WEBVTT 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:03.640 It's a privilege to be back here with you and 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:06.719 to be feeding on God's word together. Shall we 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:12.759 pray as we begin? May the words of my mouth and 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:15.660 the thoughts of all our hearts be now and always 00:00:15.660 --> 00:00:20.179 acceptable in your sight, O God, our rock and 00:00:20.179 --> 00:00:26.820 our redeemer. Amen. This passage to Samuel 18 00:00:26.820 --> 00:00:29.620 has formed part of a sermon series at our church 00:00:29.620 --> 00:00:33.100 in Spalding, where I, as I said, serve my husband. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:36.259 It's been a series seeking to learn from the 00:00:36.259 --> 00:00:39.020 work of God through the life of David and his 00:00:39.020 --> 00:00:41.939 family. And as I was considering what to bring 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:44.780 today, I believe this passage would be worth 00:00:44.780 --> 00:00:48.560 mining again, particularly because of what it 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:53.170 has to teach us about character. If you, like 00:00:53.170 --> 00:00:56.969 me, want to grow in Christ -like character as 00:00:56.969 --> 00:01:00.829 a friend, neighbour, spouse, parent and or child, 00:01:00.969 --> 00:01:05.129 as a servant of the church, I trust there will 00:01:05.129 --> 00:01:09.909 be something here for you. As we heard, 2 Samuel 00:01:09.909 --> 00:01:14.269 18 traces the tragic and rapid final unravelling 00:01:14.269 --> 00:01:17.370 of the relationship between David and Absalom. 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:21.000 The question that I invite us to consider today 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:25.359 is, how can we grow in Christ -like character? 00:01:26.299 --> 00:01:29.579 How can we make the kind of choices that will 00:01:29.579 --> 00:01:36.120 shape us into people after God's heart? To help 00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:38.420 us do that, we're going to first ask of our passage, 00:01:38.700 --> 00:01:43.120 what is Absalom like? We're going to look then 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:45.920 at his relationship with his father, David, and 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:47.879 then we're going to examine how the relationship 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:51.260 between these two men can help to shine a light 00:01:51.260 --> 00:01:55.239 into our own hearts and also point us to Jesus 00:01:55.239 --> 00:02:02.299 Christ. So what is Absalom like? I'm going to 00:02:02.299 --> 00:02:05.459 take a survey across earlier chapters of 2 Samuel, 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:08.699 starting from chapter 13, where we first meet 00:02:08.699 --> 00:02:12.349 Absalom offering shelter to his sister. Tamar. 00:02:13.129 --> 00:02:15.650 Tamar has just suffered at the hands of her half 00:02:15.650 --> 00:02:19.150 -brother Amnon, who has raped her and then thrown 00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:22.729 her out, abandoned her in that culture to a life 00:02:22.729 --> 00:02:27.430 of shame and isolation. So Absalom appears to 00:02:27.430 --> 00:02:30.509 be doing a kind thing here. Chapter 1320 says 00:02:30.509 --> 00:02:33.349 that Tamar lived in her brother Absalom's house, 00:02:33.449 --> 00:02:37.469 a desolate woman. He takes her in. He provides 00:02:37.469 --> 00:02:42.150 a home for her. But as you'll see, as we start 00:02:42.150 --> 00:02:45.030 to journey a bit further with Absalom, you can't 00:02:45.030 --> 00:02:48.770 help to start to wonder what exactly Absalom 00:02:48.770 --> 00:02:53.229 was motivated by. Was it compassion for Tamar? 00:02:53.729 --> 00:02:57.889 Or was she a useful catalyst for his own ambitions? 00:02:58.650 --> 00:03:03.259 Or perhaps a strange mixture of both? When Absalom 00:03:03.259 --> 00:03:05.900 takes Tamar into his house, his words sound very 00:03:05.900 --> 00:03:09.240 strange to us. Be quiet for now, sister. He is 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:13.020 your brother. Don't take this to heart. You would 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:15.659 not hear those words in a rape crisis clinic 00:03:15.659 --> 00:03:20.900 today. Clearly, Absalom should have taken his 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:23.819 sister's case to the king to ask for justice 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:27.599 for her. But instead, he takes his own violent 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:31.800 revenge. Later in chapter 13, we see him persuading 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:35.080 all his brothers to come to a meal and then commanding 00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:37.680 his men to kill Amnon just when he's relaxed 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:42.759 and enjoying himself. So Absalom has used deceit 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:46.860 and violence to avenge his sister. And also he 00:03:46.860 --> 00:03:50.060 has removed one obstacle in his way to the throne. 