2 SAMUEL 14-20 ABSALOM TRIES TO REIGN2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Samuel 14-20 Absalom Tries To Reign

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012. And we are going to be looking at 2 Samuel chapter 14 through 20 as we continue to review the chapters that we've read this past week in the Bible and three years. Well, as we look at the book of 2 Samuel, we don't know exactly who the author is.

Looking at the span of time that it covers combined with 1 Samuel and then originally in the Hebrew Bible, 1 and 2 Kings were all part of one book together. So it's really a collection from various authors who were recording the history of Israel.

This particular book, 2 Samuel, covers the time period from about 1010 to 970 BC. And we'll see that in just a moment. But we're really focusing on the reign of David. In 1 Samuel, we saw the reign of Saul. And now we're seeing the reign of David. And as we move out of 2 Samuel this week, we'll now be moving into the reign of Solomon, David's son.

Well, on the timeline, this is what it looks like. We're covering this time period here of 2 Samuel. It's early into the nation of Israel's history. There was the time of judges, and then Saul was the first king. He reigned for 40 years. Now David has been, or he reigns a total of 40 years. And so we're right there in the midst of that 40-year reign of David here in 2 Samuel.

As we consider the geography, King Saul, this was his borders. This was the kingdom that he held on to. It's a little bit smaller than the land that was apportioned to all of the different tribes under Joshua. And so they had lost some territory and we got to see that very clearly. But now under David, this is the borders as he's expanded the borders and defeated many of the enemies around him.

the nation of Israel as well as put many under tribute and that type of thing. And so the borders have been expanded and so David is strengthening and furthering the kingdom of Israel and we'll see that continue to grow under Solomon's reign as well.

Well, that brings us now to our chapters for this week. And so we start out in chapter 14. The key verse is verse 33. It says, So Joab went to the king and told him. And when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king. Then the king kissed Absalom.

We're jumping right into a little bit of David's history that we kind of need to get caught up on before we get started this evening because this really begins back a few chapters where David sins with Bathsheba.

And there was this adulterous relationship and you're familiar with that, I'm sure. You remember that from last week. And immediately after that, then David goes into this season of really hardness of heart where he puts Uriah to death, which was Bathsheba's husband.

Because he wouldn't cooperate in covering up David's sin. And so he puts him on the front lines. He gets killed. He marries Bathsheba. And he doesn't repent of this sin for, they believe it's about a year. And so, you know, this is weighing on him. And there's a couple psalms that go along that kind of describe the intensity of what's going on in David.

Well, David is finally confronted as God sends Nathan to him. And he tells him a parable about a man with a sheep and his neighbor who had a bunch of sheep. And the neighbor with a bunch of sheep took the man's one sheep to feed a guest. And David is just furious. He's like, that guy needs to be put to death.

But then God speaks through Nathan and says, David, you are the man. And David realizes and recognizes and confesses his sin at that point. Now, the results and the consequences of that sin are pretty severe. Although God says you're forgiven, you're not going to be put to death for that sin. But there's going to be turmoil within your family. And so we saw that begin to take place last week with Amnon and Tamar.

Where Amnon, the firstborn of David, began to lust after Tamar, which was one of his sisters. It was a half-sister, actually. And so he lusted after her. He schemed and connived and finally ended up forcing her to sleep with him. And so Tamar goes away weeping and she is Absalom's brother.

Absalom was the third born. So Absalom now is upset with Amnon. We saw this last week where he plans and schemes and plots and he puts Amnon to death and then he flees Amnon.

Not the land of Israel, but the area of Jerusalem goes across the Jordan up into the northern parts. And so he is outside of the king. He's not been able to see the king. Three years go by. And so that's where we're picking it up here in chapter 14 where Absalom is somewhat exiled. That he's run away. He hasn't come back. He hasn't seen his father David. And now Joab, it says in verse 1,

perceives that the king's heart is concerned about Absalom. And so here in verses 1 through 17, we have this woman from Tekoa that stands before David. Now this is Joab's doing. He brings this woman in, he tells her what to say, and then he sends her before the king.

So Joab comes up with this plan to help David. And I can kind of picture him planning it out, right? Well, a parable worked before with Nathan. He told the story about the sheep and the guy. So let's tell another story and maybe we can kind of convince David to bring Absalom home.

Well, the woman tells the story and David is moved by it. And she challenges David and she, you know, tells David that he needs to apply these same things to Absalom and bring Absalom home. And David recognizes that Joab is involved in this. And so he gives Joab permission and he says, okay, it's okay, go ahead and bring him home. And we see that happening in verses 18 through 24.

Although David gives the permission, all right, you can bring him home. He says, but he shall not see my face. And so David here, he's conflicted. As you can imagine, any father might be where, you know, one son has killed another son. And so there's the sorrow for that. But then that son is exiled and runs away and hasn't been seen for a few years. So now he's being brought back and there's, you know, some...

