2 SAMUEL 2 PURSUE GODS HEART INSTEAD OF YOUR OWN PLANS2018 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Samuel 2 Pursue Gods Heart Instead Of Your Own Plans

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 2018. 2 Samuel chapter 2 this evening. 2 Samuel chapter 2 as we continue to work our way through the life of David, through the books of Samuel.

continue to discuss the subject of pursuing God's heart. And I want to continue to give that exhortation and encourage you to make a pursuit of the heart of God. And that is to make it your life's endeavor, to make it the passion of each day, to know God, to please God, to walk with

God. And as we look at and continue to follow along with the journey of David through these chapters, we see that model, that example where God lifted up David and said, here's a man after my own heart. Not a perfect man, not a man who always did everything perfectly or right, or not a man who always pursued the heart of God, but

But the overall summary of his life was that he was a man who pursued God's heart. And I would encourage us this evening to really allow God to do that work in us, that we would be men and women who pursue God's heart, that the general summary of our lives, not that every detail is always perfect,

but that it would be said of us, and not so much because we want people to commend us, but just because it's a visible trait within our lives that we are those who pleasing God was the most important thing to us, and that's how we lived our lives. And so we're going to continue to consider that subject here in 2 Samuel 2, and I want to begin this evening by reading verses 8 through 11, and then we'll jump into what God has for us.

2 Samuel 2, in verse 8, it says,

Only the house of Judah followed David. And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. Here as we jump into 2 Samuel 2, we're picking up the account where Saul has died. He's been pursuing David for a long time. David's been on the run. But now Saul has died and David has returned to the land of Judah. He's been anointed as king over the land of Judah.

And looks like he's on the way to fulfill the promise that God gave him to be king over the nation of Israel. But that's not going to happen just yet. There's going to be some more obstacles that David will face before he's king over the entire nation. And the obstacle kind of starts with one guy. His name is Abner, who begins to intervene and put himself in between David

where David is called to be and where David currently is. I've titled the message this evening, Pursue God's Heart Instead of Your Own Plan. And we're going to be primarily focusing on Abner, the commander of Saul's army this evening as we look at this, as he, instead of pursuing the heart of God, implements his own plan. And he sets in motion the things that we're going to be looking at this evening in this chapter. Now, Abner was Saul's cousin, right?

And so he is, you know, a member of the family, but he's also the commander of the army. And so what he does now in Saul's absence, as Saul has died, is

He decides to make Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul that survived the battle against the Philistines, he makes him to be the king over Israel. And it's in direct opposition to David. David's already been anointed king in Hebron. And we see in the verses leading up to what we just read,

that David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead and said, hey, you know, you guys, I've been anointed king here, and I really appreciate what you guys did with the body of Saul, and, you know, stir yourselves up and become part of this movement and allow me to be king over the land. But in opposition to that, it tells us that Abner steps in and starts to establish his own kingdom.

And so the result that we see is a divided kingdom. And now there's going to be a civil war that takes place. In the next chapter, in 2 Samuel 3, verse 1, it says that there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And so the steps that Abner takes here in the passage we're looking at tonight are

starts a long war. There's long effects. There's much that happens as a result of what Abner does during this time. And as we look at these things, it's an important reminder for us to consider our own hearts and lives and our pursuit of God's plan as opposed to our own plan.

That we wouldn't intercept and step in between what God wants to do and where we currently are.

I like the way that Alan Redpath, the author, describes this. He says,

And there can be that effort on our part that we are holding on. There is a battle. That's very clear. The Bible is very clear about that. The flesh and the spirit, they war against each other. And we need to be very careful to find ourselves on the right side of that battle, not trying to prop up the flesh and just hold on a little bit longer to what we want and what our plans are and our desires, that we would surrender those plans and submit to the plan of God and pursue the heart of God.

And so this evening, I want to encourage you to consider where you're at and what it is that God wants of you and of your life. And are you standing in between that? Are you in the way?

as opposed to submitting to the will of God and the plan of God. Pursue God's heart instead of your own plan. There's four reasons we'll look at why it's better to pursue God's heart instead of your own plans tonight. And so we'll start for the first reason found in verses 8 through 11 here, and that is your plan is inferior to God's plan. This is a very simple way to understand why we should pursue God's heart instead of our own plans. Just to immediately recognize off the bat

My plan is not as good as God's plan. My plan might have some features, some highlights that I am particular to, that I enjoy, that I like, but

But my plan is inferior to God's plan. Now, if you consider this concept and apply it to what we talked about on Sunday in the life of Joseph, you could understand how there could be a difference of the plan, right? If you start out in the beginning of Joseph's life and say, Joseph, you come up with a plan for you to be second in charge over Egypt, Joseph would have come up with a different plan than God came up with, right? But although the plans would have been different, right?

