2 SAMUEL 18-19 PURSUE GODS HEART IN THE MIDST OF CONFLICT2018 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Samuel 18-19 Pursue Gods Heart In The Midst Of Conflict

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. We jump into 2 Samuel 18.

We are looking at David in the midst of a battle between him and his son Absalom, who has decided to try to take over the kingdom. And he marched into Jerusalem and David fled and some men and a little bit of an army gathered together with him. And they've been preparing for the past couple chapters really for this moment where they finally battle it out. And we're going to see that unfold here in 2 Samuel 18.

And so let's begin by reading verses 1 through 5, and then we'll get into what the Lord has for us this evening. 2 Samuel 18, verse 1 says, And David numbered the people who were with him and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.

Then David sent out one third of the people under the hand of Joab, one third under the hand of Abishai, the son of Zeruah, Joab's brother, and one third under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, I also will surely go out with you myself. But the people answered, you shall not go out. For if we flee away, they will not care about us, nor if half of us die, will they care about us. But you are worth 10,000 of us now.

For you are now more help to us in the city. Then the king said to them, whatever seems best to you, I will do. So the king stood beside the gate and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai saying, deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captain's orders concerning Absalom."

Here as we look at 2 Samuel chapter 18, and we'll actually jump into chapter 19 a little bit this evening as well, I've titled the message, Pursue God's Heart in the Midst of Conflict.

Here we are on the verge of conflict and about to enter in and see the conflict that happens between David's men and Absalom and his men. And it's a special type of conflict and particularly hard kind of conflict because, well, it's David's own son.

And so here in verse five, you see this command that although they're going to battle, they're going to war, they're, you know, they're, they're putting on real weapons. These are not, you know, the toy practice weapons. They're, they're, they're not just for show. This isn't, you know, holding back. You know, this is real battle, real war. But at the same time, David says, now, when it comes to Absalom, kill everybody else you want. But when it comes to Absalom, deal gently.

Don't just take him out. Don't just kill him. Don't torture him. You know, don't treat him like any other soldier. Assuming we win this battle, deal gently with Absalom, he says, for my sake. Because Absalom is David's son. And although Absalom has revolted, although Absalom has caused all kinds of trouble for David, David has a love for Absalom as his son.

And so he's conflicted. His heart is torn. He's in the midst of this conflict, not just in this physical battle, but the conflict within that comes from his son revolting, but also it comes from his sin, which kind of, you know, set the stage for this rebellion that Absalom has done. And so it's a lot of things that are happening. And many times the hardest things that we face in this life deal with

family, deal with people who are close to us. And as a result of sin, as a result of these kinds of situations, there is conflict and we need to learn how to pursue God's heart and

in the midst of conflict because, well, these are difficult things. And even as Harvey was just sharing that there are weapons, there are tools that God has given to us for dealing with these situations, but we need to understand they're spiritual weapons, they're spiritual tools and not things of the flesh.

And so really the points this evening are questions to help us kind of stop and think about the conflict that we face and how God would have us address it and deal with it in the things that are going on. And so the first question that we'll find is in verses 5 through 18, and that is, does God want you to disobey an authority?

God has placed authorities in our lives. In this case, King David is the authority. And in verse five, he gives a command. Again, verse five says, now the king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai saying, deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captain's orders concerning Absalom. Verse six, so the people went out into the field of battle against Israel. And the battle was in the woods of Ephraim.

For the battle there was scattered over the face of the whole countryside, and the woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. Here as we enter into the battle, and there's not a lengthy battle really, the passage is dealing with the things surrounding the battle, but as they enter into the battle, again, David gives a command. He's the king. He's the authority. He gives the command, deal gently with my son Absalom.

And as they go into battle, well, it's a real battle. And people are being killed. And the battlefield is spreading out. And God is at work as well. As you see in verse 8, it says that the woods devoured more people than the sword. That there was some rough terrain. And that was affecting the battlefield as well. And it seems that there was a pretty quick victory for David's men. And David's men were killed.

And as Absalom's men started to flee, they ran into trees and, you know, got in trouble as they tried to escape through the woods. And they were in such a rush that the woods took out as many people or more people than the sword did.

But as this battle is going on, it tells us in verse 7 that a great slaughter of 20,000 took place that day. So there's a good battle, a good slaughter, a good amount of death that is going on. And then in verse 9, we are seeing Absalom enter the picture. In verse 9, it says,

Absalom rode on a mule. The mule went under the thick bows of a great terebinth tree and his head caught in the terebinth so that he was hanging between heaven and earth and the mule which was under him went on.

