2 Sam. 8
After 2 Sam. 7 which, morally speaking, is the high point of David's entire history 2 Sam. 8 relates a series of victories. The victories of this chapter grow out of David's communion with his God just as the victories of 2 Sam. 5 were the fruit of his dependence and obedience. When we are in communion with Him God has no need to discipline us as He did with Uzzah. Communion lets us advance, sure of being in God's pathway without needing special instruction to show this pathway to us. "I will instruct thee and teach thee the way in which thou shalt go; I will counsel thee with Mine eye upon thee" (Psa. 32:8) will become reality to us. Our path becomes God's path because our thoughts do not differ from His. Thus it is said twice in this chapter: "Jehovah preserved David whithersoever he went" (2 Sam. 8:6,14).
Like the Lord will do at the end when He will judge the nations, so David applies judgment to them in various ways and measures: according to the character of his enemies or according to the way in which they have treated his people.
First of all he smites the Philistines and subjugates them (2 Sam. 8:1), capturing their capital city, Metheg-ammah, and these sworn enemies of Israel are thus deprived of what was the bulwark of their strength.
Moab is the proud enemy rising up against God and His anointed, a cruel people without pity for Israel. David destroys two-thirds of this people but extends grace to a remnant whose life he preserves: "He measured... one full line to keep alive. And the Moabites became David's servants and brought gifts" (2 Sam. 8:2).
Likewise the Syrians of Damascus who had come to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, were conquered by David's power and "became servants to David, and brought gifts" (2 Sam. 8:3-6).
In 2 Sam. 8:13-14 Edom is completely subjugated. In 1 Chron. 18:12 They are overcome by the hand of Abishai, Joab's brother; in Psa. 60, they are defeated by Joab himself. Whatever the instruments employed may be, here the victory is attributed to David. Edom is the only one of all the nations re-appearing at the time of the end for judgment that will have no "remnant" preserved. God will judge the Edomites without mercy on account of the way they behaved toward His people, for they were the most wicked and the most desirous of destroying Israel. Had they not formerly "refused to give Israel passage through [their] territory" to enter the land of Canaan (Num. 20:21)? "Remember, O Jehovah," says the afflicted remnant in Babylon, "against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; who said, Lay it bare, Lay it bare, down to its foundation!" (Psa. 137:7). The prophet Obadiah who deals only with the judgment of Edom says: "The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble; and they shall kindle in them and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau: for the Lord hath spoken it" (Obad. 1:1, 18); whereas a "remnant" out of all the other nations is preserved. Thus this terrible word spoken by the Lord will be fulfilled at the time of the end: "I hated Esau" (Mal. 1:3), for, says Obadiah, "the Lord hath spoken it."
Another event takes place in 2 Sam. 8:9. When Toi king of Hamath learns that David has smitten Hadadezer who was continually at war against him, he sends his son Joram to the king with vessels of silver, gold, and brass. Toi freely and willingly acknowledges the deliverance which God wrought by David and offers his presents without being constrained to (cf. 2 Sam. 8:2 and 6).
All this shows us that the nations will have quite varied characters at the time of the end. Some will be broken with a rod of iron and forced to submit; others will put on an appearance of submission, as it is said: "Strangers come cringing unto me" [i.e., render forced or feigned obedience] (Psa. 18:44; 2 Sam. 22:45 JND with explanatory note at Deut. 33:29); and lastly still others—not like an isolated Toi, but a great multitude which no man will be able to number (Rev. 7:9-10)—will submit themselves to Christ's yoke, accepting His victory as their deliverance.
David consecrates all the spoil from the victory over the enemy (2 Sam. 8:11-12) as well as Toi's free-will offerings to the Lord. He claims nothing of all for himself. What purpose will these riches serve? 1 Chron. 18:7-8 shows us that they were brought to Jerusalem and that Solomon made "the brazen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass" for the temple of the Lord out of this great quantity of brass. In 2 Sam. 6 David had given the Lord's throne the place due to it in the government of the kingdom. Henceforth his only thought is that the fruit of all his victories be used to ornament the ultimate, unchangeable dwelling place of his God in the midst of Israel. The victories of 2 Sam. 5 had served to strengthen David's throne; the victories of 2 Sam. 8 serve to glorify the throne of God who is seated between the cherubim.
Two or three psalms are linked in a special way to the events of this chapter. It is interesting to see how David's prophetic songs are the fruit of his personal experiences or are related to them, but also how these experiences are only a minor factor in the prophetic course of events, a weak picture of Christ's sufferings and the glories that shall follow them.
Psa. 60 as it refers to this chapter proves, if this is necessary, that these events are not simply the history of David, but that typically they represent the future establishment on earth of Christ's kingdom.
The heading of this psalm tells us that it is a "Testimony. Michtam of David; to teach: when he strove with the Syrians of Mesopotamia, and the Syrians of Zobah, and Joab returned, and smote the Edomites in the valley of salt, twelve thousand."
