,12,
The nation will know what he had done. The second judgment also showed that David will be forced to lose his throne by another person, to be discussed later.

David does not attempt to make excuses for the events, David’s confession was immediate - as was the gracious forgiveness by God, verse 13, but there was still a physical punishment, the child, as a result of the adultery, will die because God would not allow any sin to dishonour His holiness before unbelievers.
2 Samuel 12:15-19.
The child was born but soon became sick and died. David did not seem to behave normally when he heard of the child’s death from his servants. All David saw was that death was the ultimate act on each one of us, the child could not be brought back, one day he will join the child, so why continue to be sad and to fast. After the death of the child, David washed himself, then He worshipped the Lord and then returned to his house.

David and Bathsheba second son.

2 Samuel 12:24,25.

David and Bathsheba had a second son, he was called Solomon. Nathan brought an additional name from God, "Jedidiah," meaning "beloved of Yahweh," indicating that Solomon was the successor to the throne of David.

Rabbah is captured.

There is some concern as to what happened to the Ammonites captured. Were the people put under hard labour or did David inflict a cruel death on the people as punishment because of their ways of treating others?
See 1 Samuel 11:2;;
Amos 1:13.

The problems of Absalom

We now have a record of a family tragedy as a clear fulfillment of the promised judgement on David by God following his sin with Bathsheba. Note that the whole of this incident began with the same sin as David was guilty off, sexual desire, which led to murder.

The sexual attack on Tamar by Amnon.

2 Samuel 13:1-19.

Amnon and Tamar were the children of David and his wives Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur respectively,
2 Samuel 3:2,3.
Amnon developed a passion and love for his half sister Tamar but could not have any relationship with her because marriage to a sister is forbidden under the Law,
Leviticus 18:11
With the help of his cousin Jonadab, Amnon is encourage to make plans to get Tamor into his bedroom. The proposed plan was that Amnon pretended to be ill and Tamor was sent to prepare food for him, once in his bedroom, lust took over and Amnon tried to have sex with Tamar, but she was not willing, instead she suggests that Amnon approaches the king for them to get married officially, which she thought would be approved, although under the law marriages with people of their relationship was forbidden. It is possible that this regulation had not always been kept, it is also possible that under Jewish rules, David’s wife Maacah, because she was not of Jewish decent, Tamar would be considered of illegitimate birth and so could marry Amnon.

Unfortunately, the so called love of Amnon was in fact just lust and after he had raped Tamor his love turned to a hate of her, he turned her out of the bedroom, as if it was her who was to blame. She marked her loss of being a virgin by tearing her robe and putting ashes on her head as a sign of her humility.

Absalom murders Amnon.

2 Samuel 13:20-29.

David now hears of the sad violation of Tamar, he is angry but does not punish Amnon. David had love for Amnon as his first born, it is therefore possible that David thought that as the first born Amnon would be the next king after him.
According to the Law in Leviticus 20:17,
Amnon deserved the death penalty, neither did David pick up on the rule of.
Deuteronomy 22:28,29.

Absalom was very angry with Amnon for what he had done to his sister, but nothing happened for two years then we hear that "Absalom had sheep shearers in Baalhazor, which is beside Ephraim." It was a common practice to have family and friends celebration the end of the harvests etc. Absalom decided to invite the family and friends to a feast, including David, but David felt that was not possible, so Absalom persuaded the king that Amnon and the other sons of David should come. Absalom must have hidden his hatred for Amnon very well, no one suspected anything.

Absalom now gets his guests drunk, then instructs his servants to kill Amnon, the rest of the family guests fled the place. Somehow the king hears that Absalom has killed all the king’s sons, but Jonadab corrects this information, he told David that only Amnon was dead as punishment for what he did to Tamar, Absalom’s sister. Absalom now fled, and went to Geshur, an area in northern Transjordan, where he remained with his grandfather, Talmai, king of Geshur,
2 Samuel 3:3.
He was to remained there for three years.

Absalom returns to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 14:1-33.