We can look and understand that God's plan and the way that it unfolded was the best thing for Joseph and what was absolutely needed for him. And so we need to come to terms with the reality that whatever I come up with from the get-go, it's going to be inferior to what God has planned and what God wants to do.

In verse 8, again, it says, Notice in verse 8, it begins with the word, but. Again, this is in contrast. David has been anointed king by the tribe of Judah. He's been anointed king. He's

reaching out to Jabesh Gilead and saying, would you guys join us in this movement that I would be king over Israel? And in contrast to that, in opposition to that, Abner says, no, I don't want that to happen. I don't want David to become king over all Israel. I don't want David to have his reign. I don't want David to be there on the throne. So instead, here's what I'm going to do. And so, but Abner says,

commander of Saul's army, took Ish-bosheth. And here we see Abner moving forward and making things happen so that what he thinks and his idea of what needs to happen next is what takes place. Now, the big issue with this is not so much that he was taking initiative, not that, you know, he was establishing someone on the throne. The real issue is that he knew what God wanted and

and was refusing to do it. He was implementing his own plan, even though he knew what it was that God wanted. We can see through the interaction between Saul and David, and 1 Samuel is Saul is pursuing David. There are several times where Saul himself acknowledged that David was called by God to be king. That it wasn't just a private thing that happened between Samuel and David. It wasn't just, you know, a few select people knew David.

But it was well known, and Saul himself knew, that David was called to be king. That it was God's plan for David to be king. In 1 Samuel chapter 24, David has the opportunity to kill Saul. Remember that time where Saul sneaks into the cave? He doesn't sneak. David's hiding in the cave, but Saul goes into the cave to relieve himself, and David there has the opportunity to take Saul out.

But being a man of God, David doesn't do that. He honors the Lord's anointed. And then afterwards, they have a little interaction. They have an exchange. And David says, look, I had an opportunity to take your life. And so now you can see I'm not trying to kill you. And Saul testifies in 1 Samuel 24, verse 20. He says, and I know, or now I know indeed, that you shall surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.

And he goes on to ask David to promise not to kill his family. That was the tradition of their day, that the new king, when the dynasty was changing, you know, it's not the same family that's taking over. The new king would wipe out the old king's family just so that there would be no competition to the throne. And so Saul says, you know, so please, I know, I recognize you are called to be king. God has anointed you to be king.

So when you are king, he's making covenants with David now, making preparation because he knows that's what God wants to do. He says, please don't destroy my family. Abner is Saul's bodyguard. Later on, when David has an opportunity in 1 Samuel chapter 26 to kill Saul again, he

Saul is there sleeping, and Abner is sleeping there right next to him, because that's Abner's position. He was Saul's right hand man, Saul's bodyguard. He was right there in 1 Samuel 24 when Saul testified, I know that you're called to be king. This becomes even more clear in 2 Samuel 3, which we'll look at probably next week. 2 Samuel 3, verse 9 and 10 says,

Abner himself declares, later on he's going to change sides. He said, I want to join David. In 2 Samuel 3, verse 9, here's what Abner says. May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David as the Lord has sworn to him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah from Dan to Beersheba.

In the next chapter, Abner testifies. He confesses, although he probably wouldn't classify it as confession, but he is confessing. He's agreeing with God. The Lord has sworn to you, David.

The kingdom of Israel is going to transfer to David. And you are called by God to be king. It's God's promise to you, David, that you've been called by God to be king over all of Israel. And then he says from Dan to Beersheba. Dan is the farthest point north in Israel and Beersheba is the farthest point south. And so he's talking about the whole land of Israel. Not just that God's called you to be king over Judah, but God's called you to be king over the whole nation.

Abner knows God's plan. Abner knows what God wants. Abner knows what it is that God has promised, what it is that God has said. And yet, how is it that Abner tries to implement his own plan instead? It's not that mysterious because we often have those kinds of situations happen in our own lives also. There are things that we know what God wants.

We know what God has said. We know where God is leading. We know what it is that God wants to happen and the promises that God has made. And yet we are so resistant many times to letting God's plan unfold the way that he wants. I want to encourage you this evening. It's not so much that you have to figure out if there is, you know, something happening in your life that is not what God wants, obviously.