And so as Israel is fleeing, it seems like Absalom is amongst that group, and he's in a hurry. He's riding a mule. I don't know what that would look like. Not like a majestic horse. I don't know. I picture a mule like kind of more like a goofy animal to ride on, and he's like, you know, trying to go as fast as he can. Remember he had long hair? He would cut off his hair. It was five pounds every year, how much hair he had. Well,

Whether it was his hair that got caught or he was like looking behind him and not paying attention, his head gets wedged into this tree while he's bouncing along, running away. And he's caught there. The mule keeps going and Absalom there is stuck in this tree with his head wedged in the bows, his hair probably tangled up. And he is hanging there in the tree, unable to get out himself and stuck there as the mule went on out from under him.

Verse 10, So Absalom is stuck there, and then he's found by this random soldier. Not a famous guy, not a general, just some random guy. He sees Absalom, and he says,

And so what does he do? He goes and he tells Joab, I just saw Absalom. He's stuck in a tree. And notice Joab's response. He says, all you did is see him. Why didn't you kill him? I would have rewarded you greatly. I would have given you 10 shekels of silver. I would have given you a belt.

given you some Levi's, you know, whatever change of clothes, I would have rewarded you handsomely. Now, the idea is kind of like a medal of honor type of thing. You know, I would have given you an award, a reward for putting him to death, for taking him out.

But the man objected. In verse 12, he says, Verse 13, Otherwise, I would have dealt falsely against my own life, for there is nothing hidden from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me.

The guy responds to Job. This guy, we don't know who he is, but man, he had some wisdom. He says, look, if you would have paid me a thousand shekels of silver, that wouldn't be enough because everybody knows I was there. Everybody heard the king gave you clear instruction not to harm Absalom. And he says, if I had done that, well, the king would have found out and you would not have

saved me. He says, you would have set yourself against me. In other words, Joab's saying, I would have rewarded you. And the guy says, no, you wouldn't. You would tell David, that's the guy, David. He's the one who killed Absalom. I would just be giving you someone to blame in front of David, and you would be the one who would be the one to execute me because I touched Absalom when he commanded us not to. And so this guy says, no, the king said no. So you can't pay me enough to kill Absalom.

As much trouble as he's caused us, as much as I might want to, as much difficulty as he's brought upon us and hurt and harm that he's inflicted and, you know, caused this battle. And now 20,000 people are dead as a result of his rebellion. And even though all of that, the king said, no, so I wouldn't do it. I won't do it. Verse 14 says,

Then Joab said, I cannot linger with you. And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom's heart while he was still alive in the midst of the terebinth tree. And 10 young men who bore Joab's armor surrounded Absalom and struck and killed him. Joab says, I don't have time for you. And he goes to Absalom with three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom's heart.

As he does, it tells us that Absalom is still alive. So he's stuck there in the tree, hanging from the tree. Joab comes with three spears and strikes him. Now the word heart, it's not like a technical word, like literally the organ, his heart, but it speaks of his middle, his gut. And so whatever, you know, Joab is doing, he strikes him in a way that he's still alive.

Because you see that the men after, in verse 15, his servants, they strike and they kill Absalom afterwards. Now here is Joab, a very experienced man of war, who strikes a man three times with a spear and he's still alive. Do you perhaps think that that was accidental? That he, you know, oh man, I was really trying hard, but I missed. Here's a, you know, a sitting duck,

There's not a moving target. Here's an experienced warrior with three spears and he doesn't kill him because Joab's not really interested in killing him. Joab is upset. Joab is offended. Joab wants Absalom dead.

to suffer and then ultimately die. But he needs to suffer a little bit first. Unlike, remember when Abishai was with David and they snuck into Saul's camp and Saul was sleeping there. And Abishai said, let me just strike him once. He won't even wake up. He won't feel a thing. You know, I can take him out in one shot. Joab could have taken him out in one shot, but that's not what he was interested in. He wanted to inflict as much pain as he could and then have him killed. Verse 16 says,

So Joab blew the trumpet and the people returned from pursuing Israel for Joab held back the people. And they took Absalom and cast him into a large pit in the woods and laid a very large heap of stones over him. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his tent. This whole battle was really about two people, David and Absalom. And that's why at the beginning, the men of David said, you don't go into the battle because that's all they're going to care about. If they kill you, they win.

and they won't care about us. So you stay behind. And here is Absalom is in the midst of the battle. Once he's dead, Joab blows the trumpet. Okay, the battle's over. We don't have to defeat the whole army. It was really about these two men and this battle between them. And so now Absalom has died. They cast him into a pit and mount up some stones over him. And the battle now comes to

to an end. And Absalom's life is ended abruptly and without much fanfare. In verse 18, it tells us that Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the king's valley. For he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day, it is called Absalom's monument. And so Absalom dies here in

in defeat and disgraced and having failed in his attempt at taking over the kingdom. And he really has nothing to show for it. Rebellion against God and God's plan, as we've seen in previous weeks, Absalom was not pursuing God's heart. And so it ended very poorly for him. But as we look at this conflict and this thing that happens here, what I'm

Pausing to pay attention to is the authority that was there and the command that was given and the choice to obey or disobey that authority. David gives the clear command, be gentle to my son Absalom. And it was clear because, well, everybody heard it. And this soldier that we see who finds and discovers Absalom says,

He recognized it enough that he would not, no matter how much you would pay him, inflict a wound upon Absalom or put him to death. But Joab has a different approach. He thinks about it in a different way. He is not paying attention to the command that was given by the king. Pastor David Guzik describes it this way. We might say that Joab was correct, but not right.