David, in 2 Samuel 13:39, appears to accept the death of Amnon and wants to see Absalom again but will not request his return. Joab, realizing this and the effect of this separation was having on the army and people, so he arranges for a widow woman from Tekoash, about ten miles south of Jerusalem, to come to the king, to act as a widow and tell a fictitious story about her family problem, the story is about one brother killing another brother, she lived some distance away so David could not easily check her story.
In the story the relatives were demanding the death penalty for the crime but then there would be no heir and that would be the disaster and the end of the family. David did not want to become involved but the woman persuaded David to carry out a judgement, so she is instructed to bring the persecutors to the palace. Bravely the woman then compares the story with the events of David and Absalom. Eventually the woman persuades David to see the errors of his way with his situation and to invite Absalom to return. As a result Joab is instructed to bring Absalom back to his house in Jerusalem but Absalom is still not allowed to meet the king,
2 Samuel 14:24,
David was still unwilling to forgive and this caused bitterness in the heart of Absalom.

Absalom is presented in the Bible as an attractive prince, he is physically attractive and he must have had very long hair by the record of the extraordinary weight of his hair, verses 25,26. Absalom tries to regain favour with the king, using Joab as an intercessor, verses 28-32. After two years David permits Absalom to visit him, verse 33, but the anger in Absalom’s heart is now ready to lead a rebellion against his father.

Absalom’s rebellion and tries to take over as king.

Absalom plans the rebellion.

Absalom is now preparing to become the king, there was no competitor in his way: See 2 Samuel 3:2-5.
Amnon, David’s first-born, was dead, killed by Absalom. Chileab, his second son by Abigail, we know very little about him, he may have died young. Absalom was the third, therefore, appears to be the nearest to the throne; but there is a problem, but Absalom sought it, while the king, his father is still alive and on the throne. Therefore Absalom is committing a sin by planning to dethrone the person God has put on the throne.

For the next four years Absalom remained quite as he made his plans for the rebellion, he made himself known to the people in a number of ways:

• 1) Made himself well know by show and ceremony, e.g. "chariots and horses, fifty men to run before him." Proud of his personal accomplishments, which included killing brother and getting away with murder. 2 Samuel 15:1.
• 2) Quietly made criticism of the judgement and administration of king David, 2 Samuel 15:2,3.
• 3) Boasting that he would be a better leader and judge. 2 Samuel 15:4.
• 4) Full of praise and flattered anyone who came to him for help or advice, 2 Samuel 15:5,6.

"So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel."

Verse 7: "forty years" (appears to be a copying error, more likely "four years." as according to the Septuagint, David only ruled a total of forty years.)
Absalom now uses God as an excuse to go to Hebron, he pretended to be a strong follower of Jehovah, even while he was with his grandfather in a heathen country; "I want to pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron," Samuel 15:8 He takes two hundred men with him, but they did not know what Absalom was planning. At Hebron he sends out messages to his various followers, "Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigned in Hebron."

Absalom seems to have found support in Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from his city, Bathsheba’s grandfather, 2 Samuel 11:3, and 2 Samuel 23:34, Ahithophel may not have forgiven David for the event with Bathsheba.

David flees from Jerusalem.

David hears of the rebellion by Absalom, and flees from Jerusalem, verse 14 tells us that he fears for the people and city of Jerusalem if he remains there.

"The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom." Why did this general defection of the people happen? The following are possible causes:

• 1) David was possibly showing his age or ill, and was not attending to the administration of justice in the land. 2 Samuel 15:3 indicates that David was not appointing judges etc.
• 2) Joab appears to have a wicked attitude, he may have become too powerful and he may have become oppressive to the people and David was afraid to turn the laws against Joab.
• 3) There could be still supporters for the family of Saul, who thought the crown was unfairly taken by David.
• 4) David had hurt God by his adultery with Bath-sheba, and his murder of Uriah. This may have been part of the punishment. See 2 Samuel 12:14.
• 5) Absalom does seem to be the undisputed heir to the throne; David was now old and possibly would not live very much longer; Absalom was just helping the situation on.
• 6) Unfortunately there are often people who do not like a government and think they can do better.

David must have expected to return to Jerusalem because he has left ten of his concubines to take care of the house, 2 Samuel 15:16.
The numerous families, the servants and palace guards show great loyalty by following David as he flees. We also found six hundred soldiers from Gath, possibly from the Philistine nation, also following the fleeing party.

