2nd Samuel 15:7-31

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2^nd Samuel 15:7-31

“And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron. 8 For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the LORD shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD. 9 And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron. 10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. 11 And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were called; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not any thing. 12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom. 13 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. 14 And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword. 15 And the king’s servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint. 16 And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house. 17 And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried in a place that was far off. 18 And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. 19 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also an exile. 20 Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee. 21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be. 22 And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him. 23 And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. 24 And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city. 25 And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation: 26 but if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him. 27 The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art not thou a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. 28 See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me. 29 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they tarried there. 30 And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up weeping as they went up. 31 And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED675]

“We have come as far as chapter 15, remember we dipped into it a bit, but we’ll back up and we’ll start from the beginning. We are looking this evening at Ittai, we are looking at Ahithophel, we are looking at Absalom, we’re looking at Zebah, a number of different personalities, Zadok. Ah, in an incredible time of stress, nationally, David of course sinning with Bathsheba, through his order her husband Uriah being put to death, a cascade of events happening after that. David has genuinely repented, David has brought his heart before the LORD, David will write and say ‘My sin is ever before me,’ and I believe through these circumstances that he never escaped that, his heart was broken, because every day he must have thought ‘If I had contained myself, if I had controlled myself this cascade of events would never have taken place.’ But Nathan the prophet had prophecied that the sword would never depart from his house, there would be trouble. [Comment: Pastor Joe said a transcript back or so that this curse about the sword never departing from his house would end at David’s death, but it did not end, it continued on, all the way through to Zedekiah, and if the prophecied promises that David’s house would never stop ruling, first over the House of Judah, and then transferred to rule over the House of Israel, which is out there someone as a Great Nation and Company of Nations, the curse has continued to remain within the House of David. See https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-magazine/the-biblical-identity-of-britains-royal-family-part-1 and https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-magazine/the-biblical-identity-of-britains-royal-family-part-2] And though David’s heart is right with the LORD again, David’s fellowship with the LORD is where it should be, yet there are repercussions, he has sown, he is reaping, there’s things working out in his life. And part of that was, remember Amnon had taken his half-sister by a different mother into his bedroom and had forced himself upon her. That was Absalom’s sister by the same mom, Absalom could not bear under the fact that David did nothing to justify or to deal with Amnon because of what he had done to Tamar. Absalom finally concocts a plan and gets Amnon away from Jerusalem and kills his brother. David through all of this, no doubt guilty with his own sin, making him feel impotent in some ways, ‘How can I talk about immorality with my sons after what I’ve done? How can I talk about murder after what I’ve done?’ And by the way, all of that is wrong, we talked about that, just because we have failed at some point in our lives, does not mean the truth and God’s Word is not still powerful and alive. And we still have the opportunity to say ‘Man, look, I messed up, and I don’t ever want to see you do what I’ve done, but God’s grace is there, his forgiveness is there, and he’ll strengthen you today to keep you from making some of the same mistakes I’ve made.’ God’s grace does not remove from us the right to exhort the next generation and those around us just because we failed. And don’t let anybody ever tell you that. But David doesn’t move like that, it’s sad to see. Absalom fled after he killed his brother to Geshur where his grandfather lived, he was the king of another country, David being stubborn though he missed Absalom, not initiating anything to bring him back, and finally Joab tricking him into a situation where he makes a pronouncement, and then the woman said ‘well why haven’t you forgiven your own son,’ and David said ‘Oh man, Joab’s in this.’ So David then allows Joab to bring Absalom back. It tells us Absalom was the most handsome man in the land, it even tells us the weight of his hair by year, that he was a remarkable warrior, a young man. And finally in the end of chapter 14 David finally allows Absalom to come into his presence, David finally, it says Absalom bows before him, and David kisses Absalom, and there in the view of his entire court, for all intent purposes, Absalom’s got what he wants now, he’s got public recognition, and he’s been received back into the king’s good graces. But Absalom, we’re going to follow this, listen, ambition. Ambition is not a bad thing, in ways ‘He who desires the office of a bishop [office of a pastor is what it means in the Greek], to be an elder in the church, desires a good thing.’ But ambition that is not yielded to the providence and the sovereignty of God is a dangerous thing amongst God’s people. [In the movie Jesus Revolution, about the JESUS MOVEMENT, and the start of the Calvary Chapel Movement, Lonnie Frisbee let his ambition in ministry get ahead of the providence and sovereignty of God, very sadly, and had to be let go from the ministry. God worked through Lonnie in a very powerful way, until his ambition got in the way. That’s just my personal analysis of the true story portrayed in the movie, staring Kelsey Grammer, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vmHFvnjPDw, and Greg Laurie explaining about Lonnie Frisbee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjoKdlParx4] Absalom is going to lead a rebellion, treason in the kingdom. And in that he will be in the midst of a sin worse than the sin that he has already committed. Absalom was the next man in line to take the throne, if he had waited, the throne was rightfully his, he was the oldest son still alive at this point in time, he’d have been heir to the throne. But because he is ambitious, because he is angry, he moves in his own emotions, and he’s one of the great humans, failing, brought before us in Scripture, and no doubt those things are placed in front of us so you and I, look, ‘am I ambitious, do I, am I willing to push myself forward at the sake of ruining other people and pushing other people out of the way?’ Ahithophel is going to come on the page as one of the great lessons of bitterness contained in God’s Word. We’re taught in the New Testament that we should look out, because a root of bitterness, if we allow that, you know, it doesn’t, we don’t see the outward fruit of it all the time instantly, but if there is a root of bitterness within us, and we allow that to grow, ultimately many become defiled. We’re going to see terrible things through the life of Ahithophel. We’re going to see a group of people joining together in an alliance that is not genuine, that is marked by ambition and bitterness and all these other things. And birds of a feather kind of flock together sometimes like that. [Comment: That is a major law of sociology.] You know, I would be careful in the Body of Christ, which is the best dysfunctional family going. You can always find little puss-pockets of people that are mean-spirited and undermining, and your responsibility is to speak the truth in love to them, and say ‘You know, you need to pray, bitterness is going to eat you up, it’s going to ruin you,’ or ‘You’re too ambitious, God, his gifts and calling are without repentance, in his time he’ll open the slot if he’s given you that gift, you don’t have to fight or knock other people down,’ you know, we have opportunity to speak life to people in those circumstances before they get out of hand, in the sense that our speech should always be seasoned with salt, filled with grace, when we have opportunity to address those things. So don’t get sucked into those little kind of cesspools of that kind of stuff that goes on. Because we have great instruction, great lessons brought before us here. Absalom, it tells us here, in that after this, that Absalom has received his public recognition again, chapter 15, verse 1, “And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.” Now the horses and chariots are not for speed, if he’s got 50 guys running in front of him, because they’d have slowed down the horses and chariots, this is all for show. Absalom’s going to pull up to the gate of the city with this entourage and everybody’s going to recognize the king’s son is here, and he’s setting the stage for treason, for his own rebellion. So he has horses, chariots, and 50 men running in front of him, “And Absalom rose up early,” he can’t sleep, he can’t wait to get his thing going, “and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.” (verse 2) So Absalom puts himself in a position there, the king’s court, ultimately people sometimes couldn’t have things settled by the heads of their tribes, or sometimes even by the priests, the king was always the final appeal, and people would come to the king’s court. And Absalom set himself up in their position, when he saw somebody coming in looking disgruntled he’d say ‘Hey, Bub, what’s up? what’s going on? where you from? Haven’t seen you around here,’ make small talk, lure the person in. And the guy would say ‘I’m from this tribe or that tribe,’ “And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.” (verse 3) now he doesn’t directly slander David, he’s saying ‘David doesn’t have any men in place to hear thee.’ And it’s a typical ploy of Satan to get us at any time to rebel against the King’s government. Absalom’s saying in essence ‘The king does not know how to govern the way he should. The king doesn’t really care about your problem, the king doesn’t really answer a prayer, he’s too busy,’ and Satan would always convince us that God’s government, we have it here right in front of us in almost every circumstance of life, that it’s unfair, we get on our knees, we pour out our heart, we don’t hear him speak unto us, he doesn’t appear in our bedroom, he doesn’t let a feather float through the air at night from an angel, ‘he doesn’t listen to you, he’s too busy for you, God, he’s running the whole universe, he hasn’t deputed anybody to listen to you.’ And it constantly goes on, it constantly goes on, and it is a mark of the enemy, ‘Hath God said?’ there’s always a challenge of God’s character, and it’s been that way since Eden. “there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.” nobody cares about you, “Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!” (verse 4) you know, ‘I care, and if I had the position, I’d take care of it.’ No doubt that this whole thing is still burning in Absalom, it’s been 7 years and his sister still hasn’t been avenged, and this man is angry, and he’s saying ‘If I was in charge,’ and he’s laying the groundwork, “And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.” (verse 5) he was the king’s son, he was royalty, when anybody went to bow down, ‘then he would put forth his hand, he took him, said ‘Naw, no, you don’t have to bow down,’ and he would kiss him, ‘Come on, we’re in this together, we’re Bud’s you know, you don’t have to do this.’ And in all of this, in all of this false piety, he’s rebelling against God, David is the LORD’s anointed, his father is the king. Yes, it is very evident by this point in time, that he is a man, that he has feet of clay, that he has sinned, that he has made mistakes. But unlike David, when Saul was hunting him, David said ‘God forbid that I should touch the LORD’s anointed,’ Absalom has no problem at all doing everything he can here to undermine God’s king who is his own father. And it says “And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment:” This went on and on. So, notice “Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” (verse 6) And by the way, he’s young, he’s handsome, he’s charismatic, that’s no proof of God’s calling, the anti-christ is going to be charismatic and lead the whole world astray [Adolf Hitler, the forerunner of the anti-christ was charismatic in the same way the real one will be]. He’s leading a rebellion actually against God in all of this. So, he steals the hearts of the men of Israel.

