2 Samuel 10:9–12 (NIV)
9 Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. 10 He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites. 11 Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. 12 Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight.”
2 Samuel 15:24–26 (NIV)
24 Zadok was there, too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.
25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the LORD’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. 26 But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.”
2 Samuel 24:14 (NIV)
14 David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”
What does it mean to fall into the hands of the living God? Furthermore, is it safe to do so especially when one is most aware of their iniquities in the face of the Most Holy God?
The book of 2 Samuel gives us many glimpses into the lives of ordinary sinful men who nonetheless chose to fall into the hands of the LORD.
Despite knowing their faults and their predicaments, these men demonstrated that they knew and trusted in the wisdom of God even at the cost of their conceivable good. I say conceivable because that is all we as creatures do. We can only imagine based on the evidence presented to us what possible good can come out of it. Thus, we are as the world we live in, created, and finite, and furthermore, limited. These men went beyond the conceivable and trusted not in what they saw or could imagine, but trusted in whatever good God would ordain. They demonstrated, what many of us would sing on any given LORD's day, "Whate'er God ordains is right... His holy will abideth".
Consider our first example in 2 Samuel 10:9–12. Note the predicament of Joab and his brother and fellow commander, Abishai, "Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you." Yet note what Joab says as an encouragement to his brother before they lock swords with the overwhelming enemy, "Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight.” What is "good"? that we come out of this alive? that our armies are victorious? Joab doesn't say. In fact, he doesn't know, nor need he know. Quite frankly, it is none of his business. His duty is on the field to do battle, and to do it as best he can. Nonetheless, the statement grounding his trust is that "The LORD will do what is good in his sight."
This is what it means to fall in the hands of the LORD. To trust in His goodness, even when we cannot conceive what it might look like for ourselves. One of the stumbling blocks that we have today is the failure to acknowledge the utter depth of our depravity, the curse of being under sin. Our sin distorts reason, and left alone, apart from the grace of the knowledge of God as revealed in His word, His chosen medium, we are bound by our distorted perception. Returning to our example in 2 Samuel 10, Joab and Abishai notably were victorious in this battle. It was, as inferred, good in the eyes of the LORD to grant them victory.
Note the next example, in 2 Samuel 15:24–26, where King David who is aware of his own sins against God is now fleeing from his son Absalom. Zadok, his High Priest does a strategic move in bringing the Ark of the Covenant out of the city with King David. This move would ensure that his son Absalom would be deprived of God's presence and blessing ensuring that David would in time, regain his throne. Now note what David says to his High Priest concerning the Ark of the Covenant, "Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the LORD’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.” David is well aware that the calamity that is befallen him at this time is due to his iniquities against God, indeed, Nathan the Prophet had made him aware of it in his rebuke against him and his sin committed against Uriah the Hittite (2Sam 12:10-12). Perhaps it is for this reason that David is unsure of his office as King - after all, perhaps God wants to depose of him like he did Saul. What good would it be to be King, if it comes without God's blessing and approval? Thus, David in effect leaves his kingship on hold per se, back in the city where it belongs. His hope, like Joab's in the example previous, now rests solely on whatever God sees as good.
David's statement goes a step further than our previous example, in that David readies himself even for an unfavourable response from the LORD. We see this in v.26, "But if he says, "I am not pleased with you," then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him." Such is the trust of one who falls into the hands of the LORD. In falling into His hands, we are not in the position to determine the form of preconceived good that God must do. Rather we acknowledge that what the LORD deems as good, must be done, and we must be ready for it. So indeed, not only do we acknowledge that "Whate'er my God ordains is right," but must also ready ourselves to sing, "though now this cup I'm drinking. May bitter seem to my faint heart, I take it all unshrinking." It is clear then, that David was prepared in his saying "then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him." that he was ready to be deposed of as King over Israel if that was what seemed good in the eyes of the LORD.
Now, we know that it was good in the eyes of the LORD to restore David unto his office as King (2Sam 18:28), and so it would seem that it is the case that God's 'good' is always in our favour in sustaining our life here on earth. But this, of course, is not so.
We now come to the last of the three examples in 2 Samuel 24:14. David has transgressed against the LORD in counting his army, and Gad the prophet confronts him regarding this with three options for punishment falling into two categories (2Sam 24:12-14) as understood by David, "Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.” What proceeds from is anything but pleasant, for we read that "the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died." (2Sam 24:15). Did David misplace his trust? Surely not. But what we may learn from the three examples in regards to our learning to fall into the hands of the LORD can be summed up briefly by C.S Lewis in his book, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, "Aslan is not safe, but he is good.” or as the writer of the Hebrews would remind us regarding the nature of our God in regards to the new covenant, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). Indeed, if our forefathers in the faith dared to fall into the hands of the LORD under a far inferior covenant than the one we possess, much more then the confidence we possess as partakers of the new covenant paid for by the blood of God's own Son. Assuredly, we must persevere in the faith, that though our God is not safe, He surely is good.
Most assuredly, we can with the Apostle Paul say with full confidence, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 8:35-39).
Our Baptist forefathers' were also well acquainted with trusting in the divine providence of God to do whatever seems best in His eyes - this is demonstrated in their their chapter on God's providence, " The perfectly wise, righteous, and gracious God often allows His own children for a time to experience a variety of temptations and the sinfulness of their own hearts. He does this to chastise them for their former sins or to make them aware of the hidden strength of the corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts so that they may be humbled. He also does this to lead them to a closer and more constant dependence on Him to sustain them, to make them more cautious about all future circumstances that may lead to sin, and for other just and holy purposes. So whatever happens to any of His elect happens by His appointment, for His glory and for their good." (5:5 LBC).
It is for this "good" that God can be trusted. The good wherein, we are saved from bondage to sin, and made alive to do works of righteousness in Christ. This is the "good" whereby God is both glorified and we being the most happy when we do receive it.
Doxology: Yahweh is righteous in all His ways and gracious in all his works. (Psalm 145:17)
What e'er my God ordain is right: His holy will abideth; I will be still what e'er He doth, And follow where He guideth. He is my God, though dark my road. He holds me that I shall not fall. And so to him, I leave it all. He holds me that I shall not fall. What e'er my God ordain is right: He never will deceive me. He leads me by the proper path; I know He will not leave me. I take content, what he hath sent. His hand can turn my griefs away, and patiently I wait His day. His hand can turn my griefs away. What e'er my God ordain is right, though now this cup I'm drinking. May bitter seem to my faint heart, I take it all unshrinking. My God is true each morn anew. Sweet comfort yet shall fill my Heart, and pain and sorrow shall depart. Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart. What e'er my God ordain is right. Here shall my stand be taken. Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, yet I am not forsaken. My father's care is round me there. He holds me that I shall not fall, and so to Him, I leave it all. He holds me that I shall not fall. He is my God, though dark my road. He holds me that I shall not fall, And so, to Him I leave it all. He holds me that I shall not fall.
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