1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,720 I want to go ahead and read the chapter before we go into prayer 2 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,760 and get into our lesson this afternoon, This morning, Second 3 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:16,280 Samuel, chapter 16, and it's recorded there, says when David 4 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:20,040 was a little past the top of the mountain, there was Ziba, the 5 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,160 servant of Mephibosheth, who met him with a couple of saddled 6 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:27,000 donkeys, and on them 200 loaves of bread, 100 clusters of 7 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,600 raisins, 100 summer fruits. And a skin of wine. 8 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,760 And the king said to Zeba, What do you mean to do with these 9 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,200 things? So Zeba said, the donkeys are 10 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,440 for the King's household to ride on, the young bread from summer 11 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,920 fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who are 12 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:44,520 faint in the wilderness to drink. 13 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,360 And the king said, And where is your master, son? 14 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,760 And Zeba said to the king, indeed he is staying in 15 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,120 Jerusalem, for he said today the House of Israel. 16 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,000 Israel restored the. Kingdom of my Father to me. 17 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:03,240 So the king said to Zeba, Here all the thing, all that belongs 18 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:07,080 to Mephibosheth, is yours. And Zeba said, I humbly bow 19 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,720 before you, that I may find favor in your sight, my Lord, O 20 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,240 king. Now when King David came to 21 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,080 Bahiram, there was a man from the family whose House of of the 22 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,000 House of Saul, whose name was Shimmy Eye, the son of Guerra, 23 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,880 coming from there. He came out cursing 24 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,320 continuously, and came and threw stones at David. 25 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:29,680 And all the servants of King David and all the people and all 26 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,720 the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left also 27 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:36,280 Shimmy. I said thus when he cursed, Come 28 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:40,360 out, come out, you bloodthirsty man, you rogue, The Lord has 29 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,760 brought upon you all the blood of the House of Saul, and whose 30 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,920 place you have reigned, and the Lord has delivered the Kingdom 31 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:48,920 into the hand of Absalom your son. 32 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:52,760 So now you are caught in your own evil, because you are a 33 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,520 bloodthirsty man. Then Abishai the son of Zeariah, 34 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,280 said to the king, Why should this dead dog curse? 35 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,640 My Lord the king, please let me go over and take off his head. 36 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,320 But the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of 37 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,280 Zeariah? So let him curse, because the 38 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:12,360 Lord has said to him, Curse David. 39 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,360 Who then shall say, Why have you done so? 40 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,320 And David said to Abishai and all his servants, See how my 41 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,960 son, who came from my own body, seeks my life. 42 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,080 How much more now may this Benjamite let him alone and let 43 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,120 him curse. For so the Lord has ordained, 44 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,760 ordered him. It may be that the Lord will 45 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,080 look on my affliction, and that the Lord will repay me with 46 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:34,720 good. For what? 47 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,840 His cursing for his cursing this day. 48 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,960 And as David and his men went along the road, Shimmy Eye went 49 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,480 along the hillside opposite of him, and cursed as he went and 50 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:47,920 threw stones at him and kicked up dust. 51 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,720 Now the king and all the people who were with him became weary. 52 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,200 So they refreshed themselves that there. 53 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,520 Meanwhile Absalom and all the people of the men, the men of 54 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,880 Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. 55 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:03,280 And so it was. When? 56 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:04,360 Who? Shy the archive. 57 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:09,040 David's friend came to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, 58 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,400 Long live the king, Long live the king. 59 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:14,800 So Absalom said to Hushai, Is this your loyalty to your 60 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:16,920 friend? Why do you not go with it with 61 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:20,480 your friend? And Hushai said to Absalom, No, 62 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,960 but whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel 63 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,800 choose, His I will be, and with him I will remain. 64 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,000 Furthermore, whom should I serve? 65 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,400 Should I not serve in the presence of his son? 66 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:35,960 As I have served in your father's presence, so will I be 67 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,760 in your presence. Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, 68 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:41,520 Give advice as to what we should do. 69 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:44,880 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Going to your father's 70 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,640 concubines, whom he has left to keep you the house, and all 71 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,440 Israel will hear that you are aboard by your father. 72 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,280 Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong. 73 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,320 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the top of the house. 74 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,560 And Absalom went into his father's concubines and all the 75 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,520 side of Israel. Now the advice of a hippophile 76 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,840 which he gave in those days was as if one had inquired at the 77 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,680 Oracle of God. So was all the advice of the 78 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:18,320 hippophile, both with David and with Absalom, correctly read. 79 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,040 We're going to study this chapter this morning. 80 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:22,640 Hopefully we can shed light on some of the things that were. 81 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,080 Going on during this time and, and we can what we can do with 82 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,920 those things today in our life. But before we go any further, we 83 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,560 want to go to our God in the word of prayer at this time. 84 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,320 As has already been mentioned, we're so thankful for all who 85 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,600 have made it here this morning to worship God. 86 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,120 And we're thankful for you If you consider yourself a visitor. 87 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,360 And if you are a visitor, please, anytime you have the 88 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:48,560 opportunity to come back and worship with us, please feel 89 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,000 free to do so. If there's any questions you may 90 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,040 have, please ask one of the brethren and we'll do the best 91 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,240 we can to answer those questions. 92 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:04,440 Well, we're continuing our study in Second Samuel of the exile of 93 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,000 David. Basically Absalom, his son, his 94 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,240 evil son, is trying to overthrow David as king. 95 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,920 And that was all kind of set into place into chapter in 96 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,120 chapter 15. And David was in the middle of 97 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:19,800 great trouble. He was opposed by those who were 98 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:23,720 supposed to have been his friends, particularly 99 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:28,320 Ahithophel, with whom we dealt with last time a little bit. 100 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:32,400 It was David's counsellor. Hepophil had actually gone over 101 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:38,200 to now support Absalom. And we shared the the conjecture 102 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:42,720 that given that Hippophel, he was the grandfather to Bathsheba 103 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:49,600 and there may be a little bit of, of personal agenda that a 104 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,400 Hippophel had maybe towards David concerning that we're not 105 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:54,440 told, but maybe that was the case. 106 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,080 Maybe that was what is in his heart or in his mind. 107 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,560 But without question, he was a traitor. 108 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,680 He's the Old Testament equivalent of Judas Iscariot. 109 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,400 And David, we have seen has gone over the Brook Kidron. 110 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:09,280 He is ascended over the Mount of Olives. 111 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,160 And the description of him is really a sad one. 112 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,080 He's weeping, he's got his, he's barefoot, his head is covered. 113 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:19,080 And, and an expression really of his mourning that he's being 114 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:20,960 exiled out of the city of Jerusalem. 