00:03:50.860 --> 00:03:55.120 Amnon was the firstborn son. Now only his father 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:59.210 David stands in the way. David's second son is 00:03:59.210 --> 00:04:01.129 not mentioned in these accounts, only in the 00:04:01.129 --> 00:04:03.770 genealogies, which suggests he might have died 00:04:03.770 --> 00:04:08.150 young. So as the next living son, Absalom is 00:04:08.150 --> 00:04:10.409 now the first in line to inherit the throne. 00:04:10.789 --> 00:04:14.729 So was Absalom primarily motivated by compassion 00:04:14.729 --> 00:04:18.509 for his sister, or was she a convenient excuse 00:04:18.509 --> 00:04:22.850 for him to move himself one step closer to becoming 00:04:22.850 --> 00:04:28.769 king? What else do we learn about Absalom? A 00:04:28.769 --> 00:04:30.810 couple of other episodes help us to build up 00:04:30.810 --> 00:04:34.449 a picture of his character. Chapter 14 tells 00:04:34.449 --> 00:04:38.629 us that he had beautiful thick hair. Why does 00:04:38.629 --> 00:04:41.550 the writer of 2 Samuel tell us this particular 00:04:41.550 --> 00:04:45.350 detail? Because whenever Absalom had his hair 00:04:45.350 --> 00:04:48.110 cut, he would have the hair that had been cut 00:04:48.110 --> 00:04:52.329 off weighed to find out how heavy it is. The 00:04:52.329 --> 00:04:56.240 basic message is... that Absalom was vain and 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:59.980 on quite a remarkable scale. If he was alive 00:04:59.980 --> 00:05:02.680 today, he definitely would have channels on all 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:06.019 the major social media platforms where you could 00:05:06.019 --> 00:05:08.860 find out just how to get thick and lovely hair 00:05:08.860 --> 00:05:14.240 just like him. Chapter 15 tells us that Absalom 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:16.959 was using deceit to win the hearts and minds 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:20.089 of his father's people. David was meant to ensure 00:05:20.089 --> 00:05:22.649 that the law courts were functioning well so 00:05:22.649 --> 00:05:24.670 the people could bring their complaints and find 00:05:24.670 --> 00:05:27.889 justice, but he wasn't coming up to scratch in 00:05:27.889 --> 00:05:31.189 this area. Absalom would meet these complainants 00:05:31.189 --> 00:05:33.410 and pretend that he was interested in their case, 00:05:33.569 --> 00:05:36.949 winning them over to him. He wasn't actually 00:05:36.949 --> 00:05:39.290 interested because he never did anything about 00:05:39.290 --> 00:05:42.750 their problems, but he pretended to be in order 00:05:42.750 --> 00:05:45.829 to win a following so that eventually he could 00:05:45.829 --> 00:05:49.079 overpower the king. So as well as being vain 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:52.899 and narcissistic, Absalom was emotionally manipulative. 00:05:53.180 --> 00:05:56.019 He was willing to pretend that he cared for people 00:05:56.019 --> 00:06:00.480 in order to win their affection. And when we 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.560 come to our chapter today, chapter 18, after 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:07.240 years of plotting and planning, Absalom has come 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:10.139 to the point of actually going to war against 00:06:10.139 --> 00:06:13.160 his father. He's managed to remove the heir to 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:16.199 the throne. He's managed to raise an army. And 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:19.319 now he starts a fight with the aim of removing 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:23.959 his father and becoming king. So David sends 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:26.370 out his men. And you might have noticed that 00:06:26.370 --> 00:06:28.670 he gives a command there to everyone going out 00:06:28.670 --> 00:06:31.250 to fight. We read in verse five that everyone, 00:06:31.490 --> 00:06:34.649 here's what he says. He is very clear with his 00:06:34.649 --> 00:06:38.069 army that he does not want Absalom harmed in 00:06:38.069 --> 00:06:40.689 the fight. And this tells us something about 00:06:40.689 --> 00:06:45.730 his attitude towards Absalom. So the battle begins 00:06:45.730 --> 00:06:48.350 and very quickly it becomes clear that Absalom's 00:06:48.350 --> 00:06:52.310 initiative against David is going to fail. Verse 00:06:52.310 --> 00:06:55.069 7 says that David's army has the upper hand. 00:06:55.250 --> 00:06:59.730 And then something remarkable and quite bizarre 00:06:59.730 --> 00:07:03.930 happens. The tables suddenly turn, not just on 00:07:03.930 --> 00:07:08.410 his army, but on Absalom personally. Absalom 00:07:08.410 --> 00:07:12.050 is riding on a mule, a mount for a king. Evidence 00:07:12.050 --> 00:07:14.509 there again, in case we needed it, of the overreaching 00:07:14.509 --> 00:07:18.290 nature of Absalom's ambition. The mule goes under 00:07:18.290 --> 00:07:21.410 a tree and somehow Absalom gets caught in the 00:07:21.410 --> 00:07:25.550 branches and he's stuck. It's an extraordinarily 00:07:25.550 --> 00:07:30.389 humiliating position to be in. Absalom is about 00:07:30.389 --> 00:07:34.180 to get his comeuppance. And here we come in the 00:07:34.180 --> 00:07:37.420 narrative to Joab, the commander of David's army. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:40.959 Now, in chapter 14, we get an indication that 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:43.740 Joab was somewhat supportive of Absalom. When 00:07:43.740 --> 00:07:46.959 Absalom kills Amnon and has to flee, Joab helps 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:50.339 to arrange a partial reconciliation between Absalom 00:07:50.339 --> 00:07:54.220 and David. Maybe Joab, who, as we know, is a 00:07:54.220 --> 00:07:57.079 ruthless political animal, maybe he approved 00:07:57.079 --> 00:07:59.839 of Absalom taking revenge on Amnon for what he 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:03.170 did to Tamar. Maybe he had thought then that 00:08:03.170 --> 00:08:05.470 it would be better for David to keep his enemy 00:08:05.470 --> 00:08:09.129 son Absalom close rather than hold him at a distance. 00:08:09.990 --> 00:08:13.750 But now, learning that Absalom is caught in a 00:08:13.750 --> 00:08:17.490 tree, Joab disregards David's command not to 00:08:17.490 --> 00:08:22.769 harm him and takes three spears, three spears, 00:08:22.769 --> 00:08:27.740 and plunges them into Absalom's heart. He then 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:30.660 oversees ten soldiers who surround him and finish 00:08:30.660 --> 00:08:33.679 him off. And they bury him, I was going to say 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:36.159 in an unmarked grave, but it isn't even a grave, 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:39.779 just under a heap of rocks. The murder of Absalom 00:08:39.779 --> 00:08:47.379 is vicious and humiliating. Why? Here are two 00:08:47.379 --> 00:08:51.559 possibly overlapping reasons. One is simply that 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:55.019 Joab was a political operator. He knew that if 00:08:55.019 --> 00:08:57.840 David's kingdom was going to survive, Absalom 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:01.879 had to die. Joab was prepared to override David's 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:04.500 wishes, probably because he thought the king's 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:07.120 weakness for Absalom was going to end up getting 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:12.080 him killed. Another reason could well be that 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:17.080 Joab loathed Absalom. One spear would have been 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:20.440 enough to kill Absalom. Kingdom saved, job done. 00:09:21.179 --> 00:09:27.029 Verse 3 in chapter 14. Absalom has been allowed 00:09:27.029 --> 00:09:29.590 to return from exile to Jerusalem, but he's not 00:09:29.590 --> 00:09:33.169 allowed to see the king. He tries twice to give 00:09:33.169 --> 00:09:36.009 Joab's attention, to get Joab to persuade David 00:09:36.009 --> 00:09:41.309 to see him, but both times Joab refuses. In response, 00:09:41.789 --> 00:09:43.909 Absalom gives his servants this instruction. 00:09:44.389 --> 00:09:47.570 Look, Joab's field is an ember mine, he's got 00:09:47.570 --> 00:09:50.330 barley growing there. Go and set it on fire. 