Sermons From The Book Of 2 Samuel - Beaconsfield Baptist church

Sermons From The Book Of 2 Samuel
Contents.
1. 2 Samuel 1:1-27 Godly Thinking
2. 2 Samuel 2:1-32 God’s Way
3. 2 Samuel 3:1-21 In the best interest of others
4. 2 Samuel 3:22-39 & 4:1-12 This kingdom has laws
5. 2 Samuel 5:1-26 The King who is a shepherd
6. 2 Samuel 6:1-23 Worship is what is all about
7. 2 Samuel 7:1-29 What are you worth?
8. 2 Samuel 8:1-18 The Lord gave David victory
9. 2 Samuel 9:1-13 Welcome
10. 2 Samuel 10:1-19 Righteous Anger
11. 2 Samuel 11:1-27 Your sin will find you out
12. 2 Samuel 12:1-31 Justice
13. 2 Samuel 13:1-38 Infatuation
14. 2 Samuel 14:1-33 Reconciliation
15. 2 Samuel 15:1-37 Worship
16. 2 Samuel 15:1-37 & 16:1-23 The Consequences
17. 2 Samuel 17:1-29 Narcissim
18. 2 Samuel 18:1-33 A father’s love
19. 2 Samuel 19:1-43 The return of the king
20. 2 Samuel 20:1-26 Included or excluded
21. 2 Samuel 21:1-22 Justice
22. 2 Samuel 22:1-51 God saves the humble
23. 2 Samuel 23:1-39 A witness
24. 2 Samuel 24:1-25 Dependent
Bibliography
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A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 23 January 2005
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2 Samuel 1
Godly Thinking
The people of God have been promised a glorious destiny. They were to be the community through whom all peoples
would be blessed. "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be
blessed through you" (Gen 12:3). They were to be the society that all other societies would be able to model on. They
were to live in a land flowing with milk and honey. They were to be a proud and prosperous people.
Nearly 300 years ago Moses had marched with a triumphant company of people out of Egypt. With great excitement and
with hearts full of hope this young nation had settled into their promised land. But now all the excitement had gone. Now
they were being pushed steadily from the land. The mighty Philistines had decided that they wanted the land and with
their powerful military machine they were having their way.
The book of 1 Samuel closes on a depressing note. Saul and his heir, Jonathan, had been killed in battle with the
Philistines. They had smashed the Israelite army to pieces. They had conquered the land. They had come to occupy the
land (1 Sam 31:7).
As far as the Philistines were concerned the land of Palestine was theirs and the Israelites would not be a part of the
future. This was the point at which the Israelites ceased to exist. It was they who gave the land its new name – Palestine.
And if it were not for the promises of God one would have had to agree with the Philistine assessment. A surface
assessment would have to conclude that Israel was finished. But if the promise of God were valid then in spite of the
current situation Israel was not finished and could not be finished.
We have just lived through one of the worst natural disasters ever. Nearly 250,000 folk wiped out. On Boxing Day, at 12
noon our time, the tsunami hit ripping through with a force that tore up everything before it; devastation and destruction,
whipping children from the arms of mothers, wiping out village after village, smashing to pieces the nicest of resorts,
totally rearranging the environment.
And does God care? The old saying goes, “if God were a God of love and power He would never have let it happen. So
He is either not very loving or not very powerful”.
But God is love and He is powerful. It is He who has told us that this world we live in cannot sustain us. Tsunamis come,
cancer strikes, cars crash, babies die, old age creeps up on us all. The real issue is death. We live in a world that is not
capable of protecting us from death. In fact we live in a world where life is precarious.
If this world is all that there is, if there is nothing beyond the coffin, if the only existence we are to know lies in the
present, then God has indeed failed to care for us. But could it be that there is more?
Could it be true that when God promises us a paradise in which there is no more mourning, or tears, or pain or death, He
is speaking the truth? Could it be true that when God calls us to trust Him He is actually expressing deep and abiding
love? Could it be that God is calling us to an eternity which is beautiful beyond our imagination?
And could it be that in spite of the mess Israel found herself in that day the promise of God would stand and Israel would
yet go on? Could it be the people of God did in fact have a destiny that no Philistine army could wipe out?
David was living in exile. He and a group of some 400 hundred men and their families were living outside the land. Saul
had been so threatened by David that David had moved out of the kingdom and had settled in Philistine territory. He was
over 100 kms from the spot where Saul had gone to war with the Philistines. So it was three days after the destruction of
the Israelite army that David finally hears the news of the destruction of the Israelite army.
The man who brings the story announced by his very appearance that he was the bearer of bad news. Torn clothes, hair
clogged with soil and dirt were signs of mourning and distress. We know that he was a young chap (v13) and that he was
from the tribe of the Amalekites (v8) - an Amalekite living with and among the Israelites. Rather like an Italian, or a
German, or an English person living permanently among the Australians.
David asks the man for a report of what has happened. In the last chapter of 1 Samuel we read the story of the last battle
that Saul had with the Philistines and of his death. We know that Saul was struck and seriously wounded by an arrow
and knowing he was in danger of being taken prisoner and tortured he suicided by falling on his sword. What David is
about to hear is not the truth.
He comes as one who has “escaped” the Israelite camp. Does he mean the prisoner of war camp? Or does he mean that
he was one of those who “escaped” being killed? We are not sure.
This chap presents himself as the one who had put Saul out of his misery. He makes the claim that he was the one who
had plunged the sword into Saul. He wants to take the credit for killing Saul. He is a liar and he fills out his story with
extra detail. We know that in his agony it was to his armour bearer or body guard Saul had turned. But this very trusted

soldier would not put the sword to the king. It is quite unbelievable that at this point Saul would have had the energy or
the interest in speaking to an unknown soldier.
Nevertheless this chap does have some proof that he was there when Saul died. He has brought with him Saul’s crown
and his arm band, the royal bracelet worn on the upper arm. There was no doubt that this man had been there when
Saul died. These items of great worth would have been stripped from the body very quickly after death. And that is what
this man has done. He has plundered the battle field. He was a looter.
But this fellow has not taken these items and sought to sell them. No, he has brought them to David. And by giving them
to him the fellow is suggesting that David is the new king of Israel. This is why he falls on the ground before David. This
is why he is paying David so much honour. He is suggesting that David is the new king.
The man is a liar and a schemer.
This young Amalekite would have known that David and Saul were incapable of working together. He would have known
that many considered David the much better candidate for the job of king. And he would have thought that David would
have been keen to have had the job at any price. But his deductions were wrong.
The young Amalekite assumed David would be pleased to know that Saul was out of the way; that David would be
pleased to now have in his hands the crown; that David would be pleased with him for bringing these things to him with
the definite news of Saul’s death.
But the Amalekite has not allowed for the fact that David does not think the way he does. David is a man whose
understanding of life is coloured by what he knows of God. David is someone who thinks about God and what God is
doing.
The young Amalekite must have heard of the stories of Saul driving David from Palestine, turning him into a refugee,
hating him so much that he wished him dead and gone. And he worked on the assumption that this being so David must
hate Saul just as much and be just as keen to see Saul dead.
David had suffered much at the hands of Saul, but David was committed to God. And a commitment to God meant a
commitment to forgive one’s enemies. Godlike people forgive and David was struggling to be God-like.
David may not have known the prayer but he knew the sentiments; “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us”.
We the people of God fight with all our might the powerful urges to get even with those who have wronged us. We work
hard at not holding grudges. We struggle constantly to forgive those who have hurt us. We understand the nature of life
and know that we will be hurt and we refuse to let those hurts produce bitterness within. We are the people of God and
therefore we think and act differently. The Amalekites of this world will never understand the way we operate.