115 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:24,560 And without question, that picture we have of him there is 116 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,160 a far cry from the man he used to be, for sure. 117 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:31,640 But what we need to keep in mind, and it's very important 118 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:33,880 that we do so, is that he is still the king. 119 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:36,440 David is still the king. He is the king. 120 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,880 He is the Lord's anointed. And therefore, when we consider 121 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:43,520 what is taking place here in terms of a rebellion towards 122 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:49,760 him, it's just not some kind of interaction between two guys who 123 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,400 have the same equal status. It's not the case. 124 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,280 He's the one who's been set apart by God. 125 00:06:56,280 --> 00:06:58,120 He is the man after God's own heart. 126 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,160 In other words, God's heart was filled with David. 127 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,800 God loved David for who he was. And God had promised to David 128 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,800 that there will come one who will sit on the throne forever 129 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,440 and ever. But then we read these chapters 130 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,400 and we might start to think to ourselves, well, you know, at 131 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,360 this point in time in David's life, it really doesn't seem 132 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,360 like the David's kingdom's really going to survive at this 133 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:21,040 point with everything that's going on. 134 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,440 We could say that David is holding on to the prayer that he 135 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:26,800 gave back in chapter 15 and verse 31. 136 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,000 It says, and David said there, and that's this is his prayer. 137 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,360 Oh Lord, please turn the counsel of a hippophile into 138 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,680 foolishness. In other words, at this time, 139 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,960 his basically David's Kingdom, the future of the Kingdom from a 140 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,240 human perspective is hanging on that prayer. 141 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:44,840 David's hoping that that prayer comes to light. 142 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,200 Who shy, which was David's friend was sent back to 143 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:53,280 Jerusalem to spy on Absalom. A hit the fell, which was 144 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,400 previously counseled to David defected and went to Absalom's 145 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,000 side. And if we remember who shy 146 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,120 appears on the scene and David immediately recognizes that this 147 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:08,240 is more than possible, that the actions of who shy very well may 148 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,600 be the answer to the prayer that David gave back in 15 in chapter 149 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,560 15. And what he did is he sends 150 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:17,640 Hushai back to Jerusalem as a spy. 151 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:21,240 And he has a straightforward objective to of seeking to 152 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:24,440 overturn or to to feed the counsel of a hippophile. 153 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,640 And now we have reading through the chapter one part of the 154 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,400 council without a hippophile that we saw in that chapter. 155 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,720 Reading is really, really bad advice, really bad counsel. 156 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:38,960 And the next part of it will come at the beginning of chapter 157 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,679 17 and and we'll wait till then till chapter 17. 158 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,280 It's in verse 5. And to see how that all went. 159 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,200 And, and what's been provided for us here is that the by the 160 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:53,080 writers that we have a series of encounters between individuals 161 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:58,120 and King David. And we saw him encounter with 162 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:02,120 his encounter with Itai to get tight and then with Abby Athar 163 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:03,840 and with Zadok. And now we're going to see the 164 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:08,000 encounters with with Zeba, who deceived David and then as a 165 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:12,800 curse, cursed by shimmy eye, supported by who shy and as 166 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,120 opposed by a hippothel. And that's kind of the framework 167 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:19,200 that I hope to take our lesson moving forward this morning. 168 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,400 But first of all, in all these opening verses, we find that he 169 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:29,040 is here deceived by Zeba. Now Zeba is not a new character 170 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:32,280 to David. I'm so thankful forgot people 171 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:36,040 who put these charts together who have the time to do so. 172 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:38,080 Because when we read through that Old Testament and all the 173 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,360 characters and the relationships and and all that it is, you have 174 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,080 to be a scholar to remember and to know those things. 175 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,560 And people who do stuff like this make it so, so easy. 176 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:53,360 But you see here that that we have Saul, Saul, King Saul up 177 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,400 here. If I can get that to work. 178 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,640 You see the relationship down here to Ziva. 179 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:06,680 Ziva was a steward under the House of Saul, and we're 180 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:11,240 introduced to Zeba back in Chapter 9. 181 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:13,840 And Zeba was given the responsibility to care for 182 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:19,120 Mephibosheth, which was Saul's grandson, the son of Jonathan. 183 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:23,600 We're introducing him in back in Chapter 9. 184 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:28,160 And then in that encounter with Mephibosheth, you know, he was 185 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:31,760 lame in both his feet and he really needed somebody to care 186 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,760 for him. Well, Zeba was given that job of 187 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:37,600 caring for Mephibosheth. And in Chapter 9, verse 10, the 188 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:40,640 word was given. It says you and your sons and 189 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:42,920 your servants. This is Zeba and his sons and 190 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:46,400 servants shall till the land for Mephibosheth, and they shall 191 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,320 bring in the produce that your master's grandson may have bread 192 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,320 to eat. And Mephibosheth shall always 193 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,760 eat at my table. That's the job that King David 194 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:59,640 gave Zeba. That's what he was instructed to 195 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,240 do. And here we find him showing up 196 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:05,480 on this occasion basically, essentially with a large amount 197 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:10,440 of food to King David. This may not be an unfamiliar 198 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,880 scene that we've seen. In fact, back when the Bible 199 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:17,080 first introduces us to David, he was kind of engaged in a similar 200 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:18,920 responsibility. We remember all the times that 201 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:22,280 he had to go to his father and and his father said to him, I 202 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:24,120 want you to go to your brothers in the battlefield. 203 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:26,240 I want you to strengthen them and encourage them. 204 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:29,640 And he took with him an ephib of parched grain, 10 loaves and 10 205 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:31,920 cheeses back in chapter 17 of First Samuel. 206 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,880 And now David is actually on the receiving end of food coming his 207 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:38,400 way. David is belaboured. 208 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,080 He's weary. His company, his companions are 209 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,880 stressed out from leaving Jerusalem. 210 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:46,240 He's running for his life, if you want to say. 211 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,920 And here into his inner into his circle of influence comes Zeba 212 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:55,200 and the provisions that are far greater than and then David ever 213 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:57,800 took on any occasions that he had that opportunity. 214 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:05,160 Donkeys here in the translation of the word couple here could 215 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,320 also be translated into a string. 216 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,880 So a string of donkeys. And it would seem that you may 217 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:12,520 need a string of donkeys for all the stuff that Ziva brought out 218 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:16,640 to to David. I think 2 donkeys would be hard 219 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:20,280 pressed, but donkeys, bread, Raisin, summer fruit and wine. 220 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,480 And in encountering this, David says to him, he says, what do 221 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:29,480 you mean to do with these? The answer that Zeba gives is 222 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,240 not really the answer to the question that David is really 223 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:36,040 asking. Which you know, maybe there's 224 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:38,080 other translations. Maybe you could translate this 225 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,280 to say like what are you doing with these things? 226 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,400 Why have you brought these here? What am I supposed to do with 227 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,320 all this food? What's this all about? 