Absalom’s Conspiracy To Usurp The Throne Grows And Becomes Strong

“And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron.” (verse 7) Now look, “after forty years,” your translation might say “after four years,” the Septuagint says that, scholars are not agreed, it seems that the Hebrew in most manuscripts says “forty years.” The question is, is this forty years since David was anointed by Samuel, is this the fact that Absalom is forty years old, we’re not sure. It doesn’t seem like four years after Absalom’s back, because it seems as soon as the king receives him, he gets started on this whole process. But after this period of time, whatever it is we’re not sure, “it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king,” his father, “I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron.” (verse 7) no fear of God, he’s cloaking treason under the cloak of worship, he’s saying ‘I need to go pay a vow to the LORD dad, I swore when I was away that if the LORD did this, I would go and I would pay a vow.’ No doubt, David’s heart is glad to hear his son saying this. But there’s no fear of God in Absalom at all, he’s cloaking his own treason against the kingdom under the guise of worship. “For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the LORD shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.” (verse 8) what a liar, no fear of God with what he’s doing here. “And the king said unto him, Go in peace.” those are the last words that David will say to his son, Absalom. This is the last time David sees his son alive. The next time he’ll see his dead body. The last words that Absalom will hear from his father the king is “Go in peace.” “So he arose, and went to Hebron.” (verse 9) And I’m sure in a great sense, David is so glad that Joab was proactive, that in David’s mind they’ve reconciled. You know, how often does somebody die or a tragedy comes on someone, and you and I might say ‘I can’t believe the last time I talked to him we argued, or the last time I saw him, I really didn’t take the time to say Hi,’ here David graciously says to his son “Go in peace” last words that he will ever say to his son. “So” Absalom “he arose, and went to Hebron.” “But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say,” proclaim through the land, “Absalom reigneth in Hebron.” (verse 10) he’s several miles south of Jerusalem. Now Absalom was born in Hebron. Back in chapter 3, we’re told in verses 2 and 3, “these are the sons that were born to David when he reigned in Hebron,” David began his reign in Hebron. And Absalom is coming back to the city that he was born in, and he sends spies throughout all of the land, ‘saying, Now when you hear the trumpet blow, then you tell everybody Absalom is now reigning in Hebron,’ and no doubt he wants this to appear like succession, like he’s succeeded the throne, not like treason. So he’s set himself up here. And look, so often Absaloms take themselves spiritually seriously when they shouldn’t, so often Absaloms in their minds justify trying to overthrow the leadership God has put in place, so many times Absaloms sit outside, they criticize, they never stop, and they have no problem saying things like ‘This is going to happen, and this is what we’re going to do, and this is how it’s going to take place.’ Don’t be an Absalom, and don’t be an Absalomlessi, whatever the girl, feminine form is, I don’t know. Absalom, “the son of peace,” but this is a phony “son of peace,” don’t be a phony daughter of peace. “And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were called; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not any thing.” (verse 11) the idea is, they were genuine, they were sincere, they did not know that this was part of treason, they were innocent. So Absalom goes, maybe even David sent the 200 men with him, to protect him, it’s his son, 200 men, they were called, the idea is, this is what their job was, what they were supposed to do, “and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not any thing.” they didn’t know what was taking place. “And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices.” So Absalom is using this worship as a coverup, he’s offering sacrifices the whole time he’s setting the stage for his rebellion, “And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.” (verse 12)

The Bitterness Of Ahithophel--Watch Out For Bitterness, It Is Deadly To The Believer

Now, asking Ahithophel to join with him, Ahithophel was the Henry Kissinger of that day. Ahithophel was the wisest counselor in the land. It will tell us when we come to chapter 16, verse 23, “That in those days, to hear the counsel of Ahithophel was as hearing the oracle of God.” That when people listened to Ahithophel, it was like the Urim and Thummim, they heard him with the same authority that heard direct counsel from the oracle of God. So, a brilliant man, a good counselor, very close to David for a long time. The problem was, that he had become central to the court of David. And central to the court of David, where David’s 37 in all, mighty men, who surrounded him, they were Special Ops, they were the ones directly around him, that protected him, and God had used them. David’s longevity, David coming to the throne, a lot of that was due to those men that were around him, that were willing to lay down their lives for him, under God’s sovereignty, God was using them. One of them, his name was Eliam, he was the son of Ahithophel, Eliam had a daughter named Bathsheba, and Bathsheba married Uriah the Hittite. Eliam is Ahithophel’s son, Eliam’s daughter is Bathsheba, Bathsheba’s husband is Ahithophel’s granddaughter’s