Ittai the Gittite, from Gath, so probably also a Philistine, is also loyal to David but is encourage to remain in Jerusalem by David, but he and his family join with David.

After they have crossed the brook Kidron, David finds that Zadok and Abiathar from the priesthood appear carrying the Ark to join David, but he tells them to return, his future is in the hands of God. However, he asks them to act as messengers, reporting what Absalom is planning and doing. In addition David has arranged for Hushai, a faithful servant to him, to return and offer to be Absalom’s servant, to then upset any advice given to Absalom by the disloyal Ahithophel.

The servant of Mephibosheth, Ziba, meets the fleeing group with provisions after they passed the Mount of Olives, unfortunately he accuses’s Mephibosheth of being disloyal, which later proved a lie, he was just trying to get a reward from David.

A curse on David.

The group arrived near the edge of the wilderness of Judah, there they are met by Shimei, a distant relative of Saul. He cursed David, "a man of blood, a follower of Satan," he threw stones, he continues "this is as punishment by God for Saul." David also seems to believe that it was God’s punishment on his passed sins. As a result Shimei was not killed by Abishai, for he wanted to "let me take off his head." David still trusted and had faith in God, every trial and insult he took with patience.

The advice by Ahithophel and Hushai.

David was very clever in leaving some of his faithful followers in Jerusalem, any advice or guidance given by Ahithophel to Absalom was being cancelled by advice from Hushai who had pretended to be a great supporter of Absalom,
2 Samuel 16:15-19.
The first advice from Ahithophel to Absalom was for him to go into the concubines of David, this was a sign in those days that he was now the king. This action by Absalom would prevent any future possible repair of the relationship with David and Absalom. This advice please Absalom who then carried out the act in a very public manner, a very great insult to David his father,
This action was against the laws of God, see Leviticus 18:8.

Ahithophel now wants to chase after the fleeing David, to kill and remove any possible reclaiming of the throne, but God used Hushai, his advice opposed and was critical of the advice of Ahithophel. He told Absalom that David was an expert in war, Absalom should first prepare his army, it was made up from the nation, then personally lead the large army into battle, this advice appealed to the vanity and pride of Absalom and followed that plan.
David is quickly informed of Absalom’s plans through his arranged intelligence system. Though the priests son’s only just escaped being caught by the clever action of a woman, who hid them in a well.

When Ahithophel realized that his advice had been ignored he felt humiliated and possibly realized that David could regain the throne and his personal life would be in danger, so he returned to his home and there committed suicide.

The defeat of Absalom’s army.

It is possible that the total time of the rebellion by Absalom was only for a period of two to three months. David, having been warned of Absalom’s planned attack using an army made up from the men of the nation, had now crossed the Jordan and gone towards the north, moving along the hills of Gilead to Mahanaim, which had previously been Ishbosheth’s capital. While there, there David and his men were provided with supplies from a number of supporters.
David now organized his army, he now splits his soldiers into three separate groups each under Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, this was a common military action in those days,
Judges 7:16;
1 Samuel 11:11.

David’s men were told to "deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom," apparently David saw Absalom’s rebellion as just youthful action and could be forgiven. The battle now took place in the forest of Ephraim, a very dense forest north of the river Jabbok in Transjordan. The newly formed army of Absalom was no match for the mature soldiers of David, twenty thousand of Absalom’s soldiers were slain before the soldiers of David, there was a great slaughter that day. The ground in the forest was made up of a very large rocky surface, this meant that many of Absalom’s army were being killed during the fighting by falling off the larger rocks,
2 Samuel 18:8.

The death of Absalom.

Absalom met David’s soldiers, he is riding a mule. As he retreats it appears that somehow his head was caught in a branch, some say his hair was caught but the Bible text does not indicate that. The mule carries on, leaving him hanging in the air. It is possible that Absalom was hanging in the tree for sometime before he was seen by the soldiers, who then informed Joab of the situation. Joab reprimands the soldier for not putting Absalom to death, but the soldier would not kill the kings son against the orders of David. However, Joab is a ruthless soldier and leader and can only see Absalom as the enemy, not the son of the king, so Joab went to where Absalom is caught and stabbed him in the heart against the orders of David. It is possible that as a result of his position Absalom may have been very close to death, according to the passage "while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak." The death of Absalom ends the rebellion, so Joab calls his soldiers back from the fight and their chasing the army of the rebels.
Absalom’s body is buried in a deep pit and then covered in stones, perhaps as a symbol, for the legal penalty for rebellion was to be stoned,
see Deuteronomy 21:18-21.