He was correct in understanding that it was better for David and for Israel that Absalom was dead. He was not right in disobeying King David, the God-appointed authority over him. I think there is, it's not a real great difficult thing for us to look at Joab's position and understand why he did what he did. Not just for the offense and all the trouble that Absalom brought, but if...

David just forgives Absalom and Absalom sticks around. Boy, there's going to be lots more opportunity for trouble.

And he's going to try this again. And we're never going to hear the end, you know, of this. It's going to keep coming up because Absalom, you know, he's already shown his true colors. And so you can kind of rationally and understand where Joab is coming from in a logical, rational, strategic type of thought process. And Absalom has to die. I don't care what the king says.

Absalom has to die. We can't keep going through this. We can't keep doing this. We need to take care of this situation. And I think we could sympathize with Joab in that way and understand where he was coming from. And so in that way, we could perhaps say he was correct. His logic was sound, in other words, but he wasn't right because the king had given a command.

The authority in his life, the God-appointed, God-positioned authority in his life had given clear instruction, and Joab decided that didn't apply to him. That didn't matter to him. He was going to do what he wanted to do. Here, Joab is not pursuing God's heart.

Does God want you to disobey an authority? Job wasn't asking that question. He wasn't concerned about, will this please God if I do this? He was, well, he was thinking other things. He was inflicting pain. He was thinking about, you know, possible future issues and difficulties. And so he was thinking about all these other things, but he wasn't so concerned about what does God want?

Here on the battlefield, here the enemy, you know, right here who's caused so much trouble, right there exposed and vulnerable. What does God want in this situation when the king has given a clear command? Does God want you to disobey an authority? Now, this will be something that comes up in the midst of conflict, especially, but in various aspects of our life that there are authorities in our lives, right?

And they are God-appointed, God-given authorities. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 13, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. And then he says, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. So he makes it very clear, authority is from God. Whether you might classify that as good or bad, or whether you like or agree with the way that authority is exercised,

Paul says, there is no authority except from God. And Paul didn't, you know, write this to people under the perfect democracy, you know, spirit-led governing authorities. I mean, this was in the Roman Empire with wicked rulers. And at the same time, we need to recognize that the authority of God allows and provides human authorities, right?

There is no authority in your life except that which comes from God. And even when King Saul was over Israel and harsh towards David and pursued David in the wilderness, this concept was still true. There was no authority except from God. And so those authorities in your life, especially in the midst of conflict,

Before you just do what you think is best or what you think is right or what you think is, you know, the course that's going to have the greatest benefit, you need to pursue God's heart. What does God want? When is it okay to disobey an authority? When is it right to disobey one of those appointed authorities? If there is no authority except from God, all the authorities that exist are appointed by God. When is it okay to disobey those authorities?

And there are instances where it is okay. But how do you know when it's okay? Well, you really need to pursue God's heart. In the book of Acts chapter 4, the Sanhedrin told Peter and John to stop preaching in the name of Jesus. And Peter and John responded and said, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God you judge.

In this case, the authority over them gave instruction that was exactly contrary to what God had instructed them to do, what Jesus had told them to do. And so they said, we're going to let you try to figure out, you know, who we should listen to, but we're going to listen to God. And whatever consequences come, that's going to happen. But we're going to do what God told us to do. And so there are those kinds of instances where disobeying an authority is

is necessary because that authority contradicts a greater authority, the authority of God. But those instances, well, they're there, they exist, but they're very different than disobeying an authority because, well, I've calculated this better. I have...

you know, a better insight into the future. I know the things that are going to happen. I know, you know, what's going to take place. My math skills are much better. And so I'm able to figure this out in a way that's going to end up better if I do it my way, if I do what I want instead of what this authority wants. It's not okay to disobey an authority to please ourselves, right?

or to advance our own ideas. The only time that it's okay to disobey an authority is when it's pleasing to God. And that's why we need to pursue God's heart. Does God want me to disobey? Anytime we disobey an authority, we should do so with a clear statement. This is what God wants. This is why I did this.