husband Uriah, and Uriah and Eliam are both part of the 37 men that were closest to David. So David, if you could imagine, when he took Bathsheba, and I’m not saying that she was innocent, but the Bible blames David. She was an adult, she was compliant in some way, but David took the granddaughter of his most trusted counselor, and seduced her. If you can just imagine that. If your best friend, your most trusted counselor, that one of the closest people you knew in the world were to seduce your granddaughter and have her husband killed. And no doubt this ran deep. And Ahithophel is no longer in Jerusalem where David is, he’s in Giloh, and evidently he’s been there at least ten years, he left, he could not stomach the fact that David was on the throne. [Under these conditions just expounded on, Ahithophel just couldn’t bring himself to understand God’s grace toward David, where he thought it demanded justice, not mercy. Many of us would have felt the same way, so let’s not cast stones at Ahithophel.] No doubt he understood that both, David said ‘Sacrifice and offering thou hast not desired, but a broken and contrite spirit you won’t despise,’ no doubt Ahithophel knew that if you committed adultery it was a death sentence, if you committed murder, it was a death sentence. And Ahithophel stepped away from David, stepped away from this whole thing, as no doubt I would or you would, deeply wounded by the fact that his most trusted friend had seduced his own granddaughter, and then had her husband murdered. But Ahithophel has been stewing in this bitterness for 10 years. Ahithophel had not come to Nathan, Ahithophel had not come to a prophet, we’re going to find out Zadok, one of the priests had a prophetic ministry, Ahithophel had not come to David to work it out. Ahithophel sat in bitterness, and stewed in bitterness to a degree that affected the entire kingdom. And as soon as he hears that Absalom has taken the throne, this was his chance, and he did not join Absalom because he cared about Absalom, he joined Absalom because he hated David. And too often people are joined together not because of common vision, not because of love, they’re joined together because of hate, there’s a common enemy and there’s hatred. And that kind of glue falls apart, it never lasts, when people are gathered together out of bitterness or out of ambition, it is bad. And look, as we follow this, what we’re going to find out, is Ahithophel is so determined to kill David, that when his counsel finally falls apart, it tells us that Ahithophel knowing now that David is not going to be killed by Absalom, goes back to his own home, he puts his house in order, and he hangs himself, he commits suicide. This bitterness will destroy him, and sadly, bitterness sometimes is so unbearable. If you’re around somebody whose bitter all the time, it wears you out. It can wear you out. And sadly that person will ultimately drive their friends away, they’ll drive away people in their family, and so often that bitter person is left smoldering alone somewhere, isolated, and that’s exactly where Satan wants to get that person. And it’s where he got Ahithophel, and it ended up in suicide. And no doubt God in great detail puts this in front of us, you know, we’re told in the New Testament, we have resources Ahithophel did not, we can go to the Lord, we can ask his forgiveness for bitterness. Look, Ahithophel, you look at what he faces, with this kind of betrayal, and what happened with his granddaughter, the murder of her husband, you and I can end up bitter at somebody for things way less than that on the scale, way down. Somebody gossips, and we can end up bitter, and the New Testament tells us that we can go to the Lord, we can ask him, look, we’re filled with his Spirit, and he said ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ He was willing to turn the other cheek, what he told us to do. He was willing to go the extra mile, he was willing to do everything he asks us to do. I would really encourage you tonight, not to sit and stew away the rest of your life in bitterness. I am not at all being cavalier and saying it’s easy, because it isn’t. You will never break out of that in human strength, but we have divine agency. The Father has loved us so much he gave his only Son, that whoever believes would not perish but have everlasting life. We have the Living Christ within us, we have the Holy Ghost living within us, and that is either in your life, a reality, and if it is not, you’re professing a Christianity, you need to get hold of that, because that’s the reality and the adventure of the whole thing. God’s gotta be able to talk to me, and say ‘Man, you’re blowing it, what are you doing sitting around thinking all that stuff?’ He’s gotta be able to approach me and talk, and he does because he loves me, he cares for me. And I got to be able to say ‘Lord, I’m such a knucklehead, forgive me Lord. I let this stuff eat me up, it wears me out, Lord, just I don’t know how to love in this circumstance, I am not a good forgiver, you’re the good forgiver, and I’m glad of that because I’m forgiven, but I’m not glad for that person, I don’t think they need to be forgiven right now, I’m thinking they need to be whupped. But Lord will you help me in these things?’ And we either have that divine assistance, or we can throw the Bible out the window and we might as well not be here. Ahithophel is gathered into this mess willingly, and this adds now great legitimacy to Absalom’s rebellion, when the nation hears Ahithophel is part of this. It says his word was like the oracle of God, no doubt everybody is falling in line.