Happiness, you know, it relieves his heart. But at the same time, he's still upset because Absalom did this thing. And so he's like, he cannot see my face. He's not allowed to see me, but he can come back home. He can come back to Jerusalem.

well verses 25 through 27 records for us uh absalom's good looks now this becomes kind of you know important as you continue to see the the character of absalom built uh in the next couple of chapters where he is seeking to bring the nation away from david and take the throne himself but it makes note here of his amazing hair he had uh

This haircut that he would have every year where it would weigh out the hair that was cut off 200 shekels.

And that works out to about five or five and a half pounds. So following this model, I cut my hair every year too and I weigh it. And it's about five or five and a half ounces. No, I'm just kidding. But so he had this just impressive head of hair. I like what Weersbe has to say about this. He says, the only thing weighty about Absalom was his hair. The rest of him was chaff. And we definitely see that proved to be true over the next couple of chapters.

Well then finally in verses 28 through 33 we see that Absalom sees David after two years. So he was exiled for three years. He comes back to Jerusalem for two years more. He's not yet seen. It's been five years since he's seen his father. And Joab is not returning his calls. He's not responding as Absalom is seeking to try to get his attention. So he sends his servants to light the field on fire.

And then Joab finally comes and responds and says, hey, why are you setting my field on fire? And he said, well, I need to get your attention. So he says, tell my dad I want to see his face. Tell my dad it's time we meet. And so David agrees and he goes and he sees David. He bows down before David. David kisses him and there's this reunion that takes place.

Absalom's motivation in this, though, is really not for reunion. And we'll see that in the next chapter. And so there's some highlights here. It seems like things are going well. But at the same time, as we see the story develop, we see that the motivation of what's happening in Absalom's heart is much deeper and not at all good.

I think what David Guzik says about this is really important to consider. He says, So they're reunited here, but there's not really a resolution of the issue. There's not a resolution of the sin that was committed.

He goes on to talk about in a personal relationship, hey, to overlook a sin, it's a matter of love. It's graciousness. It's a good thing many times in our personal relationships. But as king, David also had the responsibility to make sure that

judgment was executed, that justice was done. And so this thing that Absalom has done needed to be dealt with. But I'm sure David was conflicted again because it's his son. But then also he had his own issues that he had just gone through in killing Uriah. And so

I'm sure that that added a bunch of conflict for him. And so he doesn't really deal with the issue. He reunites with him and he kind of, you know, makes good like everything's okay. But that just enables the things that are going to be happening next. And so we'll see that continue to cause problems in the coming chapter.

Well, here's a quick look at what this looked like. Absalom fled to Gesher, which again, it was in that northern area across the Jordan. And so now he's brought back to Jerusalem. He spends two years there and then finally is able to see his father. Well, that brings us now to chapter 15 of 2 Samuel. And verse 16 is the key verse.

It says, then the king went out with his household after him, but the king left 10 women concubines to keep the house. So what happens here now is Absalom is welcomed back. He's reunited with the king. He's allowed back around the palace. And so verses 1 through 6, now he begins to put his plot into practice. And he steals the hearts of Israel away.

And we see it continue to develop in verses 7 through 12. The conspiracy that Absalom has put together begins to grow strong. We'll come back to talk about this in just a moment. But looking ahead in verse 13 through 23, the end result is David now flees from Jerusalem.

The priests try to go with him along with his household and many of his men. The priests say, hey, we're going to come with you. But verses 14 through 29, you see that David is sending the priests back.

And then he also sends back Hushai to Jerusalem in verses 30 through 37. Now, I want to take a couple moments and camp out here in chapter 15 to consider because what we see here in the example of Absalom is something that is important for you and I to be able to recognize.

And I want to put it this way. From Absalom we learn how to usurp authority. If you ever wanted to know how you can usurp authority...

Absalom is a great example for us. Now, of course, I'm not encouraging you to do this, but it is good to see these evidences of this plot, this conspiracy to take authority that does not belong to you. The first thing we see Absalom doing here in verse 1 is he's promoting himself.

It says that after this, after they're reunited, now Absalom, he provides himself with chariots and horses and he gets 50 men to run before him.

So essentially what he does is he establishes a constant parade in his honor. And so as he goes anywhere, he's got his chariots and horses and these 50 men that run before him. He's promoting himself. He's putting himself in the front lines, putting himself in the front of people's minds so that people look and say, whoa, this is someone important. This is someone to pay attention to, that anywhere he goes, people are taking notice. And he's putting himself in

very clearly in the forefront of the minds of the people. And so the first step in usurping authority is to promote yourself. The second step is to breed discontent. Breed discontent. Verse 3 says, Then Absalom would say to him, Look, your case is good and right, but there is no deputy of the king to hear you. And so what Absalom would do is he would camp out there at the gate of

of the king and people would come to the king with difficulties, with their issues. Whenever the judges that were there in their local area weren't handling their issues in a way that, you know, was reasonable or fair, they would take it to the king. They would go to the king. And so these people, they've tried already in their local areas to get justice, to have issues resolved and it hasn't worked. And so they've made the effort now to come before the king

But as they're trying to come before the king, Absalom is intercepting. He's stepping in and he's saying, oh wow, where are you from? Oh wow, that's cool. And what's going on? They'll tell him a little bit about the issue and oh man, you've got a really good case, he would say. He kind of encouraged them in it. Wow, you've got something here. That's just, that's fair. We need to correct this. We need to solve this for you.

