The Price of a Promise Broken - 2 Samuel 21:1-14
April 30, 2025

The Price of a Promise Broken

2 Samuel 21:1-14
Darrin Marriot, Lead Pastor

Big Idea: There is a price to pay for broken promises. But thankfully, God is faithful to keep every promise.
2 Samuel 21:1-14
1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the LORD?”4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?”5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel6 let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” And the king said, “I will give them.”7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the LORD that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.8 The king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite9 and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the LORD, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.10 Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.11 When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done12 David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.13 And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged.14 And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that God responded to the plea for the land.

I. The Price of a Promise Broken (vv. 1-14)

A. A prolonged famine has descended upon Israel and David seeks
the Lord’s face to discern its cause. God reveals that the reason
for the famine is Saul’s killing of many Gibeonites, which
violated a long-held oath to the people made by Joshua (cf. Jos.
9:15-21). David seeks to make amends for Saul’s sin, but it will
come at a very high price (vv. 3-6).

Joshua 9:15-21
15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.16 At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them.17 And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.18 But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders.19 But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them.20 This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.”21 And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said of them.

B. This account reminds us that:

1. God takes oaths seriously (cf. Num. 30:2; Matt. 5:33-37) –
Our word is our bond and should not be taken lightly.

Numbers 30:2
2 If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.


Matthew 5:33-37
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

2. God takes His Word seriously (cf. Jer. 1:12; 1 Thes. 2:13) –
God does not treat His Word flippantly or carelessly.

Jeremiah 1:12
12 Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

1 Thessalonians 2:13
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

3. God takes sin seriously (cf. Hab. 1:13; Rom. 6:23a) – Sin is
a violation of God’s holy and righteous nature.

Habakkuk 1:13
13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?


Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

C. The Gibeonites were focused on vengeance, but David was
focused on justice. David wanted to right a wrong, and his
actions remind us of the importance of seeking God’s face and
thoughtfully considering our promises (cf. Jos. 9:19-20).

Joshua 9:19-20
19 But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them.20 This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.”

II. The Power of a Promise Kept (cf. Rom. 6:23; Jn. 3:36)
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.


John 3:36
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

A. We may look at this episode of Israel’s history with dismay or
shock, but we need to remember the gravity of sin and the
lengths to which God has gone to redeem us through Christ.

B. The Good News:

1. God, by His grace, offers us the gift of eternal life through
Messiah Jesus (cf. Rom. 6:23; Jn. 3:36).

Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.


John 3:36
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

2. Jesus paid the penalty of sin, and we can experience
forgiveness by believing in Christ (cf. Jn, 3:16).

John 3:16
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

3. God has given the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Jesus,
as a guarantee of His promises (cf. Eph. 1:13-14).

Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

C. God is faithful; He keeps His promises. May we be a people
who keep our promises to His glory!