David The Good Shepherd Flees Jerusalem To Spare The City From The Edge Of The Sword

“And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.” (verse 13) And David is at least 60 years old at this point in time, no doubt this is hard for him to hear, must be a great heartache when he hears this. “And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.” (verse 14) David knows the nature of Absalom, and David is bowing under now the rod of God, David is yielding, David is saying ‘Let’s get it together, let’s get out of here, if he comes and we’re trapped inside the city, he’s going to bring down the city with the edge of the sword.’ And it’s interesting, David understands, look, there’s a confrontation here, David’s pride is at stake, his reputation is at stake, and David understands this is a battle that needs to be postponed. Because if this battle is not postponed, others are going to be deeply and seriously and permanently injured in this, ‘So yes, this is a battle I’m going to have to fight someday, but it is not worth fighting it here,’ he’s the great shepherd, David is, it’s why the LORD loved him, ‘it’s not worth dragging a lot of other casualties into this, the carnage will not be worth it.’ And it is what makes him the man above Absalom and his counselors, David. And sometimes in our lives, look, sometimes we’re right and the other person’s wrong. And if you’re just going to fight on terms of right and wrong, you just live your life as a Pharisee, a legalist. Because there’s higher things in the Kingdom than right and wrong. Sometimes, making peace is more important for the Kingdom of God than whose right and whose wrong. Some things are non-negotiable, I understand that, in all of our lives, in regards to sin, in regards to compromise. But there are other things that are too petty, and sometimes we let them get a head of steam behind them, and it isn’t worth it, a bulldog can beat a skunk any day, but it just ain’t worth it. And sometimes the battle could be won, but it’s gonna stink so bad when it’s over it’s just not worth it. And there are times when it’s wiser for us to pull off, not to drag other casualties into something, to take a deep breath and say ‘Lord, give me wisdom here, give me wisdom here, this is a volatile situation here, I don’t want it to blow up and go the wrong way.’ So David says ‘Arise, let’s get out of here,’ he knew Nathan prophecied this would happen, he’s bowing under the hand of God, ‘and if we don’t do it, we’re not gonna escape from Absalom, we gotta get out of here fast or he’s going to overtake us suddenly, he’s going to bring evil upon us, and he’s going to smite the city with the edge of the sword.’ Now one thing we’re going to notice through here, if you’ll take notice, in verse 15, “kings,” “servants,” “the king,” again in verse 15, “the king,” in verse 16, “the king,” in verse 16 again, “the king,” in verse 17, “the king,” in verse 19, “the king,” I think the Holy Spirit wants us to know that David’s the king. I mean, it says, but look, because Israel doesn’t know at this point in time. And Absalom’s trying to undermine that truth, and David had sinned. And we don’t know if he ever tried to make up with Ahithophel. When he prayed he said ‘Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this great evil in thy sight.’ But the Holy Spirit is telling us, over and over, ‘David is the king, David is the king, David’s the king, David’s the king,’ and somehow remarkably it’s enough in the heart of David at this point in time to recognize the fact that it’s under God’s hand that he’s bowing. There’s to be no mistake about it, David is God’s king. So, it said in verse 15 now, “And the king’s servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint. And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines,” that’s one of the king’s problems “to keep the house.” (verses 15-16) Somehow he thinks he can safely leave ten concubines, we don’t know how many concubines he took with him, certainly Solomon went way beyond this. But this is one of the weaknesses of David, his passion, instead of handling that in a godly way, David seems to have given himself to some degree, and it’s where his problem with the whole sin with Bathsheba was born. David left ten women, which were legalized mistresses, concubines to keep the house. “And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried in a place that was far off.” (verse 17) so David, bowing beneath the divine rod, understanding at this point, if he were to fight with Absalom he’d be fighting with God, that God is allowing this to happen, and he goes it says to a place that’s far off, “And all his servants passed on beside him;” notice this, “and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.” (verse 18) from Gath, notice this, Philistine territory, passed on before the king, these are 600 faithful men. Now look, this is a remarkable scene as we work our way into it. Paul said ‘That I might know him,’ and then he says ‘and the fellowship of his sufferings, if by any means I may be made conformable unto his death.’ Look, David the king, because of his sin, our King because of our sin, ends up rejected of Israel, fleeing, those loyal to him, Gentiles, David has a Judas, Ahithophel, David is the rejected, betrayed, misunderstood king, he’s going to leave Jerusalem by the Mount of Olives, the same place where his greater Son would be betrayed. David then is going to write, now look, Psalm 3, Psalm 6, Psalm 41, 61, 62, 63, David’s going to write Psalm 22, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me,’ he’s going to enter right into the sufferings of Christ in a remarkable way. So in the midst of all of his anguish, God is going to use that for David to write some of the most remarkable Psalms that we love this evening as we sit here. There is redemption in all of this. And I don’t know if David sees all of that. Remarkably he’s willing to bow himself under the mighty hand of God at this point in time. And those that are loyal to him coming are this group of Gentiles, it names 600 of them, they’re faithful to him, he had picked them up when he was fleeing from Saul, from Gath it says. “Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place,” go back to Jerusalem, “and abide with the king:” now that’s Absalom, that’s the wrong king, “for thou art a stranger, and also an exile. Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.” (verses 19-20) ‘you’ve been driven out of your own land, you don’t know the whole story, Ittai it seems like you just came and joined yourself to my court recently,’ “should I this day make thee go up and down with us?” ‘I don’t know where we’re headed here, we’re being driven out,’ “return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.” ‘Ittai I don’t want to drag you into this, I really appreciate your loyalty, go back, abide with the king,’ and Ittai is going to say ‘That’s exactly what I am doing, you’re the king, you are the king.’ “And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.” (verse 21) sounds like Ruth, doesn’t it? Isn’t it interesting, this is a Gittite, he’s from Gath, he’d been a Philistine in his heritage, and he has come to believe in the Living God, and that has been through David. And he’s no doubt fallen in love with the man and not the throne. There are a lot of people that cuddle up to David because of the power-factor, because David was on the throne, because it was politically correct. This is a man who loves the man and not the office, he loves David not the throne, and he says ‘as the LORD liveth,’ who he has come to know, a believer through David, he’s saying ‘there are so many, David, who owe this to you, there are so many who have watched you through the highs and the lows of your life and seen that you’ve never turned away from your God, there are so many of us who have come to trust in him, watching both the beauty of your worship, watching you, take the place as a common man, the ephod and worship and dance before the Ark, there’s so many of us, David who have watched you in your fears and in your laughter worship your God, and have come to know him, there’s no way I’m turning away, David I am loyal to you, whether in death or in life, even there also will thy servant be.’ And what a gift he must have been to David, this Gittite. I can’t imagine one of my sons determining to kill me, driving me out of the place I live, I can’t imagine that much pain. I can’t imagine my best and most trusted friends turning against me, joining with my son, I can’t imagine like David says, my sin is ever before me, bearing every day, ‘If I just hadn’t called Bathsheba to my palace, if I just hadn’t started that,’ just the weight of all of this. And leaving Jerusalem broken, knowing the hearts of the people have gone after Absalom, and then having Ittai saying ‘no way, Bub, I’m with you, I love you, I love you for who you are, and not for your power, and as the LORD liveth, and as the lord the king liveth, surely whatever place you are, in death or in life, David,’ sweet words these must have been. “even there also will thy servant be. And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him.” (verses 21c-22) Speaking of the area around Jerusalem, “And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.” (verse 23) now if you want to make a note, that’s the first time in the Bible the Kidron is mentioned, what an interesting picture it’s framed in. So Kidron, the word means “black,” it was given that name because the blood of the sacrifices were washed particularly more after Solomon’s Temple was built, and then Herod’s Temple there was a 35 mile pipeline that came from Judah into Herod’s Temple and washed the blood of 100,000 bulls and 200,000 lambs off the Temple courts down into the Kidron where it would smell, it would turn black. And even in David’s day when the tabernacle was set up, evidently the Kidron turned black from the blood of sacrifices, that’s what Kidron means, it means black. Here’s the first mention of it. And remember Christ that night, as he passed over the Kidron, it says he sang as he came into Gethsemane there, the same place. ‘O that I might know him,’ here is the king, forsaken, betrayed, weeping, crossing the Kidron, coming into the area of Gethsemane, completely bowed before the LORD, just imagine what God must be doing in the heart of David.

The Incredible Faith Of David

Verse 24 says “And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city.” Now Zadok now comes bringing the Ark of the Covenant, they’re loyal to David, enough insight to understand that Absalom is usurping the throne, that David is God’s king. And notice, “And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation:” (verse 25) ‘he’ll bring me back, I’ll see the Ark again, and I’ll see the habitation of the LORD there where the LORD dwelt between the cherubim,’ David insightful. “but if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.” (verse 26) What incredible faith, David says my need is for the LORD, not for the old box. The LORD doesn’t dwell there, he dwells in the heavens, and my need is for him, ‘If he finds no pleasure in me, then let him do whatever seems good in his sight, other than that, he’s going to bring me back to this place, to his habitation, I’ll see the Ark again.’ And just it’s at that place where everything seems to fall apart, where our faith, you know, like a magnifying glass with the sun, it focuses down on the thing that really matters. You know Job would say in the midst of his suffering ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust him, though he slay me, yet will I trust him.’ In the 24^th chapter again, when David sins and the plague comes on Jerusalem, God says ‘This is what I’m going to do David,’ David says ‘Let me fall into the hands of the Living God, LORD you decide, not into the hands of men.’ Daniel, remarkably, when he was told to bow down and to worship the golden image, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, I’m sorry, and they wouldn’t do it, and Nebuchadnezzar is infuriated, he heats up the oven seven times hotter than it had ever been heated before, and he said ‘If you don’t bow down and worship me, I’m going to throw you guys into the oven,’ they said, ‘Hey look, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us.’ Truth, the remarkable, maybe some of the most remarkable words in the Bible follow that, ‘And if not, we’re not gonna bow down and worship your idol. God’s gonna deliver us one way or another, out of the fire or through the fire.’ But listen, to them, and to David here, it was the very nature of God, the thing that attracted Ittai to David was the man and not his position, the thing that David had come to love was God himself and not what God could do. So many people in the church, and in times in my own life, look, as we grow, we get saved, to us God disappoints us. Somewhere along the line, something happens, and we’re shocked ‘God, you love me? and you let this happen? God, I thought you were the healer, God I thought you were the restorer,’ and we find our life is all wrapped up with the ‘What he does God, this is God and this is what he does.’ And if he doesn’t do what he does for me like it seems what he does for everybody else, then either, forget it, why should I serve him, or he must not care about me at all. No, these guys said ‘No, God is able to do this, but if he doesn’t, it has nothing to do with whether we worship him or not, he’s not for us a ‘For what he does—God,’ he is ‘the who he is—God,’ it’s his nature. Again, when we do a funeral here, it’s interesting. We do a funeral, and people get up to share about the deceased, and they never talk about, it’s not a time to talk about what he does or what he did, it’s time to talk about ‘He was a loving father, he was a good husband,’ it’s who he was they talk about. They don’t say ‘You should have seen this guy with a chainsaw, man he could take trees down,’ or ‘This guy, he could drive an 18-wheeler,’ and the nice things are said about the poor guy that he never heard while he was alive. But when he comes into that crisis, here’s David, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, like Job saying ‘You know what? take the Ark back, this is not about that, God’s presence, the heavens can’t contain him, if his will is good towards me, he’s gonna bring me back, I’m going to see the Ark, I’m going to see his habitation again, and if he’s not pleased with me, then let him do to me whatever seems right to him, I’m bowed before him, I love him, I worship him, whatever seems good in his sight, let him do that to me.’ That is where incredible faith is brought out into the open.