228 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:49,880 I think is what David is asking Zeba. 229 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:54,480 And I think the inference is probably that King David knows 230 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,400 that you're supposed to be doing another job that I gave you. 231 00:12:57,400 --> 00:12:59,880 You're supposed to be taking care of Mephibosheth, and you're 232 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:01,480 over here bringing me all this food. 233 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:07,840 I didn't give you that job. And there's something about the 234 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,520 gesture, the gesture of generosity that doesn't quite 235 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,600 meld with the fact to, to his loyalty. 236 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,680 If you want to say his generosity is, is expressed here 237 00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:19,160 to David. But Zia Zeba's loyalty actually 238 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,800 lies with with Saul, still with the House of Saul. 239 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,760 He is a servant of Saul. And this is where, again, we 240 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:30,480 have to understand the whole story in mind when we're reading 241 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:33,600 stories like this. We need to understand that Saul 242 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:36,600 was dethroned as King David was put in the power. 243 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,360 And and even though that happened, there's still battles 244 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:40,840 going on between the Philistines. 245 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,600 For a long time they would fought against those Philistines 246 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,200 because they were coming for him again and again and again. 247 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:47,840 And that that issue still hadn't ended. 248 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,160 And so this little encounter with Ziba has to be set within a 249 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:55,640 wider framework. And it makes us wonder, you 250 00:13:55,640 --> 00:14:00,760 know, why then is isn't that why David then sends and where is 251 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:02,680 your master son? He's asking him, where's your 252 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:06,680 master son? And that word son is used quite 253 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:09,760 liberally in the Old Testament writings. 254 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:13,520 It's actually Saul's grandson. Jonathan's son says, where's 255 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:15,720 your master son? And Zeba says to the king, 256 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:17,640 indeed, he is staying in Jerusalem. 257 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:22,720 That's a true statement. Then he says, today the House of 258 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,640 Israel will restore the Kingdom of my father. 259 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:28,360 To me. That is a false statement. 260 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:32,280 So he has a true statement of saying that Mephibosheth is in 261 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:34,960 Jerusalem, and then the false statement of saying that the 262 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:40,760 House of Israel that will be restored of my father to me. 263 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,360 So how do we know it's not true? Well, because by the time we get 264 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:49,680 to chapter 19, Mephibosheth will tell us that Ziba slandered him, 265 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,360 threw him under the bus. If you want to say before the 266 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:56,320 time being, we're having to read it just as David was receiving 267 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:57,640 it. You know, David doesn't have the 268 00:14:57,640 --> 00:14:59,760 books written out for them to know the end of the story. 269 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:02,040 So David's receiving this information. 270 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,360 We know more than David at this point in in the story. 271 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,840 So therefore he says, well, that's quite fascinating. 272 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,960 In other word, in other words, Mephibosheth has now decided 273 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,400 that although myself is King David, I've given him all these 274 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,480 things. I've had somebody watch over him 275 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:21,360 and care for him. He's eating at my table, looked 276 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:26,040 after him that now he has decided that he's going to swing 277 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:30,880 back over to the House of Saul. So what has happened here is 278 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:35,000 that Ziva has really put in put words in the mouth of 279 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:39,160 Mephibosheth today, the House of Israel, restore the Kingdom of 280 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:43,800 my father to to me. In other words, he says, this is 281 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,840 what Mephibosheth is saying to me and I'm I'm telling King 282 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:51,000 David Now that's not what David wants to hear, Of course. 283 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:52,560 It's certainly not what he expects. 284 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:56,480 But what happens is David, based on that information, makes a 285 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:00,560 snap real quick decision. Look at what David says and he 286 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:05,200 says, well then, OK, well here all the belongings, all that 287 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,160 belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours. 288 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,960 It's quite amazing. I think David makes a snap 289 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:13,600 decision. He may have made some snap 290 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,840 decisions in the past we can read about, but this is really 291 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:20,280 an interesting one to me. It's almost if he says to 292 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:24,680 myself, you know, man alive, how much more is going to come to 293 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:26,600 me? You know that my, my kingdom's 294 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,240 falling. I've got my inner counsel who's 295 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,680 now turning aside and going with my son. 296 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:36,640 He was trying to overtake me. I've got Mephibosheth, who I've 297 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:39,080 done so many good things for coming against me. 298 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,120 Well, fine, if that's the case, then fine, see, But you can have 299 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:43,880 all that I gave to him. It's all yours. 300 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:45,640 Now. If you want to say it's what 301 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:52,880 David is telling Zeba and Zebra says, well, I'll pay homage and 302 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:54,200 you bet your life you paid homage. 303 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:58,400 That's a great deal. Zeba brings in this lie and the 304 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:01,600 David just turns over all the everything to Zeba. 305 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:04,839 So of course Zeba would pay homage. 306 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:08,359 Zeba is certainly an opportunist for sure, for sure. 307 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:11,960 You know some. I started thinking, I wonder if 308 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,240 Zeba was really kind of a jealous person. 309 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:18,000 It's not easy to do what David asked Zeba to do, to take care 310 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:23,079 of somebody to Zeba and his sons and his servants tells them 311 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:25,359 you're going to till the land all you're going to grow all the 312 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,120 food and you're going to serve King Saul's grandson 313 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:32,480 Mephibosheth. That's a hard thing to do. 314 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:37,480 That's a heavy load for somebody serving an invalid and and 315 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,480 working and and that's all you're working for. 316 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,400 I wonder if Zebra maybe was a little jealous and we're not 317 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:45,280 told that, but something to think about. 318 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:49,360 It wouldn't be surprising. But he's more of an opportunist 319 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:51,600 than anything. He's motivated entirely by his 320 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,880 self-interest. And what's interesting is that 321 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,120 David, who on previous occasions has been very, very meticulous 322 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:04,000 in dealing with encounters like this way back in chapter, the 323 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,760 1st chapter of Second Samuel when he hears about the death of 324 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:11,800 Saul. David really, I mean, the, the 325 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:14,400 person who brought the information that King Saul was 326 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,480 dead to David, Dayton presses this guy and presses this guy 327 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,320 and asking question after question after question, wanting 328 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:22,960 to know the details. But here David just makes a snap 329 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:25,760 decision of what to do. Kind of interesting to David's 330 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:32,520 character at this point. But in this instance, I guess he 331 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:34,080 may be distressed or he's discouraged. 332 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,200 His judgement is off. He makes a snap decision. 333 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,120 So this is not the point of lesson, but the point is just a 334 00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:41,640 point in passing. Let us, let us just be careful 335 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:46,160 not to make snap decisions when we're under a heavy load, maybe 336 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:48,160 when things are not going the way we want. 337 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:53,800 Be careful not to make those snap decisions when life is 338 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:55,720 turned against us, when we're disheartened, when we're 339 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:58,400 discouraged. Don't write important letters 340 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:00,760 then don't change your job. Don't rearrange your 341 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,760 relationships. Don't just keep working. 