We're going to look primarily at 2 Samuel 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.
That 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, Ben 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 its desires.
Love gladly waits until the right time.
Teenagers, 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, Tamer's brother, Absalom, went to her defense.
It took him two years, two years, but he finally schemed a way 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.
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.
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.
Joab devised a scheme.
You think there's a lot of scheming going on in David's household, you're absolutely
right.
David is the one that showed them exactly how to do it.
Joab schemed a way in order to get Absalom back from the land of the Gentiles to Jerusalem.
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.
Well, anyway, Absalom came back home and when he was there for a period of time, he began
to maneuver a way 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 it's 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 1 Kings chapter 1 verse 6, it says regarding Adonijah, 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.
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.
It 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 undealt with.
That is still true today.
It is true in your life and mine very often.
It was true in the case of Absalom.
You say, 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, verses 25 and 26, it says, now in all Israel was no one
as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised.
From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, there was no defect in him.
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 three and a half to
four 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 three and a half or four 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 mustaches and long hair.
But 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 a 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 Timur, but I believe that he was
really bitter at his death.
And I'll tell you why.
And 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.
Ephesians 4.32 was my daughter's memory verse this last week in school.
It 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.
It led to secret scheming on his part.
Verse 2, and 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.
Even 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.
In verse 5, it 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 in this manner, Absalom dealt with all Israel who came to the king for judgment.
So Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel.
What we have here is a classic back slapper.
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 back slap, 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.
They 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 in 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.
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 inerrant, 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 Geishur 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.
And 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 Geishur.
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 two hundred men went with Absalom from Jerusalem, who were invited and went innocently,
and they did not know anything.
And Absalom sent for Ahithophel, the Gielinite, David's counselor, may I say David's trusted
counselor from his city, Gielo, 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 there, 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.
It is 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 in haste, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down calamity on us and strike the city
with the edge of the sword.
Sometimes 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.
And 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 sang 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 10 concubines
to keep the house.
And the king went out and all the people with him, and they stopped at the last house.
Now all his servants passed on beside him.
All the Cherithites, all the Pelethites, 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 Ittai, the Gittite, why will you go with us?
Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile.
Return to your own place.
You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander 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 Ittai 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.
Ittai 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 Ittai.
He said, David, whether it's for life or for death, I am your servant.
I am with you.
It's at a time like this that you know who your friends really are.
Chuck Swindoll points out wisely that 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.
Then there's close friendship, where 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 by the time you get to the intimate friends, there are very few and precious.
Now 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 Hittite and David had based their relationship.
David said, go and pass over.
So Hittite 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 brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward the
way of the wilderness.
The brook 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 of 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 brook 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 brook into the city to be tried.
The same little brook is involved here.
And as David passed over the brook, 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 wise.
Secondly, 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 set down the Ark of God, and Abethar came up until all the people had finished
passing from the city.
Abethar 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 seems good to him.
The king said to Zadok the priest, are you not a seer?
Return to the city in peace and your two sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan, the
son of Abethar.
And see, I'm going to wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to
inform me.
Therefore, Zadok and Abethar returned the Ark of God to Jerusalem and remained 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, then 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 all the people who were with him each covered his head and went up weeping as they
went.
And someone told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.
I say again, Ahithophel 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, Oh, Lord, I pray, make the counsel of Ahithophel foolishness.
David is concerned that Ahithophel'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 Ahithophel, 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 the Mount of Olives where God was
worshipped.
The behold, Hushii, the archite, met him with his coat torn and dust on his head.
Here's another man who's 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.
By 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
God, 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 Ahithophel for me.
And are not Zadok and Abethar 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.
But then he sends back this very key person, Hushai, who will serve as the chief spy of
what Absalom is going to do.
He says, you can give your services to Absalom and tell him that like Ahithophel, you are
capitulating to his kingship and he will trust you.
And in that position, then, you can counter what Ahithophel will say to him.
And in fact, that's exactly what happens a little later on.
You say, well, why is it that Ahithophel 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 Ahithophel's granddaughter was Bathsheba.
And Ahithophel, in his heart, had it in for David because of what he had done to Bathsheba
and to her husband Uriah.
And so when the opportunity came, he turned on David.
Well, now David counters that with this man, Hushai.
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.
Resist the devil.
That's what we're to do.
And the result is He will flee from us.
Well, we're going to stop at this point in the narrative and pick it up there next time.
But let's just remind ourselves that 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.
Where 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's 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 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 that
the godly character will be evidenced in the way that we handle the battle.
I pray that You would deliver all of us from hidden, disguised, inward sins that 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.
We pray Your blessing upon each one as we go home.
In Jesus' name, amen.