The Pre-Incarnate Christ Is Taking David Through The Path Of His Future Sufferings

“The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art not thou a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me.” (verses 27-28) He’s saying to Zadok ‘You have a prophetic gift, Zadok you’ll do me way more good if you stay there in the midst of things,’ David’s establishing the Mossad here, he says ‘when I hear from you, then I’ll really know what conditions are inside Jerusalem, I trust you.’ “Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they tarried there.” (verse 29) Notice this, look, “And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up weeping as they went up.” (verse 30) David is ascending and descending at the same time. He’s ascending physically, he is descending as it were to the most heartbroken and lowest place in his life all at the same time. You know, if I’m going to do that, I hope I get to do it on a mountaintop, if I’m going to come to the most bummed out minute in my life, I hope it’s when I’m going uphill somewhere with a good view. Because it would really be bad to be at the lowest point of your life and be hit a physical valley at the same time. At least David here, it says that he went up to the ascent of the Mount of Olives, it’s the same place where Christ was betrayed. “and wept as he went up,” Hebrews tells us that Christ wept there in Gethsemane, and isn’t it interesting, it says ‘in that he feared,’ it says, remarkably. And went up, his head was covered, he went in bare feet, he’s mourning, that’s the sign of mourning, as he goes, “and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up weeping as they went up.” David entering so deeply into the fellowship of the sufferings of his greater Son here, God working redemption into this in an incredible way again, I think Psalm 22 borne out of much of the hard impressions that were borne at this point in time. And on top of everything else, it says, now Judas, “And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.” (verse 31) he’s more afraid of Ahithophel than he is of his son Absalom. David would write in Psalm 41, you’ve heard this, take this also into consideration, let me read some of this, this is Psalm 41 written during this time. It says, ‘The LORD will strengthen him on the bed of his languishing, thou wilt make all the bed in his sickness,’ ‘I said, LORD be merciful to me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee, my enemies speak evil of me, saying, when shall he die and his name perish? and if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity, his heart gathereth iniquity to itself, when he goeth abroad, he telleth it, all that hate me whisper together against me, against me do they devise my hurt. An evil disease say they, cleaveth fast unto him, and now that he lieth he shall rise no more, yea mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heal against me.’ (verses 3-9) Just imagine, the Psalm seems to indicate that David had a physical illness on top of everything else through these times, severe enough that many people were saying ‘Hey man, when this guy lays down, he ain’t getting up anymore.’ And that may have had a lot to do with why many hearts had turned to Absalom. And in the middle of all that, he says, ‘My own familiar friend hath lifted up his heal against me,’ that’s Psalm 41. Psalm 55, he says this in verses 12-14, “For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: but it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.” you know, just speaking of the heart, it was Ahithophel that has joined himself to Absalom. Had David gone to Ahithophel and asked his forgiveness? We don’t know that. David is speaking of him as someone whose not angry, it seemed that David, the indication in Psalms, that he at some point tried to patch this up, but now on top of everything else, word comes that Ahithophel had jointed himself to Absalom. Listen, these are real issues. It tells us in John 13 that when Judas betrayed Jesus and he went out, Jesus said ‘Now is my soul troubled,’ Jesus was troubled. I think Jesus made every effort to reach to Judas through the whole process, and Judas turned away and turned away, and finally he went out, Satan led him out, and Jesus said his soul was troubled at that. And David here is allowed somehow to enter in, listen, like Abraham when God said to Abraham ‘Take now thy son,’ chapter 22 in Genesis, it’s the first time you have the word “love,” first time you have the word “lamb,” first time you have the word “worship,” he says ‘Take now thine son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, and bring him to a mountain that I will tell thee of, and offer him there unto me as an offering.’ And it’s almost as though God says ‘Abraham’s my friend, am I going to hide from him the most remarkable thing I’m going to do in the history of humanity?’ And he takes Abraham down this dark road for three days, traveling with Isaac, Abraham knowing what’s going on, we know Isaac’s saying ‘Here’s the wood, here’s the fire, where’s the lamb for the sacrifice?’ first time the word “lamb” is used in the Bible, first time the word “lamb” is used in the New Testament in John’s Gospel, “Behold, the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world,” it answers that question in Genesis. God takes Abraham to a place where his heart is completely broken, where he lifts the knife, where he enters into the heart of the Father, and his hand is stopped by an angel, there was a ram caught in the thicket, and he names the place “Jehovah-jira, the LORD provides,” and he says “In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.” No doubt that was the highest point in the life of Abraham, when he saw something of the coming Messiah. And David here, you know, in the most broken time of his life, God is working redemption into it, and down to his having his own betrayer, his own Judas. This is at the Mount of Olives, it’s ascending the Mount of Olives, crossing Kidron takes you through Gethsemane, it says Jesus crossed Kidron and he went into Gethsemane from there, he’s taking David through his very footsteps. And look what is says here in verse 32, “And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the mount, where he worshipped God,” he worshipped God. Isn’t that amazing? The darkest, hardest time of his entire life, it says “David worshipped God,” just think of the Psalms, some of the Psalms that are borne out of, you know, Isaiah said ‘Can a man talk back to his maker? Does the clay say unto the potter?’ David is bowing under this, he’s yielding to it. It says he worshipped. That’s incredible to me, folks. Imagine this broken man, it says he’s weeping, he’s betrayed, his son is trying to kill him, the kingdom is disintegrating before his eyes, his sin is ever before him. He said ‘If God is not pleased with me, let him do whatever he wants to me,’ and he comes to the top of the mountain, looks back at Jerusalem no doubt, and it says he worships. Does he say ‘LORD, I’m yours, in my failings and successes, in my sin, LORD I’m no good, my sin is ever before me LORD, I worship you, you’re my Redeemer, my Saviour, my Forgiver, my Shepherd, my Friend, my Strong Tower, my Buckler, my Shield, my Creator, my Redeemer,’ he worshipped, none of those things had changed through his failure. “and Hushai the Archite” I know you were waiting for him, I think we might have to wait till next week for Hushai. Well I’ll read to the end of the chapter, then know this, we’re going to back up to verse 32 and we’ll jump in there if the Lord tarries for a week, “and Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head:” he’s mourning for David, “unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me:” evidently he’s very old, “but if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father’s servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel. And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king’s house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok’s son, and Jonathan Abiathar’s son; and by them ye shall send unto me every thing that ye can hear. So Hushai David’s friend came into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.” (verses 32-37) it says “David’s friend,” and you know, how good it is to have a friend at a time like this. He “came into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.” Now look, read ahead. You know, you say ‘Here we are, 2^nd Samuel, all we’re hearing about is bitterness, about ambition, I want to hear about something else, I’m not ambitious, I’m not bitter,’ you will be, just hang on. Store it away, because somebody’s going to offend you, the Bible tells us that we need the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, which is love, joy, peace, but then it says the words I don’t like to hear, “longsuffering, meekness, temperance, self-control, and faith,” we need divine guidance to demonstrate those very fruits in our lives, because we’re all made of the same stuff, we can become bitter, I can. And look, when somebody slanders me, and it happened in 1972, when something like that happens, one of my first inclinations is, to start gathering a posse, ‘This person said, you know they said this about me, oh Pastor Joe, say that again,’ instead of going to the Lord and getting on my knees and saying ‘Lord, I’m praying for that person, I don’t know what’s with them right now, I’m not gonna put gasoline on this fire, Lord, I’m going to put the Water of the Word on this, so that it turns out, I am not going to let this burn up and burn up and burn up.’ I need to hear these lessons, I need to guard my heart, promotion, it doesn’t come from the north or the south, it comes from the Lord. And if we’re next in line to take a throne, anywhere, in any situation, that’s God’s timing, we never have to strive for it, we never have to try to make that happen ourselves. Believe me, you never want to be in a position unless he wants you to be in whatever that position is, and if he wants you to be somewhere you don’t want to be anywhere else but there. You know, Jesus was in a carpenter shop for 30 years, he had a public ministry for three and a half years, he was in a carpenter shop for 30 years. When he came to be baptized in the River Jordan when John the Baptist baptized him a voice came from heaven and said ‘This is my beloved Son,’ and the Greek is ‘in whom I am already well pleased.’ He had never preached a sermon, he never did a miracle, he was making door-jams and tables and rocking chairs. God the Father said ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am already well pleased.’ Because all of those things were as sacred in his life as then the public ministry he would enter into. All of those days and all of those hours, alone with the Father, were as sacred as all of the things he would do. And if Absalom would have realized that, ‘God has placed me in this family, put me in this position, I’ve sinned, done things wrong, my father’s kissed me, he’s received me back, I’m going to offer a sacrifice and am going to genuinely ask God for forgiveness, I’ve taken my brother’s life.’ You know, Absalom would have been the next in line, God would have raised him up. Look, and a lesson, God writes it all down, he stoops down to say to his children here, 2,700 years later ‘Watch this, take note of this, look at the incredible detail, this man here, he’s the king, the king, the king, the king, the king, I’m in charge of this. Ahithophel, filled with bitterness, watch him, until he takes his own life.’ Read ahead, we’ll pick up there, hopefully the Lord will come, and then you can get to talk to David yourself and find out the rest of the story. But if not, God willing, next Wednesday night we’ll pick up right where we left off, so read ahead. Look, we move through to better things, but God is perfectly honest about the failings of his people too, because he is as close to them and as faithful and sovereign in his providence, working through all of those things, as he is when we’re having our birthday party, as happy as we were when we were little kids at Chucky Cheese, and he’s as close to us when we’re old and miserable. So let’s stand, let’s pray…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on 2^nd Samuel 15:7-31, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]