The Amalekite does not know that David had had the chance in the past to see Saul die. But he would not. David knew
that God had called Saul to be king of Israel. To be the leader of God’s people. And David knew that in time God Himself
would remove Saul. To touch Saul was to pre-empt God. It was to force God’s hand and David would not have a bar of it.
David had known for a long time that the leadership would one day be his. And many times he would be tempted to hurry
the process along. But to give into that temptation would be to give into the temptation to doubt the promise of God.
God had promised David that one day he would lead the people. David so believed God’s promise that he knew he had
to do nothing to make it come about. God would do it. Joseph lay in a dungeon in Egypt hundreds of kilometres away
from his family. He too believed the promise that he would one day lead the clan. He knew that all the might of Egypt
could not keep him from his destiny. And David knew that Saul could not keep him from his. And this being so all Joseph
had to do was wait and all David had to do was wait.
There is a particular tribe where they put much emphasis on demystifying all the things that are mysteries to children.
When the children reach a certain age they are all brought to a ceremony. It is dark and they are confronted with beings
with strange clothes and masks. Each of the beings is recognised as some spirit that they have heard about as children -
spirits that they fear. The beings dance around the children producing the most fearsome emotions of anxiety. Then the
beings all rush into an underground cavern with the door shutting behind them. When all is quiet the parents rejoin the
rather frightened kids. The parents then make the kids go down alone into the cavern. By this time the kids are scared
witless. Nevertheless tears and shoutings will not stop the parents pushing the kids down the steps and into the cavern.
As soon as the kids are at the door a hand reaches out and snatches them in. But instead of it being a frightening
experience it is the very opposite. The beings no longer have their costumes on or their masks. These are now laid down
on the floor. What the kids see are their fellow adults from their community, uncles and older brothers and granddads
and so on. What the kids learn is that there are no spirits to be scared of. Thinking that there were spirits abroad was all
part of being a child and now is the time to move beyond childhood. In the adult world there are only people to deal with,
no spirits. Our society does the same. We remove from our thinking any thought that God is active in our world. And what
we end up with is a distorted view of reality.
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The Amalekite thought this way. If David was to be king then David would have to do something about the matter. It was
either David or nothing. But this was not David’s understanding of things. David knew reality and reality was that God
was active and in time God would bring David to the throne. David did not have to get into any skulduggery in order to
achieve God’s goals.
David’s primary goal was never to be the king of Israel his primary goal was always to do the will of God. If it were God’s
will for him to be king then he would be. But if it were God’s will for him to be king then God would bring it to pass. David
would not have to scheme and orchestrate to have the position. Be very careful when you find yourself moving off the
straight and narrow in order to achieve some goal or purpose. God’s primary goal for you is that you live an honourable
life, nothing more and nothing less. If the only way you can be rich or successful is by being less than honourable then it
is simply not worth it.
Six years ago today, on the night of 22 January 1999, Graham Staines and his two young sons, Philip and Timothy, were
burnt to death by Hindu extremists in India. Graham and his wife Gladys along with their three children were missionaries
in India working with sufferers of leprosy. On the night of the murder Graham and his sons were sleeping in their station
wagon on a camping trip. Their car was surrounded at 12:20 am the three of them were beaten up and then forced back
into the car and the car was set on fire. The three of them were incinerated while the wild mob looked on. Fortunately
Gladys and 12 year old Esther were not there. They were at home. In coming to terms with the tragedy Gladys says she
was helped by a story that she had heard somewhere. It concerned a young 12 year old girl in hospital who was losing
her sight. Her pastor came to visit her and she told him “Pastor, God is taking away my sight”. For a long time the pastor
kept silent and then said, “Jessie, don’t let Him.” The girl was puzzled. Then the wise pastor said, “Give it to Him”. You
can read the story in “Burnt Alive” by Gladys Staines and Others (p42).
The Amalekite had no understanding of submitting to the will of God. But submitting to that will was the very centre of
David’s life. It is no wonder that the Amalekite completely misread David.
At the end of the day this is not a story about David becoming king. It is a story about the people of God. Who is king is a
secondary matter. David is not happy about the fact that he can now take charge, he is grieved about the fact that the
people of God are now in a terrible mess.
But the Amalekite does not understand this. He thinks it is all about David having the throne.
The only thing that David is on about is the care of God’s people and the honour of God. “Our Father who is in heaven,
may Your name be honoured”. Seeing God’s people knocked about like this was a source of depression to David. That
he might gain something from the matter means nothing to him.
In fact what now falls on David’s shoulders is the awesome responsibility to try and rebuild this shattered community.
Here is leadership. It is always about serving. There was no palace for David to move into. There was no army for him to
take command of. There was no land for him to claim to rule over. All he inherited was a crushed and defeated
community. Anyone looking for honours would have walked away from it all.
The only reason that he will be king is in order to enrich, bless and strengthen the people of God. How he wishes that
they were not at such a low ebb.
David then expresses his grief at the state of Israel and the loss of her king and the loss of his dear friend Jonathan in a
lament. This song was to be more than David’s private song. It was to be taught to the community. This was a piece of
history they were never to forget.
Grief has a permanent aspect to it. When you lose someone dear you never fully get over it. For the rest of your life you
remember. Israel has lost her first king. She will never fully get over it. Always they will remember Saul.
As with all songs it is not straight prose. “Your glory” is of course their king. The “heights” is the high ground in battle, the
last place to be taken. Gath and Ashkelon are principal Philistine cities and David is dreading the exalting that will go on
in the Philistine communities over Israel’s loss.
David would like to think that the place where Israel lost her king will never again be a place where good things happen
like farming.
David cures Gilboa with barrenness. It is the place of Israel’s defeat. It is the place of Israel’s disgrace. David never
wants Israel to forget the tragedy of this defeat. David wants Israel to contemplate how and why it happened and to do all
that they can to make sure it never happens again.
Even though both king and heir are now dead and their end anything but glorious, one must never forget their great
contribution to the community. In his early days Saul had led well and there were many who had benefited as a result.
More, Saul and three of his sons died fighting to defend the people of God. They gave their lives for their people. And for
all their other failings they need to be remembered for that. This is why we have war memorials all over Australia.
In fact the lament passes over all Saul’s short comings. David simply deals with Saul’s good work in being a defender of
the people of God. Here is grace. David wants Saul’s good remembered and he is quite happy for his failures to be
forgotten. It is this song that he wants taught. At this point David would not have known just how much of the full story of
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Saul’s life would be passed down in history. But he knew that this song would be for he was going to make sure that it
was. And in his history of Saul the good would be remembered and the bad forgotten.
This was a conscious effort on David’s part. He chose to remember the good in Saul and he chose to forget the bad in
Saul. This is something that God does for us when it says that He remembers our sin no more. And it is something that
we can do for others if we will.
But the high point of the lament is saved for Jonathan and not Saul. David had never experienced the sort of love that
Jonathan had shown him. Jonathan had put his own interests aside in order that David could prosper. He was even
willing to give up his right to the throne for David’s sake.
David’s mother loved him. And his wives loved him. But none had made the sort of self-sacrifice that Jonathan had for
him. That his mum and his wife would care for him was taken as a given, but that the son of the king should care for him
was a constant wonder.
Jonathan’s actions give us a glimpse of Jesus’ actions. What Jonathan did on a small scale, Jesus did on a huge scale.
Jonathan was willing to give up his right to the throne for David. Jonathan was willing to bring David into the royal family.
Jonathan who was next in line for the throne would not hog it but welcomed David to it.
