Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 12 September, 2021
“… walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering
and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Eph. 5:2)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
Solomon: Israel’s Wisest King (4)
David Orders Solomon’s Enthronement [youtube]
Scripture Reading: I Kings 1:28-48
Text: I Kings 1:32-40
I. The Swift Decision Regarding the Schism
II. The Decisive Resolution of the Schism
Psalms: 96:8-13; 146:1-6; 25:1-7; 133:1-3
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
Solomon: Israel’s Wisest King (5)
Solomon Is Enthroned [youtube]
Scripture Reading: II Kings 11
Text: I Kings 1:38-40
I. The Fitting Location of the Ceremony
II. The Various Elements of the Ceremony
Psalms: 45:2-7; 146:7-10; 132:10-17; 89:15-20
For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services, contact Stephen Murray
If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart or the elders
CPRC Website: www.cprc.co.uk • Live Webcast: www.cprc.co.uk/live-streaming
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quote to Consider
Matthew Henry on I Kings 1:36-40: “To this [Benaiah the son of Jehoiada] adds a prayer for Solomon (v. 37), that God would be with him as he had been with David, and make his throne greater. He knew David was not one of those that envy their children’s greatness, and that therefore he would not be disquieted at this prayer, nor take it as an affront, but would heartily say Amen to it. The wisest and best man in the world desires his children may be wiser and better than he, for he himself desires to be wiser and better than he is; and wisdom and goodness are true greatness … Zadok took a horn of oil, which denotes both power and plenty, and therewith anointed Solomon. We do not find that Abiathar pretended to anoint Adonijah: he was made king by a feast, not by an unction. Whom God calls, he will qualify, which was signified by the anointing; usurpers had it not. Christ signifies anointed, and he is the king whom God hath set upon his holy hill of Sion, according to decree (Ps. 2:6-7).”
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
Catechism classes will be starting on Monday, 13 September:
Monday, 5:00 PM: Jason & Sebastian (Juniors NT)
Monday, 5:45 PM: Eleanora, Felicity, Hannah, Jorja, Penelope, Sammy, Somaya, Sophie and Yossef (Beginners OT, Book 2)
Monday, 6:30 PM: Angelica, Bradley, Josh, Samuel & Taylor (Heidelberg, Book 1)
Monday, 7:15 PM: Alex, Jacob & Nathan (Essentials)
The Council meeting has been changed from tomorrow to next Monday evening, 20 September, at 8 PM.
Tuesday Bible study at 11 AM will meet upstairs to discuss further the idea of good works as fruit.
The Belgic Confession Class meets this Wednesday at 7:30 PM (not 7:45 PM) to begin a discussion on the millennium. The class will not be live-streamed but the edited audio will go on the website the following day.
Membership Class: Thursday, 11 AM with the Goulds.
Saturday night Bible study will meet this week at church and on-line to consider Hebrews 12:12-27.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Haak is entitled, “Covenant Renewal” (Neh. 10).
Plan to attend this year’s Reformation Day Lecture on Friday, 29 October, entitled “Fulgentius of Ruspe, the Sixth-Century N. African Church and God’s Saving Will.”
Offerings: General Fund: £958.04. Donation: £300 (translator fund).
Translation Additions: 1 Polish and 1 Russian.
Famine in Israel
Brian D. Dykstra
II Samuel 21
The events recorded in this chapter took place early in David’s reign. The Bible records history for us but the chapters are not always organized in historical sequence. There are times when events are grouped together according to a theme. The hint here is that the last half of this chapter deals with David’s battles against the Philistines. However, David had subdued the Philistines, even beginning in the days when Saul was king. The Philistines were no longer a threat to David at the end of his reign.
Scripture tells us there was a famine in Israel for three straight years. It was only after the third year when David inquired of the Lord as to the reason for the famine. Did David think at first that the famine was a mere natural phenomena, a “random” weather cycle? God told David the famine was due to what Saul had done to the Gibeonites.
The Gibeonites were not descendants of Abraham. They were Gentiles. The Gibeonites made peace with Israel during the days of Joshua (Josh. 9). They deceived Israel in pretending to be from a place far away from Canaan. One’s sense of justice feels violated that a peace treaty made under deceitful circumstances must be kept. However, Israel used God’s name to make an oath with the Gibeonites. God never changes, so any oath made in God’s name must be kept. Marriage vows are another example. If marriage does not “work out” in the manner anticipated, one may not change his or her mind and marry another. Oaths must not be made casually.
