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The "Be" Commentary
Be Restored (2 Samuel & 1 Chronicles): Trusting God to See Us Through
Our God longs to restore that which is broken. Fractured relationships. Hurting families. Divided churches. No situation is beyond His grace. And most miraculous of all? He chooses to use broken people to heal broken situations. The book of 2 Samuel is a remarkable testimony to this truth. Here we find King David, a godly man reeling from tragic choices, struggling to unify a nation torn apart by civil war. This study looks at God’s passion for restoring lives, relationships and His church, by working through those who are simply available to Him. Part of Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe’s best-selling “BE” commentary series, Be Restored has now been updated with study questions and a new introduction by Ken Baugh. A respected pastor and Bible teacher, Dr. Wiersbe shares that no broken person is beyond God’s power. You’ll discover that—no matter your story, no matter your situation—God can use you to bring about restoration in this world.
240 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
94 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
About the author
Warren W. Wiersbe
662 books414 followersWarren W. Wiersbe, former pastor of the Moody Church and general director of Back to the Bible, has traveled widely as a Bible teacher and conference speaker. Because of his encouragement to those in ministry, Dr. Wiersbe is often referred to as 'the pastor's pastor.' He has ministered in churches and conferences throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Central and South America, and Europe. Dr. Wiersbe has written over 150 books, including the popular BE series of commentaries on every book of the Bible, which has sold more than four million copies. At the 2002 Christian Booksellers Convention, he was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement Award by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Dr. Wiersbe and his wife, Betty, live in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 5, 2023
So I read this book for the first time in January 2021 and just finished it for a second time.
This is a very biased “commentary” in favour of David and glosses over the fact that David’s downfall was a result of his sin against Bathsheba (which, in my opinion, was rape).
Here are just a few glaring issues with this book.
- page 23: He claims that the elegy David wrote about Saul “set an example for all of us to follow in paying loving tribute to those who have died in battle to protect their country.” This is eisegesis at its finest. Would he say the same to people from non democratic nations?
- page 85 “Maybe she wanted to have a baby with the king!” He goes out of his way to deny that David had power over Bathsheba, even insinuating that Bathsheba wanted to get pregnant! He later goes on to say, “The biblical text doesn’t tell us and educated guesses aren’t much help.” Then why bother placing blame on the woman? Bathsheba was the lamb in Nathan’s parable, which means she was innocent.
- page 118 He compares Ahithophel’s betrayal of David to Judas betraying Jesus. This completely misses the point. All of David’s downfalls subsequent to 2 Samuel 11 are because of his violation of Bathsheba. Why didn’t David get upset with Amnon for raping Tamar? Because he did the same thing to Bathsheba. This is what led to Absalom’s betrayal, and Ahithophel was related to Bathsheba (which to his credit, Wiersbe points out).
This is a very biased “commentary” in favour of David and glosses over the fact that David’s downfall was a result of his sin against Bathsheba (which, in my opinion, was rape).
Here are just a few glaring issues with this book.
- page 23: He claims that the elegy David wrote about Saul “set an example for all of us to follow in paying loving tribute to those who have died in battle to protect their country.” This is eisegesis at its finest. Would he say the same to people from non democratic nations?
- page 85 “Maybe she wanted to have a baby with the king!” He goes out of his way to deny that David had power over Bathsheba, even insinuating that Bathsheba wanted to get pregnant! He later goes on to say, “The biblical text doesn’t tell us and educated guesses aren’t much help.” Then why bother placing blame on the woman? Bathsheba was the lamb in Nathan’s parable, which means she was innocent.
- page 118 He compares Ahithophel’s betrayal of David to Judas betraying Jesus. This completely misses the point. All of David’s downfalls subsequent to 2 Samuel 11 are because of his violation of Bathsheba. Why didn’t David get upset with Amnon for raping Tamar? Because he did the same thing to Bathsheba. This is what led to Absalom’s betrayal, and Ahithophel was related to Bathsheba (which to his credit, Wiersbe points out).
March 23, 2013
Helpful overview of the complicated, emotional life and rule of King David, the man after God's heart.