342 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:05,160 Keep your head down and keep working. 343 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:10,560 Trust God. So then from Zeba, who having 344 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,160 benefit benefited from the his deceit, then displays his 345 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,160 homage. And it's kind of creepy when you 346 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:18,960 really think about it. All this was taking place while 347 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,840 David was beyond the summit, and that's the summit of the Mount 348 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,400 of Olives. And now we pick up the story in 349 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,560 verse 5 when King David became came to Bahiram. 350 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:30,560 Bahiram is not that far away from Jerusalem. 351 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:34,280 It's maybe a couple miles out of the city of Jerusalem to the 352 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:38,720 east NE a little bit. And Beharim is not the first 353 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:39,720 time. This is not the first time we 354 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,840 hear in this city either. Beharim is where David went to 355 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:51,360 get his wife Macau Michael back from pal TL because Saul, out of 356 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:54,760 a sense of grudging disrespect towards David, gave Michael to 357 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:58,960 his this guy Paletel. And David shows up and he says I 358 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:00,760 want Michael back and they're in Beharim. 359 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,000 Palatal comes out and he arrives weeping. 360 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:06,920 Weeping along the way, of course, is this lady he's been 361 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:09,320 partnered with is now taken from him. 362 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,400 We can read that in Second Psalm chapter 3. 363 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,680 And that was a sad scene, but nothing compared to the scene 364 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:21,640 that we have here. So now we have not simply David 365 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,480 deceived by Zeba, but now he's cursed by Shimmya. 366 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:28,960 And I think it's fair to say that Shimmya was not a very 367 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:33,560 happy guy based on what he does here out of the abundance of his 368 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:35,120 heart. The mouth speaks. 369 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:37,520 He's an angry man. He's filled with rage, and he 370 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:41,000 curses continuously. And his curses are an expression 371 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:46,240 of his condemnation of David. It says, get out, get out of 372 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:48,600 here. He calls him a worthless man, a 373 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,440 bloodthirsty man. And of course, the fact that 374 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:53,120 David was already out of the city. 375 00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:55,360 He was out of Jerusalem. He had already crossed over the 376 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,520 Brook Kidron. He was on his way into the 377 00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:59,680 wilderness of, of the Judean wilderness. 378 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,920 And now this guy Shimmyai, which was an he's an antagonist, 379 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:05,440 arrives and he speaks in this way. 380 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:09,200 I want to read again verse 7 and 8 what Shimmyai has to say to 381 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,160 him. It says also Shimmyai said thus 382 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:12,880 when he cursed. Come out, come out. 383 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:16,640 You bloodthirsty man, you rogue, the Lord has brought upon you 384 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,640 all the blood of the House of salt and whose place you have 385 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,360 reigned, and the Lord has delivered the Kingdom into the 386 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:25,880 hand of Absalom, your son. So now you are caught in your 387 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,520 own evil because you are a bloodthirsty man. 388 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:36,320 Now, as we read this, you will recognize that all those shimmy 389 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:40,480 eyes words are half wrong. They're also half true in the 390 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:43,840 same manner. They're half wrong, first of 391 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,080 all, because what he's saying is that David has evil upon him and 392 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,040 that David, David is a worthless man. 393 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,160 And David is a man in blood. And he's as he's responsible for 394 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,920 the deaths and the murders that kept taking place all in the 395 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,560 House of Saul. And we'll have to remember, of 396 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:03,440 course, that that Joe AB and Abishai, who had another brother 397 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:07,240 called Assayel, who remember they took a spear and in the 398 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,240 belly when he was running behind his enemy. 399 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,160 And remember that those boys were also involved, involved in 400 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:17,200 the subsequent murder of Abner. Saul had died. 401 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:21,480 Jonathan had died. And the rumor at that time was, 402 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,400 is that although David himself may have not actually stuck the 403 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:30,200 dagger in, he was responsible for the death and he was 404 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:33,960 actually behind all of that. And the accusation that is 405 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,120 coming from Shimmy Eye, this man is actually true. 406 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,840 And that that is the case. He says you oppose the House of 407 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,280 Saul, you blood on your hands in this relationship to this. 408 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,600 And as a result of that, God has decided that you're done, you're 409 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,640 out of here, you're getting removed from power and Absalom's 410 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:55,400 coming in behind you. So he's half wrong, but he's 411 00:22:55,400 --> 00:23:01,680 also half right, I believe, because evil has fallen to 412 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,560 David. David is a man of blood, if you 413 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:06,920 want to say. And the word that had come from 414 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,520 Nathan the prophet to him was Nathan said, I will raise up 415 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,040 evil against you out of your own house. 416 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:19,360 Second Samuel 12 verse 11. And David knew that because the 417 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:21,080 word of God had been spoken to him. 418 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:25,040 So this man says to him, you know, evil is upon you, meaning 419 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,360 the accusations regarding the House of Saul. 420 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:32,640 So David recognizes, you know, you're wrong on that, but you're 421 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,600 actually right because evil has fallen upon me. 422 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:40,760 You're wrong in saying that I'm that my worthlessness lies and 423 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:44,640 what I did to the House of Saul. But you're right, because on 424 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:49,400 that afternoon and that incident that began on the roof, that was 425 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:53,640 the action of a worthless man engaged in a worthless endeavor 426 00:23:53,640 --> 00:24:00,560 to create a worthless end. Now then, David then as he hears 427 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,760 what this man is saying, is processing kind of things all 428 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:05,880 along his lines and he's thinking about it. 429 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:09,680 Abishai comes up to him and he says, why don't we just do what 430 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,280 we're good at doing that? Why don't we just take this 431 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:13,840 guy's head off and move on the way? 432 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:15,880 We're good. We're the sons of Zarya. 433 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,160 Let's just take this guy's head off and be done with them. 434 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,880 We don't have to hear him cursing anymore and let's just 435 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:25,280 move on with life. So the condemnation comes from 436 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,760 the lips of Shimmy eye. The proposed solution comes from 437 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,800 the mouth of Abishai. And the word of correction then 438 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:36,280 comes from David. At first he says, why are you 439 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,080 sons of Zehariah always interfering, always getting in 440 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:40,480 the way? What am I supposed to do with 441 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:42,800 you guys? What have I to do with you? 442 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:49,880 He says there in verse 10. So instead of retaliating, David 443 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:55,800 says what we need to recognize is the distinct possibility that 444 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,840 the Lord himself is speaking to me through shimmy eye. 445 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,560 In other words, although he's half wrong, I recognize that 446 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,600 he's half right. And if I'm a paraphrase, I 447 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:09,760 paraphrase, I can imagine him saying kind of sort of, well, 448 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,320 think about this. In fact, it's in the text. 449 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:15,400 If we see in verse 11, think about this, my own son is 450 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:17,560 seeking to kill me is what he's saying. 