There are those times, there are those occasions, and the Lord reveals those things to us. But we don't have to necessarily go searching for some issues. We don't have to necessarily go searching for some discrepancies between where we're at and where God wants us to be. There are many times in our lives where we know that

It's not just a lack of information many times. It's not just, oh, if I had ever read that verse before, then my whole life would have been different, you know? We know what it is that God says. We know what it is that God wants. And yet we convince ourselves that our plan is better. I know God says I need to forgive in this situation, but why am I not forgiving? Well, I think my plan is better and holding on to the unforgiveness is better than

We may not say that out loud because we know better than to say it out loud, but in our minds, in our hearts, we are convinced my plan's better. I know in this position, in this situation, God wants me to trust him more

and not rely upon my own strength. And yet, many times I'm relying on my own strength instead of trusting him. I know in this situation, in this kind of condition, God wants this from me, or God wants that from me. I know when I'm facing this, I know this is what God wants to do in my children's lives, in my family's life. I know what this, you know, what God wants in these things. And yet, so many times, I'm holding on to my plan.

And I need to come to grips. You need to come to this understanding and recognize my plan is inferior to God's plan. It's lesser. It's worse. Here's the thing to consider. And here's what I want you to kind of meditate on this evening as we work our way through this chapter, that Abner's plan doesn't look evil.

If you're just, you know, walking up, you don't know anything about the life of David. You don't know anything about the situation. You're just walking by the land of Israel. You see this situation and you say, oh, what's happening? Well, this guy, his dad was the king. He died on the battlefield. And so now Abner is appointing him to be king. You'd say, oh, okay, great. That's the right thing to do because that's what happens with monarchies, right? That

Well, the king dies, and then one of his sons takes the place as king. That's normal. In fact, if you were to be there and someone would seek counsel of you, you'd be like, well, yeah, that's the normal path. Why would you think of something different? Why would you try to do something different? That's the normal routine. In fact, you look at all the nations around you, that's what they're doing. Their kings die and their sons take the throne. That's the normal thing.

You might give advice and counsel and say, yeah, that looks like the smart move. That's safest for the nation rather than try to disrupt everybody and like do something random, appoint some other random guy king. No, no, no. Put the son in charge. That's, people will be comfortable with that. That's where, you know, they'll be able to rest and know, okay, you know, we're in good hands because the king's son is now the king. That's what's supposed to happen. Abner's plan doesn't look evil.

It doesn't look like he is like, you know, railing his fist at God and saying, I, you know, don't want to follow you, Lord. I don't want to submit to your plan. It doesn't look like that. And that's something very important for us to consider because we can look at our plans. We can look at the steps that we want to take and the things that we want to do. And we can look around and say,

That's the normal thing. Everybody else around us is doing that. They're handling situations in this way that I'm handling it. They're going forward in the same way that I'm going forward. And if I ask people their advice, they're going to tell me this is the right thing to do. It doesn't have to look evil. It doesn't have to look like rebellion against God for it to be rebellion against God. It's rebellion against God anytime.

We are seeking to implement our plan instead of God's plan. And whether that be big plans, life changes, or little things, things that God prompts us to do throughout the day and puts on our heart for this week or this month or this year, that it's rebellion when we are implementing our plans instead of God's plans. Thinking that we have a better idea of what's going to be good for us and the people around us.

And when we don't recognize our plans are inferior to God's plans, when we don't give in to the will of God and surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit, it causes lots of problems. And again, there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David because Abner here intervenes and tries to implement his plans.

Moving on as we go on to verses 12 through 16, now we see the second reason why it's better to pursue God's heart instead of our own plan, and that is that your plan will create more conflict. You need to know that if you decide, okay, I know what God wants, I know this is what God says, but I'm not going to do it.

I just can't handle that. Or I think this way is better. And it might seem better. And it might look like everybody else is doing it. And that happens better. But listen, when you violate what it is that God wants, you need to understand it's going to create more conflict. Even moves that look like this is going to bring more peace will bring more conflict.

Verse 12, it says this,

So they arose and went over by number, 12 from Benjamin, followers of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and 12 from the servants of David. Verse 16, and each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent's side. So they fell down together. Therefore, that place was called the field of sharp swords, which is in Gibeon. Here, as we continue on in the chapter, we see that Joab and Abner meet again.

They meet up at this place in Gibeon. Now Abner, again, he's the commander of now Ish-bosheth's army. He's the commander over the armies of Israel, which is, well, it's a much bigger territory than where David is king, just one tribe of the 12 tribes of Israel. He's king of Judah, but Abner leads all the men of the rest of the 12 tribes of Israel. So Abner has a significant force there.

He meets up with Joab, who's the commander of David's army. So you have the two generals, the two commanders meeting up face to face. And it describes a situation where there's this pool and they're on one side of the pool and Joab and his men are on the other side of the pool. And, you know, so they're not in direct confrontation, but it gives the picture here that they're seeking to have a conversation, right?

