“The Spirit of Adonai spoke through me,
His word was on my tongue.”
-2 Samuel 23:2
2nd Samuel Chapter 23 can be neatly split up into two parts.
The first part is David’s final oracle.
The second part is a listing of David’s war cabinet members.
In the first half, we have David acting out the role of a prophet as he doles out one prophetic utterance after another.
The second half deals with historical events and recounts the names of the warriors who fought alongside David, along with their respective hierarchies.
Now, yesterday, I mentioned something intriguing.
I told you this section is connected to the divine oracle that the gentile seer Balaam uttered centuries earlier.
When we did our deep dive into David’s Psalm in Chapter 22, we ran into a couple of places where David claims the reason the Lord delivered him from destruction was because of his purity and lack of sin.
I’m sure you did a couple of double-takes at those statements, given what we know about David’s affair with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of her husband.
As I mentioned, I consider those claims of David to be pure royal arrogance bordering on the delusional.
Many scholars would agree with me on this point.
However, many scholars then go on to say that David’s boasting continues in Chapter 23.
That’s where those scholars and I go our separate ways.
I disagree for one simple reason.
Look at what verse 2 says, homies:
“The Spirit of ADONAI spoke through me,
his word was on my tongue…”
If this were just another run-of-the-mill Psalm of David’s, it wouldn’t be logical to say the Spirit of the Lord was speaking through him, would it?
Ya feel me here?
So I disagree that David is simply continuing the pattern of chapter 22.
Unlike a lot of the other chapter divisions in Scripture, chapter 23 is actually a clean break away from chapter 22, where David was seeking the reason behind his blessings and then wrongly concluded it was because of his moral uprightness.
This leads to our takeaway today.
Scripture records both the fallible and infallible utterances of men.
It is up to us to be discerning and distinguish between those words that are of man and those of God.
If an utterance is preceded by the words, “And the Lord says”...
Then hell man, that means the Lord said it…
Whether those words proceed from a Jewish King…
Or a gentile fortune teller.
Ya feel me?
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“No prophecy of Scripture comes
from someone’s own interpretation.
For no prophecy was ever
produced by the will of man,
but men spoke from God
as they were carried along
by the Holy Spirit.”
— 2 Peter 1:20–21
“We have received not
the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit who is from God,
that we might understand
the things freely given us by God.
And we impart this in words
not taught by human wisdom
but taught by the Spirit.”
— 1 Corinthians 2:12–13
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit,
but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God.”
— 1 John 4:1
“Long ago, at many times
and in many ways,
God spoke to our fathers
by the prophets.”
— Hebrews 1:1
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