WWUTT 389 David Grieves for Absalom?

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David was driven by his home by his own son, and he was in such grief that there were even rumors about him everywhere he went.

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But the Lord delivered him in his day of trouble when we understand the text. You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to the sound teaching of the

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Word of God. Find videos and more at our website, www .wutt .com. Now here's our host,

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Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. We resume our study of 2 Samuel today. If you remember where we left off a couple of weeks ago, chapters 17 and 18 is where we will be where Absalom meets his end.

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Just to kind of recap where we've come up to this point. At the beginning of 2 Samuel is where David is anointed king over Judah and then king over Israel.

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In chapter 7, we have God's covenant with David. Then there's the David and Bathsheba incident.

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And to cover up David's act of adultery, he has Bathsheba's husband Uriah the

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Hittite killed on the front lines of battle. Nathan the prophet comes and convicts David of his sin.

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David thinks that he is a dead man, but Nathan says that God will not strike him down. However, his kingdom will be taken from him from the inside out.

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And sure enough, that's the way it happens with David's own household. One of his sons sleeps with his half sister,

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Absalom, Tamar's full brother, has his half brother killed.

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Then Absalom is exiled. David forgives Absalom and Absalom comes back and then begins to conspire against his father,

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King David, by winning the hearts of the Israelites. And so then David flees, fearing

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Absalom's hand. And that is where we pick up the story. He has sent Hushai the

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Archite back to Absalom to swear loyalty to Absalom. But Hushai is actually on David's side.

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And we pick up the story there in chapter 17. Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, let me choose 12 ,000 men and I will arise and pursue

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David tonight. I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic.

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And all the people who are with him will flee and I will strike down only the king. I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband.

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You seek the life of only one man and all the people will be at peace. And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

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Then Absalom said, call Hushai the Archite also and let us hear what he has to say.

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And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, thus has

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Ahithophel spoken. Shall we do as he says? If not, you speak. Then Hushai said to Absalom, this time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.

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Hushai said, you know that your father and his men are mighty men and that they are enraged like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field.

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Besides, your father is an expert in war. He will not spend the night with the people.

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Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, there has been a slaughter among the people who follow

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Absalom. Then even the valiant men whose heart is like the heart of a lion will utterly melt with fear.

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For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and that those who are with him are valiant men.

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But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you from Dan to Beersheba as the sand by the sea for multitude and that you go to battle in person.

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So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground and of him and all the men with him, not one will be left.

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If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city and we shall drag it into the valley.

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Not even a pebble is to be found there. And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, the council of Hushai the archite is better than the council of Ahithophel.

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For the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel so that the

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Lord might bring harm upon Absalom. Very important passage, a good caveat that's added there at the end of that paragraph.

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The Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel and good counsel being used satirically so that the

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Lord might bring harm upon Absalom. Verse 15, then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, thus and so did

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Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel and thus and so I have counseled.

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Now, therefore, send quickly to tell David, do not stay tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.

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Now, Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting in Enrogel. A female servant was to go and tell them and they were to go and tell

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King David for they were not to be seen entering the city. But a young man saw them and told

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Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at Baharim who had a well in his courtyard and they went down into it and the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth and scattered grain on it and nothing was known of it.

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And when Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they said, where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan?

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And the woman said to them, they have gone over the brook of water and when they have sought and could not find him,

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I'm sorry, and when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. After they had gone, the men came up out of the well and went and told

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King David. They said to David, arise and go quickly over the water for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.

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Then David arose and all the people who were with him and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, not one was left who had not crossed the

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Jordan River. When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city.

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He set his house in order and hanged himself and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

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See, Ahithophel was wise enough to recognize that if his advice was not going to be followed, that meant that Absalom was going to fall at the hands of David because God was on David's side, not

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Absalom's side. And for Ahithophel, it made more sense for him to take his own life than to fall into the hands of King David, at least the way that he saw things.

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So then verse 24, then David came to Mahanaim and Absalom crossed the

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Jordan with all the men of Israel. Now Absalom had set Amasa over the army instead of Joab.

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Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite who had married

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Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother, and Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

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When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the

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Ammonites and Machir the son of Amil from Lodabar and Barzillai the

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Gileadite from Rogalim brought beds, basins and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd for David and the people with him to eat.

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For they said, the people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness. Psalm 3 is a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son.

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David wrote, O Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising against me.

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Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God.

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But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head.

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I cried aloud to the Lord and he answered me from his holy hill. I lay down and slept.

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I woke again for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

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Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek.

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You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your people.

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2 Samuel chapter 18. Now, then David mustered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.

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And David sent out the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and one third under the command of Ittai the

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Gittite. And the king said to the men, I myself will also go out with you. But the men said, you shall not go out for if we flee, they will not care about us.