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:54.960 I don't know the value of that field, Barney, 00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:57.700 for Joab's family that year. Was it the only 00:09:57.700 --> 00:10:02.379 field? Did Joab have others? Either way, Absalom 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:07.360 has it burned, just like that. Unsurprisingly, 00:10:07.700 --> 00:10:11.500 Joab's attention is now caught. He goes to Absalom 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:15.460 and says, Why have your servants set my field 00:10:15.460 --> 00:10:19.200 on fire? And Absalom says in essence, I've tried 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:22.059 to get your attention before. I just really want 00:10:22.059 --> 00:10:24.899 to see the king. He can decide whether I've done 00:10:24.899 --> 00:10:28.399 anything wrong here. So Absalom was extraordinarily 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:32.659 unconcerned about Joab as a spiel. He was just 00:10:32.659 --> 00:10:36.679 determined to get his own way. And he was prepared 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:39.940 to humiliate Joab in order to force him to his 00:10:39.940 --> 00:10:43.759 will. Now, Joab was a man of considerable power. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:47.409 And as it turns out, Absalom was unwise to show 00:10:47.409 --> 00:10:50.909 him such contempt, but their interactions reveal 00:10:50.909 --> 00:10:54.830 something very dark about Absalom. He was prepared 00:10:54.830 --> 00:10:58.710 to sacrifice every relationship in order to gain 00:10:58.710 --> 00:11:03.649 power. Absalom is completely and utterly out 00:11:03.649 --> 00:11:07.929 for himself, and he will use the weak and trample 00:11:07.929 --> 00:11:10.950 on the strong in order to get what he wants. 00:11:12.370 --> 00:11:17.409 So... What is Absalom like? How might we describe 00:11:17.409 --> 00:11:21.250 his character? I think we can safely conclude 00:11:21.250 --> 00:11:27.529 that he was vain, deceitful, violent, manipulative, 00:11:27.870 --> 00:11:34.629 arrogant and cruel. Absalom, the self -anointed 00:11:34.629 --> 00:11:38.289 wannabe king, is in many ways an antichrist. 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:42.279 not in a one John sense, but in an opposite of 00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:45.820 Christ sense. If the people of Israel might have 00:11:45.820 --> 00:11:48.659 breathed a sigh of relief that Absalom did not 00:11:48.659 --> 00:11:52.340 ascend to the throne, we can rejoice that our 00:11:52.340 --> 00:11:56.799 legitimate Christ is the anti -Absalom in all 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:01.019 his dealings with all of us in Christ. A servant 00:12:01.019 --> 00:12:05.139 king, not a vain prima donna, utterly truthful, 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:10.440 not deceitful. a peacemaker and reconciler, not 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:14.179 given to wanton violence, one whom we can trust 00:12:14.179 --> 00:12:18.399 with our highest dreams and deepest fears and 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.539 fragile hearts and never manipulative, humble, 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:28.820 not arrogant, kind, not cruel. Praise God that 00:12:28.820 --> 00:12:32.159 God's real king is better than this pretender. 00:12:33.340 --> 00:12:35.799 We can say that from our perspective on this 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:39.320 side of the cross. But track back 3 ,000 years 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:41.840 and we're still left with a crucial question. 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:47.679 Why, given all that Absalom is like and all that 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:52.360 he's done, why does David continue to love him, 00:12:52.519 --> 00:12:56.759 even to the extent of risking his kingdom? More 00:12:56.759 --> 00:12:59.480 than once, Absalom demonstrates that he is utterly 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:03.360 undeserving of his father's trust and love, uninterested 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:06.389 in his father's love. He would rather his father 00:13:06.389 --> 00:13:09.750 was dead or in exile so that he could be king 00:13:09.750 --> 00:13:14.669 instead. And yet David loves him. The narrator 00:13:14.669 --> 00:13:17.929 communicates the depth of David's love very powerfully 00:13:17.929 --> 00:13:21.509 over the course of 14 verses from verses 19 onwards. 00:13:22.009 --> 00:13:24.509 We start with the knowledge that Absalom is dead, 00:13:24.669 --> 00:13:27.730 or at least we know that. But we also know that 00:13:27.730 --> 00:13:30.580 David doesn't know that. And in the exchange 00:13:30.580 --> 00:13:33.679 between Joab and Ahimaaz, we hear the insistence 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:36.080 of Ahimaaz, who hasn't quite understood the likely 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:38.679 impact of the news of Absalom's death on David. 