But then he would say, but there is no deputy of the king to hear you. So what Absalom is saying here is not accurate. He's not telling the truth. He's intercepting and keeping the people from coming before the king and presenting their issues.

And so what he's doing is he's breeding discontent by saying, oh man, yeah, you're right. And you need to be made right. They need to really resolve this for you. It's just too bad that there's nobody who can hear your case. And so he would breed this discontent within them that they needed to have resolution. They needed to have this issue resolved, but there was nobody to help them.

Then the step three we see in verse four, then Absalom would present himself as the solution.

So step one, he would promote himself. Make sure I'm in the forefront of people's mind. Make sure I know, or they know, you know, when I'm around, when I'm going here to there, they take note. They know what's going on. They know I'm someone important. And then he would breed discontent. Oh yeah, you've got a good case, but man, it's too bad, you know, these people here in leadership, they're not really doing anything about it. If only I was in that position, man, I'd really make things right for you and I'd really take care of you.

And so step three is to promote yourself as the solution. Verse four says, oh that I were made judge in the land and everyone who had any suit or cause would come to me, then I would give him justice. He says, look, I'm the solution. I'm the one who can help. If only they would trust me with these cases, but there's no one to hear your case.

So he presents himself as the solution. And then as it continues to grow, step four, we find in verse 10. And that is to spread enlisted people. Spread enlisted people. Verse 10 says, So he sends his own guys all throughout the nation.

With a purpose. The purpose is when the trumpet blows, then you guys announce Absalom reigns in Hebron. So all over the nation, simultaneously, people are going to be saying Absalom reigns in Hebron. What's he doing? He is putting his people all around so that

Well, the rest of the nation will hear. They'll agree. They'll hear. Oh yeah, yeah, I heard that too. Yeah, my uncle said Absalom's reigning now. You know, they didn't have text message and stuff. So the word would spread a little bit more slowly. But it was like, oh yeah, yeah, I heard that too. I heard that too. Oh, we heard that. And so he's setting it up so that he can instantly, quickly spread the news that Absalom is now the new king.

So step one, if you want to usurp authority, is you promote yourself. Step two, you breed discontent. Step three, you present yourself as the solution. Step four, you spread out enlisted people who will promote your message or announce your message to the people. And then step five is you also have to trick people. Verse 11, And with Absalom went 200 men invited from Jerusalem, and they went along innocently and did not know anything.

So Absalom is on his way to Hebron. He invites 200 men from Jerusalem. Hey guys, why don't you come? We're going to have a good feast. We're going to have a great time. Barbecue, potluck, you know, whatever. And so they're like, yeah, well, let's go. We'll have a good time together. They're oblivious. They don't know what's going on.

They're not part of the scheme. They're not part of the plot. But he tricks them to come so that now there's this crowd. Now it's not just, you know, him and, you know, some guy announcing him as king. But now there's a crowd there. And so he's setting it up so that he can take over the throne. So that he can usurp authority. Now, why am I giving you these steps to usurp authority? Again,

I'm not suggesting that you do so. To do so would be wrong and it would be sinful. But it is important to know these steps and recognize these steps because this happens regularly and constantly. In fact,

In some ways, we kind of encourage it in our nation. I mean, if you think about this, it looks and sounds a lot like the election campaigns that we're going to be watching over the next several months, right? Promoting yourself, breeding discontent, presenting yourself as a solution, spreading out enlisted people, and then the tricking people with that one maybe, but maybe they are, but maybe they're not. I'm not going to get into that, but you figure it out. But politically, it's

Here in our nation and all across the world, this is what happens. That people are grabbing authority that does not belong to them using these steps that Absalom used. But it's not just in political arenas. This happens within churches.

That within churches, there are those who, well, they promote themselves and they breed discontent. They turn people away from the leaders that are in place. They present themselves as a solution. And what ends up happening is they split and divide the church. I'm on a list of other pastors. It's an email list. And so we, you know, discuss and converse and get to hear about all the things that are going on.

And there's great value in that. But one of the difficult things about it is, man, we hear so often about churches that this is happening in. And pastors are coming and they're just broken. They're just weeping. They're sorrowful because, well, so-and-so, my assistant pastor, you know, we've been together for 15 years, but now he's broken.

Leaving the church and he's taking with him a group of people. They're splitting up. They're now angry with us. And there's this division. There's this splitting within the church. It's so sad. And it happens so often. Often.