September 18, 2023
Such a helpful commentary on David’s life. 1 Samuel you see David be called and how he lived until he became king. 2 Samuel you see him sitting on the throne. This book taught me so much about how impactful leadership and our choices are. What leaders do, including their sins, impacts many others outside of themselves. David was far from perfect but at the end of it all, he was the king after God’s own heart and he was the king all the others were held up to in their reigns.
May 30, 2017
A good Bible study companion to Davids life as a king.
April 19, 2022
King David appears earlier in 1 Samuel and later in 1 Kings and Chronicles, but 2 Samuel covers King David’s reign in Israel. Warren Wiersbe offers insights and helps for our reading 2 Samuel in his commentary Be Restored (2 Samuel & 1 Chronicles): Trusting God to See Us Through.
Within the overarching progression of God’s Word and purposes, most notable in this book is the covenant God made with David that He would establish David’s line as an everlasting kingdom and that David’s son would build a house for His name: the temple which would be the centerpiece of Israel’s worship system for years to come. Ultimately David’s descendants would culminate in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the everlasting King. Jesus is sometimes called “the Son of David.”
David is a favorite character of many, with his rags-to-riches story of the shepherd boy who became a king, his unabashed faith that God would use him to take care of Goliath, his earnestness in following the Lord, his outpouring of his heart in so many psalms that we can identify with.
David was never perfect, but he was teachable and usually readily admitted when he was mistaken.
Then came his fall with Bathsheba. Instead of turning away, as Joseph did when tempted, David continued to entertain the thought of the beautiful woman he had seen, until he called for her and lay with her. Then when she became pregnant, David tried to manipulate her husband, Uriah, one of his mighty men, to go home so the baby would be thought to be his. But Uriah was honorable and would not partake of the pleasures of home while his brothers were on the battlefield. So David arranged to have Uriah put in the hottest part of the battle, where he was killed.
David’s house was in turmoil for many years after that. God forgave him when he repented (Psalm 51), but there are consequences even for forgiven sin.
The next-to-last chapter of 2 Samuel contains David’s “last words”—not the last words of his that we see in Scripture, but probably a psalm written near the end of his life. Wiersbe suggests that since the psalm’s subject is godly leadership, it may have been written for Solomon, who would succeed David as king. In verses 3-4, David writes: “The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.” Wiersbe comments that godly leadership “is an awesome responsibility. It demands character and integrity (‘just’ = righteous) and a submissive attitude toward the Lord (‘the fear of God’). Without righteousness and the fear of God, a leader becomes a dictator and abuses God’s people, driving them like cattle instead of leading them like sheep” (p. 183).
Wiersbe expands:
With all his faults and failures, David was, for the most part, such a leader. How we need such leaders today.
Within the overarching progression of God’s Word and purposes, most notable in this book is the covenant God made with David that He would establish David’s line as an everlasting kingdom and that David’s son would build a house for His name: the temple which would be the centerpiece of Israel’s worship system for years to come. Ultimately David’s descendants would culminate in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the everlasting King. Jesus is sometimes called “the Son of David.”
David is a favorite character of many, with his rags-to-riches story of the shepherd boy who became a king, his unabashed faith that God would use him to take care of Goliath, his earnestness in following the Lord, his outpouring of his heart in so many psalms that we can identify with.
David was never perfect, but he was teachable and usually readily admitted when he was mistaken.
Then came his fall with Bathsheba. Instead of turning away, as Joseph did when tempted, David continued to entertain the thought of the beautiful woman he had seen, until he called for her and lay with her. Then when she became pregnant, David tried to manipulate her husband, Uriah, one of his mighty men, to go home so the baby would be thought to be his. But Uriah was honorable and would not partake of the pleasures of home while his brothers were on the battlefield. So David arranged to have Uriah put in the hottest part of the battle, where he was killed.
David’s house was in turmoil for many years after that. God forgave him when he repented (Psalm 51), but there are consequences even for forgiven sin.
The next-to-last chapter of 2 Samuel contains David’s “last words”—not the last words of his that we see in Scripture, but probably a psalm written near the end of his life. Wiersbe suggests that since the psalm’s subject is godly leadership, it may have been written for Solomon, who would succeed David as king. In verses 3-4, David writes: “The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.” Wiersbe comments that godly leadership “is an awesome responsibility. It demands character and integrity (‘just’ = righteous) and a submissive attitude toward the Lord (‘the fear of God’). Without righteousness and the fear of God, a leader becomes a dictator and abuses God’s people, driving them like cattle instead of leading them like sheep” (p. 183).