I know I did contrary to what this authority said, but I did so because God wanted me to. And if we don't have that kind of confidence, then, well, we're just to simply submit to authorities. Now, authorities are, you know, placed around us and above us in different kinds of realms. You have governmental or civil authorities on a national, on a state, on a local level, and

That's primarily what Paul is dealing with here in Romans chapter 13. But we also have workplace authorities. And Paul addresses this in Ephesians and Colossians in that employee-employer, master-slave type relationships. And those authorities are appointed by God as well. And there needs to be a submission to those authorities in the pursuit of God's heart. And

If there's a disobedience to those authorities, it needs to be with that clear declaration from a clear position of God wanted me to disobey. God told me to disobey. God called me to something else. There's authorities that God has appointed within the church. Paul deals with this in Ephesians chapter four and other passages. In fact, the passage that Harvey was quoting from in second Corinthians chapter 10 says,

Paul is addressing their, his authority within the church. And he's saying, look, I'm going to come and deal with the rebels who are causing all kinds of problems and understand that the weapons that I have are not carnal. I'm not going to come and fight with you in the flesh, but I have God given authority with weapons that go along with that to deal with problem situations within the church and

Paul says, I don't want to have to use those. So let's, you know, repent and get everything together before that. That's what 2 Corinthians is all about. But there are authorities within the church. There are authorities that God has placed within the body of Christ and placed above us. And there needs to be a submission to God.

those authorities in our lives and only disobedience when God says so. Not when we think different, when we think better, when, you know, we have newer ways or better ways or whatever. We need to be submitted to God by submitting to those authorities unless God says otherwise. And then also I would say there's authorities within the home. And Paul addresses that in Ephesians chapter five. And throughout the scriptures, God has established within the family positions of authority within

that are to be submitted to and not to be disobeyed. When those commands are given, they are to be followed. In the midst of conflict, sometimes that can be incredibly difficult. Conflict in the home. We disagree. We have different viewpoints. We have different perspectives. I don't want to go that direction. I don't want to do it that way. I don't want to, you know, eat that for dinner. Whatever it might be, those authorities are established in our lives by God for our sake.

does God want you to disobey that authority? And there should only be a disobedience to that authority when God says so. And so you need to pursue God's heart. Submission to those authorities is the right thing to do. Sometimes God will call you to disobey, but that better be clear. You better have a clear sense of God's heart, a clear instruction from God about that, either directly from his word or

or something that he has spoken to you in a way that authorizes you to disobey those authorities in your life. Well, moving on to verses 19 through 29, we get question number two, and that is, does God want you to deliver a message? In verse 19, it says, then Ahimaz, the son of Zadok said, let me run now and take the news to the king how the Lord has avenged him of his enemies. And Joab said to him, you shall not take the news this day.

There was no instant messenger. There was no tweets or Facebook. There was no text message or phone calls or anything like that. So how did David get notified that the battle was over?

They had to send a messenger. Now Ahimez was kind of the appointed messenger. When David snuck out of Jerusalem, he left Ahimez as one of the guys who would go back and forth and bring word. And so there was this role that he had. He was the son of a priest. And so he had this role to deliver messages to David. But now that the battle has been over and Absalom has been killed,

He says, okay, let me go give word to David. And notice he says that it's good news. Take news to the king how the Lord has avenged him of his enemies. Oh, wow, this is great. Now, we're not given precise details about the numbers in this battle, but it's safe to assume that

This was a pretty impressive victory because David's men were much fewer than Absalom and his men. Remember, Absalom waited, according to the council of Hushai, to gather all Israel together. So here's this massive army, all of Israel gathered against David and a few thousand who are with him. They're vastly outnumbered. There was probably a lot of

fear, and tension for David's men as they went into this battle. And so as Ahimeh sees, oh, the battle is over. We call it off. We won. I mean, it was like, I can't believe this. This was incredible odds, and yet we are victorious. And so he is, you know, kind of in a celebration mode. He says, let me go tell David. And Joab says, no, you're not going to take the news today.

You should take the news a different day because the king's son is dead. And instead, Joab selects another guy. We don't know anything about him. He's just called the Cushite. And he says, you go tell David what you've seen. And so he bowed himself to Joab and ran. But Ahimaz is pretty persistent in verse 22. And Ahimaz, the son of Zadok, said again to Joab, but whatever happens, please let me also run after the Cushite.

So Joab said, "'Why will you run, my son, since you have no news ready?' But whatever happens,' he said, "'let me run.' So he said to him, "'Run.'"