And number five here, the tricking people, that is part of what takes place within churches. That some people just get caught up in the shuffle. They get caught up in the mix. They weren't part of the plot and the scheme, but they get caught up in the midst of it. And again, it's so sad and nobody wins. You know, for me myself, I pray regularly for God to protect us from this kind of attack.

But I also will take the time like this evening to consider this with you because in a lot of ways it's probably just a matter of time before something like this is attempted, before something like this takes place, before there's someone here who desires to do something along this line.

We have to watch out. There are people who desire authority. There are people who desire to take authority that is not theirs. And it's important to know and to recognize and not get caught up in that along with, you know, not being the one who's manipulating and deceiving and trying to take that authority. I think these same things should be considered in your home as well. That there is a God-given authority and God-given order within the home.

And that authority, that structure that God has provided needs to be preserved. But even within the home, there's going to be, well, those who will try to grab power, grab authority, and hold a position of authority that does not belong to them. And we need to be careful to preserve the order that God has established, the structure that He has commanded. This kind of

usurping of authority it happens it happens regularly it's evil it's vile and if you're involved in it you must repent if you're involved in deceiving you need to repent if you're involved in dividing homes or the body of christ you need to repent it is not part of god's plan

David Guzik points out that divisive people almost never see themselves as divisive. They see themselves as crusaders for God's righteous cause and often believe or hope that God's hand is upon them. He says this is especially a problem when many will only believe a person is divisive if they admit they are divisive.

We need to recognize when there's attempts to divide us. We need to recognize when there's attempts to divide our body, our home. We need to recognize because those are not of God. God does not force us to choose sides, to put us against each other. Those things are not of God.

And so we need to learn to recognize when that is happening. Absalom was causing people to be divided. He's deceiving them. He's seducing them and setting up this plot in order to take over the throne, the authority that is not his. And so recognize these steps. Recognize these things so that you are not involved, so that you don't get caught up in these kinds of conspiracies. What are the steps? Here's how to usurp authority. Promote yourself.

Breathe discontent. Present yourself as the solution. Spread enlisted people and then trick people into joining. When you recognize these things, when you see these things, stay away. Don't get caught up in that. That is not for you. We could spend a lot more time there, but we need to move on. So this takes place.

Absalom is successful in his plot and now David hears of it and he says all right guys we got to pack up and we got to take off. Now I think this is really interesting because David's first response is let's run. We have seen David through some pretty thick and difficult situations up to this point and

I don't think it would be normal for us to think, well, what's David going to do? Probably he's going to run. I mean, he's a valiant warrior. He would stand and fight, surely. In this season of David's life, I think we have to kind of work through the different things that he does and determine whether or not he's a good example. Because he's not always a good example, especially in this latter portion of his life. But here in this decision,

I would ask you to consider. I think he is a good example. Not because he's running. Not that that's always the answer. Sometimes God wants you to stand and fight. But here in this case, it's very clear. He is leaving this issue in God's hands. In verse 25, he tells the priest to carry the ark of God back to the city. And he explains why. He says, if I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me back.

And show me both it and the dwelling place. But if God says, I don't have any delight in you. Well, here I am. And let him do to me as seems good to him. So he's putting himself in God's plan. God, if you want me on the throne, then you're going to take care of it. You're going to handle it. If you don't want me on the throne, well, I want to be submitted to your will and to your plan. And so here I am. And you can do with me as you please. And you can see this very clearly in the Psalms that David wrote during this time.

So if you want to check those out later on, it's Psalm 3, Psalm 41, Psalm 55, and Psalm 63. Those are ones that we know for sure he wrote during this time where he's fleeing from Jerusalem. But he's leaving it in God's hands. And so he sends the priests with the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, which is, again, I think a good example for us. He says, look, I'm not going to take away the people's opportunity to meet with God.

God knows where I'm at. He knows what's going on. He's going to take care of me and I'm going to leave it in his hands. At the same time, he doesn't just not do anything. He doesn't just stand there and say, well, hey, if he swings the sword in my head, I'm not going to duck. He recognizes, well, I need to be wise and prudent and be active. And so he's running. He's leaving. He's fleeing. But he's putting himself in God's hands. But he also recognizes

sets up his own CIA. He sends Hushai back to Jerusalem as his secret agent to thwart the counsel of Ahithophel. Now Ahithophel turning against David in this was very hurtful. In Psalm chapter 55 he talks about that. He says, look it's not an enemy who reproaches me. It's my own friend. We had counsel together. We worshiped the Lord together.

And it's Ahithophel that has turned against David and joined with Absalom. Now why would Ahithophel do this? Well, it's been often observed that Ahithophel was actually Bathsheba's grandfather. And so perhaps Ahithophel, you know, was really upset at David at what happened. The whole ordeal with David and Bathsheba. And this perhaps is the fruit of that. So David sends Hushai back.

He's leaving it in God's hands, but he's also not doing nothing. He's giving the opportunity for God to use Hushai there in the king's court or in Absalom's court. So what happens here on the map is...