Wiersbe expands:
David used a beautiful metaphor to picture the work of the leader: rain and sunshine that together produce useful fruit instead of painful thorns (23: 4–7) (p. 183).
With God’s help, leaders must create such a creative atmosphere that their colaborers will be able to grow and produce fruit. Ministry involves both sunshine and rain, bright days and cloudy days; but a godly leader’s ministry will produce gentle rain that brings life and not storms that destroy. What a delight it is to follow a spiritual leader who brings out the best in us and helps us produce fruit for the glory of God! Unspiritual leaders produce thorns that irritate people and make progress very difficult (2 Sam. 23: 6–7) (pp 183-184).
With all his faults and failures, David was, for the most part, such a leader. How we need such leaders today.
November 22, 2020
Excellent in-depth study of David's life during his 40 year reign. I felt like I knew a lot about David and his rise to leadership before going into this book, but now I feel as if I've met David personally, almost like joining a small group for 8 weeks that he's leading! Every chapter goes into detail with the history and context (fascinating connections to Deuteronomy and other earlier books) but also makes connections to Jesus and discussion questions encourage applying it all to your life. I would read and work through more books in this series, though they aren't as engaging or challenging as Beth Moore's workbooks like the one on Psalms of Ascent.
My favorite quote: The Lord can heal a broken heart if we give all the pieces to Him and obey Him by faith.
My favorite quote: The Lord can heal a broken heart if we give all the pieces to Him and obey Him by faith.
May 4, 2025
As Wiersbe says, Trusting God to See Us Through
So much to learn in 2Samuel and 1 Chronicles about King David and the Lord God! Wiersbe weaves together Old and Testament truth in the lives of King David . A must read for every Bible Studying Christian. I wish I’d read it 40 years ago, thankful God gave me the direction and time to read it now.
So much to learn in 2Samuel and 1 Chronicles about King David and the Lord God! Wiersbe weaves together Old and Testament truth in the lives of King David . A must read for every Bible Studying Christian. I wish I’d read it 40 years ago, thankful God gave me the direction and time to read it now.
December 2, 2019
As with the rest of the "BE" series, Wiersbe clearly presents God's Word in a simple, easy to understand way. He thoroughly evaluates each chapter and verse in a way the helps even the beginning Bible reader to understand.
July 30, 2018
Great work covering 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, with amazing historic and biblical insights into David’s life, the good, bad, and ugly, but also the sovereignty of God!
December 25, 2021
Warren Wiersbe made the history of King David come alive. He writes so the average person understands.
April 30, 2022
A commentary on David's life, from before he reign and prepare his army to the late end of his life. This is history book, but the author could dig so much in his commentary.
May 18, 2022
Wonderful study
We use this commentary for our Small Group Class. I have loved learning more about this part of the Bible.
We use this commentary for our Small Group Class. I have loved learning more about this part of the Bible.
April 4, 2024
Be Restored is not only a Bible study of 2 Samuel, but it also gets into all the parallel passages in 1 Chronicles. Second Samuel begins with Saul’s death and ends with David’s. One of the overarching themes is restoration - of the nation (the unifying of the 12 tribes), of the individual (David after his sin with Bathsheba), and of the throne (after Absalom rebels). It also illustrates how God enabled David and the people of Israel to carry out His will. Wiersbe suggests that one big lesson we can learn from David’s life is that God can use imperfect people in accomplishing His purposes. If we confess and repent of our sins, God will forgive us. Although that won’t remove the consequences of that sin in this life, He will restore is to a right relationship with Himself. Nothing is beyond God’s ability to put right.
Wiersbe writes: “We live in a shattered and fragmented world, but God’s eternal goal is to bring all things together in Christ (Eph. 1:10). God is looking for men and women who will yield to His power and help restore broken lives, homes, churches, cities, and nations. Are you available?”
Wiersbe writes: “We live in a shattered and fragmented world, but God’s eternal goal is to bring all things together in Christ (Eph. 1:10). God is looking for men and women who will yield to His power and help restore broken lives, homes, churches, cities, and nations. Are you available?”
November 24, 2023
A great book reflecting on King David's mistakes and how God loves to fix what is broken. I loved this!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews