Galen Call's Sermon Library
"Heartaches Without Number - Part 1"- May 19, 1985 (PM Service)
We're going to look primarily at 2 Samuel, chapter 15, but we'll need to give a little background to the chapter in preparation for it. You recall that we've studied about David's sin with Bathsheba and the confrontation that God brought about with Nathan, his prophet, to bring David to the point of repentance. David did repent and God forgave him. But nonetheless, God allowed the consequences of David's sin to unfold. God is not unfaithful to us when he allows that to take place. It is the norm rather than the exception that is our consequences fall out to us. Occasionally God may graciously intervene and spare us from the consequences, but normally he does not, and with David he did not. In chapter 13 there is the sordid story of David's daughter, Tamar. David's son, Amnon, his son by another woman, and Tamar's mother, lusted after his own sister and devised a scheme whereby he got her alone and he violated her. He assaulted her sexually. Now he said that he loved her. You can always tell the difference between love and lust. Lust cannot and will not wait to be fulfilled in his desires. Love gladly waits until the right time. Many nagers, young adults, don't ever forget that. I care not how persuasive the argument may be. If someone says to you, if you really love me, you will understand that that is not the will of God. If that person really loves you, that person will be willing to wait until marriage, which is God's time. The news of what had happened got back to David, and it says there in chapter 13 that David was very angry, very angry when he heard what had taken place there in his own household. But interestingly, his anger was only a flare up and he did nothing to discipline Amnon. As a result of that, Tamar's brother, Absalom, went to her defense. He took him two years, two years, but he finally schemed away by which he could get even with Amnon, and he killed him. He murdered his own half-brother to pay him back for what had happened to his sister. Absalom then fled. He went to the land of the Gentiles to a place called Gishur, and there he lived for a period of time, and David was content for that to be so, although he desperately loved this boy Absalom. Now it may be that Absalom had other motives for killing Amnon than just to defend the honor of his sister. It could be that he had thoughts even at that point for the throne, because Amnon was the next one in line, to be the king, and this was an excuse for removing Amnon so that Absalom himself would be the next to the throne. Nonetheless, David was content to allow Absalom to remain in Gishur, but Joab devised a scheme. If you think there's a lot of scheming going on in David's household, you're absolutely right, and David is the one that showed them exactly how to do it. Joab schemed away in order to get Absalom back from the land of the Gentiles to Jerusalem, and Absalom did come home, and it was approximately three to five years, depending upon how you figure it, before David ever saw Absalom again. The day came when he went before his father and David kissed him and seemed to forgive him. David caused this bitterness to arise in his son, Absalom, when he refused, or at least carelessly, did not discipline Amnon. It is interesting that Amnon, because of his sin against his half-sister, should have been what? According to the Old Testament law, should have been killed, he should have been executed. But David, of course, did not do that, and it could be that memories of his near past did not allow him to press for what the law demanded. Anyway, Absalom came back home, and when he was there for a period of time, he began to maneuver away by which he could become the king of Israel. And so in our text for tonight, in chapter 15, David faces the most serious challenge of his kingship, and is from his own son. You say, "Well, how in the world is this possible that David would be put into a place like this?" Well, there are two things I want to say to that. In the first place, David had failed to discipline his children. In first Kings, chapter 1, verse 6, it says regarding Adonaija, but by way of extrapolation, I think we can safely say that it was true of his other sons as well, that he did not discipline his children. David allowed them to get by with things, and the result of that was that he did not have control over his own household. That then seems to have spread from his own household into his kingdom. For as the glory years wore off when David was in war and leading the armies on in victory, David seems to have lost some control in the administration of his kingdom. His government deteriorated. There was a lack of firmness in his governing of the people, and that resulted in an opening for someone who would to try to challenge David. In verses 1 through 12, we see the rebellion of Absalom. We notice in verse 1 that it began with Inward Sin. What came about after this that Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses and fifty men as runners before him. The outward rebellion began with an inward sin in his heart, and normally before you see an outward manifestation of some sin, there has been sin long hidden in the heart that has been undelped with. It is still true today. It is true in your life and mine very often. It was true in the case of Absalom. You see, what was his inward sin? Well, it seems to be twofold. In the first place there seems to have been a good deal of pride in this young man. He was a man who was known for his handsomeness. Back in the previous chapter 14, verses 25 and 26, it says, "Now in all Israel was no one as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised, from the soul of his foot to the crown of his head, there was no defect in him." Now I can hear some of the young bucks around here saying, "Well, that sounds like me." Well, you'll have to be the judge of that. Maybe this sounds like you too. In verse 26 it says, "When he cut the hair of his head, it weighed 3.5 to 4 pounds. It was a very stylish thing to allow the hair to grow in that day, and he had long hair. And when it was cut, because it was cut at the end of every year, that it weighed 200 shekels. According to the king's weight, that's 3.5 to 4 pounds. Now I need a haircut, that's what my mother told me last night anyway. But I don't think it'll weigh quite that much. A lot of hair on the head was beautiful to the Jews in that day. So they had full beards and moustaches and long hair, of course, periodically they had to cut it. Absalom seems to have been rather taken with himself. And when a person gets in that position and becomes impressed with what he looks like and his abilities and so on, he's in a lot of trouble. That trouble may not surface immediately, but there are seeds in his heart that are going to cause real problems later in his life. He did not recognize, apparently, that these things were the gift of God but prided himself in what he was. Consequently, he got together a retinue of 50 men who ran before him wherever he went and he had a chariot and horses and the Hebrew here specifies that this was no ordinary chariot. This was a Corvette chariot. I mean, this was a sports chariot. This was one that was really something else to see. It was impressive and it went right along with the image that he had of himself. So that seems to have been one problem inwardly and then he had a problem, I think, with bitterness. Oh, he may have been bitter still over what happened to Timor, but I believe that he was really bitter to his dad and I'll tell you why. I think that it arose from the fact that David apparently only half-heartedly forgave his son. Yes, he did bring him back into his presence and the king kissed Absalom according to verse 33 in chapter 14, which was symbolic of acceptance, but there was not real heart acceptance there so it would seem. David did not fully forgive Absalom for what had taken place. That does seem rather strange, doesn't it? Because God had wholeheartedly and freely forgiven David when he repented, confessed his sin. Aren't we a lot like David? God graciously forgives us over and over again when we confess our sins and yet there are times when we are reluctant to forgive others of their trespasses against us. And sometimes when we do forgive, it's only half-hearted. It's not a real forgiveness. Fisions 4.32 was my daughter's memory verse this last week in school. He says, "Be kind, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." Apparently Absalom felt that he was not forgiven completely by his dad and so there was bitterness that came up in his heart against his father and caused him to rebel. He led to secret scheming on his part, verse 2, "An Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way to the gate." It happened that when any man had a suit to come to the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, "From what city are you?" And he would say, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel." Absalom would say to him, "See, your claims are good and right, but no man listens to you on the part of the king." Moreover Absalom would say, "Oh, that one would appoint me, judge in the land. Then every man who has any suit or cause could come to me and I would give him justice." That sounds like the political party that's out of office, doesn't it? And that's exactly what Absalom was doing here. He was being a politician and verse 5 says, "It happened that when a man came near to prostrate himself before him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. And if this man or Absalom dealt with all Israel who came to the king for judgment, so Absalom stole away the hearts of the man of Israel. What we have here is a classic backslapper. We have a guy who knew how to be a politician. He was a bad son but an excellent politician. And so he worked with the citizens of the land, especially those who had problems, those who were open to discontent. And he fostered that. He nurtured their discontent in order to win their hearts away from the king. Doesn't that remind you of politicians? They may not know a thing about what they're doing or about the issues or have answers to the problems, but they backslap, they handshake, they work the crowds with smiles and promise that if they are elected, that is the total answer to everything. And so often the gullible public believes that. I think I would much rather vote for a man who would say honestly, "Look, I don't have all the answers," and who would ask for the prayers of the people. But that's not politically good judgment. It reminds me of some preachers, too, who don't know which way is up theologically and who can't preach their way out of a paper bag, but who can really shake hands well and impress people and come on strong with their personality. And the result of that is that they get into a church, they're voted in, and once they're in, they wreck it. I know of churches that way and you know of churches that way, and it's always a tragic thing. Well, that's the kind of a guy that Absalom became. And his scheme also included deceitful piety. In verse 7 it came about at the end of 40 years that Absalom said to the king. Now that 40 there is probably a scribal error that was passed down on some of the copies of the Old Testament, probably it's four. If in fact it is 40 then we don't know exactly what the date is from that the writer is talking about. And by the way, as you know, in the copies of the Old Testament there can be insignificant scribal errors like this. The inspiration of the scripture which is in errant refers to the original writings. I think most of you understand that. Now he says, "Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord in Hebron. For your servant vowed a vow while I was living in Geecher in Aram saying, 'If the Lord shall indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.' The king said to him, 'Go in peace, and so he arose and went to Hebron.' So he masqueraded his treachery with a show of religious duty. He said, 'I have a vow to fulfill to God, a vow that I made when I was in the foxhole back there in Geecher, and now I have to fulfill that vow.' Of course David believed him, but his son was deceiving him. He just wanted to get away from the city so he could organize his rebellion. In verse 10 we see that beginning to gel. Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel saying, 'As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say Absalom is king in Hebron.' Then 200 men went with Absalom from Jerusalem who were invited and went innocently and they did not know anything. And Absalom sent for a Hithafel, the Gylenite, David's counselor. May I say David's trusted counselor. From his city Gylo while he was offering the sacrifices and the conspiracy was strong for the people increased continually with Absalom. And so we see the revolt of this young man against his dad, a revolt that was rooted in inward attitudes that were harbored, their attitudes of pride and bitterness, which caused him to vomit a revolution and rebellion against his father the king, and it says a messenger came to David saying, 'The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom. David apparently, up to this point, was completely ignorant of what was taking place around him.' Now beginning in verse 14 we have the response of David. There's a remarkable response. Did you know that our reactions reveal more than our actions? Our reactions reveal more about us than our actions. Our actions tell about our hearts. Our reactions tell about our character. And here we see David reacting or better responding in a way I think that pleased God. In the first place we see that he knew when to flee. He knew when to get out of the city, verse 14. David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, 'Arise, let us flee, for otherwise none of us shall escape from Absalom.' He had quickly and accurately evaluated the situation. Go and haste lest he overtake us quickly and bring down calamity on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword. Because it is wisest to flee, isn't it? Foolish is the person who comes face to face with temptation, and he says, 'I'm going to stay here and fight it out.' There are times when the best thing to do is to flee youthful lusts, to get away from the situation, to do what Joseph did with Potiphar's wife and to leave quickly. But in this situation that is what David chose to do. Why did he leave so quickly? Well because he evaluated that if he stayed there was going to be warfare in the city, possibly resulting in his own death, but in addition he needed to get some time. He had to have some space here for thinking so he could reorganize his troops, so to speak, and return. So he wanted to get the Jordan River, which rolls, as John is saying about tonight, that rolling Jordan River in between himself and Absalom. It may also be that David realized that what was taking place here was nothing more than the consequences of his own sin, and that it was coming out of the hand of God to him. Whatever he knew when to flee, secondly, he did not want to involve others needlessly. Notice how he goes on in verse 15, "The king's servant said to the king, "Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever My Lord the king chooses." In other words, they said, "We'll stay and fight if you want. We'll go if you want." So the king went out and all his household with him, but the king left ten concubines to keep the house, and the king went out, and all the people with him, and they stopped at the last house, and all his servants passed on beside him. All the charathites, all the pelletites, and all the Gittites, 600 men who had come with him from Gath passed on before the king. Who are all these people? Well, they're basically his bodyguard. They're the secret service. They're the people who surround David, the last line of defense against any enemy. They're going with him now and passed before him. Then the king said to Itai, the Gittite, "Why will you go with us?" Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner, and also next time I'll return to your own place. You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wonder with us? Will I go where I will? Return and take back your brothers, mercy and truth be with you." You see, David was willing to allow others to be free from involvement with him. He did not needlessly want them to become a part of his dangerous situation, but Itai answered the king and said, "As the Lord lives, and as my Lord the king lives, surely wherever my Lord the king may be, whether for life or for death or for life, there also your servant will be." I appreciate the fact that David did not want to involve others needlessly. There's a lesson there, folks, for us to learn. There are times when you and I have something happening in our lives that's a problem. We are godly if we do not involve other people in that needlessly. If we just keep quiet about it and handle the situation as God leads us to handle it without getting a crew of people together that are not really a part of the situation, Itai wasn't really involved in this. He was a Gentile, though he had come to David, was loyal to David. David said, "Look, you're not a part of my situation. Go on back. But here's a man who proved his friendship, and that's something I appreciate about Itai." He said, "David, whether it's for life or for death, I am your servant. I am with you." He said, "A time like this that you know who your friends really are." Chuck Swindall points out, "Why isn't it? There are several levels of friendship. There's a superficial level of friendship that we call acquaintance where we know someone else in passing, and then there's casual friendship where we spend time with someone else and we know a little bit more than their name. We're with them occasionally. But then there's close friendship and we begin to open up and share with them more intimately about ourselves and finally there's intimate friendship where lives are bound together in honor and faithfulness, where there is an openness to the other person that allows admonishment and even rebuke to travel back and forth and certainly encouragement." And he also points out that the further the friendships develop, the fewer people there are that you take with you, so that by the time you get to the intimate friends, there are very few and precious, and that is the way of life. That doesn't mean that something's wrong with that. I don't suppose we can have many intimate friends. The nature of life is not that way, but thank God for intimate friends, and that seems to be the level upon which Hittai and David had based their relationship. And David said, "Go and pass over." Hittai, the Gittite, passed over with his men and all the little ones who were with him. While all the country was weeping with a loud voice, all the people passed over, the king also passed over the Brooke Kidron and all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness. The Brooke Kidron flows in the valley just to the east side of the city of Jerusalem. It is in between the mountain on which the city Jerusalem rests and the Mount of Olives on the east. The two mountains come down like this, and Kidron flows right down between them. It's the same Brooke that Jesus passed over, even the very night in which he was betrayed as he went from the upper room over to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, and then was arrested and taken back across the Brooke into the city to be tried. The same little Brooke is involved here. And as David passed over the Brooke, he was in tears. Why? Because he loved the city of Jerusalem. There was nothing nowhere on earth that was more dear to David than the city of Jerusalem. And now he was going to have to leave it. So I see David's response as being first, he knew when to flee. That was why. Finally, he did not involve others needlessly in his battle. Third, he left the outcome in God's hands. This required a great step of faith in his part. Verse 24, "Behold, Zadok also came and all the Levites with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they sat down the ark of God, and Abbethar came up until all the people had finished passing from the city. Abbethar and Zadok are two of the priests. They've got the ark of God. They're taking it with David. And the king said, "Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the sight of the Lord, then he will bring me back again and show me both it and his habitation. But if he should say thus, I have no delight in you. Behold, here I am. Let him do to me as it seems good to him." The king said to Zadok the priest, "Are you not a seer? Turn to the city in peace, and you're two sons with you, your son of Himaz and Jonathan, the son of Abbethar, and see I am going to wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me. Therefore Zadok and Abbethar return the ark of God to Jerusalem and remain there." So David, by this symbolic act, is saying, "Lord, I trust you." He seems to be intimating, he understands this, to be a consequence of his previous disobedience. And he says, "Lord, if I am still in this favor in your sight, then you do to me what seems best. But if, in fact, I find grace in your sight, and I know I'll come back to the city of Jerusalem, I don't need the ark to go with me." David is placing the outcome into the hands of God, a great act of faith and trust in the Lord on his part. By the way, if you want to read some of the other thoughts in David's mind during this period of time, read Psalms 3, 61, 62, and 63. Not now, please, but maybe for devotions tonight or in the morning, read what was going through his mind, and with this background, some of the words and phrases from those Psalms will mean a great deal to you. Well, it says, "And David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went, and his head was covered, and he walked barefoot, and then all the people who were with him, each covered