And Jesus gave up His place at the side of God and came among us and worked as our servant. And He will share His
reign with us.
In the end Jonathan died for a nation that was to be handed over to David. There was noting in it for him. David would be
the beneficiary of his sacrifice. And we are beneficiaries of Jesus’ sacrifice.
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A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 30 January 2005
2
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2 Samuel 2
God’s Way
The last chapter closed with David’s lament for Saul and Jonathan. It is a sad and stirring song. David ordered, that is he
demanded, that the song be learnt. David wanted the story of Saul remembered. Saul had been the king of Israel, their
first king, no less. David did not want this piece of history forgotten.
In his early days Saul had led well and there were many who had benefited as a result. A large section of his reign may
have been anything but auspicious, but that did not detract from the good he did. More, Saul and three of his sons died
fighting to defend the people of God. They gave their lives for their people. They needed to be remembered.
History is a vital subject. In almost every town in Australia we have war memorials. On each one is listed the names of
the chaps who went from the town or district and fought in the Great War. At first many of these memorials listed only
those who had died, as does the one we have here in Beaconsfield. In what we now call the Great War 60,000 young
Australians died. None of their bodies were brought home. Most of the dead were buried on the battle fields. So there
were no graves for mums and dads and wives and children to go and grieve at. But each Australian community put up a
cenotaph in the most prominent place they could. On the cenotaph were placed the names of those from the local
community who died in battle. Each small community of our land was saying we must never ever forget what happened.
We must never forget why these young chaps went and died. If these men believed so passionately in this country and
its freedoms that they were willing to fight and die for them, then we today must be very careful to treat this country with
great respect.
General John Monash was an ANZAC and went ashore with the troops in April 1915 to fight at Gallipoli. He was there for
the whole eight months of the ill fated campaign. 11,000 troops died in what the British who had arranged the campaign
were keen to forget. But Monash was keen that no one ever forgot what his men had done at Gallipoli. He was
determined that his men would march on the anniversary of that day for the rest of time. In 1919 the war was over but
there were still thousands of Australian troops in England awaiting transport home. It was Monash’s intention to have his
men march on the 25 th April, but the British War Office would not hear of it. They would not have Australian troops
marching through London on the 25 th April. They claimed that there were lots of other occasions when the Australians
could have a parade and they were not going to arrange yet another parade on this particular date. Now Monash as a
result of his brilliance in the war had had a number of personal meetings with the king and the king was so impressed
with the man that he had told him that if ever he stood in need of a favour all he had to do was ask. Monash informed the
War Office that either they gave him permission or he would ask the king to order them to give him permission. The
streets of London were blocked and 5,000 proud diggers marched with their General at their head, (Monash The
Outsider Who Won A War, Roland Perry, 2004, p460).
Monash was alive to the same issue. What has happened must not be forgotten. Before the troops marched that morning
Monash addressed them and reminded them they were part of a company, and a nation who had every reason to be on
parade with pride.
So much of what the OT has to say about God is given to us via stories. We now have a detailed account of David
coming to the throne. The story runs for three chapters. It is a messy story. It is a tedious story. It is a depressing story.
But it is a story that we need to read and know.
In our minds we would like to imagine that Saul died and David became king. We know that ultimately that is what God
wants. Samuel had poured the oil on David when David was just a teenager. David is the anointed one. We all know
David’s destiny. We would like to think that it is just a matter of Saul dying and David taking over. In fact the book of
Chronicles records the story this way. If the book of Chronicles was the only history we had of this time then we could
very well be under the illusion David became king without any stress or hiccoughs.
It would have been so easy if all Israel had just fallen in behind David. But it is never easy. There is always someone to
cause trouble. David will now have to face seven years of civil strife before he finally brings all Israel under his
leadership. And after dealing with the internal issues he will still have to face the Philistines.
This story takes place in the real world; a world full of difficult people, a world where everything goes wrong, a world
where things very rarely fall neatly into place, the sort of world that we live in. David’s road to the throne is going to be
painful and difficult. There will be no peaceful transition of power. Just because it is God’s will that David should be king
does not mean this will go smoothly. God will have to bring David to the throne in spite of obnoxious people. David will
have to suffer the self-centeredness of Abner and Ish-Bosheth. He will have to suffer Joab’s pigheadedness.
We must never think that just because we are serving God things will always come together easily for us. One of the
reasons Jesus told the parable of the Sower is to get this point across. The sower works very hard. He is out there
scattering his seed for all he is worth. But where does the first quarter of his work go? It goes on to totally unsuitable soil
- rocky, shallow, and unproductive. There will be no crop from this section of his work. Then what about the next quarter
of his labour? That all falls on to the path ways. Birds come and eat it. There will be no crop from this section of his work.
And then his next block of effort. That falls on to land where there are weeds growing and the weeds choke out his work.
What we see is that three quarters of his effort goes nowhere. Yes, there will be a harvest. But what we must see is that
it does not come easily.

Read the letters of the NT and what do we see letters to churches that are roaring along without a care in the world,
churches without problems or problem people? No, they are letters to churches that are suffering a pile of different
problems and suffering from unhelpful and uncooperative people.
God is quite happy to allow all of this. In the difficult years of moving forward to the throne God is not wasting time. These
difficulties are having a profound affect on David. You can have instant coffee but you cannot have instant character and
instant maturity. David’s faith is in the promise that he will be king, is being tried and tested and in the process being
strengthened. And rest assured God is perfecting His church, you and me, as we battle against all the troubles that come
upon us.
David has been in exile. He has been living abroad. He comes back and settles in the southern end of the land, well
away from the Philistines. This is the land where his tribe lives. The tribe of Judah take him and own him as king, but not
the other tribes. A son of Saul, Ish-Bosheth has been accepted by them and made king. However Ish-Bosheth is in a
very weak position. The Philistines are so strong that he is not even able to live in the land. He resides in a town on the
other side of the Jordan well to the north.
Basically the Philistines control the heart of the land. Ish-Bosheth is over on the east side of the Jordan to the north and
David down on the southern fringes of the land. David cannot even live as far north as Bethlehem his home town.
Before he moved back into the land we are told that “he inquired of the Lord”. How easy it would have been for David to
have simply rushed back into the land and sought to assert himself as king. But David is a Godly person and Godly
people are only interested in doing what God wants. It will be seven years before David has his true position. But if
waiting is God’s will then David is happy to wait. As we said last week, David’s primary goal is not to become king of
Israel but to do whatever it is that God wants.
David knew his Bible. The stories of old gave him direction. Abraham knew that one day he would be a father. But he
failed to wait and produced untold pain in bringing Hagar into his family and from her Ishmael (Gen 16). David waits
before moving up to Hebron and he is willing to wait to be the king of Israel.
Do you remember the days of “stand by” airplane tickets? You would simply role up at the airport and buy a ticket to say
Adelaide for about a quarter of the going rate. But then you would have to sit and wait for a plane that was not full. This
could be an hour’s wait or literally an all day wait. Now if you looked around the waiting lounges you could work out who
was on a ‘stand by’ ticket. Those with a booked seat sit there and read or sip coffee or quietly wander around the shops.
Those who are on ‘stand by’ are edgy and constantly standing at the counter asking if there is any news yet on the next
available seat. They stand there hoping that on the next flight or the next one or the next one there will be a spare seat
for them. The difference in their attitude is confidence. The one person knows they will be on the next flight and so they
relax. The other does not have a clue when they will be flying and so they are ill at ease. Now David knew that in God’s
good time he would be king of Israel. So he did not need to be anxious nor did he need to do anything underhand to
hurry the matter along. He had a booked seat and there was no need to fear not going on this appointed moment.
