Praying All of Scripture: 2 Samuel
Author: Daniel Owens, PhD
June 17, 2026
Tenth in a series.
2 Samuel 5:1–5
1Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. 2In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’ ” 3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. 4David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
2 Samuel 7:4–17
4But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 5“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’ 8Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ” 17In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
2 Samuel 12:7–15
7Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’ ” 13David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” 15Then Nathan went to his house. And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick.
2 Samuel 22:50–51
50“For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. 51Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.”
***
David is nearly the greatest hero of the Bible, but he is also one of the most flawed. When I think of David, I rejoice that we enjoy so much more clarity about the gospel now that Jesus has come. Most precious in regard to David is the fact that we sinners are declared righteous because of the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 3:21–26). The phrase associated with Martin Luther comes to mind, that we are simul iustus et peccator (“simultaneously justified and a sinner”). David was a recurrent sinner, like each of us.
Yet somehow God graciously worked through him to build the kingdom in Israel. Multiple times he judged David, and yet God remained faithful to David. David’s life raises a question: How can we know God will receive us even after we sin? What does God’s faithfulness to sinners chosen by grace look like? Second Samuel shows us God’s faithful grace to the sinner, David, in a way that reassures us of God’s faithfulness and points forward to the greater David, to Jesus.
Second Samuel narrates the latter part of David’s life, which begins with his consolidation of power and concludes with his disastrous census. It picks up where 1 Samuel left off, with the news of Saul’s death reaching David’s ears down in Ziklag. In fact, 1 and 2 Samuel were one book in the Hebrew, but they are long enough that when Jews first translated their Bible into Greek, the addition of vowels made it long enough that they divided the work in two.
This beginning is punctuated by David’s swift dispatching of an Amalekite who claims to have killed Saul and David’s words of lament, “How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!” (2 Sam. 1:27). The elders of Judah anoint David king over them (2 Samuel 2), and a struggle with the house of Saul for the kingship begins, resulting in the death of Ish Bosheth, the eventual anointing of David as king of all Israel, and David’s relocation to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 3–5). David then brings the Ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6), and God makes a covenant with David, promising to build him a forever house, from which his covenant love would not depart (2 Samuel 7).
God gives David success as he expands his rule over neighboring peoples (2 Samuel 8–10). However, David grows complacent and sins by lying with Bathsheba and arranging for her husband to die in battle (2 Samuel 11). God sends Nathan the prophet to confront David, and he repents (2 Samuel 12), but not without the loss of the son born to Bathsheba and the prophetic judgment against the house of David, “therefore the sword shall never depart from your house” (2 Sam. 12:10). That judgment comes true quickly as Absalom avenges the rape of his sister Tamar by killing Amnon, his half-brother, fleeing, and then after being restored to relationship with David, seeking to supplant David as king (2 Samuel 13–16).
With help from allies, David and his men escape and then defeat Absalom (2 Samuel 17–18). David muddles through the aftermath of Absalom’s rebellion, which includes another rebellion (2 Samuel 19–20). The closing chapters of the book pull together several events in David’s life and include some of David’s poetry, finishing with his infamous census (2 Samuel 21–24). The poetry highlights God’s deliverance (2 Sam 22:50–51) and his covenant commitment to David (2 Sam 23:5).
What are we to make of David? In his life we see success and failure, strength and weakness, not unlike our own lives. We see a leader who achieved much and suffered much, thanks to his own shortcomings. I say David is almost the greatest hero of the Bible because Jesus is the greatest hero of the Bible. While David as king could act for justice, Jesus is just in himself. While David had success in expanding the borders of Israel, Jesus shall reign over all peoples. Jesus is the Davidic king who succeeds where David struggled.
And so we can pray,
Our Father, we know you have chosen Jesus to be shepherd over your people. We thank you that you were faithful and kind to David because we too fail in the ways that David failed. You are the God who calls us to obedience to your word, and we know that your word is what we need to live well before you. We praise you among the nations because you both gave success to David and called him to repentance when he sinned. Help us to respond in like manner to your rebuke, to confess that we are sinners, and to turn to you by faith that you have chosen Jesus as your true king to bring us to you, through Jesus our Lord, amen.
Daniel Owens is NCC’s Pastor of Discipleship. Earlier chapters in this series will be found in the NCC Blog.
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