his head, and went up weeping as they went. And someone told David, saying, "A hit the fell is among the conspirators with Absalom." I say again, a hit the fell was as close a counselor as David had, and now he had turned against his master, and was with Absalom in this conspiracy, and David said, "O Lord, I pray, make the counsel of a hit the fell foolishness." David is concerned that a hit the fell's counsel is so wise that he will be able to instruct Absalom wisely how to fully overthrow David. So he prays and asks God to confuse the counsel of a hit the fell, to make it foolishness. And David, fourthly, and this is the fourth thing that I see that he did in his response, he did what he could to counter the attack against him. What did he do? Well, it happened as David was coming to the summit of Mount of Olives, where God was worshiped. And behold, Hushii, the Arkite, met him with his coat torn and dust on his head. Here's another man as a friend of David. He is apparently an older man. He comes with his coat torn and dust on his head, evidencing the fact that he identifies with David in this time of tragedy and sorrow. And David said, "If you pass over with me, you'll be a burden to me." Why that he probably refers to his age. But he says, "If you return to the city, and say to Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O King, as I have been your father's servant in time past, so I will now be your servant.'" David says, "Then you can thwart the counsel of a hit the fell for me. And are not Zedok and Abbuth are the priests with you there, so it shall be that whatever you hear from the king's house, you'll report to the priests and their two sons and Jonathan will report them to me." So you see what David does here to counter the attack is to really set up a spy network in Jerusalem. He has sent back the two priests with the Ark of God and their sons. They can run the news to David. Then he sends back this very key person, Kushiai, who will serve as the chief spy of what Absalom is going to do. And he says, "You can give your services to Absalom and tell him that like a hit the fell, you are capitulating to his kingship and he will trust you. And in that position, then you can counter what a hit the fell will say to him. But in fact, that's exactly what happens a little later on." You say, "Well, why is it that a hit the fell turned against David?" He was a trusted counselor. There's a very interesting answer to that. Why would a man so close to David turn against his master? The answer is that a hit the fell's granddaughter was Bathsheba. And a hit the fell in his heart had it in for David because of what he had done to Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah. And so when the opportunity came, he turned on David. Well now David counters that with this man, Hushiai. I believe that in our battles that we are expected to combine fervent faith and trust in God with righteous and possible actions on our part. In other words, we are to do what we can do. God is not going to do everything for us. Whatever we can do when we are in attack, we are expected to do coupling that with complete trust in the Lord to work out His will in our situation. I think that's what James intimates when he says that we are to trust in the Lord and resist the devil and he will flee from us. Trust in the Lord. There's the faith. That's what we are to do and the result is he will flee from us. We are going to stop at this point in the narrative and pick it up there next time. Let's just remind ourselves of what's happening here is that David is reaping the bitter consequences of his own sin but how gracious God is to David. Even though he allows him to reap this bitter fruit, God is not finished with David. God is allowing all of this to take place to accomplish some specific purposes and when those purposes are finished, God will restore David. That's why I like that song that we had the privilege of singing a few moments ago. We're sin-abounded, grace does much more abound. You may be in a situation tonight where you feel that you are reaping some consequences and sometimes that can be rather bitter. Will you rejoice that God is a gracious God, that he is not leaving you to suffer alone in those consequences, but he is there with you, he is working in your circumstances and he is going to bring blessing upon your head. In the meantime, respond to your situation in a godly manner in faith and obedience. Let's pray together. Lord, we praise you that your grace forever super abounds far beyond the total of our sins Thank you that even though you normally allow us to reap the consequences of our own disobedience to teach us lessons, that you don't leave us or forsake us, but you are right there with us loving us and putting your arms around us, keeping us secure. Thank you for your faithfulness. Lord, when we face battles like David did, would you please enable us to respond in a godly manner? Give us insight into the word and instruction by the Holy Spirit in the inner man. So the godly character will be evidenced in the way that we handle the battle. And I pray that you would deliver all of us from hidden, disguised, inward sins, which would make us into absolums. Deal with us, I pray, so that we are honest before you and with others. Thank you for the instruction of your word tonight and for this time of fellowship together. And we pray your blessing upon each one as we go home. In Jesus' name, amen. 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