Hebron was an out of the way place. Nevertheless David is now back in the land. It is a tiny beginning. In time David will
rule all the land and after him will come the great Solomon empire. The unpromising form that the kingdom takes at this
point must not blind anyone to the reality that the king has come. David has little power and little glory at the moment but
that does not alter the fact that the kingdom has come.
The kingdom of God may not look very glorious. In fact it may look like it is in its Hebron stage. We do not see much
power or glory. But let’s not kid ourselves. The kingdom has come. The people of God may not look too flash or too
smart but that does not detract from the fact they have a glorious destiny.
After settling in the town of Hebron with his wives and family along with his 400 men and their families David hears the
story of what the good folk of Gilead had done for Saul. At some cost to themselves they had taken Saul’s body from the
battle field and had arranged a proper burial. Showing respect for Saul was not going to endear them to the hostile
Philistines. Nevertheless they willingly did all that they could for Saul.
Saul is dead and can no longer be their saviour. He can never again do for them what he had when the Ammonites had
threatened to blind in the right eye all the men of the town. The saving of the city of Gilead was the start of Saul’s
kingship and it was a token of what leadership was all about. Saul had not gone to Gilead to rule over the folk, he had
gone there at some cost to protect and care for them. Having seen the kind of leader he was they could not submit
quickly enough to his leadership.
David’s first recorded act as the new king down in Judea was to offer friendship and comfort to the folk of Gilead. This
was the type of man he was.
David is suggesting that he will be the same sort of leader. He is inviting them to come to him and trust him for
protection. David wants to be king of Israel, not because he wants the power and the glory, but because he simply wants
to save his country. He wants to serve them. He knows Philistines and Ammonites are around. He does not want to be
the leader of Gilead simply for glory, but in order that he might protect them. There is nothing in it for David other than
more hard work and battles. When Saul first came to the throne he did not really want the job, he knew it would be hard
work – he would have been better off on his farm, and so it is with David.
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That David was willing to move back to the land shows us what sort of man he was. He could have spent the rest of his
days living down on the Gaza Strip. He was 30 he had two wives and a family to bring up. Gaza would give him a good
living and a quiet life. It would have been an easy life, but not the life of a man who cares.
General John Monash was put in charge of the total Australian forces fighting in France in 1917-1918 - some 200,000
men. It was an enormous load. He was a man in his fifties. He had already served with distinction at Gallipoli. He was not
a regular soldier. Before the war he was a member of the CMF. Such was the drain on him that he lost a quarter of his
body weight. His right hand developed a perpetual tremor. But the last thing on his mind was going home. And why?
Because he cared for his men and would not let them down.
His achievements were many. It was he who on 8th August 1918 launched the battle that broke the back of the German
army. It was he who had smashed the Hindenburg fortifications, Germany’s last defensive system on French soil. King
George V actually went out to the battle field to knight him for his efforts. But when Monash came home after the war it
was the diggers who honoured him the highest because they knew that this man cared.
David offers to be to the town of Gilead their king and their deliverer. He is not hanging out to rule over them. He simply
wants to be there for them. They need a king and he is willing to fulfil that function as a true leader.
Jesus attracts us by His character. He is gentle and lowly. It is His compassion and care that we respond to. We warm to
Jesus’ promise that He will give us rest (Matt 11:29). Jesus does not order us He wants us to fall in love with Him.
David wants to care for them nothing more. And Jesus wants to care for us nothing more.
This month our relationship with Indonesia moved from a long chill to the warmest embrace. Our Prime Minister on our
behalf pledged $1 billion in aid to help the Indonesians over the terrible effects of the tsunami. When our Prime Minister
John Howard arrived in Jakarta the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yodhogono literally hugged him. The gift
changed everything. All of a sudden Australian soldiers were on the ground and active in Aceh - a place previously
forbidden. Howard told Indonesia, “We are here to help you in your hour of need”. And the Indonesians believed him
because they saw that in every shop in every town in the country there were donation tins for gifts to tsunami victims.
Australians did not seem to be able to give enough. The Indonesian President declared Indonesia would “never forget
Australia’s generosity”. When Australian troops with their guns arrived in East Timor in 2001 they were not happy and
wanted them out, but when those same troops arrived in Aceh, a similar province in a number of ways, the doors were
wide open.
Why do we Australians want to be in Aceh? Only to help. Why does David want to be in Israel? Only to help. Why does
Jesus want to be in your life? Only to help.
The commander of Saul’s army was his cousin Abner (1 Sam 14:50). He had survived the great battle with the Philistines
that had taken Saul. Rather than lose his position of power he had helped establish Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth as king. He
was a strong and powerful man. Without him Ish-Bosheth would be nothing.
If David was to have the throne then Abner and Ish-Bosheth would be without jobs. It was self-interest that drove these
men. The last thing on their agenda was what would be best for the people.
Abner and Ish-Bosheth have one goal - power. Their first concern is not the well being of God’s people. If it were they
would seek God’s direction. If it were they would acknowledge David’s position. Abner was there when David killed
Goliath. Abner knew what Samuel had said about David. But Abner was not particularly interested in what God had to
say. Abner was fully aware it was God’s will that David have the throne (1 Sam 13:14).
Abner cannot see that in rejecting David he is rejecting the best thing that could happen to him. He sees David as an
enemy when he is not.
Last week alone there were 11 suicide car bombings in Iraq. The soldiers are very jumpy. A few nights ago in Tall Afar a
car approached a patrol of American soldiers. It was dark and the soldiers indicated to the car to stop. Apparently the
driver in the dark failed to see what the soldiers were trying to communicate to him. Oblivious to the soldiers’ instructions
and quite innocently the driver just kept on going. The soldiers following standard procedure opened fire on the vehicle.
Two seconds later when it was all over the soldiers found to their horror, mum and dad killed in the front seat, leaving six
blood splattered but mostly unhurt orphans in the back. The family were from a pro American part of town. These were
friends of the Americans. The soldiers had attacked friends and not enemies.
Abner and Ish-Bosheth insist on having their own way and the outcome will be strife. So it is civil war breaks out and the
chosen king has to deal with opposition and rebellion.
Abner marches south and meets up with Joab, David’s general at Gibeon, which was much closer to where David lived
than where Ish-Bosheth lived. With all the tribes but Judah under his control Abner thought defeating David would not be
too hard. And with David out of the way he would enjoy sovereignty over all Israel.
Abner comes from the other side of the Jordan. He is the aggressor. He is on a campaign. David hears of Abner
marching toward him and Joab goes out to meet him long before he reaches Hebron.
8

The armies stand off at a respectful distance from each other with some sort of reservoir between them. The pool of
Gibeon was a cavity some 80 feet deep with a spiral staircase leading down to the water. The pool was 37 feet across.
Rather than simply launch into battle Abner suggests a contest, much like the Goliath incident. Twelve soldiers were
chosen from each side. It was a disaster. In a matter of seconds 24 good men were dead. The immediate response was
for the troops of both sides to attack.
Joab and David’s men were the superior. Abner and his men were soon in full retreat. It seems that Abner had
miscalculated the strength of David’s people. Joab was the son of David’s sister Zeruiah, two of his brothers were also
fighting that day. One of them, Asahel made it his business to go for Abner. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that if
Abner was removed it would be the end of Ish-Bosheth. But Abner had not been the most powerful soldier in Israel for
nothing. He had no trouble killing Asahel.