The Gibeonites were the one nation which did not fight Israel in Joshua’s time. They recognized the terrible might of Israel’s God. They knew it would be futile to resist Him, so they sought peace, even though they used deceit.
David goes to the Gibeonites asking what could be done to satisfy God’s justice so God could bless Israel once more. The Gibeonites had been living with Israel for hundreds of years and their answer shows an understanding of God’s law. God did not allow those guilty of murder to pay the victim’s family with money (see Numbers 35:31, where “satisfaction” refers to a payment of money). The Gibeonites would have no silver or gold.
The Gibeonites also say they do not want David to execute “any man in Israel.” This does not mean the Gibeonites do not any blood shed on their behalf. It’s not that they just want the whole matter to be forgotten. The “any” could be a reference to some randomly selected person as a type of scapegoat because, when David asks again, the Gibeonites request that seven men from Saul’s family, the family which had perpetrated this evil against them, be put to death. David agreed.
Saul had sinfully attacked Gibeon. We don’t know how many Gibeonites he had killed. Saul had said, while trying to gain the support of the people, that David would not reward them with gifts of land as he would (I Sam. 22:7). Did Saul plan to use the land of the slain Gibeonites to reward those who would be faithful to him? Did Saul’s family benefit directly by taking possession of a portion of the Gibeonites’ land? It was just for these family members to be executed. The main responsibility was Saul’s. However, these relatives of Saul were either complicit or directly benefitted from the act and had done nothing do make things right.
These seven men did not include the children of Mephibosheth. Perhaps Mephibosheth’s sons had some involvement in this but, in another example of the binding nature of making oaths in God’s name, David spares them because of the promise he made to Mephibosheth’s father, Jonathan, David’s faithful friend.
The Bible mentions that five of Michal’s sons were given to the Gibeonites for execution. However, Scripture tells us that Michal had no children. We also read of Michal bringing up sons for Adriel but, when Saul gave Michal to another man after being taken away from David, her “husband’s” name is given as Phaltiel. These five men were the sons of Michal’s sister Merab.
This story closes with the sad efforts of Rizpah. Two of her sons were executed. Although she could not stop justice from being carried out against her family, she would do what she could to minimize the shame. The bodies of those executed were hung. These bodies would attract scavengers both day and night. Rizpah camped outdoors for some time doing what she could to keep the scavengers away. David was told of her efforts, so he gave a command to have the bones buried. He also has the bones of Saul and Jonathan removed from their burial place in Jabesh-gilead. All the family members are now buried in the family sepulchre.
The chapter closes by giving some details about David’s battles with the Philistines. I will not address them all.
First, there is the incident of David becoming “faint” in battle. This does not have to mean that David was old at the time of this battle. Even the young can grow weary in battle. We note that Ishbibenob, a giant, had a spear weighing three hundred shekels of brass, which would be about eight pounds. (Goliath’s spear weighed twice as much! This causes us to be even more impressed with David’s going out to defeat him.) Ishbibenob was about to kill David but Abishai delivered David. This close call caused the men to tell David that he would no longer put himself at such risk on the battlefield.
We face the giant enemy of sin. We also grow weary in this battle. We can be assured of God’s help in our time of need. In response to our prayers for deliverance, God, as He has promised, sends His Spirit to comfort us and assure us He’s given us the victory over sin. There are times when God provides fellow saints to encourage and assist us, just as Abishai came to help David.
Finally, we read of “a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number.” My students always wonder about this man. It’s not that the students wonder about this interesting man himself. Rather, they find it baffling that the Bible tells us about his unique fingers and toes. There are so many other stories in the Bible where we are not given fascinating details. Why do we need to know this, they wonder, when we would rather know how the lions behaved toward Daniel when he was in the lions’ den or if Uriah had deduced why he was summoned to Jerusalem? It’s a lesson in contentment. We must be thankful for what God has chosen to reveal to us. Of ourselves, we are so limited in our understanding that we would have no knowledge of God at all, except He is pleased to reveal what He wisely determines to reveal.