Maybe for peace. Maybe how can we coexist? How can we work this out? You know, how can we live side by side? Or maybe they're just there to taunt each other and just, you know, kind of slander each other and talk smack or whatever. You know, they're just trying to provoke each other. It seems that that might be the case because Abner here says, you know, we should have a little competition.

We should have our own mini Olympics, but more gladiator style and have our guys compete a little bit. I think it's interesting to note here that throughout this chapter, you can see David is not here for this situation. Ish-bosheth isn't here either. This is the two commanders kind of representing their king, but also acting independently. And I think that he's

Even Joab's actions throughout this chapter are not necessarily what David would have desired or asked for or done had he been in the same situation. And so we're not looking at all of their actions as ideal models of how to pursue the heart of God. But recognizing as we see Abner knowing what God wants and putting himself in opposition to that, he puts himself in a position now where there's going to be more

conflict. In verse 14, Abner says to Joab, let the young men now arise and compete before us. And Joab said, let them arise. Let's have a cage match. You know, let's have a battle. Let's have a fight and watch our men compete.

And it doesn't seem to be that there was some great, you know, thing or motive behind it, rather than just kind of be entertained and kind of stir up the things that were going on and the animosity between them. So they chose 12 from Abner's army and 12 from Joab's army, and they go and they all know the same moves, apparently. And so they...

They kill each other at the same time. In verse 16, each one grasped his opponent by the head, thrust his sword in his opponent's side, and they all fell down together. Therefore, the place was called the field of sharp swords. And so it's a close quarters thing. They grab each other, they grab their swords, and then they all just kill each other. What a useless and senseless killing that takes place, the death that goes on here for no real purpose. There's no battle here. God hasn't called them to war. This is just...

These two guys kind of posturing, you know, and positioning themselves as the superior. As Abner has placed himself in opposition to God and his will, he's created more conflict. And there's 24 guys here who just die right off the bat for no real reason or purpose. And then there's going to be much more that follows and a long war that follows as we see in chapter 3 verse 1.

Warren Wiersbe, commenting on this, said, three murders will occur before David becomes king of all the people. Asahel's murder, Abner's murder, and Ishbosheth's murder. Now, I'm kind of giving spoilers. I apologize. Abner and Ishbosheth are still alive. But as we read forward and see David take the throne,

Asahel, Abner, and Ish-bosheth all are murdered in addition to these others who die in the midst of the battle. Warren Wiersbe goes on to say, Abner seeking his own advantage, seeking his own desires, seeking what he wanted, contributed to this whole situation. And blood was shed for no reason.

There was more conflict as a result as Abner put himself in this position of opposition to God's plan. Here's what you need to know about your plan. It's inferior to God's plan. Even under the best circumstances, what you plan will never turn out as good as what God plans.

You will never look back to God in eternity and say, see, I told you so. I knew what I was doing, God. You know, that will never happen. Your plan is inferior. No matter how obvious it looks to you, no matter how different it looks to you. I mean, sometimes we're looking at a situation where like, okay, I know this is what God says, but clearly that is not the best thing. It's so obvious. My way is the best way.

No matter how obvious it looks to you, your plan is inferior and you need to know that your plan is also going to create more conflict. There's going to be more problems. There's going to be more difficulties. There's going to be more issues as you seek to implement your plan than there would be if you would pursue God's heart. And let me remind you, Abner's plan doesn't look evil.

As he puts Ish-bosheth on the throne, that's the normal custom. That's what everybody else is doing. It looks just like what you would expect, but it's not about what you would expect and it's not a comparison about what everybody else is doing. It's about what does God want and submission to that.

The pursuit of God's heart. Even this competition that takes place, these 12 guys, I mean, we can easily look at this and cast a critical eye on it. And I've been kind of, you know, mocking it a little bit this evening. And yet even that would be fairly normal in the context of battle and war for them. It wasn't that strange. It wasn't, you know, some shocking thing that took place.

It was just, well, this is what happens in battle. This is what happened when armies face each other. No big deal. But the standard is not whether or not it's normal, whether or not that's what people expect, whether or not people would be shocked. The standard is, what does God want? Did God want Ish-bosheth on the throne? No, that wasn't God's plan. Did God want these 12 guys to kill each other? That wasn't God's plan. That's not what God wanted. But these guys are not pursuing the heart of God.

So they're bringing more harm, more conflict. Their plans are inferior to God's plans. Moving on to verses 17 through 23, we get the third reason why pursuing God's heart is better than our own plans. Verse 17 says...