Absalom goes to Hebron. There they announce him as the king. It spreads through the whole nation because of the people that he'd spread about. And so immediately David packs up and he begins to leave. He's heading towards the Jordan River and we'll see him cross over it in the next couple of chapters. This is a quick look at the mountains of Jerusalem to help you kind of get the picture because it talks about David crossing over the brook Kidron.

So on the left here you have Mount Zion and this was the original location of Jerusalem.

Then up the hill yet further is what's known as Mount Moriah. And so Mount Zion and Mount Moriah, as David built up Jerusalem, now Jerusalem extended to both Mount Zion and Mount Moriah. And if you go to Jerusalem today, Jerusalem is built on Mount Zion and Mount Moriah. Mount Zion, when we talk about mountains, we might think of, you know, the mountains.

pretty high mountains but Mount Zion its peak is at right about 2,500 feet above sea level it's it's not very high Mount Moriah well where the temple is built is about 2,400 feet it actually extends on up a little bit to the north and it goes a little bit higher but it's about the same height as Mount Zion and then you have this valley here and see that that blue line that goes across

There wouldn't always be water there, just sometimes during the rainy season. But this was the Kidron Valley. And as you crossed over that valley, then the next mountain right there would be the Mount of Olives, which would be about 2,800 feet or 2,900 feet at its peak.

And so you're not talking about, you know, real high mountains. The Kidron Valley would be about 2,300 feet. So to go from Mount of Olives, you're going down maybe 500 feet. And then to go up to the Mount Zion or Mount Moriah, you're only going up, you know, 100 or 200 feet. It's really...

close together, it's not, you know, that big of a difference of elevation, so it's not like he's, you know, crossing over the Appalachian Mountains or, you know, something like that. I mean, it's just going over like foothills like we have all around here. So when it talks about David packing up and crossing over the Kidron Valley, that's what's happening. He's crossing over, just barely leaving the city of Jerusalem when he does so.

as he heads on his way fleeing from Absalom. Well, that brings us to chapter 16, verse 13 is the key verse. It says, And as David and his men went along the road, Shimei went along the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went, threw stones at him and kicked up dust. In verses 1 through 4 here, we see that Ziba meets David with provisions. Here Ziba comes. Now Ziba was the servant of Mephibosheth,

who was lame. You might remember that Mephibosheth was Jonathan's son, and David wanted to show kindness to Jonathan's descendants, so he made him part of the royal family. Well, now as David is fleeing, Ziba comes to him and lies, and says, Mephibosheth is joining with Absalom. Mephibosheth is saying, hey, they're going to make me king now. And so he lies to David, but the problem is that David believes it.

This is a classic example of a bad decision. David makes a bad decision here. It's a bad judgment call that he makes because, first of all, he has bad information. It's bad information because it's just one side.

It's a lie, first of all, but he's only hearing one side. Ziba comes and said, hey, this is what Mephibosheth has said. This is what Mephibosheth has done. It's amazing how we are so often convinced. We're so much convinced by one side of a story, one side of an argument, that it seems that it's unnecessary to hear the other side.

I mean, there's no possible explanation that could, you know, make this, that we've heard, okay, there's no possible explanation to resolve this. And maybe you've experienced that if you've ever sat in a courtroom and, you know, done jury duty, you know, the prosecutor or the defense, you know, they do their best, they present, and if you just hear the one side, their case sounds really good because they've designed it to sound really good.

But then when you hear the other side, then you can get a better understanding of the whole picture. Proverbs chapter 18 verse 13 says, He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. So,

To answer a matter before you hear it, and I would suggest to you that hearing just one side and answering is answering a matter before you hear it. Because just a couple verses later in Proverbs 18, 17, it says, the first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him. And so the point is, you're going to make a bad decision if you've got bad information. And if you've just heard one side, you're going to make a bad decision.

It's going to be bad information. It's going to be a bad decision. Well, it was a bad decision not just because of the bad information, but it was bad timing. This was really bad timing for David to make this decision. Look at what's going on with him. He's got a son who's leading an insurrection against him.

A son who, you know, killed his other son and has just got back, but now he's led and gone through this great conspiracy to overthrow David. How hurtful.

Would that be? His friend Ahithophel has turned against him. How hurtful would that be? Now Ziba is telling him Mephibosheth has turned against you too. How hurtful would that be? David is not in an emotional condition that he should be making peace.

decisions. On top of that, he's in the midst of fleeing for his life. I mean, he's trying to get out of there. He's trying to get away. He's trying to just save his life. He's doing everything he can to try to save and he's got the responsibility of these people who are with him. This is not the right time for him to make a decision. So it's a bad decision because it's bad information, it's bad timing, and

And it ends up being a bad decision. We'll see that later on when David meets up with Mephibosheth. Let me just say, you are always missing information if you have not heard from the Lord. When you have decisions to make, you are always missing information if you have not yet heard from the Lord. A lot of times we think of an issue and we think there's two sides. There's my side and there's their side. Are there his side and her side?