Then Ahimez ran by the way of the plane and outran the Cushite. So you can see the zeal and the passion in Ahimez, right? That he's really excited. He really wants to go. And Joab says, why? You don't have anything to say. I don't care. Just let me go. I want to run. I want to go. And he's just kind of in celebration mode. And maybe it gives us a little bit of insight why Joab didn't want Ahimez to run. Because

He knows this news, although it's good news, it's also not so good news because the king's son is dead. And so he maybe isn't going to handle this message the right way. Verse 24. Now David was sitting between the two gates and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate to the wall, lifted his eyes and looked, and there was a man running alone. Then the watchman cried out and told the king. And the king said, if he is alone, there is news in his mouth.

And he came rapidly and drew near. Then the watchman saw another man running. And the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, there is another man running alone. And the king said, he also brings news. So the watchman said, I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaz, the son of Zadok. And the king said, he is a good man and comes with good news. And so we're watching this and it's kind of like play by play and it's

lot of detail, right? David's in between the two gates of the city and the watchman goes, he sees, you know, here's a man running and then, okay, here's another man running. Hey, that looks like a Himaz. And you can see the process as David is anticipating the news. Oh, it's a Himaz. He's a good man. He must have good news. David here is waiting anxiously to hear what happened. Maybe he's preparing himself for the worst. Maybe

Maybe he doesn't even want to go there. Maybe he's just, you know, hoping for the best and trying not to think about what would happen if the worst would happen. What if there wasn't victory? What if Absalom and his men won the battle? You know, what kind of things were going on to David's heart and in his mind? We don't know, but...

But here he is, he's kind of starting to get some hope, some anticipation of good news as he hears that it's Ahimaz who's running to him. Verse 28, then Ahimaz called out and said to the king, all is well. Then he bowed down with his face to the earth before the king and said, blessed be the Lord your God who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my Lord the king. The king said, is the young man Absalom safe?

Ahimez answered, when Joab sent the king's servant and me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was about. So Ahimez, he outruns the other guy because he's really excited and zealous. And so he gets there first, but he really doesn't have much to say. We won the battle, he says. We've had victory. Joab called off the troops. The battle's over. We've won. And that's good news. But what's important to David is

What about Absalom? And Ahimez says, well, you know, I saw something going on. I didn't really think about that. So I know something happened, but I don't know what happened. I don't know what it was about. Now the second messenger is going to come and deliver the rest of the news. But here to stop and think about Ahimez for a second. Here's a good guy. Excited about the victory. Excited about what went on.

It's kind of curious that he wanted to go so badly and Joab wouldn't let him. Joab wouldn't let him. It's kind of curious that he says, well, I don't really know what happened with Absalom. When it tells us earlier, verse 20, Joab said to him, you shall not take news this day. You shall take news another day. But today you shall take no news because the king's son is dead.

So it seems pretty clear that Ahimez knew that Absalom was dead because Joab just told him. But he doesn't tell the king that his son is dead. He tells him, you know, I'm not sure what happened. There was some kind of tumult or something and I don't really know what it was about. And so there's a little bit of curiosity in here. There's a little bit of perplexity, like what's really happening? Why didn't Joab want him to go? Why did he go there?

when he didn't have the full story, but it seems like he might've had more information. Why didn't he give that information? There's a lot of questions about this situation that we don't have answers to, but I like Warren Wiersbe's perspective on it. He says, Ahimaz had ambition and ability, but he lacked the maturity needed to minister to the king. Before you start to run, be sure you are the right person to deliver the message. And I think that's an interesting perspective to consider.

He was able, he could run fast. He was passionate. He was zealous and he was able to get there first, but he really wasn't equipped to deal with the message that had to be brought.

And it could be that he just chickened out, you know, when he's face to face with the king, he couldn't bring himself to tell the king that Absalom had been killed. And so he kind of just like, well, you know, there was some kind of scuffle or something. I don't know about that. You know, you'll have to ask the other guy because he just didn't want to have to bring Absalom

the bad news. It could be that, you know, Ahimez really didn't know what happened. And so, you know, there's something else that we don't understand from the previous verses and, and, and we're just not really familiar with it, but whatever the case may be, here he is.

And he's not ready. He doesn't have the message. He's not able to deliver the message. Now, this is interesting for us to consider, especially as you think about conflict. As you think about, you know, conflict between families. You think about conflict that we face. And many times there is a message that we get, you know, passionate about, that we get excited about. And we are quick to the draw, quick to let our tongues loose. And we want to say what we want to say. But

we should stop and consider pursuing God's heart. Does God want you to deliver that message? Do you really have something from the Lord to share? Do you really have a message to bring, a message to deliver? I was thinking about the Apostle Paul as he was sent to the Gentiles and how kind of weird that was. I mean, he, if you would think about anybody who is perfectly equipped to minister to the Jewish people, it was the Apostle Paul. But