He killed him with a ruse, allowing Asahel to come up close behind him as he was chasing, then suddenly stopping and
thrusting back with this spear. The butt end of a spear was often sharpened so that the spear could be thrust into the
ground and be ready for action (1 Sam 26:7). Asahel would have had his eye on the sharp end of that spear he had no
idea what damage could be done with the blunt end!
The death of Asahel was not expected. No one thought that the brother of their general would die. It is this death that is
the catalyst for bringing this day’s fighting to a close. But it had been a terrible day. David had lost 20 men and Ish-
Bosheth 360.
Abner had failed. And if only he could see it, all his rebellion against the true king will do more damage to him than to
David.
Many years later king Jesus will say to a young rabbi, “Why kick against the goad?” And He says to you today, will you
not come and submit to Me?
9

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 6 February 2005
3
10
2 Samuel 3:1-21
In the best Interest of others.
The last chapter gave us a glimpse of the gruesome nature of the civil war that lasted nearly seven years. The story
moves on but no more stories of casualties, or battles and reports of nasty and violent incidents are given. With what we
are given in chapter 2 we all know what war is about. All we are told here is the war lasted a long time. What we must
see is that the kingdom comes very slowly. And it comes with pain and suffering. David will not simply walk into
Jerusalem and rule over a united Israel. He will come there via pain, despair and agony. He will come there in spite of
men like Abner and Joab.
Jesus said it would be like this. He said the weeds would grow with the wheat (Matt 13:30). The field would look messy
and indeed would be messy. And so it is that the church grows in the midst of mess and trouble. The church has difficult
people in it. The church looks and is messy.
The monastic movement was in part an attempt to pull back from the mess. To set up communities which were nice and
clear with no nasty issues, but it is not the way. God has chosen to do His work in the mess and we are fools if we seek
to avoid the mess. It is here in ordinary churches like this one with all its problems that God is at work.
We are told that during the time of the war David grew stronger while Abner and Ish-Bosheth grew weaker. The listing of
David’s wives and family is given here as an indicator of David’s growing strength. It is all happening so slowly. But God
had promised that David would rule and the slow growth of David’s strength and family are signs that God is at work.
David’s household of six wives was a sign of his prestige. The household of a king was not a normal household. Only
someone with significant wealth could maintain such a household. In that culture a king’s reputation and power was
measured to some extent by the number and beauty and importance of his wives.
What does the Bible say about polygamy? I once spent time talking to a chap who was convinced that the Bible
condoned polygamy and that it was the sort of life style that he would like to investigate!
The Bible does not condone polygamy. Jesus gives us the categorical statement about marriage. "Haven't you read," he
replied, "that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his
father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one.
Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate" (Matt 19:4-6). One male and one female bound together
for life. This is the way it should be. This is the ideal. Anything other than this and a certain level of pain is inevitable.
Now the stories in the Bible take place in the real world. And a number of significant Bible characters copy the culture
around them and take multiple wives. The Bible writers do not condemn them outright. They do something else. They
show us how their family lives fail to work. Whether it is Abraham and his grief when he finally has to send his “second
wife” away, of Jacob who is incapable of loving Leah as much as Rachel and so ends up setting the sons of one wife
against the sons of the other resulting in the most awful family breakdown. Or now David, where we will see in time the
son of one wife raping the daughter of another wife, and the son of that wife murdering the son of the first wife.
God had a better way for His leaders, back in the book of Deuteronomy the word had been given, "Your king must not
take many wives, or his heart will be led astray" (Deut 17:17).
David may have been a good man but he was anything but a perfect man. If he were perfect he would not need the
grace of God. At the end of the chapter David describes himself as “weak”. He is acknowledging that he has not got what
it takes to bring in the kingdom. He is not strong enough to hold men like Joab in line. He is not strong enough to push all
evil out of his kingdom.
If this kingdom is to come it will have to come because God is at work.
Sir John Monash’s power and influence reached its peak in the late 1920’s. Here was the man who had commanded
200,000 troops in battle - the man who led the way to victory in WWI. In 1928 he was fighting for the growing SEC of
which he was the chair, when he put a proposal to the McPherson Nationalist State Government for an extra allocation of
a million pounds in funding. It was rejected. Sir John decided that a “no” was completely unacceptable. He made it his
business to present himself in person at the Cabinet and argue his case. Sir John (who was a full General in the army)
arrived at the outer doors of the cabinet room, recalled Robert Menzies then a 34 year old junior honorary minister in the
State Government. He demanded admittance to the Cabinet room. The amiable Premier asked Monash to be brought in.
When he entered the room every cabinet member stood up ‘instinctively’. “We were in the presence of a man we knew
was a greater man than we would ever be,” Menzies said. Monash went on to argue his case and left with everything that
he wanted (Monash The Outsider Who Won A War, Roland Perry, 2004, p501). Monash had his way because he was a
powerful man. He built up the SEC using his phenomenal intellect and personal and magnetic power. But the kingdom of
God does not grow this way.
The power in the kingdom does not lie in powerful individuals. Paul captures the essence of the matter, "When I am
weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor 12:10). What strength he exhibits in his work is the strength that God gives and not
personal strength.

The kingdom of God grows not through powerful men and women but through hundreds of thousands of very ordinary
individuals through whom God is working. David knew that the only reason the kingdom would ever come is because
God would bring it and we must know the same truth. If the kingdom is to come God must bring it. In the end there is a
sense in which the kingdom “fell into David’s lap” in that he did not have to fight for it as we shall see in the next few
chapters. Day by day we should pray, “Thy kingdom come”. And day by day we should know that the kingdom is coming.
We never have to get into a sweat about it.
As time went on Abner became more and more disenchanted with Ish-Bosheth and after some seven years of living
under Ish-Bosheth Abner rebelled. He went and had sex with one of Saul’s concubines, Rizpah.
This was not a matter of sexual activity. This was a matter of status. No one, but no one, has sexual activity with the
wives or concubines of the monarch. Well not if you wanted to live that is!
So when anyone did in fact take a king’s wife or concubine it was tantamount to “taking on the king”. It was an act so
defiant that if the ruling king was not able to have the one who touched his wife killed, it meant he was too weak to
control and rule.
There will come a time when Absalom will launch a coup against his father David. And the very first thing he will do is go
and have sex with his father’s concubines. Not only will he have sex with them he will have the fact proclaimed abroad. It
will be his way of stating categorically that he is now king and there is nothing David can do about it (2 Sam 16:21&22).
A deceased king’s harem belonged to his successor. Rizpah was Ish-Bosheth’s. Even if Ish-Bosheth and Rizpah had no
relationship, it did not matter Rizpah was “not available”.
The reality was Ish-Bosheth is too weak to do anything about Abner’s actions. He spoke to him but was too afraid of him
to deal with him. Abner denies he has been disloyal to Ish-Bosheth. But his actions are an act of terrible disloyalty.
The way in which he answers the king back shows both how strong he was and with what contempt he held Ish-Bosheth.
He assures Ish-Bosheth that he has been loyal to this point in time but he will not be any more.
Abner abandons Ish-Bosheth and makes an overture to David. He tells David that if he makes an agreement with him he
will bring all Israel over to him. We are not told what the agreement he was looking for was. But we can assume it would
be the job of general. He was chief of Saul’s army and he would want the same role in David’s army. The problem was
Joab already had that job!
But what do we see, Abner coming to submit to the rightful king? No we see Abner coming to do a deal.
Abner states that he is fully aware of the promise God had made to David to make him king. But while he thought he had
much to gain by standing with Ish-Bosheth he was quite happy to ignore God and all that God had said. But when he
realised that Ish-Bosheth was going nowhere then and only then is he ready to do what God wanted.