451 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:25,000 So why would this be a surprise if Absalom once we did old this 452 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,920 old crazy guy shimmy eye all the stones, all his cursing, that's 453 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,200 nothing compared to what Absalom my son can do to me. 454 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,600 And what has actually happened here is simply that what shimmy 455 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,280 eye implied, which was that David had been guilty of these 456 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:42,480 blood offenses against the House of Saul. 457 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:46,000 What Shimmy eye implied is that David heard what he what shimmy 458 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:47,840 I said when David heard were two different things. 459 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,920 Again, he accused him of something that he didn't do. 460 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:56,480 And it's simply reinforced in David's mind the reality of what 461 00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:01,680 he actually did do. It's funny how guilt works 462 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,040 sometimes. We may be totally innocent, 463 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,920 innocent of things that may be going on around us or maybe 464 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:10,720 happening to us or whatever it may be. 465 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,760 But yeah, we feel a little sense of responsibility, what's 466 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:17,440 happening around us. At the same time, Guilt's funny 467 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:21,080 like that. Shimmy Eye says you're a 468 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,840 worthless man. David says, I thinks you know I 469 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:29,680 am chosen by God, but what a worthless act by a worthless man 470 00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:32,720 on a what provided to be a worthless afternoon. 471 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,320 Shimmy Eye then says, your hands are full of blood. 472 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,080 Maybe I can think of David saying, well, I never touched 473 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:39,800 any of those people. I wasn't responsible for the 474 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:43,960 death of Saul, but I'm always that responsible for the death 475 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,680 of Uriah. Shimmy Eyes motives are wrong, 476 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:52,320 his accusations were wrong, and yet God reveals his purpose and 477 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:55,200 his plan to David through an unlikely source. 478 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,720 And here again at a very important piece of this entire 479 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:02,440 story, we're at, because now once again, we're dealing with 480 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:06,520 an intersection between the sovereign purpose of God and the 481 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,840 responsibility of man. And in reality, the reality, the 482 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:14,680 mystery of the way in which that we said all works and we said 483 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:19,440 all happens being that which was that is evil in the hand of God 484 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,240 may be brought to good. There's a mystery in that. 485 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,920 We can think of it maybe if you want to think about Joseph with 486 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:31,200 his brothers, the same issue. He says to them, you intended 487 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,680 for all this evil, but yet God intended it for good. 488 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:41,240 And for that God was not responsible one piece in any of 489 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:45,240 the evil acts that happened. And yet here again, once again, 490 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:46,880 we see the same thing in verse 12. 491 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,560 Listen to the to this from the lips of David. 492 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:53,120 It says it may be that the Lord will look on my affliction or it 493 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:56,920 could actually mean look on the wrong done by me and that the 494 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,920 Lord will repay me with good for his cursing this day. 495 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:08,000 You see, in the midst of all of this, David had a deep seated 496 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:12,680 confidence in God of Amazing Grace, of God's Amazing Grace. 497 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:16,120 He understood it, he grasped it, he held on to it. 498 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,520 This is Amazing Grace because he still knows that the word came 499 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:23,560 from the lips of Nathan. To him it says, God has put away 500 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:26,400 your sin. It was an expression of the 501 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,520 unguessable grace and mercy of God. 502 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,280 One commentator said, and I thought this was really great. 503 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:39,640 He said His mercy is so great that he forgives great sins to 504 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:43,600 great sinners after great leaks of time and gives great 505 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:48,480 privileges and great favors. That's who God is. 506 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:51,640 That's who we serve. That's who we follow. 507 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,880 The curses were a response. They were part of the 508 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,280 consequences of his iniquity. But David recognizes that God is 509 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,680 not only able, but God is also willing to look at this guilt 510 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:12,080 and return it to good. We have, this is a special word 511 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,280 to us who are Christians, Christians who believe that we 512 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:17,200 have. Maybe we've made a royal mess of 513 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:18,960 our lives. Maybe we just continue to mess 514 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,960 up, mess up and mess up and do a really good job at it. 515 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:27,160 You know, we're not talking about unbelievers. 516 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,080 David was a believer. We're believers. 517 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,520 Dave was a friend of God. David was a choice of God. 518 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,600 He made he, but he made an absolute mess of his life with 519 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:38,000 some of the decisions that he made. 520 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:44,560 Therefore, despite the fact that you and I may have ignored his 521 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:46,760 standards, maybe we've denied his word. 522 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:48,720 Maybe we have rejected his commands. 523 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,400 Maybe we've suffered and suffered miserably as a result 524 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:53,920 of that. And we say, well, yeah, you 525 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:55,640 know, I've repented. I've been forgiven. 526 00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:58,360 We all say that. We know that. 527 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:04,000 But somehow we who have done that have repented and forgiven. 528 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,040 We still kind of feel like maybe we're, we're not on the varsity 529 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,960 team anymore. God, if you want to say maybe 530 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,000 we're just being Christians on the bench. 531 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:16,200 We're not playing for the A-Team. 532 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:21,560 You know, we can't see ourselves as maybe really a warrior for 533 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:23,760 God anymore because of the things that we've done. 534 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:30,000 But that is not so that can't be so as long as God is God because 535 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,280 he is God. And David tells us who does not, 536 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,120 who does not treat us as our sins deserve, that He puts them 537 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:42,040 as far from us as the East is from the West, that he buries 538 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:44,520 them in the sea of his forgetfulness. 539 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:48,200 God can only forget one thing, and that's our sins. 540 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,920 And that's not because he that he's a forgetful God, but that's 541 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,400 because he chooses to forget. And if you meditate on that 542 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:59,120 concept for a long time, it really is amazing what God has 543 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:03,000 done for us. He's got to see into the depths 544 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:04,960 of the sea. We'll cast all of our sins. 545 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:09,880 If you throw something into the sea, you're not finding it. 546 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,200 There was a time where we went on vacation one time and me and 547 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:16,640 the girls were out snorkeling in the ocean. 548 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:19,120 That was probably a good 15 foot deep water. 549 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:24,160 It was Clearwater, but the bottom of the scent of the where 550 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:27,760 we were at was sandy and it had rocks all the same time, kind of 551 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:31,560 speckled all over the place. And we're out there, you know, 552 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:33,480 snorkeling and everything. And all of a sudden, I don't 553 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,040 know what is about salt water, but it makes your skin shrink a 554 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:40,200 little bit. On my my ring was loose enough 555 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:44,000 to where my ring, my wedding ring slipped off of my finger 556 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:50,880 and it sank. We got waves and everything else 557 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:54,560 and I just go into panic mode. It's gone forever. 558 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:03,080 Well, Emma, the fish as she is, she somehow or another dove and 559 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,560 able to see a glimmer of my ring and she went all the way down to 560 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:08,760 the bottom 15 feet deep and picked that thing up. 561 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,320 I don't know how she did it, but she found it. 562 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,760 But when you cast something into the sea, you don't ever see it 563 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:22,600 again. And that's what it says here. 564 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:26,760 God will cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea. 565 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:33,560 What an amazing concept if we've succumbed to that devil's lie. 566 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:37,200 If I did this, I did that. I did the next thing about the 567 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,720 whole thing up, you know now we just now what do we do if the 568 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:44,640 devil has got that line our mind We just tell that evil 1 tell 569 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:48,040 the devil go back to where he belongs because I take my stand 570 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:53,720 with the unguessable grace of God, the God who and despite the 571 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:56,600 fact that David was in the story and it is in this predicament. 