As much as he wanted to minister to the Jewish people, God said, no, you're going to minister. I'm going to send you to the Gentiles. He tried still. He would go to the synagogue everywhere he went to deliver a message to the Jews, but they wouldn't receive it. And so ultimately he would give up there and go to the Gentiles because that's who God had sent him to. That's who God had given him a message for. Sometimes

We can get excited and want to deliver a message. We think we know what's best. We think we know what's happened. We think we know the results. We think we know the details. We think we know what they need to hear, so on and so forth. And we're so excited about, you know, we have the solution. We have the answer. We have the message.

that we don't stop and think, does God want me to deliver this message? There are some cases where you may have great insight, but God doesn't want you to share that in that context, in that situation. You think about the Apostle Paul when he tried to go into Asia Minor and the Holy Spirit said, no. I mean, he's trying to bring the gospel to unbelievers and God says, no, don't bring the gospel to unbelievers there. And he reroutes them after some time to take him somewhere else

still called to bring that message, but not to that people, not at that time. And later on, God brings him back to that region and he gets to share the gospel there, but it happens later on. And so for us to consider these things as we pursue God's heart in the midst of conflict, hey, there's a lot of things that you could say in the middle of a battle, in the middle of a fight that you probably shouldn't say at all. You really need to stop and

pursue God's heart. God, do you want me to deliver this message? Even if it's right, even if it's accurate, even if it's, you know, correct, doesn't mean I should necessarily say it. Does God want me to say it? It's hard to do when you're all excited like a him as, and you just want to run, but you haven't thought it all the way through perhaps. You haven't really understood what's at stake. Maybe you're not prepared spiritually enough

to deliver that message. Maybe there needs to be some more preparation in your heart. Maybe there needs to be a work that God wants to do. Does God want you to deliver a message? We need to be careful that we don't just say everything that we want to say to everyone we want to say it to, but that we allow the Lord to direct us, that we pursue God's heart. Lord, do you want me to say this? And there's a lot of times where we just need to be quiet and not run when God hasn't called us to run, not try to, you know,

chase after it. And there are some people that as much as you want to minister to them, maybe you're not the person to minister to them. As much as you want to, you know, bring that rebuke, maybe you're not the one to bring that rebuke. As much as you're the one, you want desperately to be the one who brings the gospel and lead them in the sinner prayer, sinner's prayer, maybe you're not the one that God has appointed for that. And you have the truth, you have right words, perhaps you have the winning argument, but

That's not the issue at hand. The issue is what does God want? Would it be pleasing to God for you to deliver this message at this point? Does God want you to deliver a message? When it comes to speaking on behalf of the Lord, we need to make sure that it's what the Lord wants.

We need to make sure that we have his word and not our own words and our own thoughts, but we also need to make sure that it's his timing and it's his calling in our lives to do so. And there's a lot that we could circle around a lot, you know, on those thoughts there, but moving on now, verses 29 through 33, we get question number three, and that is, does God want you to love an enemy? In verse 29 says,

We read this already, but just notice the first part here. The king said, is the young man Absalom safe? Here's David on the edge of his seat, waiting to hear news from the battle. But what's his focus? What's he concerned about most? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, we won the battle. Okay, good, good, good. Okay, now, is Absalom okay? He demonstrates a continual love for Absalom, even in the midst of

of this rebellion and this revolt, he is concerned for Absalom's safety. Now Ahimaaz doesn't know what's up with Absalom. So verse 30, the king said, turn aside and stand here. So he turned aside and stood still. Just then the Cushite came and the Cushite said, there is good news, my lord, the king, for the Lord has avenged you this day of all those who rose against you.

Now the Cushite arrives and he says, good news, we won the battle. God has avenged you. You are back in power. You know, the threat has been eliminated. But then verse 32, the king said to the Cushite, is the young man Absalom safe? So the Cushite answered, may the enemies of my Lord, the king, and all who rise against you to do harm, be like that young man. In a roundabout way, the Cushite says he's not safe.

May all your enemies be put to death like Absalom. Notice the king's question. Yes, yes, yes. I've heard that. We know good news. Okay, we won the battle. Is Absalom safe? That's David's concern. Now, we can totally understand that in recognizing and acknowledging it's Absalom, David's own son, who is the issue at hand here. That is the person that is on David's hearts and

And so we understand this love. It's not just a normal love your enemies type of love. It's a love because this is my son. This is one who has been born to me, one who I've raised, one who I've loved for the last 30 years or however long that took place. And so there is this concern in this heart. And David demonstrates his love for him in verse 33. Then the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept.

You can see the heartbroken condition of David here. His child, Absalom, has died. And he wished, I wish I could have died instead of you. I wish I could have died instead of you. But that's not what God wanted. That wasn't God's plan.