So there was a very fierce battle that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David. Now the three sons of Zeruah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel. And Asahel was as fleet of foot as a wild gazelle. So Asahel pursued Abner and in going, he did not turn to the right hand or the left from following Abner. So now as the battle unfolds,

These guys kill each other, and that stirs up the rest of the army, and now they're in full-out battle. Not just, let's watch these guys fight, but everybody's fighting. Now it's a real full-on battle. Maybe that was Abner's plan from the get-go? I don't know. But they're in a full-out war now, and they're on the battlefield, and now it gets personal. Because as they're fighting, this guy sets his eyes on Abner.

Says, man, that guy put himself in between God's plans and where we are. That guy, I'm going to take him out. How dare he oppose David? How dare he try to, you know, fight? And he takes it personal and he sets his eyes on Abner. All right, I'm going to take Abner out. Maybe it wasn't such noble things on his heart. We don't know. Maybe he was just out for the glory. Like I killed the king and that's what he wanted to be able to say afterwards. But he sets his eyes on Abner.

And he pursues him. Now, it points out here, there's three brothers. And they're all here at this time on the battlefield because it's going to get real personal. As one of the brothers dies, it makes an impact. It makes some enemies. And they're enemies that didn't need to be enemies. Now, the thing that Asahel was known for was his speed. And so he thought, I can catch up with Abner. I can overtake him. I'm going to get him. He can't run away from me.

He's shouting at him, you can run, but you can't hide Abner. You know, he's like confident. He's convinced I'm really fast. I'm going to take him out. And so he's following Abner, it says in verse 19. And in going, you did not turn to the right hand or the left. The idea here is like, there's opportunity to fight over there with a different guy. There's opportunity to fight over there. Ooh, look, there's some, you know, spoils of war that I could take there. Nope, nope, nope. I'm keeping my eyes on Abner. I'm going to take Abner out.

So here he is pursuing Abner, chasing after him. In verse 20, Abner looked behind him and said, are you Asahel? And he said, I am. And Abner said to him, turn aside to your right hand or to your left and lay hold on one of the young men and take his armor for yourself. But Asahel would not turn aside from following him.

Abner sees he's being followed. He's running. He's like, hey, go to the right, go to the left. Look, there's fallen guys there. You could take their armor. You could get rich quick right here, you know, just take that and trying to get away as he's being pursued. Turn aside to your right hand or to your left. Verse 22. So Abner said to Asahel, turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I face your brother Joab? You see Abner here, although he is

foolish in the sense that he has put himself in a position where he is fighting against God. He is also wise in that he recognizes, if I kill you, your brother is going to be really upset with me. And so he's trying to not kill Asahel. He's trying to not have to be put in that position. He's trying to give him opportunity. Go a different way. Go a different way. Go get that guy. Go get that guy. There's some armor there. Just take it free. It's yours. Trying to

escape this situation where he's going to have to face Joab after killing his brother. Verse 23, however, he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the blunt end of the spear so that the spear came out of his back and he fell down there and died on the spot. So it was that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died, they stood still. He refused to turn, convinced he could take him down

He pursues Abner. Abner tries to get him to turn one way or the other. Nope, nope, nope, not going to do it. So Abner finally comes to the point where, okay, I just got to deal with this. He kills him with the blunt end of the spear. I was thinking about that. Like, why would you try to do that? Kill him with the blunt end of the spear? You've got the sharp end right on the other side, you know, that'd probably be more effective. But

I don't know this for sure, but I kind of suspect that Abner is seeking to, he's concerned. Notice again in verse 22, how then could I face your brother Joab? The whole reason why he's operating the way that he's operating in the midst of this situation is he's thinking about what's going to happen next as I have to face Joab after this encounter with you. I think he wanted to be able to say, look, I didn't use the sharp end. I wasn't trying to kill him.

I did my best to get away to, you know, I did my best to try to remove this situation and to not kill him, to spare his life. I did my best. He wanted to be able to explain that to Joab and say, look, I used the dull end of my spear. It's like killing someone with a broomstick, right? It's like, that's hard to do.

But so it shows, and you could imagine, or at least I could imagine, Abner trying to convince Joab, look, look, look, think about it, Joab. I wasn't trying to kill him. The only way that this could have killed him is if he was really trying to kill me. I mean, he was right on top of me. He was running really fast, and he killed himself on the back end of my spear. I did not try to take him out. I tried to escape the situation. I did the best I could. That's kind of the way that I imagine it unfolding.