00:13:39.299 --> 00:13:42.220 Joab does see it. And so we have this tussle 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:45.200 between them, resolved by Joab finally admitting 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:50.200 Ahimaaz to run. And then we move to David sitting 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:53.000 at the gates. And we realize that he has been 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:56.700 watching and waiting for Absalom ever since his 00:13:56.700 --> 00:14:00.120 soldiers left the city. And he's alerted to the 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:03.539 first runner. And then we get these agonizing 00:14:03.539 --> 00:14:07.279 nine verses as we wait first for Ahimaaz and 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.799 then for the Kushite to arrive, where we see 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:14.159 that David is hoping against hope that Absalom 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:19.759 is alive. I wonder whether you've ever had to 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:24.600 wait for news, maybe a call or an email about 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:29.350 someone or something you care about. And as you 00:14:29.350 --> 00:14:32.269 wait, you go through the possible options. You 00:14:32.269 --> 00:14:35.789 look desperately for signs of hope, hope that 00:14:35.789 --> 00:14:40.549 the news will be good. In verse 27, when David 00:14:40.549 --> 00:14:43.950 realizes the runner is Ahimaaz, he comes to an 00:14:43.950 --> 00:14:47.450 instant and illogical conclusion. He's a good 00:14:47.450 --> 00:14:51.309 man. He comes with good news. It's the logic 00:14:51.309 --> 00:14:57.370 of a desperate man. But the news isn't good for 00:14:57.370 --> 00:15:00.559 David. And when he learns of Absalom's death, 00:15:00.860 --> 00:15:05.539 he is devastated. He is overwhelmed by his grief. 00:15:07.100 --> 00:15:12.899 David loves his son, not perfectly, even unwisely. 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:17.700 Effectively, he spoils him. He refuses to discipline 00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:21.600 his son, who is rebelling against him. Maybe 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:24.779 his love was mixed in with guilt about his own 00:15:24.779 --> 00:15:29.059 failings in the past. But despite this, remarkably, 00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:33.620 despite the kind of person Absalom was and the 00:15:33.620 --> 00:15:41.980 kind of things he did, David loves Absalom. Why 00:15:41.980 --> 00:15:45.460 is this important? There are two things I'd like 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:50.019 to draw out here. The first point is that David's 00:15:50.019 --> 00:15:53.740 love for imperfect Absalom is a signpost pointing 00:15:53.740 --> 00:15:59.830 us, to God's love for us. I wonder whether when 00:15:59.830 --> 00:16:02.850 you listen to David waiting in agony for Absalom 00:16:02.850 --> 00:16:06.370 to return home from the battle, you heard echoes 00:16:06.370 --> 00:16:10.929 of the father in Luke chapter 15, waiting and 00:16:10.929 --> 00:16:14.049 longing for the prodigal son to return home. 00:16:15.429 --> 00:16:18.730 David isn't a perfect example of God's love, 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:22.580 but the gap between what Absalom deserved and 00:16:22.580 --> 00:16:25.299 what David was prepared to give him, points us 00:16:25.299 --> 00:16:29.399 forward to the gap between what we deserve and 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:35.440 what God is prepared to give us. The second point 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:39.720 is that Absalom, the wannabe king, resists David, 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:44.500 the anointed king. And that resistance to God's 00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:48.519 sovereign choice is very much alive in our hearts 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:53.740 too. We can probably all say that we have not 00:16:53.740 --> 00:16:56.740 murdered our brother and gone to war against 00:16:56.740 --> 00:17:00.980 our father in order to win power. But in our 00:17:00.980 --> 00:17:04.460 self -centeredness and our idolatry, we often 00:17:04.460 --> 00:17:08.599 go to war against God's anointed king, Jesus 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:13.660 Christ. And we hate and envy those who have a 00:17:13.660 --> 00:17:19.160 calling that we want for ourselves. I don't know. 00:17:19.789 --> 00:17:23.430 what this looks like for you. I know from what 00:17:23.430 --> 00:17:25.549 I've seen in my own heart and others that it 00:17:25.549 --> 00:17:30.349 can look like expediency, where we choose to 00:17:30.349 --> 00:17:33.930 put pressure on others to override their needs 00:17:33.930 --> 00:17:40.430 to get the outcome we want. Deceit. Perhaps we 00:17:40.430 --> 00:17:44.230 choose to lie or maybe we pretend to care about 00:17:44.230 --> 00:17:49.769 people to persuade them to do what we want. Envy. 00:17:50.789 --> 00:17:54.269 We despise the life that God has called us to 00:17:54.269 --> 00:17:57.269 live and envy those who are doing the things 00:17:57.269 --> 00:18:03.470 that we wish we were doing. Self -rule. Perhaps 00:18:03.470 --> 00:18:06.869 instead of surrendering our lives to God, we 00:18:06.869 --> 00:18:10.549 try to make our chosen future come about by ourselves. 