The beginning of this psalm is remarkable: "O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast scattered us, Thou hast been displeased: Restore us again. Thou hast made the earth to tremble, Thou hast rent it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh. Thou hast shown Thy people hard things; Thou hast made us to drink the wine of bewilderment" (Psa. 60:1-3). There is no event in the Second Book of Samuel corresponding to these words, but this was precisely the history of Israel in First Samuel. Following their unfaithfulness under the priesthood and the rule of Saul, Israel had in effect drunk the wine of bewilderment at the end of this book; Israel will drink an even more lethal wine under the Antichrist.
"Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth, Selah, that Thy beloved ones may be delivered" (Psa. 60:4-5). What is this banner? It is David, as we see in Isa. 11:10. "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, standing as a banner of the peoples: the nations shall seek it; and his resting-place shall be glorious." This blessing is only partial in this chapter; it will be completely fulfilled in "Jehovah-Nissi" (the Lord my banner), in Christ, the true Root of Jesse, before His establishment as the true Solomon in His reign. Christ will be the banner around which Israel will gather to go from victory to victory. "That thy beloved ones may be delivered"; in effect these victories of the true David will be the deliverance of the remnant of Israel.
"God hath spoken in His holiness: I will exult, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth" (Psa. 60:6). Shechem and Succoth remind us of how Israel's history began with Jacob, their father (Gen. 33:17-20). These are the first places where he settled when he returned to the land of promise after wandering in a strange land. So it will one day be for the remnant of Israel surrounding the true David and regaining possession of their land as they follow Him.
"Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine, and Ephraim is the strength of my head; Judah is my lawgiver" (Psa. 60:7). All the tribes of Israel will acknowledge the true king.
"Moab is my wash pot; upon Edom will I cast my sandal; Philistia, shout aloud because of me!" (Psa. 60:8). After the Messiah has been acknowledged the three great enemies of 2 Sam. 8 are subdued; Philistia acclaims the supremacy of the Lord's Anointed.
In Psa. 60:9-12 The remnant asks: "Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me unto Edom?" and answers: "Wilt not Thou, O God, who didst cast us off? and didst not go forth, O God, with our armies?" A greater than David, their Messiah, God Himself, will be there to lead them. This psalm, inspired by David's experiences and the events of his history, therefore applies in a positive way to the person of the Lord Jesus.
We find this same Psa. 60, at least in part, again in the fifth book of Psalms in Psa. 108:6-13. The first five verses of Psa. 108 are borrowed from Psa. 57:7-11 of the second book of Psalms. Psa. 57 was composed in the cave during David's flight from Saul. In Psa. 57:7-11 David rejoices in the results of the deliverance which the Lord wrought in his favor. He passes, as it were, from the First Book of Samuel to the Second and says: "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing, yea, I will sing psalms. Awake, my glory; awake, lute and harp: I will wake the dawn. I will give Thee thanks among the peoples, O Lord; Of Thee will I sing psalms among the nations: for Thy loving-kindness is great unto the heavens, and Thy truth unto the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God: let Thy glory be above all the earth!"
Psa. 108:6-13 are the same as in Psa. 60, but in them the thought differs from the latter psalm; that is, David wins the victory so that the Lord may be celebrated among the nations and also so that His beloved ones may be delivered, whereas in Psa. 60, it is only a question of the deliverance of His beloved ones.
The circumstances before us in the fifth book of psalms, of which Psa. 108 is a part, are that Israel is returning to their land. They are not yet under the reign of Solomon, a type of Christ during the millennium. But rather they are under the reign of David, the king of grace, and in times (similar to 2 Sam. 8) that are troubled by the appearance of the Assyrian who at the dawn of the millennial period wants to capture the land of Israel. When all enemies are defeated and the king shouts aloud over Philistia (Psa. 108:9, cf. Psa. 60:8) the remnant asks who will lead them into Edom (Psa. 108:9-10). Isa. 63:1-6 gives us the answer: "Who is this that cometh from Edom... I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples, not a man was with Me... For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of my redeemed had come... And I have trodden down the peoples in Mine anger."
This will be the last of the Messiah's successive victories over His enemies: alone, He will tread upon them.
How interesting it is to relate all the history of the Old Testament to its Antitype and to go beyond the moral lessons that we may draw, for all the Word speaks of the Lord Jesus. He is the One whom we must seek above all else. If we study the Word prayerfully under the Lord's eye it will lead us to the knowledge of His Person. We need to be occupied with Himself above all else. Then the glory of His kingdom, His victory over the nations, the renewing of His relations with His people will all be subjects of great interest to us although these things do not concern us personally. We will rejoice at the thought of seeing Him occupy the place that is due Him, for Jehovah will establish this reign of glory over the earth for Him who has accomplished the wonderful work of redemption, the work which has thoroughly glorified God and saved us forever.
Here we have come to one of the divisions of this book. This division is marked by 2 Sam. 8:15-18. We find these verses once again with some modifications in 2 Sam. 20:23-26. These verses present the order of David's reign, and 2 Sam. 8 ends the history, properly speaking, of the establishment of the king as a type of the Messiah. But the presence of Joab at the head of the army and the exercise of the priesthood by two high priests prove that the ultimate order has not yet been established as it will be under Solomon's reign.