572 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:01,000 Yet it is to him and through him that Christ will be born in 573 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,200 Bethlehem and that the nations will hear the voice of the words 574 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:08,560 of the Lord. That response on the part of 575 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:10,760 David did not bring an end, of course, to the cursing. 576 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,760 It's not the a major point, but I think it's an important point 577 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:17,360 for us to notice. And sometimes I think when we 578 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:21,640 say, you know, once we kind of understand the Scripture and 579 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:24,280 we've got everything resolved, once we're prepared to 580 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,560 acknowledge that God is in control and so on and let him 581 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:28,880 know, then we'll be able to proceed accordingly and all is 582 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:30,280 well. I want to make sure that we 583 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:34,160 notice in that in verse 13 says it says that David and his men 584 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:37,480 went along and as they went along shimmy, I kept up the same 585 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:41,120 old stuff, throwing rocks and cursing him and flinging dust in 586 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,320 the air. And so we're told as David and 587 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,080 his company kept going on, having continued to receive that 588 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,240 abuse, it just kept coming at them, coming them. 589 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:52,160 And they they arrived weary, which was no surprise. 590 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,960 And they refreshed themselves arriving at the Jordan River. 591 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,000 And there he and all this company refresh themselves. 592 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,360 And presumably he said, well, maybe since I got all this stuff 593 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:05,720 from Zebra here now, maybe this is a good spot to eat all this 594 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:07,040 good food that was brought to us. 595 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:14,159 The scene switches then to meanwhile back in Jerusalem, 596 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,679 because back in Jerusalem, while this is, while David's getting 597 00:34:17,679 --> 00:34:20,480 out of town, Absalom has made his way back into Jerusalem. 598 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:24,600 And the way in which his entry there has been described to us 599 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:27,960 gives us the notion that, and it's an accurate notion that all 600 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:31,840 the balance of power is now on the side of Absalom and all the 601 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:35,040 people, the memory of Israel and they came into Jerusalem. 602 00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:38,880 So it's looking pretty good for Absalom at this point, it seems 603 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:41,120 like. So David having been deceived by 604 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,719 Ziva, having been cursed by Shimmy Eye, we're now going to 605 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:47,760 find him supported by his friend, who shy and of course 606 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,239 opposed by his one time counsellor, Ahithophel. 607 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,840 And as we come to the self, we have to keep reminding ourselves 608 00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:58,800 to keep, you know, our bearings and where we're at all the time. 609 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:01,080 We've got to see kind of where we're headed in the story. 610 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:04,400 And remember, David has been unsettled by the news of a 611 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:08,240 Hippophel's defection. And as a result of that, David 612 00:35:08,240 --> 00:35:10,920 of course prayed the prayer that he prays that the Hippophiles 613 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:15,720 council will will would be overturned, that God would 614 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:19,240 overturn that council. He has at the same time 615 00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:24,680 dispatched Hushai, the archetype to whom we were are reintroduced 616 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:26,680 now. He sent him back into Jerusalem 617 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,120 to be a spy, to be a double agent, if you want to say. 618 00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:34,600 And he sent him back in the hope that he will be able to become 619 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:37,320 the answer to David's prayer. And in somehow or another, 620 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:41,680 through the actions of Hushai, the counsel of a hipophile will 621 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,560 be defeated. Oh, God, defeat the counsel of 622 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:46,680 the hipophile. And then he says, who should I 623 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:49,200 go up to Jerusalem and fulfill the role of a spy? 624 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,240 Now earlier we said, and it's almost obvious from this vantage 625 00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:56,880 point that all of the balance of power and significance and 626 00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,160 influence had been found at this point on the side of Absalom. 627 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:05,640 And indeed, if Who Shy is not a successful in fulfilling this 628 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:11,000 spy mission, then the prayer of David may not be answered. 629 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:15,520 It's hard to see that David's Kingdom can continue any further 630 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:20,040 if Who Shy does not successfully help answer the prayer that 631 00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:23,200 David prayed. So what we have here is a group 632 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:27,360 that are in a far a country outside of Jerusalem that needed 633 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:29,680 refreshment. Absalom a hippophil and his 634 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:33,560 company company dually installed in Jerusalem with all the odds 635 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:36,280 of victory of course on Absalom side at this point. 636 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:43,960 But who shy was David's friend we see in verse 16 and we knew 637 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:48,960 what his part was to play. And as we read these, we need to 638 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:54,000 remind ourselves that Absalom has no idea of the conversation 639 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,560 between Who Shy and David. Absalom's oblivious to what 640 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,240 David has set in place as far as who Shy being a spy. 641 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,440 This is taking place without Absalom's knowledge. 642 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:08,400 Therefore, when when who side Who Shy shows up and encounters 643 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:10,480 Absalom in this setting? Absalom doesn't know the 644 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:14,200 background to it all, and it's not surprising that he presses 645 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:16,000 him and really in the way that he does. 646 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:21,000 The presumption on the part, the presumption that is part and 647 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,720 parcel of Absalom psyche. Remember, Absent thinks he's the 648 00:37:23,720 --> 00:37:26,600 greatest there is. He really thinks highly of 649 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:32,360 himself. He's very self-centered man and 650 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:35,040 he's really stuck on himself. And this really makes it 651 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:37,200 possible. It makes it distinctly possible 652 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:40,400 for Hushai to be able to con him in the way that he does. 653 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:46,240 If Absalom was any different from who he was, it wouldn't be 654 00:37:46,240 --> 00:37:48,560 any as easy as it turns out to be that we can read about. 655 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:54,200 For example, he says who shy says Long live the king, Long 656 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:59,480 live the king and immediately Absalom cells says, well that's 657 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:02,200 nice. This guy's already saying Long 658 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:08,560 live the king because Absalom absolute assumes that it's a 659 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:11,240 reference to himself. He thinks who shy saying Long 660 00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:17,200 live the king, long the king about Absalom after all, Maybe, 661 00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:19,680 maybe Absalom says, well, he knows that the Trump of declared 662 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,080 him king in Hebron in chapter 15. 663 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:23,440 And Absalom must have been saying self. 664 00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:24,920 Well, that's very wonderful, isn't it? 665 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:28,080 Now, now I got I've got one of David's really good friends now 666 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:31,600 saying that I'm the king and and he feels like he's in a really 667 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:37,200 good spot about that. And then he says, Absalom says, 668 00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:40,240 let me just ask you about this, though, Is this how you show 669 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:43,640 loyalty to your friend? Why are you here with me rather 670 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:47,040 than there with him? Well, who should I said to 671 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:48,680 Absalom? No. 672 00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:51,960 For whom the Lord and his, this people and all the men of Israel 673 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,280 choose. His I will be, and with him I 674 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:58,800 will remain. Who should I is doing a pretty 675 00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:02,800 good job, right? Because who should I hasn't said 676 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:07,080 anybody's name yet. He hasn't attributed it to 677 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:08,440 David. He hasn't assigned it to 678 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:11,400 Absalom. No, he says, the one that the 679 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:15,240 Lord has chosen, I will be with him, and with him I will remain. 