Dealing With Unfinished Business & Singing About God’s Mercy

Scripture References

Primary text

• 2 Samuel 21
• 2 Samuel 22

Other references

• Joshua 9
• Genesis 6
• Genesis 14
• Deuteronomy 2
• Deuteronomy 3
• 1 Samuel 17:40
• 1 Samuel 18:19
• 1 Chronicles 20:5
• Psalm 66:8
• 2 Samuel 12:13

Overview

David nears the end of his reign and looks back. Chapter 21 revisits a three-year famine that God used to expose Saul’s un-repaid blood-guilt against the Gibeonites. Once justice is done, the heavens open again. Chapter 22 is David’s personal song of praise (paralleled in Psalm 18) celebrating the Lord as rock, rescuer, and merciful judge. Together the chapters call us to seek God when trouble lingers, correct hidden sin, resist people-pleasing, and rest in the mercy that makes us righteous.

Main Points

1. Three Years of Famine & the Forgotten Covenant (21:1-14)

• Repeated famine signaled divine displeasure; David asked God “why?” instead of guessing.
• God revealed the issue: Saul had tried to annihilate the Gibeonites, violating Israel’s centuries-old oath made in Joshua 9.
• Principle: God remembers promises we forget; broken covenants carry consequences.
• Saul’s motive was “zeal for Israel and Judah” — people-pleasing, not God-pleasing.
  • Lesson: Like Saul, a people-pleaser makes a poor leader.
• The Gibeonites declined money or random executions; they asked for seven male descendants of Saul to be handed over—a culturally accepted form of justice.
• David spared Mephibosheth (Jonathan’s disabled son) because of his earlier oath, but surrendered two sons of Saul’s concubine Rizpah (Armoni & another Mephibosheth) plus five sons raised by Michal* for Adriel.
  • Text note: Most manuscripts indicate these five were actually birthed by Merab; Michal raised them.
• Rizpah kept vigil over the exposed bodies from spring to autumn, driving away birds and beasts—graphic evidence of sin’s cost.
• Only after the bodies were honorably re-interred with Saul and Jonathan did “God heed the prayer for the land” (21:14).
  • Application: Sometimes God waits to answer until hidden sin is addressed (cf. Psalm 66:8).

2. Giants Fall—Again (21:15-22)

• David, now older, grew faint in battle; Abishai rescued him from Ishbi-Benob, a giant armed with a 10-lb spear.
• David’s men barred him from future front-line fighting: “lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”
• Three more giants fell—Saph, Lahmi (Goliath’s brother), and an unnamed six-fingered, six-toed warrior.
• All were “born to the giant in Gath,” likely relatives of Goliath, fulfilling why David had once collected five stones (1 Samuel 17:40).
• Background offered: Giants trace back to the Nephilim of Genesis 6; similar groups reappear post-flood (Rephaites, Anakites, etc.).
  • Takeaway: No enemy is too large when God fights for His people.

3. David’s Song of Deliverance (22:1-51 ≈ Psalm 18)

• Written late in life as a worship psalm placed in Israel’s songbook.
• God is celebrated with nine titles: rock, fortress, deliverer, strength, shield, horn of salvation, stronghold, refuge, savior.
• Vivid imagery: earthquakes, thunder, soaring on cherubim—God moves heaven and earth for His servant.
• Refrain of rescue verbs: He sent, took, drew, delivered, supported, brought out.
• Verses 21-25: David speaks of his righteousness and clean hands. The teacher explained two views:
  1. Written before the Bathsheba fall.
  2. Written after, reflecting forgiveness announced by Nathan (2 Samuel 12:13).
  • Emphasized view #2: We must see ourselves the way God now sees us—cleansed and righteous through mercy.
• Closing stanzas return to mercy: “He shows mercy to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”
  • Point: However heroic our story sounds, it ends with God’s mercy, not our performance.

Key Truths

• Persistent trouble can be God’s invitation to ask, “Lord, what’s wrong?” rather than blame circumstances.
• People-pleasing leadership neglects God’s will and eventually harms others.
• God hears and acts after sin is confessed and justice is pursued.
• No enemy—giant or otherwise—outmatches the God who equips and delivers His servants.
• Believers must anchor identity in God’s declared forgiveness, not past failure.

Response

• Inquire of God when patterns of hardship repeat; don’t assume, ask.
• Honor your promises and correct any you have broken.
• Lead to please God, not to gain approval from people.
• Confront and repent of hidden or past sin so prayer is unhindered.
• Worship regularly, recounting specific rescues God has accomplished in your life.
• Embrace your forgiven status in Christ—live as one whose “clean hands” come from mercy.

Closing

David’s generation could not move forward until unfinished sin from Saul’s day was faced. When justice came, the famine lifted and David broke into song. His life-long testimony is ours: God defeats giants, hears cries, forgives deeply, and “shows mercy to His anointed.” May lingering battles or guilt drive us to the same merciful Rock who rescues and restores.