God wanted to reestablish David as king. He's going to be reestablished in Jerusalem. Absalom was fighting against the plan of God, not pursuing God's heart. Here is David pursuing God's heart, but still having a heart of love for his son, the one who made himself an enemy against him. And again, although Absalom is his son, he is an enemy. The Lord tells us in Luke chapter 6,

As we consider these things for ourselves, Jesus says, In the midst of conflict, we need to hold on to the reality people are not the enemy. Even though we are in conflict with people, people are not the enemy. Paul tells us our battle is not against flesh and blood.

That's not who the real battle is against. And so anytime there is this kind of victory, it is also at the same time a tragedy because people are hurt. People are harmed. God loves people. He calls us to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us, to bless those who curse us and pray for those who spitefully use us. And that doesn't mean that God necessarily is going to let them win the battle. They might be wounded. They might die in the battle.

You might have to enter into the conflict. You might have to win that conflict. That might be what God wants. But at the same time, we have to hold on to the heart of God. Does God want me to love this enemy? I have to defeat you, but it's going to break my heart to defeat you. I have to win. I have to enter into this conflict. But I'm not doing this because I hate you. I'm doing this because I'm pursuing God's heart.

And this is something for us to consider in the midst of our conflict. Are we just trying to win the fight, win the argument, win the battle, win the debate? Or are we really pursuing God's heart and wanting God to win and sorrowful over the cost that is required? David here accurately represents the heart of God. Mourning over Absalom. This was not the way that God would have wanted it. God tells us through the prophet Ezekiel,

He says, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Even the worst of the worst of the worst that you might even just kind of like grin a little bit when you hear about them dying, God never grins. It's always a tragedy because God loves people. He calls us to love people. Does God want you to love an enemy? That one that irritates you so much, the one that just gets under your skin, does God want you to love them? Are you concerned with pursuing God's heart, representing God's heart to them?

Or are you more concerned with winning the battle? David won the battle. His men won the battle, really. But what's really on his heart is, oh, Absalom. He's brokenhearted because of his love for him. Well, we're going to finish up in the first few verses of chapter 19 with the final question. And that is, does God want you to do something you don't feel like doing? In verse 1, it says, Joab was told, behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.

So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people. For the people heard it said that day, the king is grieved for his son. And the people stole back into the city that day as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. But the king covered his face and the king cried out with a loud voice. Oh, my son, Absalom. Oh, Absalom, my son, my son. It's an interesting predicament we find David and his men in.

Because they've won the battle. And this rebellion that rose up so quickly and so powerfully has been overturned. And they're victorious, although they were greatly outnumbered. But the enemy was the son of the king. And so here David is grieving for his son. And we understand that.

And we even recognize, wow, he loved his son even in a similar way that, you know, God loves us even when we've rebelled against him. I mean, there's an interesting picture to reflect on there and consider. And yet at the same time, David in his mourning for his son is having a huge impact on his men. In verse three, it describes people going back into the city as people who are ashamed when they flee in battle.

I mean, think about the transition of emotions there. The tension of going into battle, being vastly outnumbered. The joy, the relief of victory as God just does this massive work and the woods, you know, kill more people than the soldiers do. There's this massive victory and this, whoo, like, oh, wow, this is crazy what God has done and given us victory this day. But then...

Hearing the news and seeing how it impacts David. Now there's this sense of shame. As if they had fled in battle. As if they had gone AWOL and just abandoned the army altogether and ran away. The shame that they would feel. And that is the shame that they begin to feel. As David is mourning and wailing over the death of his son. Sometimes winning still feels like losing.

And that is a reality of life that isn't pleasant. There is a lot of complexity in the problems that we face and the problems that we make for ourselves. And sometimes there are conflicts that God calls us to win and we have to win the fight, but it doesn't feel like winning. It feels like losing. And here the soldiers are experiencing that conflict.

And Joab now comes with a message for David in verse five. Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, today you have disgraced all your servants who today have saved your life, the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives and the lives of your concubines in that you love your enemies and hate your friends. For you have declared today that you regard neither princes nor servants. For today I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today, then it would have pleased you well.

David here, Joab comes to David with a pretty stern rebuke at how David is behaving. You've disgraced your servants, he said. You're so consumed with Absalom, you've forgotten about all your other sons and daughters. You have other sons and daughters and they're alive today because these people risked their lives and fought on your behalf. David, don't forget about your other sons and daughters and your wives and the concubines.