He did his best, but failed. And now Joab's brother is dead. And Joab is not going to let that go easily. We'll see that in chapter three. This is going to come back to haunt Abner because he has made an enemy of Joab, even though he tried really hard. And this is the thing about our plans. A

And we could see the pitfalls. Okay, I understand, Lord, you know, that's not the right way to go or the best way to go, but I understand there's dangers there. But listen, I know where those landmines are. And I can step really carefully and avoid that. I can handle that. I can do that. And we can do the best that we can.

knowing there's these landmines, knowing that later on, you know, like I'll be able to say, look, I knew that there was those dangers, but here's the steps that I took. And here's the things that I did to protect myself, you know, and so that I wouldn't fall into those things. And that's what we have in our mind thinking I can handle this. I can handle this situation. Yeah, there's dangers, there's pitfalls, but I can navigate those. I've got it under control.

But those plans will not work. And as much as we think we have it under control, as much as we think we can navigate those things, we're going to fail. Your plan will make unnecessary enemies. Joab and Abner, they were warriors for the nation of Israel. They should have been brothers in arms. They could have been brothers in arms. We'll see in the next chapter, Abner was finally willing to join forces with Israel.

David. But Joab steps in between and says, no way, that's not happening. He killed my brother. He's got an enemy now. So that later on, when there's an opportunity of peace, there can't be peace because there's this enemy. He didn't have to be his enemy. It didn't have to go this way. But Abner's best attempt, which looked fine. It doesn't look evil. It's the custom of the land. Everything looked fine. And he used great wisdom and he gave every opportunity, but he ended up making an enemy of

of someone who didn't need to be an enemy. And this is always going to be the fallout. When we, think about it this way, when you put yourself in opposition to God, it's no surprise that you find yourself in opposition to people around you. That's no surprise at all. And you might think the two are unrelated, but no, they're not unrelated. When you put yourself in opposition to God,

And you know what God wants, you know what God says, and you decide, I think my way is better. And I'm not trying to be like, I want to give up on God and run away from God. You know, I think I know where the landmines are and I can figure it out. And we're convinced we can handle it, but it's not going to work. And you're going to make unnecessary enemies.

There's going to be opposition and conflict in your life that doesn't need to be there. Now listen, even walking with God, there's going to be opposition and conflict in your life. There's no escaping opposition and conflict in our lives. But this unnecessary enemies, unnecessary hurt, unnecessary conflict, we don't have to bring these issues upon ourselves. We have the opportunity to pursue God's heart instead of our own plan.

I thought Thomas Constable had a really great thought as he looked at the overview of this passage and some of the things that we haven't quite got to yet. But he says, this passage shows how hostilities between two factions of Israel escalated, as they often do in modern nations, neighborhoods, and families. And think about your family here. So first, the opposing parties stopped talking. Next, they started fighting. Then, Asahel kept pushing Asahel

Finally, Abner insisted on defending himself. Gives a good path for the escalation of issues, the making of unnecessary enemies. And you could see this. I think this is pretty insightful for us to consider. Struggles and fights between us in the family, in the workplace, in the church, in communities, in nations, etc.

Yeah, often it happens. It starts when we stop talking, when we're not able to converse, when we're not able to communicate, when we're not able to talk with one another. And then inevitably, when we stop talking, then we start fighting. There are

Hey, let's get some guys together and it'll be just for sport, you know? And sometimes, I don't know about you, but you know, sometimes it's just for sport. You kind of like stir up. Okay, thinking back to when I was young, because then that way I don't have to share any real close personal stories. So when I was young and growing up with my sister and oh man, it was sport. It was sport.

to kind of just ruffle the feathers a little bit, you know, to kind of just poke a little bit because, oh, it was so entertaining. She would explode, her head would pop off, and eyes would burst out with flames. I mean, it was amazing, the things that would happen. So entertaining. It was sport. And sometimes, well, that's what's happening. There's this provoking. We stop talking, we start fighting, and then we keep pushing. And we don't let things go.

And it's like, just poke it one more time. Just poke it one more time. Just let me bring up your failure one more time, you know? And we're poking, poking, poking, poking, poking. And just like he wouldn't turn to the right or the left. I'm not going to let it go. I'm not going to give up on it. And then Abner finally insisted, I'm going to have to defend myself. And he takes him out. He defends himself to Joab later also in word. And there's this insisting on my rights. And they're both wrong. Abner asked, they're both wrong.

