What is the book of 2 Samuel all about? 

“Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16)


The book of 2 Samuel follows on from where 1 Samuel left off. In fact, the two books together form a cohesive larger narrative telling the story of the establishment of kingship in Israel. One way the story shows this is that the end of 2 Samuel includes a couple of songs of David (chapters 22 and 23) that mirror and echo Hannah’s song of praise to God at the beginning of 1 Samuel. In other words, God has given us reminders both at the beginning and the end of this duology that in the end the story is all about His glory and goodness. But how does the story of 2 Samuel show that theme?


What do we need to know to read 2 Samuel?

The book of 2 Samuel has 2 interconnected themes running through it:
 

David's wavering faithfulness

If the second half of 1 Samuel showed Saul’s rise (chapters 9-12) and fall (chapters 13-31) alongside David’s rise (chapters 16-31), 2 Samuel continues that trend.
Chapters 1-10 show David’s rise to the throne of Israel, and all his successes on behalf of God and His people. In God’s grace David shows himself to be a wise and brave king, fighting to protect the people and uniting them together under God. He lays plans for a permanent temple in Jerusalem to focus people’s worship on God. He expresses great faith in God in heartfelt prayer and worship – even to the point when his wife scorns him for going too ‘all-out’ in worship (see chapter 6).
But the second half of the book (chapters 11-24) takes a stark downward turn. It starts with David committing horrendous sin: adultery with Bathsheba and then murder of her husband Uriah to cover it up (chapters 11-12). Before long David’s weakness as a parent show through as his children repeat his sins: first with his son Ammon raping his daughter Tamar and his other son Absalom murdering Ammon in response (chapter 13). After this, Absalom plots to usurp his father on the throne (chapters 14-15), and David finds himself on the run once again (chapters 15-18). After Absalom is killed by Joab, David’s chief general, David returns to Jerusalem and to the throne. But he is now a broken man, a shadow of the great king he was. The end of the book (chapters 21-24) is a carefully-constructed reflection on David’s frailty and on God’s great goodness.

God's unwavering faithfulness

If David showed himself in the story to be a deeply flawed individual, God’s faithfulness stands in wonderfully stark contrast. The high point of the book is chapter 7, in which David expresses his desire to build a house (temple) for God in Jerusalem. In response God gives him a prophetic promise: God will build him a ‘house’ (dynasty). In one of the most important passages in the whole Old Testament, God lays out a promise that He will make David’s kingly line endure forever by anointing a forever King – the Messiah. 

So what?

By the end of 2 Samuel we are left with a soberingly realistic view of human kingship, having seen both the rise and fall of the king who was said to be a man after God’s own heart (see 1 Samuel 13:14). But we are not left hopeless by any stretch: we hold onto that wonderful promise of God to raise up a perfect eternal King. And Matthew chapter 1, the first chapter in the New Testament, immediately makes clear that Jesus is the fulfilment of that very hope. Under Jesus we can truly be “God’s people in God’s place under His rule,” a people “…who will know His blessing!”