It's good to love your enemies, but you're hating your friends, Joab says. And Joab says, you know, the way that you're acting, it's like you would have preferred it that we lose the battle, that we all die, and that Absalom goes on to live in his wicked kingdom. And, you know, Joab has pretty twisted history, you know. We just saw a little bit earlier, he disobeyed David. He just, you know, did whatever he thought was best. And he was not very...

good many times with David or for David, but here he brings a needed rebuke, a necessary correction. Although it's right to love your enemies and it's right for David to mourn, it's also possible to take that too far and to be so consumed with that, that then you begin to neglect God's heart.

for the others around you and for what's ahead. Verse seven, now therefore arise, go out and speak comfort to your servants for I swear by the Lord, if you do not go out, not one will stay with you this night and that will be worse for you than all the evil that has befallen you from your youth till now. David, if you don't make a change like right now and immediately, it's gonna go bad. They're so disgraced. They're so ashamed. They're just gonna walk away. They're not gonna stand with you any longer.

David, you can't behave like, you can't continue on like this. You need to do something. G. Campbell Morgan says, there are times when men must arise above the grief of their own repentance and act for the sake of others. This was so now in the case of David and Joab told him so with almost brutal frankness. A very clear rebuke. David, you love your son, good. That's good. But you need to love your men also.

And you need to think about them. You need to care for their needs. You need to take care of them. You have a duty and an obligation to fulfill as king. You're not just a father, but you're also the king. And there's a role and responsibility that God has for you in that. Verse 8, David hears the rebuke.

And again, shows his wisdom in receiving the correction and getting up. And David didn't feel like doing this. This wasn't what David wanted to do, but it was what David needed to do. And so he gets up and he sits before his men. He speaks comfort to them. He does what's needed at the time. Does God want you to do something that you don't feel like doing? To pursue God's heart means that there's going to be times that

We don't feel like it. We just want to lay in our bed and cry. But that's not what God has called us to do. That's not what's pleasing to God for us at the moment. Maybe sometimes God wants you to just lay in your bed and cry. But there's also other times where, you know, you need to lay aside how you feel about it and what you would prefer, what you would desire, and put God's will and what pleases God above your own self and above what you would prefer. Sometimes God calls us

to look beyond our own grief, to look beyond what we're going through and to minister to the people who are there around us. It reminded me of what the Lord told the high priest in Leviticus chapter 21. Here's some instruction to the high priest. Check it out.

Now earlier in the passage, God says, okay, for a priest, regular priest, they're not to defile himself with a dead body. They're serving the Lord. They need to be consecrated to the Lord. But,

If their mom or their dad dies, someone close to them, their son, their daughter, someone close to them dies, then they can be excused from service to go be with the family. But when it comes to the high priest, God says, nope, sorry, Mr. High Priest, your dad dies. Keep doing the job that you're called to do. Now that's not for everybody, but there are occasions, there are times where we as servants of the Lord, as those who pursue God's heart, we have to put what God wants first.

above what we feel, what we want, however we, you know, might wish it were different. And we could imagine that would be incredibly difficult for the high priest to continue on offering sacrifices and serving the people even after his parents have died or someone close to him has died. And yet that's what God called him to. And it comes back to the question of, are we willing to pursue God's heart? Are we really willing to put God first?

So that if he calls us to similar behavior, if he calls us to get out of bed and go do stuff we don't want to do, but it's what's pleasing to him, it's what he desires, that we would be willing to do that. Like David, to get out of the bedroom and wailing for my son and go minister to these soldiers who have just fought so bravely for me and for the kingdom. Sometimes the pursuit of God's heart is going to be contrary to what we feel, what we desire.

But God comes first. And so it's about what he wants in regards to commands that are given to us by authorities, instruction that we're given by authorities in the nation, in the city, in the state, in the workplace, in the church, in the home. What does God want? I don't want to obey, but God wants me to obey, so I'm going to obey. And when God wants me to disobey, maybe I don't want to disobey. But if God wants me to, well, then I need to put God first and pursue God's heart.

When it comes to delivering a message, hey, there's a lot of things that I want to say that I should never say. Does God want me to say it? Do I have something from the Lord to share? Am I the person to minister in that situation? I need to pursue God's heart for that. Does God want me to love an enemy? To put his heart above my own irritations and aggravations and to learn to love people, see beyond the distraction of the battle and to care for the soul.

of the person in front of me? And does God want you to do something that you don't feel like doing? He may call you to do things that you never want to do, and you hope that never, God never calls you to do it again, perhaps. But it's not about whether you feel like it. It's not about whether you would prefer it or you would want it. Does God want it? If you pursue God's heart, you're going to do what God wants. Let's pray. Lord, this evening, I pray that you would help us to understand, Lord, as we ask these questions of ourselves,

Are we pursuing your heart? Lord, are you really the most important thing in our lives, person in our lives? Is pleasing you what is first and foremost in our priorities and for our hearts? I pray that you would help us, Lord, to challenge our obedience, to challenge our words, to challenge our feelings with what you say. And Lord, when there's a contradiction there,

that we would value your word, your truth, your will above our own. Help us, God, to really pursue your heart and put you first. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 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.