Victory and the death of Absalom is reported.

2 Samuel 18:19-33.

Joab is concerned about how David would react to the death of his son, so sends a Cushite slave to deliver the information, however, Ahimaaz wants to deliver the news of the victory and gets permission to run with the message. David hears of the single man running towards him at the city gate, a single man must be bringing good news, verse 25. Then Ahimaaz appears running and he passes the Cushite, he tells David of the victory but lied about what had happened to Absalom, as instructed by Joab, therefore it was the slave who delivered the news of the death of Absalom. Verse 33 recorded the action of David and his feeling over the death of his rebel son. Though God had forgiven David for his sin with Bethsheba, David is still suffering the consequences of this terrible sin.

David is restored as King.

2 Samuel 19:1 to 20:26.

These chapters record how Judah and Israel become a united nation, and brought David back to Jerusalem as their king. Because Absalom was killed David is in a state of grief, this has caused the returning army of David to return not as victors but as a failed army. Joab, who was partly to blame, realized that a political disaster was about to happen, he tells David that he is possibly destroying his followers, their loyalty and attitude to David was changing, they were becoming discourage, they had won a great victory but David’s reaction was making it a appear to be a failure.

Joab tells David that his men have saved the lives of himself and his family, you think more of Absalom, with all his evil greed, than you do of your servants who risked their lives for you. David realized the wisdom of Joab and goes to the city gate to meet with his followers, who had returned to their homes and tents.

The people were not all happy with returning David to be king, some thought he had lost the right, while others remembered what he had done to protect them. Verse 11 indicates that many of the leadership, the elders of the nation were cautious in inviting David to be king again, including his own tribe, possibly they had played a part in Absalom’s rebellion.
It was finally realized that with Absalom dead, David should be reinstated as king. David also invited Amasa, of his own tribe and the leader of Absalom’s army, to replace Joab, by doing so he hoped to secure the support and allegiance of the rebel army. This action was also his way of punishing Joab for his killing of Absalom.

The support returns.

David and his men now return from exile to Jerusalem, as they crossed the river Jordan they are met by his friends and supporters from Judah and Israel. Included with this group was Shimei the Benjamite and many from his tribe, who represented the Northern tribes. Shemei, who had cursed David as he fled from Jerusalem following Absalom’s revolt, 2 Samuel 16:5-8. Shemei was seeking forgiveness for his behaviour, he confessed that he had sinned, so David spared his life, though the forgiveness was full of conditions, including his loyalty and appeared to be of a temporary nature as David, on his deathbed, left an instruction for Shimei to be punished for his crimes,
1 Kings 2:8,9;
1 Kings 2:36-46.

Mephibosheth was also present, showing the traditional mourning signs and actions. He explained that Ziba his servant had deceived him,
2 Samuel 19:26.
David may have been suspicious and did not believe this excuse as later he divided the land of Saul between Mephibosheth and Ziba.

As the group headed towards Jerusalem he has the full support of Judah but only half of the Northern tribes came to welcome him back, another revolt was developing.

The rebellion led by Sheba.

During the journey a quarrel broke out between the tribes of Israel and Judah. The tribes from Israel were angry that Judah had been at the Jordan to welcome king David’s return and they had not been invited to be present and help, this was soon to lead to the revolt lead by Sheba.

Sheba of the tribe of Benjamin is very angry and on sounding a trumpet encourages the Northern tribes to "go home and resist the king," David has quickly lost their support. As a result, when David arrived in Jerusalem he issued instruction to Amasa, who had replaced Joab as leader of the army, but he did not carry out the orders properly.
Compare similar acts by Joab, 2 Samuel 18:6-18,
So Joab steps in and arranged for the death of Amasa, by greeting him as a friend then stabs him with his sword.