The only reason Abner is going over to David is because he had something to gain. It had nothing to do with doing what
God wanted or doing what was right. There was no seeking to do God’s will. The only thing that mattered to Abner was
what was best for him.
Abner knew the Word of God. Abner knew who he should submit to. And now he will but only because it suits him to do
so. Yes, Abner is going to do right but for all the wrong reasons.
Donald Gray Barnhouse tells the story of a young chap who was down at a frozen lake with his mate. The young chap
stood on the lake’s edge watching his friend skating around when all of a sudden the ice gave and his mate dropped
through the surface and into the icy water. Well at quite some risk to himself the young chap went about rescuing his
friend. He slid out on to the ice and put himself in the most awful danger of having the ice break under himself as he
helped pull his friend from the freezing water. Some time later he was honoured at a civic function. His bravery was a
matter of some note in his community. After all the fuss had died down someone asked him how he found it in himself to
so unselfishly go out on the ice and pull his friend out of the water. “Well” he said, “I really had no choice, you see he had
my new skates on”. And we say “well he did the right thing but the motivation was all rather selfish” (Davis, p38).
We are on the edge of all this type of thinking whenever we preach the prosperity gospel. Come to Jesus and you will be
healed, come to Jesus and your finances will boom, come to Jesus and see your problems melt away. No! we come to
Jesus because Jesus is King and not for any other reason. We come to Jesus because that is the right thing to do and
for no other reason. The temptation to do right but for the wrong reasons is very strong.
David was no fool and he knew what sort of a man Abner was, a man who would turn on his leader, a man who was
ruthless and had his eye on the top job. David knew Abner would be no more loyal to him than he was to Ish-Bosheth.
Look how Abner approaches the people of the north. He appeals to their self-interest (v17). It was all about being
rescued from the Philistines. It was not about is this what God wants.
11

Nevertheless the overture from Abner awakens David to the fact that slowly but surely the kingdom is coming and so he
decides to ask for his wife Michal back. Michal was a daughter of Saul and therefore a sister of Ish-Bosheth.
David must have had some feelings for Michal. But that was not the reason he asked for her back. The reason he
wanted her back was that she had been given to him by Saul. Michal was the public proof that Saul wanted David in the
royal house. Michal would strengthen David’s hand in his bid to be king of all Israel. But the sad thing is what was best
for Michal was the last thing on his agenda.
For reasons we are not sure about Ish-Bosheth complied and gave the order that Michal, who had remarried, be taken
from her husband, a man called Paltiel (1 Sam 25:44), and sent to David.
This is a sad story within a story. Obviously Paltiel and Michal had a marriage full of love. But the affairs of state were to
take precedence over their personal feelings. Michal was again to know the bitter taste of losing a husband. Michal had
lost David when she had helped him escape from her father. David had run in the night while Michal covered for him.
Michal had not been able to follow David into exile. Who knows what pain this must have caused them both because
they had obviously been much in love (1 Sam 18:20). They had been separated from that time and to cement the
separation Saul had arranged for her to be remarried.
David and Michal had married we assume about the age of 20. They were forced to separate within a year or so of being
married. Both now had new partners.
This is not one of David’s best stories. He made a decision, but did he care about the effect that decision would be on
Michal? Obviously not. But is he alone? Is the effect of our decisions on others one of the first things on our mind or one
of the last?
Everyday we hear of “suicide bombers” they are a key feature in the on going war in Iraq. Ahmed Abdullah al-Shayea a
21 year old had come from Saudi Arabia to join an insurgent group. He was committed to help drive the Americans out of
Iraq. On Christmas morning (2004) he was given his first assignment, to park a tanker truck full of explosives near the
Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. He didn’t know that four fellow terrorists in a Jeep Cherokee following a safe distance
behind held the remote-control trigger. When they pushed it, an explosion thundered across the city, killing 10 Iraqi
policemen. But al-Shayea, unlike scores of other bombers who’ve been vaporized beyond recognition, was blown
through the windscreen and against all odds survived, (Bulletin, 8 February 2005, p42) Poor al-Shayea did not know he
was going to be a suicide bomber. He was being used in the cruellest way possible.
No, obviously we would not blow someone up to further our goals. But who has not been guilty at some stage or another
of “using” someone.
If David had cared more for Michal then he had for himself, he would never have made this demand. But her coming
home would help him and that was all that mattered at that point. She and Paltiel would have to simply wear it!
The sad thing is it was all for nothing. Michal’s return did nothing to strengthen David in his movement toward the
kingdom. More, their relationship never returned to normal. In fact in just a few years they will have the most awful row
and it seems the fact Michal never had children by David is telling us something about their relationship.
How different to Jesus, whose every decision is based on what good it might bring others, including the greatest decision
of all, to go to the cross. That was not in His best interest but it was in our best interest.
"Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the
same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be
grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Phil 2:4-7).
What a statement “Made Himself nothing”. And why? In order that we might be made something.
What a King we have. What a kingdom He is building. What a privilege is ours to be a part of that kingdom. What
obligations we have to act like citizens of this kingdom.
12

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 13 February 2005
4
13
2 Samuel 3:22-39 & 4:1-12
This kingdom has laws
Abner comes south having decided that he would be better off under David than under Ish-Bosheth. We note that Abner
does not come to David because it is the right thing to do. He does not come because David is God’s appointed ruler. He
does not come because he realises that resisting David is in essence resisting God. No, he comes for one reason. It is
going to be better for him under David than under Ish-Bosheth. Doing right is good. But doing right for the wrong reasons
is not good.
Well, Abner came to David with an escort of 20 men. David treated him royally. Abner made promises of bringing all
Israel over to David when he comes and in so doing bring the civil war to an end. After a decent feast, David sent him
away, presumably to see what he could do. In the choice between diplomacy and war David was choosing diplomacy.
David sent him away in peace. That means in security. A truce is now in operation.
Following Abner’s departure Joab arrives. He has been out fighting. While the meeting about peace had been going on
Joab had been dealing with yet another skirmish. The civil war was still in full swing as far as Joab was concerned.
Joab is incensed. He is not happy about this new policy of making peace with the northern tribes. Abner is an enemy and
not to be trusted. As far as Joab is concerned the only reason Abner would come to Hebron would be to spy. Joab had
seen too many of his men die at the hands of Abner. More, he had seen what Abner had done to his brother. Abner is
the enemy and there is only one thing to be done with enemies!
So Joab decides to take matters into his own hands. Far from backing David’s peace plans, far from seeking to unite the
northern tribes with Judah peacefully, far from seeking to wind down the levels of hostility, Joab choses to escalate the
battle.
On his own initiative he sends messengers after Abner. Abner was only 2 Ö kms into his journey home when he is called
back. Abner assuming that David wishes to bring some other item to the negotiating table comes back. He comes back
suspecting nothing sinister.
Upon his arrival back at Hebron, Joab approaches him as if to have a private chat. Abner completely at ease and
suspecting nothing is an easy target for Joab. The moment Joab was close enough he stabbed him in the stomach. For
Joab it had to be in the stomach for that is where Abner had thrust his spear into Asahel.
Joab then immediately declares the act was not murder but the fulfilling of his obligation to avenge the death of his
brother, Asahel. The role of the kinsman redeemer was an ancient one (Num 35:16-21). But it did not apply in situations
of war! And Joab knew that it did not.
Everything about the death of Abner was wrong. Joab knew that David did not want Abner dead. But Joab was only
interested in what Joab was interested in. Abner had killed Asahel in self-defence. Abner had killed Asahel in battle. It
was broad daylight. But Joab kills Abner in the shadows, in secret. Abner has died like a criminal dies, in a back ally fight.