680 00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:19,800 Once again, in Absalom's mind, this is clearly a reference to 681 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:24,040 him. And so apparently he's beginning 682 00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:27,280 to convince himself that Hushai will actually be loyal to him. 683 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:32,680 Now, this is the very reason, of course, because because Hushai 684 00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:35,360 is going to be used to overturn the Council of the Hippophel. 685 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:40,480 And the ambiguity. Ambiguity. 686 00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:42,800 Guilty. I can't say the word ambiguity. 687 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:47,840 I don't know, say it. Ambiguity. 688 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:50,720 There it is. Ambiguity of Hushai's words 689 00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:56,400 really allow Absalom to conclude that what Hushai saying is 690 00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:59,440 really about him. And of course, the wonderful 691 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:02,040 thing is that Hushai is David's friend and that Hushai is 692 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:06,880 actually the friend of a king. Few weeks ago we sing what a 693 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:10,280 friend we have in Jesus and it reminded us about that amazing 694 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:12,720 truth that we become a friend of the king. 695 00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:17,360 It's a great song. But I want to remind us quickly 696 00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:20,400 about the relationship to Jesus and his disciples that we see in 697 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:23,400 John chapter 15 where Jesus speaking to his followers and he 698 00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:27,000 says to them, this is my commandment, that you love one 699 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:31,560 another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than 700 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:34,320 this, than to lay one's life down for his friends. 701 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:37,600 You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. 702 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:41,080 No longer do I call you servants, for your servants does 703 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:44,600 not, for a servant does not know what his master's doing. 704 00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:49,080 But I have called you friends for this, for all things that I 705 00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:51,000 have heard from my father, I've made known to you. 706 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:57,960 And we need to understand that to be a friend of the king as 707 00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:02,720 who I was, who I was to David. It's not a symmetrical thing. 708 00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:08,120 The relationship between king and whoever was the friend of 709 00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:12,360 the king was a relationship that was disproportionate, if you 710 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:17,880 want to say so that it was entirely legitimate, if you want 711 00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:22,760 to say for King David to say who should I is my friend, but it's 712 00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:27,760 not legitimate for who should I to say King David is my friend. 713 00:41:29,080 --> 00:41:33,320 And what I mean by this is that while we're very happy to sing 714 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:35,400 that song, what a friend we have in Jesus. 715 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:36,480 You know, we sang that a few weeks ago. 716 00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:38,680 Like I said, Jesus looks upon us. 717 00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:50,600 He says Jack, Cindy, Virgil, Brent, you are my friend and 718 00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:55,080 Jack and Cindy and Virgil and Brent respond and Jesus, you are 719 00:41:55,080 --> 00:41:59,360 my king. You see the relationship is not 720 00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:05,320 symmetrical. Jesus is king and we will extol 721 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:08,920 him and the fact that he calls us friends is a miracle of his 722 00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:11,320 grace and thanks be to God for that. 723 00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:16,000 Now the reason that all of this is so important is because it's 724 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:19,880 paving the way for the fact that in verse five of the next 725 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:23,440 chapter, Absalom says completely out of the blue, he says call 726 00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:26,240 who shy the archive and let us hear what he has to say. 727 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:30,240 And it's a pivotal moment and that would not have happened if 728 00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:33,160 the dialogue that we just talked about had not unfolded in the 729 00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:38,280 way that it did. And the the Absalom taking the 730 00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:43,080 words from who shy in a selfish way, he received those words 731 00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:46,720 thinking that who shy was talking about himself, created 732 00:42:46,720 --> 00:42:49,640 with himself, maybe him thinking, well, who shy? 733 00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:52,920 I can count on who shy now because he's talking about me. 734 00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:56,240 He said long with the king, he's going to follow the king and so 735 00:42:56,240 --> 00:42:59,080 on. So Absalom really kind of feels 736 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,880 like who shy is on his side at this point, unbeknownst to him 737 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:05,080 that Hushai was actually still acting as a spy. 738 00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:07,640 And of course, they're parts of the advice that is coming this 739 00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:10,640 way that will change things entirely. 740 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:14,840 Now then, that gives us enough on the matter of the advice of 741 00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:18,120 the spy and how we in turn, finally we're going to turn to 742 00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:23,000 the traitor of Ahithophel, which he is absolutely a traitor. 743 00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:27,640 And I mentioned. Earlier that Ahithophel is the 744 00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:31,400 Old Testament equivalent to Judas Iscariot, even as he was a 745 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:34,360 traitor of Jesus the King. So Ahithophel is a traitor to 746 00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:37,920 King David. Fascinatingly, it says Absalom 747 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:42,160 says to to Ahithophel give advice as to what we should do. 748 00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:46,240 Well, you need to be careful who you ask advice from. 749 00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:49,080 I think it's what we need to learn from this. 750 00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:53,840 It's not unusual for David to have inquired, but I think when 751 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:57,640 we read the Old Testament in the story of David, David inquired 752 00:43:57,800 --> 00:44:00,520 of the Lord. That's who David went to for 753 00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,440 information. And here Absalom inquires of a 754 00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:05,720 hippophile. And we know of course, that a 755 00:44:05,720 --> 00:44:09,120 council, that this council stated in verse 23, the council 756 00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:12,760 that a hippophile gave was as if was consulted of the word of 757 00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:15,440 God. Now there's something very 758 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:18,480 dangerous, I think about that and I'll show it, hopefully show 759 00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:20,400 it in a moment or two as we conclude that this, there's 760 00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:22,400 something very wonderful about it as well. 761 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:27,640 And the danger is that that going to people who give counsel 762 00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:31,440 who are so definitive on things that when they say they kind of 763 00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:34,240 pass themselves off as they were actually counseling you on the 764 00:44:34,240 --> 00:44:38,960 word of God. Make sure that when we go and 765 00:44:38,960 --> 00:44:42,880 ask advice from anybody that they do it with an open Bible. 766 00:44:44,720 --> 00:44:47,000 Make sure that they're counseling you out of the clear 767 00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:49,880 instruction of Scripture, not out of the wisdom of the 768 00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:56,040 Scripture, but scripture itself. Because there are a hippophiles 769 00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:58,560 out there and we got to make sure that we go to the right 770 00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:01,680 people for guidance. And of course, a hippophile is 771 00:45:01,680 --> 00:45:04,280 as clear as he is concise. What shall we do? 772 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:07,280 A hippophiles said to Absalom, he said go into your father's 773 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:10,760 concubines who he who he has left to keep the house. 774 00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:15,440 And remember that we said in a previous study in chapter 15 775 00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:18,720 that David had decided when they left Jerusalem that he was going 776 00:45:18,720 --> 00:45:22,440 to leave the 10 concubines in Jerusalem behind. 777 00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:25,520 We said that in passing that it was going to prove a significant 778 00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:27,600 decision on his part. And we're going to see the 779 00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:28,520 answer here. It is. 780 00:45:29,120 --> 00:45:31,960 It says sleep with the King's concubines in the sight of all 781 00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:34,280 Israel. Or if you would like, if you 782 00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:36,840 want to put in a contemporary words, sleep with the King's 783 00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:40,480 concubines and make sure it goes out on every single social media 784 00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:43,680 platform. That's what the advice from a 785 00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:47,800 hip tell was. It doesn't mean that everybody 786 00:45:47,800 --> 00:45:51,120 in Israel is going to watch the story, this sorry spectacle 787 00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:53,040 occur. It just means that it was going 788 00:45:53,040 --> 00:45:55,760 to be public knowledge. And he says, if you do this, it 789 00:45:55,760 --> 00:45:59,000 will be really foundational for your kingship because it will be 790 00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:01,720 obvious to everybody that you have entirely burned your 791 00:46:01,720 --> 00:46:04,360 bridges with your father and the possibility of any 792 00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:06,080 reconciliation with him in the future. 