Joab takes over the army at the instruction of David, he pursued Sheba to the town of Abel Beth-maacah, which is about twenty-five miles north of the Sea of Galilee. The army now surrounds the town and it becomes under siege. Joab is approached by a wise woman from the town, she questions him why would he destroy "a mother of Israel," referring to Abel Beth-maacah as a capital town of the region. She asks Joab why he has not offered the citizens of the town "terms of peace" as listed in Deuteronomy 20:11,12. Joab replies that he is seeking only the man who has turned against the king.

The woman returns to the city and quickly persuades people of the city how to end the siege, so they cut off the head of Sheba and threw it over the city wall to Joab. The siege is at an end, the army returns home

An update to the life of king David.

The end chapters of 2 Samuel contain information to events which appeared to have taken place much earlier and cover the problems faced by David, like, famine and plagues, yet we also see how David learned to give God the praise as he went through these trials. The final records contain the purchase by David of the site where Solomon will later build the Temple.

The broken treaty with the Gibeonites.

There is no other record of the famine or the Gibeonite problem, as recorded in this chapter, which is surprising, only God knows why. This event would fit better if it was recorded earlier in the reign of David.
Israel was suffering a famine which had lasted for three years, David realized that it could possibly be a divine punishment and asked God. It is revealed to him that Saul had slain a number of Gibeonites when he was removing heathen from Israel, for which we had no information of in the history of Saul’s reign. Israel had made a treaty with the Gibeonites four hundred years earlier,
Joshua 9:3-27.
David asked the Gibeonites what would they accept as settlement for the wrong done by Saul, possibly David should have requested God to tell him what to do. The Gibeonites demand justice based upon,
Numbers 35:9ff,
A life for a life, as instructed by God. David then gave consent to the Gibeonites to execute seven of the descendants of Saul in a public way, a dishonour for the dead person and added humiliation to the death.

There appears to be a problem in the records at this point, Michal, the daughter of Saul, was never married to Adriel, but to David, and later to Phaltiel, but from 1 Samuel 18:19, we find that Merab, another of Saul’s daughters, was married to Adriel.
David therefore delivered two sons of Rizpah, Saul’s concubine and five sons of Merab, Saul’s daughter to the Gibeonites, probably during the mid March harvest time.

David spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan because of the covenant he made with Jonathan,
1 Samuel 18:3,
1 Samuel 20:8,16.

We now have a moral problem as in the scriptures,
Deuteronomy 24:16;
2 Kings 14:16;
Ezekiel 18:1-4;
Ezekiel 18:14-20
These verses indicate that no one will be punished for the sins of their fathers. Was David wrong? Yet there is no condemnation of David recorded, and God ended the famine. It is possible that those who were executed were actually involved in the killing of the Gibeonites, this could explain the words "Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites." verse 1. These events could also explain the action by Shimei in 2 Samuel 16:5-8.

The rules concerning the burial of bodies.

According to Deuteronomy 21:22,23, executed bodies should be buried on the same day as execution, Rizpah remained to protect the bodies from animals etc. Later David retrieved the bones of Saul and Jonathan and buried them with the bones of those executed in Zelah, an area occupied by the tribe of Benjamin, in the sepulchre of Kish, the father of Saul.

David and the Philistine giants.

2 Samuel 21:15-22;
1 Chronicles 20:4-8..

The Rephaim were the inhabitants of Canaan in earlier times and were reported to be very large in size,
Genesis 15:19-21;
Deuteronomy 3:11,13;
Numbers 13:32,33.

Various battles of David and his men are recorded with the following results:-

• Abishai the son of Zeruiah killed the Philistine Ishbibenob,
• Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was one of the sons of the giant,
• Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite.
• Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew a giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.

David’s praise for deliverance.

2 Samuel 22:1-51 and Psalm 18:1ff.

A record of the relationship between David and the Lord God, David acknowledging the help and control of the events of his life by God. He talks about how God protected him when his life was in danger,verses 5,6.
David describes and praises the attributes of God, and also praised God for what He had done in the life of David. The key point is "I have kept the ways of the LORD," verse 22, he kept himself from iniquity, verse 24, as a result "God delighted in David," verse 20, and God saves those in trouble and humbles the proud, verse 28.

