2Sa 5:17-25 | KingComments | STEP | The wars of David with the Philistines come after the conquest of Jerusalem and after all the people anointed him king. They are the first enemies to come forward. More will come later. A defeated enemy is no warning to other enemies. The same resistance against the God-given king characterizes them all. The defeating of the Philistines is one of the commands David received as king over the house of Judah ( ). When Jerusalem is taken, all enemies are not yet subject to David. This also applies to Christ. If He descends from heaven, He will first destroy the Assyrians. Then He will establish His throne in Jerusalem, after which He will destroy other enemies of Israel through His own people. The Philistines first kept quiet, but now that David is so strong and they see a threat in him, they go up against him. The establishment of the throne of David sets the Philistines in motion to kill David and take away his influence. It is with it as with the return of the Lord Jesus to the earth. The human being will then resist to the extreme and thus bring a quick destruction on himself. The action of the Philistines has a spiritual meaning for us. Nominal Christians take action if we want to give the Lord Jesus full reign in our lives. They will try to gain influence in our lives to diminish His authority. Here we see the dependent David again. Despite his strong army he asks the LORD whether he should go up. David gains the victory through dependence. He takes the idols with him to burn them ( ).

‏ 2 Samuel 5:17-25

David Defeats the Philistines

The wars of David with the Philistines come after the conquest of Jerusalem and after all the people anointed him king. They are the first enemies to come forward. More will come later. A defeated enemy is no warning to other enemies. The same resistance against the God-given king characterizes them all. The defeating of the Philistines is one of the commands David received as king over the house of Judah (2Sam 3:18).

When Jerusalem is taken, all enemies are not yet subject to David. This also applies to Christ. If He descends from heaven, He will first destroy the Assyrians. Then He will establish His throne in Jerusalem, after which He will destroy other enemies of Israel through His own people.

The Philistines first kept quiet, but now that David is so strong and they see a threat in him, they go up against him. The establishment of the throne of David sets the Philistines in motion to kill David and take away his influence. It is with it as with the return of the Lord Jesus to the earth. The human being will then resist to the extreme and thus bring a quick destruction on himself.

The action of the Philistines has a spiritual meaning for us. Nominal Christians take action if we want to give the Lord Jesus full reign in our lives. They will try to gain influence in our lives to diminish His authority.

Here we see the dependent David again. Despite his strong army he asks the LORD whether he should go up. David gains the victory through dependence. He takes the idols with him to burn them (1Chr 14:12).

The Philistines Once Again Defeated

The enemy has not been defeated definitively. The Philistines come up once again. David asks the LORD again what he should do. The previous permission (2Sam 5:19) does not mean a continuous permission. We are dependent on the Lord step by step. This applies to all of us. Each has his own relationship to the Lord. What the Lord allows one to do, He forbids another. God does not always explain why He sometimes says this and sometimes that. It is about obeying, even if we do not understand. The Lord’s purpose never changes, but His ways sometimes change.

David is attacked twice and both times he asks God what to do. Twice he gets an answer, twice he obeys and twice he defeats the enemy. The second time he gets a different answer than the first time. God has no standard answers to our questions. Therefore we have to go to Him again and again. We should not be like Samson, who said: “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free” (Jdg 16:20). However, he did not know that the LORD had departed from him and with it his strength, so he suffered the defeat. Dependence on the Lord is always the secret of victory in our lives.

David gets clear directions for the battle. Only by following these up, victory will be certain. This time he has to wait until he hears the sound of footsteps in the tops of the balsam trees. This means that while waiting he must listen carefully to determine the way the LORD is going ahead of him. It is important to us that our ears are open to God’s Word, that our eyes are open to His directions, and that our feet are on His ways.

Hearing the footsteps of the LORD is a special experience for David. The LORD walks on ‘weeping trees’, that is the literal meaning of the name “balsam trees”. In Psalm 84 the ‘valley of Baca (meaning: weeping)’ is made into a ‘valley of springs’ (Psa 84:6). Where there are tears, God unlocks a source of refreshment. In battle that cause trouble, God gives strength.

David is also an example for us as a picture of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is our Lord. We are dealing with Philistines, people who are on the Christian territory, but are unbelievers. They are people who, in picture, never went through the Red Sea, the wilderness and the Jordan. They are false brothers, people who do not belong to the church. David has the power to fight them. He is also an example of leaders who protect God’s people from wrong influences.

The next chapter shows that the Philistine not only comes to us from outside, but is also in us. There we see that David uses a Philistine method to transport the ark.