But I like to consider what we see in Joshua chapter 5 verse 14. Where Joshua comes across this guy and he says, Are you for us or are you for our adversaries? And it's the Lord appearing to Joshua. And the Lord says, No. Are you for us or for your adversaries? For our adversaries. He says, No. But as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. We like to think there's two sides. That's it. You got to pick a side. His side, her side, whatever.

But God says, look, I'm not on your side. I'm not on their side. I'm on my side. I'm the Lord. And so if you've not yet heard from the Lord, you're always missing information. When you make a decision, make sure you hear from the Lord. Otherwise, it's bad information. You're going to make a bad decision. It's also bad timing if you've not yet heard from the Lord. If you haven't heard from the Lord, don't make the decision. We always talk about the Christian life as a relationship. Let's live it out, guys.

Have a relationship with him. Hear from the Lord. And don't make decisions until you've heard from him. Urgency is a tactic of the enemy. He will build up the situation. He'll build up the appearance of it so that it seems like you have to make a decision, that we're forced. We must make a decision. We have to act. We don't have time to hear from the Lord. Essentially, he bullies us into making bad decisions.

So learn from David's example here. Get all the information, including that you must hear from the Lord. But also make sure it's the right time. Make sure emotionally you're in a good position where you're able to see things clearly. Make sure that you're not frantically on the move and trying to just preserve your life or get things done. Make sure that you take the time to consider what it is you're really deciding, but also make sure you've heard from the Lord on that. And don't move. Don't move.

before He gives you the authority to do so. Alright, well as we go on, man.

I knew I was going to camp on those things. I didn't know I was going to spend this much time though. So we're going to kind of zoom through some of the rest of these. All right. So as David's leaving now, Ziba meets with him and now Shimei comes along and curses David. And for me, this is always a funny picture because Shimei is so worked up. And so he's, you know, walking along on the hill opposite David. He's kicking up dust and like throwing rocks and cursing. And he's just so upset over David.

and accusing David of all these things. And I think what David Guzik says is so good here. He says, if David was the kind of man that Shimei said he was, Shimei would be dead. Because David's men were saying, let me take off his head. And David's like, no, no, perhaps this is what God wants. Perhaps I need this. Perhaps this is at God's word that he's cursing me and throwing rocks at me. Perhaps this is of God. Again, David is leaving it in God's hands.

But if David was anything like Shimei was saying that he was, then he wouldn't have had any problem just lopping off his head right then. And so Shimei goes along and curses David, but David just leaves it to the Lord, let God take care of it, and he continues on. Then we see that Hushai goes to Absalom, there in verses 15 through 19, and then in verse 20 through 23, Absalom pitches a tent on the top of the house, and that was...

important thing for him to do for his conspiracy to show all of the nation I am king see I've taken the king's concubine and so he wanted it Ahithophel advised him to do this because it was public then everybody would know Absalom now has taken the throne he is the new king

Well, here on the map, we see David continuing to flee from Jerusalem. He's working his way toward the Jordan River, and he'll be crossing it in just a moment. And then Absalom now comes to Jerusalem from Hebron. So it all started at Hebron. David flees from Jerusalem, and then now Absalom has come into Jerusalem and set up camp in the palace. Verse 17.

Verse 7 is the key verse. It says, So Hushai said to Absalom, The advice that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time. So in verses 1 through 4, Ahithophel advises them, Let's go get David right now. Just send a small group. Just kill David. Don't make a big war. Just, you know, go take out the leader and it will be over.

The advice sounds pretty good, but they say, well, let's hear from Hushai as well. So verses 5 through 14, Hushai advises them to gather all of Israel from Dan to Beersheba. That's the far north to the far south. And here, Hushai really appeals to Absalom's pride in order to give David more time. He says, you know what would be really great, Absalom?

I could see you riding on a horse at the front of a massive army. All these people following you and you leading them into victorious, glorious battle. These are my own words, but it's similar to what Hushai told him. I mean, it was like, gather this massive army and you lead them into battle. You lead them to victory. Well,

This appeals to Absalom's pride. So he likes the idea. But it also takes time. Because now people got to come from all Israel. It's about 150 miles from top to bottom. So you know that's a little bit of a distance to travel. Without vehicles that we have today. So take a little bit of time. He gives David time to get away. To get rested. To get established and prepared. To fight the battle that is going to take place.

Well then in verse 15 through 23, Hushai sends a message to David to warn him. And then in verse 24 through 29, David gets away, he crosses the Jordan, and he camps at Mahanaim.

Here on the map, you can see where that's at. It's kind of in the middle of Israel, but across the Jordan, a little bit of protection there across from the Jordan so that they wouldn't be taken by surprise. So he camps there and that's where they're going to set up and now begin to work and prepare for the battle that will take place. Chapter 18, verse 15 is the key verse. It says, And struck and killed him.

