Text: 2 Samuel 3:1-19 Theme:  Ambitious people may use the promises of God to benefit themselves, but it is God alone who will accomplish His saving work through the king whom He has appointed to deliver His people. Structure/points: Abner reckoned himself to be the kingmaker, the man who could give Israel to whomever he pleased.  But the Lord of Hosts, the…

Text: 2 Samuel 2:12-3:1 Theme: The Lord has established one king over His people, and He will give victory and strength to that king while defeating and weakening those of His people who reject His word to submit to that king. Structure/points:  Civil war erupted in Israel because two men, David and Ish-bosheth, both claimed to be the rightful king. There could…

Text: 2 Samuel 2:1-11 Theme: Because the Lord has fulfilled His word to establish His anointed as the king of His people, all are called to accept his overture to be members of his kingdom.  Structure/points:  After the death of Saul, the time came for the Lord to fulfill His word and establish David as the king of Israel. His anointed one…

Sermon Text: 2 Samuel 1:17-27 Theme: Upon learning of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, David wrote a lament to help himself and Israel process their sorrow over the tragedy. Structure/points:  Death, any death, is the tragic consequence of living in a world marred by sin, an unnatural but unavoidable invader in God’s good creation.  The people of God grieve when they…

Sermon Text: 2 Samuel 1:1-16 Theme: David showed himself to have the heart of a godly king through his righteous grief and judgment upon hearing of the death of Saul Structure/points:  With the demise of Saul came the time for David to receive the kingdom of Israel from the Lord.  In the first few chapters of 2 Samuel, the Bible goes to…

Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 31:1-13 Theme: The judgment of the Lord fell upon Saul and Israel at Gilboa because of the king’s refusal to repent of his life of rebellion against the commands of the Lord. Structure/points:  At the beginning of his reign, Saul seemed promising.  But he and all Isreal were warned to fear and serve the Lord, lest He sweep…

Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 30:1-31 Theme: After permitting David to have a period of weak faith, the Lord graciously restored His servant to spiritual strength and provided him a decisive victory over the enemies of God. Structure/points:  1 Samuel 30 shows an unimaginable crisis that God permitted to befall David.  But the point was not to break David, but to remind him…

Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 29:1-11 Theme: In accordance with His own free mercy, the Lord graciously used the hostility of the Philistines to deliver David from the spiritual crisis he had created for himself by his own sin.  Structure/points:  1 Samuel 29 begins with David in a desperate place.  If he actually joined the coming battle on the Philistine side, how would…

Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 28:3-25 Theme: Whoever spends their life refusing to listen to the word of the Lord to repent, believe, and obey Him will eventually find Him silent to their cries for mercy. Structure/points:  1 Samuel 28:3-25 begins with two stated facts; the Prophet Samuel was died, and King Saul had expelled the mediums and necromancers from the land of…

Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 27:1-28:2 Theme: When the believer seeks salvation apart from the provision of the Lord, he will find that his self-made refuge will lead him into greater disobedience to God. Structure/points:  Are the actions of David in 1 Samuel 27:1-28:2 good or evil?  The Bible offers no direct commentary, but it does offer an important clue for interpretation.  The…