He was not bound. That is he was not taken prisoner, tried and found guilty.
Joab can make all the claims he likes about his duty to avenge his brother. But they are not true. His real motivation for
killing Abner was insecurity. If Abner and David are doing business the chances are that Abner, the older, Abner the
more experienced, Abner the chief of all Saul’s men will become David’s right hand man and Joab will be pushed aside.
David was as keen to see himself king of all Israel as was Joab. But if David thought there was a chance of doing it via
peaceful means rather than spears and daggers David was keen to do it. David had as much reason to hate Abner as
had Joab. But David had it within him to forgive and seek peace. Joab did not. David was the Godlike person and Joab
was not. David showed love and kindness to his enemy. David was keen to be reconciled to his enemy. David was
willing to give up bitterness and revenge.
But why does he show kindness to his enemy? Because he is under orders to do so. The world of that day only knew
sovereigns who were totally free to do as they liked. They were answerable to no one. Not so in Israel. Here was
something new. The king of Israel is not a free agent. He lives under the law. Here is a new kind of kingship, a king who
must obey orders.
Here is a king who is not really a king. A true king is the one who has total say. The king that Israel has who is really
“king” is God. These people understand that they live in the kingdom of God. And the king who gives the laws and the
orders and who says what is right and what is wrong is not David but God. Which means that whoever is king in Israel is
also under law and not a free agent.
And if the real king, God, orders His people to love their enemies then David will obey no matter what he may feel like
doing. If God the King says, “in My kingdom we love our neighbours as much as we love ourselves”, then David must
obey (Lev 19:18).

So at the end of the day Joab was not really on about building up God’s community. He was a rebellious man. He knew
the law of God the king just as well as David did and he chose to go against it.
Joab is not in the least like his boss. David was willing to wait years and years while Saul had the throne. David knew
that it would not have been in the best interests of the kingdom to push Saul aside, and if it were not in the best interests
of the kingdom David was happy not to be king.
Jonathan knew that David would make a better king than he would so handed over to David his right of succession.
Jonathan was much more interested in the well being of the people of God than he was in his position.
Joab presented himself as one who cared about David and the kingdom. But no, all Joab cares about is himself. He
wants the top job. He wants to be seen as the chief soldier. His first concern is himself not the community.
David is appalled at the murder. He is horrified at this turn of events. He calls down the most terrible curses on Joab and
his family.
The curses are strong. To have a constant running sore would be to be perpetually unclean and therefore perpetually
barred from public worship (Lev 15:2). What he is trying to say via the curse is that such an action as that of Joab’s is
not the action of a person who belongs in the kingdom of God.
David then asserts his authority over Joab by ordering him to take his place in the official mourning party. Abner’s funeral
is probably the last place that Joab wants to be. But David insists that he face the music. David insists that he take
responsibility for his actions. There are consequences for all our actions and Joab is not going to be immune from the
consequence of what he has just done.
In last week’s Bulletin magazine (8 February 2005, p10) there is a letter to the editor criticizing the NSW Premier, Bob
Carr. The letter writer contrasts the strong stance of the NSW government against those involved in the inhumane torture
and abuse of cats with the lack of interest shown by the NSW government in the alleged abuse of Mamdough Habib in
his time at Guatamano Bay. But what the writer fails to understand is that the cats are not responsible. They were quietly
minding their own business doing what cats do when they were tortured. Not so Habib. He chose to align himself with a
terrorist organisation. He chose to get involved in the war in Afghanistan. These were choices that he made and there
are consequences for his actions. And in this case one of the consequences was that he has been a prisoner for the last
three years and when he finally came home the NSW Premier was not the least interested in meeting him!
We do not study the history of dogs or the history of monkeys or the history of elephants, because they do not have a
history. They have done the same thing for thousands of years and there is nothing to see for it. But humans have
history. We have history because we make decisions that have consequences and in our history we can see those
consequences.
Three times we are told that David sent Abner away in peace. The story lays quite some emphasis on the fact that David
was innocent of Abner’s death. The level of David’s distress over the matter is seen in the lament that he writes and
sings.
What Joab had done could have easily lifted the civil war into an all out holocaust of brutality. But David moves the event
into another direction. There will be no rejoicing that a member of the other side has died. There will be sadness. David
does not want a kingdom shaped by the values of warriors. He wants a kingdom in which life is honoured - even the life
of an enemy.
Those in the kingdom of God acknowledge that God is the author of life. Life is His gift. He makes us alive and in His
time He brings death. It is not for us to take it. Murder, abortion, euthanasia are wrong. Last month the House of Lords in
London was debating the matter of euthanasia and Baroness Mary Warnock argued that the elderly and ill have a duty to
let themselves be killed to ease the burden on their families. And she suggests that doctors are sometimes too zealous in
trying to save lives. She also said that some lives are more worth living than others (Chuck Colson in New Life, 3
February 2005). What a cavalier approach to life. It is not God’s way. Every life is worth living and more He would have
us tenderly care just as much for our old folk as we would for our babies. The baby in the push chair takes an awful lot of
looking after and so does the frail old one in the wheel chair. And both are equally precious to God.
Pol Pot led the Khemer Rouge regimes in Cambodian back in the 1970s. It was one of the worst governments ever.
Between 1975 and 1979 Pol Pot had over 1,000,000 of his people put to death. Pol Pot was a Buddhist and believed in
the notion of Reincarnation. As the Khemer Rouge went about the business of running their extermination camps they
truly believed that their victims would be reborn as better people in future lives.
We however believe that you only live once and right up to your death moment you have the opportunity to know and
relate to God. No matter how much pain you are in or how old and frail you are you can enjoy God. The cutting short a
life is a terrible thing.
Countries that have been coloured by Christian thinking hold life precious. The Americans and the English have come in
for some pretty heavy criticism over the way some of their soldiers have abused Iraqi prisoners. Some of the soldiers
saw these prisoners as the most vile of people and treated them accordingly. But we as a society have stood up and
said, “not on”. They may be the enemy but they must be treated with decency.
14

Contrast this with Cambodia a country coloured by Buddhism. Amnesty International is currently seeking to stir the
Cambodian Government to deal with an epidemic of wife beating. At least one in five wives suffer. There is no law
against it (Amnesty International, February 2005, p12). And there is no law against it because deep in the soul of the
country, life is not respected or honoured.
It seems that David is the only one who understands that he must not come to the throne via fighting. He understands
that kingship and leadership among God’s people is a gift from God and not something to be fought over and snatched.
No one has to snatch it. God will give it. And, by the way, God has been pleased to give you your life and all that you
need to live it. You do not need to be fighting anyone.
Abner is dead. He was the number one soldier in the camp of Ish-Bosheth. With him dead David could easily press home
an attack on Ish-Bosheth. There would have been those waiting for the action. But David is willing to wait for the kingdom
to come to him.
But not everyone saw it David’s way. Recab and Baanah are so keen to see David rule that they happily commit murder.
But as with Joab David will need to demonstrate that murder has no place in the kingdom that he is establishing. The
murder of Saul, the murder of Abner and so the murder of Ish-Bosheth must be dealt with.
Recab and his brother Baanah were free to go over to David’s side anytime they liked. But no, they want to see what
they can get out of it. Recab and Baanah thought that if they brought Ish-Bosheth’s head with them then David would be
in their debt.
His house of course was more than a three bedroom sort of affair that we might live in. It would have had a large
courtyard with the house built around. One of the sides would have been stables and the like. It would have been very
easy for these two men to have entered the main gate on the pretext of going into get grain from the store room. Once
inside the courtyard they instead went to the residential wing and found Ish-Bosheth fast asleep in the heat of the
afternoon - the siesta being a normal custom in the warm weather.