In verses 1 through 5, we have David preparing the people for battle. Here they're getting organized. He's appointing captains. But he's also giving them instruction. He says, guys, deal gently with Absalom. He says it very clearly. He says it in front of everybody so that everybody knows they are to deal gently with Absalom. Well, then verses 6 through 8, the battle actually begins.

takes place and David's servants overthrow the army of Israel 20,000 are killed and it says specifically there's more that are killed by the woods than the sword and so this was a supernatural work that the battle that took place was in the woods of Ephraim and there's a lot of trees and so they got killed by the trees by running into the trees by you know that kind of thing injured and taken out of the battle in that way

But the end result is David's army or David's servants are victorious.

In verses 9 through 18, we see that Joab kills Absalom. So Absalom's riding along. He's on his mule. He's thinking how hot and wonderful he is. He hasn't got a haircut for a while, so his hair is, you know, fooling around behind him. And it ends up getting caught in one of those trees. And the mule keeps going. And there he is stuck by his head, hanging from the tree. It's quite an interesting picture. Um...

And so he's stuck there. And one of the guys in David's army sees him. He tells Joab and Joab says, you should have killed him. But Joab goes and finishes it because that guy did not. Joab is an interesting guy to consider. He was very loyal to David. He would do what he thought was best to protect David, even if it was contrary to what David had instructed. So David says, deal gently with Absalom.

Joab says, no way. I have none of that. That guy, he's got to be put down. He can't be allowed to live. He acted the same way you might remember with Abner, we saw last week. And then Amasa, the new commander that's going to take place, he does that with him as well. He just kind of takes matters in his own hands when he feels like

I want what's best for you, David. You don't know what's best, so I'm going to do what I want to do. So Joab is loyal, and loyalty is a good trait, but not all action that comes from loyalty is what is best. He goes and extends beyond. He's overzealous, really, and he should have listened to the king's words.

Well then we find in verse 19 through 33, the result is David weeps over Absalom. He's really distraught over this because of course his son has been killed in this battle. And now just take this moment to remind you of what I shared last week. David paid fourfold for his sins. His sin with Bathsheba.

First of all, the baby died. That was the product of him and Bathsheba and that relationship. Then his daughter Tamar was raped. His son Amnon was killed and now Absalom is killed. This sin that David committed had long lasting and severe consequences which is always the case. So that's why God says don't practice sin because it will destroy you.

Well, the battle takes place here in the region of Ephraim, in the woods of Ephraim. There, and of course, David's men are victorious as we saw. Chapter 19, verse 15 is the key verse. It says, Then the king returned and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal to go to meet the king, to escort the king across the Jordan. In verses 1 through 8, you have Joab rebuking David.

Because David is weeping. He's mourning for his son, which we understand. But it causes his men to feel as if they did something wrong. Because here's this great victory. They're vastly outnumbered. They risked their lives and they're victorious. But David's weeping. It says it causes them to kind of steal away as those who fled from battle. So it makes them

as if they had lost the battle or not even worse than that, they had fled from the battle because they were too fearful to fight. And so David's sorrow caused the men to feel like they had done something wrong. And so Joab rebukes him. He says, hey David, I understand. I mean, that was your son. But at the same time, you need to get it together. You need to minister to these guys. You need to encourage them and thank them because they risked their lives for you.

And you've made them feel like they've done something wrong. So he rebukes David. Again, you see Joab's loyalty here. I mean, he kills Absalom. He's the one who, you know, makes it happen. But at the same time, he's correcting David here and saying, hey, you're going to lose the nation if you don't do this. You need to make sure that they understand that you appreciate and are thankful for their service and for the risk in their lives. Well, then verse 9 through 17, David now returns to Jerusalem.

Along the way, verses 18 through 39, he meets Shimei, Mephibosheth, and Barzillai. And that's all recorded there. Now Shimei comes back and he's like, I'm sorry. I should have done that. And so David offers him forgiveness and he says, I'm not going to put you to death. Mephibosheth comes and Mephibosheth, it's clear, he hasn't taken care of himself while David's been gone. And so David recognizes that Mephibosheth has been in mourning.

He hasn't taken care of his feet, which were lame and obviously needed some kind of, you know, taking care of. But he hasn't been doing that. He hasn't trimmed his mustache yet.

And so David now realizes, oh man, I made a bad decision. I believe Ziba, what he said about Mephibosheth, but it was not the truth. Of course it makes sense. Mephibosheth is lame, so he couldn't himself get on a donkey and come. He needed help and Ziba didn't help him. So now he sees the whole picture and realizes his decision was not a good one.

And so now he tries to make it better. He says, all right, you guys divide the land that he had taken from Mephibosheth and given to Ziba.

Well then we also find in verses 40 through 43 that there's some conflict. Israel and Judah, they bring back the king, but there's a little bit of contention between them. There's a little rift between the northern and the southern tribes. And we'll see that continue to grow until after Solomon's dead, then the kingdom of Israel will be divided into two nations. There'll be somewhat of a civil war that takes place.