But it's often the way that these things develop in our own lives, in our own plans. We make unnecessary enemies. Well, the fourth reason why it's better to pursue God's heart instead of our own plans, found in verses 24 through 32, says,

Here we get the fourth point. Your plan will cost greatly. Here we finish up this battle in verse 24. It says,

Then Abner called to Joab and said, shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the latter end? How long will it be then until you tell the people to return from pursuing their brethren? And Joab says, as God lives, unless you had spoken, surely then by morning, all the people would have given up pursuing their brethren. Here, as the battle continues to unfold,

The army of Israel, Abner's army, begins to get organized. Joab and Abishai, the two brothers now who are left, they are pursuing Abner. They're still leading the charge. And again, it's a very personal thing for them now. So they're out to get Abner. And their soldiers are following them. And so they're still in pursuit. They're still in the midst of this battle. But in verse 25,

The children of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became a unit. There's a change in the battle now. Before, it was just chaos unfolding, and there was all this independent fight happening. But now, they've kind of...

They've regrouped. They've gathered together as a unit. Now they're ready to really fight a battle. And so they line up behind Abner on top of a hill. So they take the high ground. I mean, this is all very strategic military stuff. They gather together as a unit. They take the hill and they're positioned there. Now we're going to win this fight. But again, Abner, although he is foolish in that he has put himself in opposition to God, he

He offers peace at this moment when very likely he's in a position to win the battle. Again, their force is larger. They're now organized. They have the high ground. They're in a position. And so he calls out to Joab and he says, this isn't going to get us anywhere. This is going to end up in bitterness. This is going to be bitter in the latter end, he says. How long until you tell the people to stop pursuing their brethren?

Abner does what comes so easy to us. Joab, this is your fault. Why haven't you told them to stop pursuing us yet? The whole reason why this battle keeps going on, Joab, is because you haven't told them not to fight. Because now you're upset because I killed your brother. Yeah, yeah. But you're the one, you know, it's your fault. And what does Joab do? He turns around and says, hey,

Unless you had spoken, surely then by morning all the brethren would have given up pursuing their brethren. There's some scholars who argue about the exact translation of this verse. It could be that Joab is saying, it was your idea, Abner, to get the guys to fight each other this morning. You're the one who started this. And so some translations word it that way, that it was your word, you started it. Again, there's this blame game here.

that's happening. Or it could be that Joab is saying, yeah, you're right. Yeah, we should probably stop this. So you can wrestle with that and decide whatever you want to decide about it. Not a crucial point in the interpretation of the text. But there's this issue. There's this blame. There's this animosity. And there's a great cost that comes with it. In verse 28, Joab blew the trumpet and

And all the people stood still and did not pursue Israel anymore, nor did they fight anymore. And Abner and his men went on all that night through the plain, crossed over the Jordan and went through all Bithron and they came to Mahanaim. So they all stopped fighting now and they began to work their way home. But in the next two verses, we see some of the costs involved.

That was involved in this. In verse 30, Joab returned from pursuing Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing of David's servants, 19 men and Asahel. 19 men and his brother were dead from the midst of this battle. They lost 20 men as a result of this conflict. It was a good, not a good, but a great cost. You know, 20 lives were lost in the midst of this battle.

It's not clear if the 12 who died to start the battle are included in this 20, or if this was after those guys died, then 20 more died. But either way, there's the needless death of these men from this battle that was not something God called them to march into battle. Sometimes God calls us to march into battle, and sometimes there is a little loss, and it's worth it because, well, it's what God called us to. It's part of God's plan.

But this was all unnecessary. This was all needless. This was not God calling the men to battle. This was the result of their own plans. And there's a great cost. And the people around us. Now, notice Abner survives. Joab survives. But it's the people around them that experience the death and the hurt.

Now, they'll also reap the repercussions of their own situation and their own opposition to God. But the point is, it affects the people around them. Our plans are very dangerous and they cost greatly. And sometimes the cost is not something that we ourselves pay. Now, sometimes we're presented with the cost and we know the cost, but we think, well, I'm willing to pay that cost.

I know this isn't right. I know it's not what God wants. I know it's not, you know, the best that could happen or the best that God would want for me. But, you know, I think it's worth it. And I think I'm willing to pay that price. But are you willing for others to pay the price for your opposition to God, for you pursuing your plan instead of God's heart?

Well, going on into verse 31, it says, but the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin and Abner's men, 360 men who died. So Joab, he was missing 20 guys. He lost 20 guys in that battle, but Abner lost 360 men. There was a great defeat, disproportionate. Abner lost way more men. He might've had way more soldiers to start with, but still he lost 360 men.

And 360 guys died because Abner, whatever was on his mind, whatever was on his heart, he said, hey, why don't we just like start a little competition, have these two guys, these 12 guys fight. Let's just have a good match, you know. We'll just, it's UFC, just put it on. It'd be just a lot of fun. Have a good time. 400 people are dead now because he was not pursuing the heart of God.