793 00:46:08,080 --> 00:46:11,280 And it'll it'll put a stamp that you have taken over the Kingdom 794 00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:15,400 of Israel. Because in ancient E at that 795 00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:18,400 time there was when there was a transition from one king to 796 00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:22,800 another, all the material, all the physical, and also all the 797 00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:25,760 social dimensions of that Kingdom were transferred over to 798 00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:29,800 the new kingship. And in so in one sense, Absalom 799 00:46:29,800 --> 00:46:32,960 is simply just doing what would normally be done, if you want to 800 00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:35,320 say. But what is being described here 801 00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:40,800 as being done is something so beyond the realm of ordinary and 802 00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:44,200 a hippothel, you know, as we learn what a guy, huh? 803 00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:49,280 He says to him, Well, we'll get things organized for you. 804 00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:52,040 Why don't we, since we, you know, we want to make clear that 805 00:46:52,040 --> 00:46:54,080 every your stands what this is, why don't we pitch a tent on the 806 00:46:54,080 --> 00:46:59,600 roof on the top of the house? And if you know the story, you 807 00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:05,040 know that same rooftop, it's the same place, it's very same roof, 808 00:47:05,040 --> 00:47:08,160 the same roof that David had been lounging on and we're told 809 00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:11,640 stood up and gazed out into to find Bathsheba bathing. 810 00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:15,040 And what then followed in that incident was hidden from public 811 00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:17,520 view. And what follows now is 812 00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:19,880 unashamedly displayed for public knowledge. 813 00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:25,440 It's really a sorry picture. It's really a sorry part of 814 00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:27,560 Scripture. When Absalom went in and he went 815 00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:31,400 in, we see that there can be great danger in the gifts of God 816 00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:34,040 to us. You can ask ourselves, well, how 817 00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:35,320 can there be great danger of them? 818 00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:38,280 Well, unless they're sanctified, they those gifts can be a real 819 00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:43,560 problem because Speaking of David, from the sole of his foot 820 00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:45,840 to the crown of his head, there was no blemish in him. 821 00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:51,040 That's talking about David's physical appearance, but now 822 00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:52,400 we're talking about his character. 823 00:47:53,240 --> 00:47:56,120 His outward appearance was such that he was a married by all and 824 00:47:56,120 --> 00:47:58,800 he was coveted by all and surely, surely coveted by maybe 825 00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:01,520 the female population. But his character was something 826 00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:05,720 different from his outward appearance in a hit the fell. 827 00:48:05,840 --> 00:48:10,600 He was so powerful who shy. We don't know what's going to 828 00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:13,440 happen with him from here now, but in actual fact, we're told 829 00:48:13,720 --> 00:48:16,240 in the conclusion of this incident, the conclusion that 830 00:48:16,240 --> 00:48:20,440 we're going to see here is actually the key and we want to 831 00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:22,440 remember that we said it's a dangerous word, but it's 832 00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:24,720 actually a wonderful word. In the same time, it says now in 833 00:48:24,720 --> 00:48:28,120 those days that the council that a hip fell gay was as if one had 834 00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:32,440 inquired at the Oracle of God. So think about it. 835 00:48:32,720 --> 00:48:36,800 What was the word of God? What was the Oracle of God? 836 00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:40,800 If you want to say look at second Samuel 12, verse 11 says, 837 00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:45,320 thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against you 838 00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:48,920 out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your 839 00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:51,880 eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall live with 840 00:48:51,880 --> 00:48:53,440 your wives in the sight of the sun. 841 00:48:54,240 --> 00:48:58,600 And then verse 12 reads, for you did it in secretly, but I will 842 00:48:58,600 --> 00:49:02,160 do this thing before all of Israel before the sun. 843 00:49:04,440 --> 00:49:06,680 God, it means exactly what he says. 844 00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:09,760 He's going to do exactly what he says. 845 00:49:10,040 --> 00:49:13,160 He says this 5 chapters ago. God speaking through the prophet 846 00:49:13,160 --> 00:49:16,280 Nathan telling David, and God does it. 847 00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:22,680 It's pretty remarkable. In other words, the evil that 848 00:49:22,680 --> 00:49:25,400 Ahithophel conveyed in the activity in which Absalom 849 00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:30,400 engaged in that activity was under the provision of a 850 00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:36,760 sovereign God, that Absalom, by his own willpower, did what 851 00:49:36,760 --> 00:49:40,680 Ahithophel in such contemptible and wicked way advised him to 852 00:49:40,680 --> 00:49:43,080 do. And of course, the mystery is 853 00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:46,560 this, that the evil act was at the same time the Lord's doing 854 00:49:48,080 --> 00:49:55,320 something to really think upon. Listen, evil never ever, ever 855 00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:57,920 forts God's good purpose. Ever. 856 00:49:58,720 --> 00:50:00,280 It can't. It doesn't. 857 00:50:01,120 --> 00:50:05,320 Neither is evil ever justified because it is used by God for 858 00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:08,840 good. There's no situational ethics 859 00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:11,120 here. There's no there's no way that 860 00:50:11,160 --> 00:50:14,880 it that evil transmutes into good evil. 861 00:50:14,880 --> 00:50:17,240 This evil lies or lies, sins and sin. 862 00:50:18,360 --> 00:50:20,840 But the mystery of it all in the words of the Hippophel, I mean 863 00:50:20,840 --> 00:50:23,440 notes to him, he's actually setting forward what God had 864 00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:30,080 said through the prophet before. Well, let's end with the apostle 865 00:50:30,080 --> 00:50:36,960 Peter at Pentecost, Acts 2 verse 22 and 23 men of Israel hear 866 00:50:36,960 --> 00:50:39,120 these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man 867 00:50:39,120 --> 00:50:42,080 attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and 868 00:50:42,080 --> 00:50:45,480 signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves 869 00:50:45,480 --> 00:50:49,840 know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan 870 00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:54,040 and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by the 871 00:50:54,040 --> 00:50:59,160 hands of lawless men. That there that scene there at 872 00:50:59,160 --> 00:51:03,080 the very cross of Christ, the very central point at which the 873 00:51:03,080 --> 00:51:07,800 devil thought that he had had it taken care of, that he's getting 874 00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:14,560 rid of Jesus. This is my world now the devil 875 00:51:14,560 --> 00:51:18,800 thinks he's going to have victory over God and and and 876 00:51:18,840 --> 00:51:21,720 he's at that point and it said and Peter filled with the Holy 877 00:51:21,720 --> 00:51:25,160 Spirit. He's given a grasp and an 878 00:51:25,160 --> 00:51:28,400 insight maybe that he previously not had is able to preach so 879 00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:32,080 greatly and make the point to the Jews that had previously 880 00:51:32,080 --> 00:51:35,240 missed it missed it that the goodness of God's great plan 881 00:51:35,960 --> 00:51:43,200 will always defeat evil every time It's pretty fantastic. 882 00:51:44,880 --> 00:51:48,360 There's a song that's out right now it's called his mercy is 883 00:51:48,360 --> 00:51:50,440 more. I want to read the words to 884 00:51:50,440 --> 00:51:53,200 this. What love could remember no 885 00:51:53,200 --> 00:51:57,400 wrongs we have done Omniscient all knowing He counts not their 886 00:51:57,400 --> 00:52:02,280 Son thrown into a sea without bottom or shore or sins they are 887 00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:06,240 many, His mercy is more. What patients would wait as we 888 00:52:06,240 --> 00:52:09,400 constantly roam. What Father so tender is calling 889 00:52:09,400 --> 00:52:12,000 us home? He welcomes the weakest, the 890 00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:15,040 vilest, the poor. Our sins there are many. 891 00:52:15,400 --> 00:52:18,480 His mercy is more Praise the Lord. 892 00:52:18,480 --> 00:52:22,320 His mercy is more stronger than darkness knew evermore. 893 00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:26,200 Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more what riches of 894 00:52:26,200 --> 00:52:30,160 kindness He lavished on us. His blood was the payment, His 895 00:52:30,160 --> 00:52:33,080 life was the cost. We stood neither debt we 896 00:52:33,080 --> 00:52:36,920 couldn't ever afford our sins there are many, His mercy is 897 00:52:36,920 --> 00:52:39,520 more. Praise the Lord, His mercy is 898 00:52:39,520 --> 00:52:44,640 more stronger than darkness new evermore our sins there are 899 00:52:44,640 --> 00:52:48,920 many, His mercy is more. Do you believe that? 900 00:52:50,440 --> 00:52:55,280 I hope you do hope all of us do Gospel plan of salvation. 901 00:52:56,000 --> 00:52:58,480 Hear, believe, repent, confess and be baptized. 902 00:52:58,480 --> 00:53:02,240 Romans 10/17 So then faith come by hearing, and hearing by the 903 00:53:02,240 --> 00:53:05,440 word of God. Hebrews 11/6 says, but without 904 00:53:05,440 --> 00:53:08,880 the faith is impossible to believe him, it is impossible to 905 00:53:08,880 --> 00:53:12,800 please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is. 906 00:53:13,320 --> 00:53:17,240 Acts 238 And then Peter said, repent and let everyone of you 907 00:53:17,240 --> 00:53:19,760 be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of 908 00:53:19,760 --> 00:53:23,920 sins. Acts 83036 and 37 where the 909 00:53:24,520 --> 00:53:26,640 Ethiopian eunuch God baptized he. 910 00:53:26,760 --> 00:53:30,040 He confessed that he believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of 911 00:53:30,040 --> 00:53:33,320 God by his lips. And then Mark 1616. 912 00:53:33,320 --> 00:53:36,280 We're taught that he who believes and is baptized will be 913 00:53:36,280 --> 00:53:39,440 saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. 914 00:53:40,600 --> 00:53:43,000 Is there 1 here who needs to follow those steps? 915 00:53:43,880 --> 00:53:47,040 Is there 1 here who needs just the prayers of the church or 916 00:53:47,040 --> 00:53:49,160 needs to make a public confession in any way? 917 00:53:49,640 --> 00:53:52,120 We ask you to please do so as we stand and as we see.