00:18:11.450 --> 00:18:14.049 And ministers are just as susceptible to this 00:18:14.049 --> 00:18:20.089 as anyone else. If Absalom had surrendered his 00:18:20.089 --> 00:18:23.309 life and his hopes for the future to God, had 00:18:23.309 --> 00:18:26.130 accepted his father and in time his older brother 00:18:26.130 --> 00:18:29.230 as God's anointed king, and been willing to enjoy 00:18:29.230 --> 00:18:32.490 the love of his father, what could his life have 00:18:32.490 --> 00:18:35.630 been like? What kind of a person could he have 00:18:35.630 --> 00:18:40.309 been? Maybe with a love for justice, pursuing 00:18:40.309 --> 00:18:43.089 right justice for his sister, for the people 00:18:43.089 --> 00:18:46.970 of Israel. Perhaps he would have honoured others. 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:49.740 Perhaps he could have been a faithful and supportive 00:18:49.740 --> 00:18:54.259 son to his father and older brother. Gratitude. 00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:57.059 Perhaps he could have accepted the place in the 00:18:57.059 --> 00:18:59.960 world that God had given him and found some other 00:18:59.960 --> 00:19:04.740 wiser outlet for his energy and ambition. Peace. 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:09.039 Perhaps he could have known the peace that God 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:11.900 gives in the knowledge that he is sovereign and 00:19:11.900 --> 00:19:16.940 Absalom is loved. The more we surrender our lives, 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:20.460 our character, our hopes for the future again 00:19:20.460 --> 00:19:24.819 to God's anointed King Jesus, beholding his death 00:19:24.819 --> 00:19:28.000 in our place on the cross, trusting that he loves 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:31.680 us, no matter how many times we fail him, what 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:35.039 changes could that surrender bring about in our 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:38.440 lives? Wouldn't that surrender help to shape 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:44.240 us into Christ -like people? Perhaps there is 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:47.640 one thing that you know in your heart. that the 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:51.480 Holy Spirit is prodding gently right now. An 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:54.240 area of my heart still holding out against King 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:57.960 Jesus. An area where you would love the Lord 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:02.460 to help you make better choices. Let's ask the 00:20:02.460 --> 00:20:09.400 Lord together in prayer now. Loving Father God, 00:20:09.660 --> 00:20:14.359 we read the life of Absalom and find so much 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:19.329 to be horrified by. And yet, when we are honest, 00:20:19.569 --> 00:20:22.990 we know that there are areas of our lives where 00:20:22.990 --> 00:20:25.289 we make choices that are all about what we want 00:20:25.289 --> 00:20:30.309 and not about what you want. We resist your anointed 00:20:30.309 --> 00:20:35.750 King, Jesus, and his will for our lives. Thank 00:20:35.750 --> 00:20:38.930 you for your love for us, which is so much greater 00:20:38.930 --> 00:20:42.009 than the great love David had for his son, Absalom. 00:20:43.589 --> 00:20:45.869 Thank you, Jesus, that through your death on 00:20:45.869 --> 00:20:48.329 the cross you prove your eternal love for us. 00:20:49.809 --> 00:20:53.829 In the quiet, I offer you this one area of my 00:20:53.829 --> 00:21:00.390 life. I invite you, Holy Spirit, to come. Shine 00:21:00.390 --> 00:21:03.990 your light in my heart. Bring clarity and wisdom 00:21:03.990 --> 00:21:07.390 to my mind. Forgive me for the things I have 00:21:07.390 --> 00:21:10.690 said and done that do not bring glory to you. 00:21:12.589 --> 00:21:16.630 May your love for me in all my brokenness change 00:21:16.630 --> 00:21:20.950 my heart so that more and more I want to make 00:21:20.950 --> 00:21:26.049 choices that are Christ -like. Teach me, guide 00:21:26.049 --> 00:21:31.329 me, help me. Thank you that I am not alone, that 00:21:31.329 --> 00:21:35.210 you have promised to be with me always. In Jesus' 00:21:35.250 --> 00:21:36.869 name. Amen.