So David returns from Mahanim now to Jerusalem. He gets back into the palace. And then here you can kind of see the visual distinction between the northern and the southern tribes. This is how it's going to take place. After Solomon is dead, the kingdom will be split in two. But we see the lines being drawn already there with this contention of the northern tribes and the southern tribes over King David and his return.

Alright, let's finish it up in chapter 20, verse 2. So every man of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem remained loyal to their king. So now we have another rebellion. This time it's not someone that's related. It's Sheba. In verses 1 through 2, he leads this rebellion and some of the people follow him.

And so David sends Amasa. He appoints Amasa, hey, go take care of this. Otherwise, there's going to be trouble.

In verses, supposed to be 3 through 15, Joab kills Amasa because he was taken too long and he pursues Sheba all the way up to the northern part of Israel. Verse 16 through 22, as they're laying siege to the city, a wise woman, she saves the city by saying, hey Joab, you don't got to destroy the city. What is it that you want? We'll give it to you. And Joab said, give me Sheba's head and she did so.

And then in verse 23 through 26, you have the administration of David, the different leaders, people in authority there in his kingdom.

Well, here on the map you have the Beth-Makah. Abel and Beth-Makah were cities that were side by side up there in the very northern part. So Sheba, when he ran, he ran far. And Joab goes up there and that's where Sheba is put to death under the hand of this wise woman who convinces the city that they need to do that rather than be destroyed.

Well, as we finish up this evening, that's the end of our chapters for this evening, I just want to come back to the two main thoughts, really, that I was sharing throughout our time that God's put upon my heart. And that was this idea of usurping authority.

You need to recognize, you need to understand, there's always going to be people who want to grab authority that does not belong to them. They want to grab authority that is not theirs. It happens in the nation, it happens in the church, and it happens in the home. And so you need to learn to recognize when there's this plot, when there's this conspiracy to usurp authority.

There's five steps we saw in Absalom's plan. First, you promote yourself. And when you see people promoting themselves, be concerned. When you find yourself promoting yourself, you need to be concerned. Watch out, because this is a dangerous place to be. Absalom appointed himself. He wanted everybody to know, look, I'm here. Look how important I am.

It was the first step. Then the second step was to breed discontent. Where Absalom would say, oh yeah, I agree with you. Your case is good, but yeah, it's too bad these leaders won't do anything about it. And when there's this discontent that is being spread around, it's really manipulation that's going on, causing people to take sides, to be divided. That's a serious issue. Again, it happens in the nation, happens in the church, it happens in the home.

Watch out for that. That is not of God. Well, step three is to present yourself as the solution. Yeah, it's really terrible. I wish they'd do something about it. If only I was in charge. You know, I could really help them. It's always, you know, put in very spiritual terms. The full intent is not, you know, revealed. I could really help. I could really take care of these issues, Absalom says. Watch out. Presenting yourself...

As the solution is a good indication that there's a plot, that there's a conspiracy to usurp authority. And then number four, to spread enlisted people. Getting the friends, getting the buddies, getting the co-conspirators spread out in different locations to spread the word, to convince so that it seems like, well, it's unchangeable. It's already done. Everybody accepts it.

The word is already spread. And then also number five. Watch out when people are being tricked. Tricked into joining. Tricked into participating. It's not a good thing. This happens within the nation. Within the church. Within the home. It's evil and it's vile. And if you're part of something like this. Where you are deceiving or dividing. You need to repent. That is not of God. It's never of God. He will not divide and separate his own body from.

Just as you won't divide and separate your own body, he will not. Don't get caught up in conspiracies. You remember how David received the throne? It was rightfully his. He was anointed king. But he refused to take matters in his own hands. I'm not going to kill Saul. I have the opportunity right here. I could chop off his head right here. He wouldn't even know it. He wouldn't fight back. But he said, that's the Lord's anointed.

He had the rightful claim to the throne. God had already announced, you are the next king. But he said, I will not take matters in my own hands. Here in this case, the throne was not Absalom's. But he's planning, he's conniving, he's scheming to take it from his own resources. Watch out. We need to have the attitude like David.

Let God raise up those he wants to raise up. Let him put into positions of leadership those that he wants to be there. And then secondly, I would say watch out for bad decisions. When you don't have all the information, you're going to make a bad decision. When you're just hearing one side, it's going to be a bad decision. You're going to come to a wrong conclusion. It's foolish. It's folly to answer a matter before you hear it. But also check the timing.

When you make a decision, check the timing. If you're in the midst of a lot of different things that are going on and emotions are high, it's not a good time to make decisions. When you're frantic and things are falling apart all around you, that's not a good time. But more importantly than those things, it's not a good time if you've not yet heard from the Lord. That's the most important thing. You have bad information, it's bad timing if you've not heard from the Lord.

So make good decisions by walking with God and hearing from Him. Amen?