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If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth 10 ,000 of us. Therefore, it is better that you send us help from the city.

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The king said to them, whatever seems best to you, I will do. So the king stood at the far side of the gate while the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands.

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And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, deal gently for my sake with the young man

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Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.

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So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim.

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And the men of Israel were defeated by the servants of David. And the loss there was great on that day, 20 ,000 men.

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The battle spread over the face of all the country and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.

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You have to consider all of this is going on because of David's act of adultery with Bathsheba and then trying to cover it up by having

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Uriah the Hittite murdered. It was because of this sin that Nathan came to David and said, your house is going to be taken from you.

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Your house will rise against you. And that's Absalom. And because of this conflict between David and Absalom, tens of thousands of God's people are dying in this civil war.

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Verse 9, And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.

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And a certain man saw it and told Joab, Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.

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Joab said to the man who told him, What, you saw him? Why then did you not strike him to the ground?

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I would have been glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt. But the man said to Joab, Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver,

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I would not reach out my hand against the king's son. For in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai for my sake protect the young man

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Absalom. On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously against his life, and there is nothing hidden from the king, then you yourself would have stood aloof.

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Joab said, I will not waste time like this with you. And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak.

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And ten young men, Joab's armor bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him.

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Remember, Absalom had a lot of hair, and so it was that full head of hair that he had that got him stuck in that tree.

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It was very vain about his hair, too. And being stuck there is how he got killed by David's men.

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Verse 16, Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained them.

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And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him a very great heap of stones.

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And all Israel fled, every one to his own home. Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar that is in the king's valley.

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For he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called

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Absalom's Monument to this day. Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said,

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Let me run and carry news of the king that the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies. And Joab said to him,

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You are not to carry news today. You may carry news another day, but today you shall carry no news, because the king's son is dead.

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Then Joab said to the Cushite, Go tell the king what you have seen. The Cushite bowed before Joab and ran.

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Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, Come what may, let me also run after the

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Cushite. And Joab said, Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?

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Come what may. He said, I will run. So he said to him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain and outran the

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Cushite. Now David was sitting between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall.

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And when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone. The watchman called out and told the king, and the king said,

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If he is alone, there is news in his mouth. And he drew nearer and nearer. The watchman saw another man running, and the watchman called to the gate and said,

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See another man running alone. The king said, He also brings news. The watchman said,

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I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said,

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He is a good man, and he comes with good news. Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king,

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All is well. And he bowed before the king with his face to the earth and said, Blessed be the

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Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.

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And the king said, It is well with the young man Absalom. And Ahimaaz answered,

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When Joab sent the king's servant, your servant, I saw a great commotion, but I do not know what it was.

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And the king said, Turn aside and stand here. So he turned aside and stood still. And behold, the

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Cushite came, and the Cushite said, Good news for my lord the king, for the Lord has delivered you this day from the hand of all who rose up against you.

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The king said to the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the

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Cushite answered, May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man.

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And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept.

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And as he went, he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son

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Absalom, would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son.

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One of the causes of grief in David's own heart was that his son had died before he had the chance to be reconciled to Absalom.

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And so now there was no hope for him to be reconciled to this son who had come up against him.

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He wanted his men to deal gently with Absalom so that he might be able to face Absalom face to face, the two of them, father and son together.

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And he would be reconciled with his son that this civil war that existed in Israel would find peace.

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And if David and Absalom could find peace with one another, then there would no longer be any conflict with the remaining people of Israel who were faithful to either

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David or faithful to Absalom. But because this reconciliation did not take place, and first and foremost, in David's heart, he desired reconciliation with his own son.

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But because there was not reconciliation between the two of them, so the rest of the kingdom of Israel would also not be reconciled.

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And this is to fulfill something that was said in Nathan's prophecy when he told

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David that the sword would never depart from his kingdom.

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So now what we will see in chapter 19, which we will pick up next week, is that conflict still exists in Israel, though there is no longer this civil war that existed between the people of Absalom and the people of David.

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In Psalm 41, David writes, Blessed is the one who considers the poor.

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In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him. The Lord protects him and keeps him alive.

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He is called blessed in the land. You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed.

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In his illness, you restore him to full health. As for me, I said, O Lord, be gracious to me.

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Heal me, for I have sinned against you. My enemies say of me in malice, when will he die and his name perish?

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And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words while his heart gathers iniquity. When he goes out, he tells it abroad.

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All who hate me whisper together about me. They imagine the worst for me.

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They say a deadly thing is poured out on him. He will not rise again from where he lies.

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Even my close friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

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But you, O Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up, that I may repay them.

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By this I know that you delight in me. My enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

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But you have upheld me because of my integrity and set me in your presence forever.

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Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

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