15 And the Philistines went to war again with Israel; and David went down with his people, and while they were at Gob they had a fight with the Philistines:
And when the Philistines had news that David had been made king over Israel, they all went up in search of David; and David, hearing of it, went down to the strong place.
And the Philistines came up again, and went in every direction in the valley of Rephaim.
And now, as you see, the Lord has kept me safe these forty-five years, from the time when the Lord said this to Moses, while Israel was wandering in the waste land: and now I am eighty-five years old. And still, I am as strong today as I was when Moses sent me out: as my strength was then, so is it now, for war and for all the business of life.
And David did as the Lord had said; and he overcame the Philistines, attacking them from Gibeon to near Gezer.
Now after this there was war with the Philistines at Gezer; then Sibbecai the Hushathite put to death Sippai, one of the offspring of the Rephaim; and they were overcome.
Now when I am old and grey-headed, O God, give me not up; till I have made clear your strength to this generation, and your power to all those to come.
My flesh and my heart are wasting away: but God is the Rock of my heart and my eternal heritage.
Have you no knowledge of it? has it not come to your ears? The eternal God, the Lord, the Maker of the ends of the earth, is never feeble or tired; there is no searching out of his wisdom. He gives power to the feeble, increasing the strength of him who has no force. Even the young men will become feeble and tired, and the best of them will come to the end of his strength;
This is the word of the Lord: Let not the wise man take pride in his wisdom, or the strong man in his strength, or the man of wealth in his wealth: But if any man has pride, let it be in this, that he has the wisdom to have knowledge of me, that I am the Lord, working mercy, giving true decisions, and doing righteousness in the earth: for in these things I have delight, says the Lord.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Samuel 21
Commentary on 2 Samuel 21 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 21
The date of the events of this chapter is uncertain. I incline to think that they happened as they are here placed, after Absalom's and Sheba's rebellion, and towards the latter end of David's reign. That the battles with the Philistines, mentioned here, were long after the Philistines were subdued, appears by comparing 1 Chr. 18:1 with 20:4. The numbering of the people was just before the fixing of the place of the temple (as appears 1 Chr. 22:1), and that was towards the close of David's life; and, it should seem, the people were numbered just after the three years' famine for the Gibeonites, for that which is threatened as "three' years' famine (1 Chr. 21:12) is called "seven' years (2 Sa. 24:12, 13), three more, with the year current, added to those three. We have here,
2Sa 21:1-9
Here
2Sa 21:10-14
Here we have,
2Sa 21:15-22
We have here the story of some conflicts with the Philistines, which happened, as it should seem, in the latter end of David's reign. Though he had so subdued them that they could not bring any great numbers into the field, yet as long as they had any giants among them to be their champions, they would never be quiet, but took all occasions to disturb the peace of Israel, to challenge them, or make incursions upon them.