Achievements through God.

David ends his thoughts of thanksgiving with praise of what he was able to do with the power of God behind his actions.
This is an Old Testament version of Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me."

The Last words of David

2 Samuel 23:1-7.

Another poetical composition of praise, so probably not the actual final words of David. "The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue," his writing came by direct inspiration.
See scripture on inspiration,
2 Timothy 3:16,17;
2 Peter 1:20,21.
In this last Psalm of David we find a prophecy is included, a prophecy of the Messiah’s kingdom and conquests. The key thought of the passage is in verses 3 to 5, David speaks of the "everlasting covenant with me" made by God, 2 Samuel 7:12-16. Two points to note, that David anticipated that God will use divine judgement upon any who dare to attack the descendants of Abraham,
see Genesis 12:3;
Zechariah 2:8,9,
David had faith that God would keep all His promises, God holds the future in all aspects.

David’s Mighty Men.

2 Samuel 23:8-39.;
1 Chronicles 11:10-14.

We find a list of thirty-seven of the soldiers of David, the "the names of the mighty men " indicates that they were the best and special soldiers of David. The first three were involved with the Philistines, each is noted as having killed many men in battle.

2 Samuel 23:13-17;
1 Chronicles 11:15-20,
Refers to three anonymous soldiers who crossed the Philistine battle lines to get water from a well in Bethlehem for David when they were hiding in the cave of Adullam. David poured out the water as a drink-offering to the Lord, because he felt that it was wrong to drink it as his men had put their lives in danger to obtain it.
See Genesis 35:14;
Leviticus 23:37.

Abishai, the brother of Joab and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada are listed for their single handed fights,
2 Samuel 23:18-23,

David numbers the people of Israel, the Census.

1 Chronicles 21:1-30.

Numbering the population was usually done to work out the tax or where the men suitable for fighting are found, compare
Luke 2:1-3;
Numbers 1:1-3.
The record tells us that Satan tempted David to "number the people",
but 2 Samuel 24:1
This indicates that Satan was actually being used by God as part of His plan. Joab was against this action but David overruled him. The numbering produced, "Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men." This information, verse 9, suggests that David was making the numbering for military purposes. Numbering the people could be considered a sign of pride by David "I’m king of all these people," and David realized his sinful action, neither was God pleased with this action by David. Why was this a sin as God appears to have initiated the action? Perhaps David lacked the faith that God would protect them as promised.

God sent a message to David through His prophet Gad, David is given the choice of three punishments for his sin, seven years famine, three months under attack, or three days of pestilence or illness in the land, the severity was increasing with the shorter duration of time. David felt that God would be more merciful than any other soldiers so chose the sickness. God sent the illness, via an angel, resulting in the death of seventy thousand Israelites.
The expression "the Lord repented him of the evil," does not indicate God can change His mind, it shows His deep sadness of the sinful nature of Mankind,
1 Samuel 15:28,29;
James 1:13-18.

David felt that he should make an offering to stop the plague, he purchased the threshing floor of Araunah and built an altar. God had already stopped the pestilence unknown to David, but this was later to be the site of the temple built by Solomon, Mount Moriah.
There is a tradition that this is the place that Abraham used to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, Genesis 22:2.

The protection of Jerusalem and the purchase of the land for the Temple has now prepared the next part of the plan of God, the appearance of Solomon, the successor of David.

David makes preparation for the building of the Temple.

1 Chronicles 22:5,14;
1 Chronicles 29:2.

David had been told that he was "a man of blood" 1 Chronicles 28:3, so would not be allowed to build the Temple, 2 Samuel 7:1ff, So he sets up a system to collect the necessary material and people so that Solomon can build the Temple later,
1 Chronicles 28:4-21.
David gives Solomon instructions for his future. 1 Kings 2:1-9.
There is no record of this action in the Book’s of Samuel which contains the life of David.

Solomon is made king and David’s Death.

David calls the people to praise and thank the Lord, and appoints Solomon to be the king in his place.
1 Chronicles 29:10-27;
1 Kings 1:11-39.
David is called home to God after many years as king of Israel.
1 Chronicles 29:26-28..
There is no record of these events in the Book’s of Samuel.