And then it goes on in verse 1 of chapter 3, and there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. Now again, it's Abner who has put himself in this position, delaying this situation, causing this conflict.

as he seeks to implement his own plan. Verse 32 tells us, they took up Asahel and buried him in his father's tomb, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at daybreak. They finally get back to David. They update him, let him know what happened back in Hebron. This is the battle. We won. We lost less guys than they lost. But the reality is they all lost.

They all lost. And that's the reality of pursuing our own plans instead of God's heart. Instead of putting pleasing God first, instead of putting what God wants first, we all lose when we don't put God first. I lose and the people around me lose when I don't pursue God's heart. It comes at great cost.

And it's hard for me to accept sometimes. It's hard for me to recognize, but I need to come to terms with it and accept that my plan is inferior to God's plan. Your plan is not as good. It always ends up worse. Even if your plan was successful and there was no downside, your plan would not reach the highs of God's plans. You wouldn't reap the blessings in the same way, even if there was, but there are downsides. But even if there was no downsides to your plan,

Even if it was perfectly executed and no issues and nobody had to pay anything and nobody, there's no cost, even under the best circumstances, your plan is not as good as God's plan. You need to trust God. You know what God is saying to you. You know what God has on your heart. You know the direction God wants you to go. Put your plans to death and follow God's plans. Please God first. It doesn't have to look evil for it to be a bad plan.

And it might look like what everybody else is doing, but you need to evaluate and recognize and catch on when you are asserting your plan instead of pleasing God and pursuing God's heart. Because your plan is going to end up creating more conflict. What if there's no downside? Well, that's not going to happen. When you put your plan ahead of God's plan, there's going to be more conflict. There will be conflict in God's plan. There will be battles. They will be fierce, but there will be more conflict.

in your plan. And you're going to make unnecessary enemies. Now again, you're going to have enemies as you follow God's plan and pursue God's heart. Jesus had enemies, not because he was their enemy, but because they opposed him, right? In the same way, we're going to have enemies like that, but we'll make unnecessary enemies when we implement our plans instead of pursuing what it is that God wants. And your plan will cost greatly.

There's going to come a great cost. And you're going to have to pay it and people around you are going to have to pay it. This does not turn out good. We need to be men and women who pursue God's heart, who seek to please God, who make it a priority and a passion of our lives that we need to put God first and live out what does God want for us? What honors Him? And that must be a priority for us because if we allow our plans to take effect,

the end result's going to be worse, and there's going to be more conflict, we're going to have more enemies, and there's going to be a great cause. It's a challenging warning, this example of Abner, for us to make sure that we're pursuing God's heart. I want to finish up with the same quote that I started with from Alan Redpath. He says, "...in the lives of many Christian people today, there is raging literally a civil war."

The flesh, the kingdom of Saul struggles with the spirit, the kingdom of David, and the conflict is bitter. We do everything we possibly can to hold up the tottering kingdom of self so that it might exist just a bit longer. This evening, I want to ask you to consider, you know the fight.

that rages within. You're familiar with that, and the flesh and the spirit, and they war against each other. I want you to consider, I would ask you to consider, are you letting the flesh win that battle? Are you giving in to the flesh and surrendering to the flesh, or are you giving in to the spirit and surrendering to the spirit? And it's very easy for us to get in that mode where we're propping up our kingdom and our plans and our self and

We're just trying to hold on just a little bit longer. We know what God wants, but we're just not willing to accept it quite yet. The sooner we accept it, the sooner we surrender to God's plans, the better it is for us and for everyone around us. So this evening, let's be men and women who pursue God's heart instead of our own plans. Jeff and Amy are going to come up and close this in a time of worship.

You guys can come on up. And as they do, we want to just close out this time just laying down our lives and our hearts before the Lord and inviting him if there are issues, if there are things that we are not letting go of and those battles that we're insisting and we're holding on to our flesh and our ideas and what we want, propping up our kingdom for just a little bit longer. Let's let this be a time where we lay those things down.

And we just submit ourselves to God and we lay our lives before him and invite him to be the Lord of our lives. And so I want to encourage you this evening to let go of your plans. Let go of those things that you know that's not really what God wants. Let go of those actions, those behaviors, those decisions. You know it's not what God wants. Let go of those things.

and pursue the heart of God. And so let's do that as we worship him. And as we always do, we want to give that opportunity to minister to one another. And so if you need prayer or you have it on your heart to pray for somebody or encourage somebody, then feel free during this time of worship to do that, to minister to one another as the Lord leads and as we seek him together, pursuing his heart instead of our own plans. Let's worship.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.