Poor Ish-Bosheth was murdered in his sleep. It was a terrible way to die. He never knew who his attackers were. Recab
and Baanah were really not very brave men. Killing someone who is asleep does not require a lot of fighting skill.
After having done the deed, Recab and Baanah come down to Hebron to David and tell David, “The Lord has avenged
the king against Ish-Bosheth”. They make the astounding claim that the Lord has directed their act.
They try to picture themselves as the ones who have saved David. Ish-Bosheth is none less than the son of the man who
had tried to kill David they claim (v8).
But these men have no comprehension of God, of how God does things and what would and what God would not call for.
Obviously David wants the throne but not one second ahead of when God wants him to have it. With God there is never
any reason to rush and certainly never ever any reason to do wrong. To do wrong to achieve an honourable goal is not
God’s way. God would have us achieve honourable goals in honourable ways or not at all.
Recab and Baanah work on the assumption that David was power hungry they do not seem to comprehend that David
was more interested in doing right than in having might. They had no idea that David lived in a God orientated world.
David wants these two to know that he has never broken the command do not murder in order to achieve his goals. He
had no part in Saul’s death and he wants no part in Ish-Bosheth’s death.
Look at the words David uses, “the Lord has delivered me out of all trouble”. What a statement! But if this is true then
David does not need to ever panic and he certainly does not need to go against what he knows God wants. With a
Father in heaven David does not need men like Recab and Baanah to protect him. It is God who saved him from Saul
and it will be God who will save him from every enemy.
These men were getting all excited about David’s enemies. They thought they had to get out there and sort them out or
David would at the least never get the kingdom and at the worst be destroyed. But David was already under the
protection of God. David did not need the help of these men.
David knows who his Redeemer is and because he does he knows he does not need the likes of these men.
These men were suggesting that David owes them something for the help they have given him. But David does not need
their help. And even more importantly he does not need to be in their debt or under any obligation to them.
And neither do we! We have a Father in heaven who cares for us. We do not need – ever – to put ourselves into the debt
of evil people.
15

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 20 February 2005
5
16
2 Samuel 5:1-26
The king who is a shepherd
Finally David becomes king of all Israel. In the strongest terms we are told how it was that he had “made it”, “David
became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him”. And David’s statement, “God had
established him as king and had exalted His kingdom for the sake of His people” (v12) is a statement about what this
kingdom is all about.
God built David up not for David’s sake but for the sake of His people. God’s primary goal was not making David great
but building a community. God was about the business of building a kingdom – the kingdom of God. David was only the
means to an end.
It is the same with the church. We have pastors and deacons but for what purpose? For no other purpose than that they
may play their part in building up the community of God’s people. They are nothing more than a means to an end. Paul
put it this way. “It was He (Jesus) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and
some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built
up" (Eph 4:11&12).
The state of Israel is about to grow in power and wealth. In a fairly short period of time David is about to find himself in a
very exalted position. But he must never forget why. It is only in order that he can more ably care for the least of the
people who live in his kingdom.
Well finally the day arrives and all the tribes stand before David. When it says “all the tribes came to David at Hebron” it
means all the tribes were represented at Hebron by their elders.
But note the term they used to describe David, “shepherd”. This term had never been used before of David in his role as
ruler. But it was obviously what they were looking for in a ruler.
Jacob had described God as a shepherd (Gen 49:24). This meant that for a king in Israel to be a king as a king was
meant to be, he had to have the highest standards of faithfulness, justice and loving kindness.
To the extent that the king of God’s people was not “godlike” he was a failure. The only type of leader that God would
have over His people is a shepherd-like one. The word “king” must be understood by the word “shepherd”. David’s
kingship is not for David’s glory but that God’s people might have a passionate and devoted servant.
This king was to have a copy of the law that he had written out by hand with him all the time (Deut 17:18-20). It was to
govern his own life, as well as the life of the community. No leader of God’s people was ever a free agent. They were to
live under a set of laws that called them to love. To love their neighbour as much as they loved themselves no less.
The shepherd was boss of the sheep but that was not what being a shepherd was really all about. It was all about caring
for the sheep. Shepherds do not bully, they bless. And what we all long for in our leaders are those who care about us.
The leadership a good shepherd demonstrates is both tender and strong.
In fact David caught it all in his Psalm on the theme of God as his shepherd (Psa 23).
Leadership among God’s people is the same today. Our titles are descriptive. Deacon means servant. Pastor comes
from the word shepherd. And minister means to minister to or serve someone. And to the extent that our leaders in the
church are not serving us they are failing us. To the extent they do not act in a shepherd-like manner they are failing.
When Jesus called Himself the “Good Shepherd” the Jews knew He was claiming to be their king, not simply a very nice
person. In calling Himself the Good Shepherd He was saying “this is the sort of King I will be”. By the way it was His
claim to kingship that caused the Jews to want Him dead not His claim to be a nice shepherd.
And so at the age of 30 and after a wait of over seven years David begins his life’s work. God always takes time to
prepare His leaders. It is a process that cannot be rushed. God did not give him the job on a plate. Much of what we go
through in this life is playing a part in maturing us. And not just for this life. We have a lot of living to do in eternity and
only there will we see how what we have suffered here has played its part in preparing us for what God will have us
doing there.
The rewards that the Bible speaks of are not exactly medals to hang around our neck. They have much more to do with
our role in the unfolding adventure of all that God is yet going to do.
Jesus said, “To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new
name written on it, known only to him who receives it" (Rev 2:17). A new name! Our name is our identity. So at this stage
our full identity is still unknown. It will not be known until we are in the new age. All that we are to be and all that we are is
still something of a mystery. But this we do know, that which we are moving through now is playing its part in forming us,
maturing us and developing us. All that we struggle with, all that we suffer is not wasted in the slightest. David had to do

a fair bit of suffering before he came to the throne and we too will have to do a fair bit of suffering before we come to our
place in the kingdom.
Paul’s words should encourage us, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will
be revealed in us" (Rom 8:18).
Jesus told a parable in which certain people were entrusted with sums of money. Those who had handled their money
well were commended by their master with the words, “Well done, my good servant! Because you have been trustworthy
in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities" (Luke 19:17). We do not know what the ten cities are that the faithful
servant is to be in charge of. But this we do learn from the parable, there is much more to come and that our service in
the so called “small” issues of today is preparing us for significant responsibilities in the age to come.
The first thing David does is set up a capital city. Hebron is way down in the south of the land. David must be more
central. Plus Hebron is the principal city for the tribe of Judah. And David will now need a place that is not aligned with
one any one of the tribes.
Jerusalem is the perfect spot. It is an extremely easy place to fortify due to is location on a hill. In fact so difficult a place
was it to attack that when the conquest had taken place some 300 years ago under Joshua the city had not been taken.
It had remained an independent city state within the land. It was populated by a small tribe of people called Jebusites.
The fort at the centre of the city is called Zion.
So well situated was the city that the Jebusites considered it impregnable. No one else had ever taken the city and they
had no doubt that David and his men would fail too.
The Jebusites were so convinced of the security of their city. They had so much confidence in their city’s walls they
believed that even blind and lame men could defend the place against David’s troops.
But David knew otherwise. God had made a promise and David knew that God kept His word. The promise was that the
people of God would have the land of Canaan. The promise was that not one of the pagan tribes would be able to stop
the people of God having the land and that included the Jebusites. They had been specifically mentioned by Moses.
"When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations
- the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites…." (Deut 7:1).
The Jebusites were therefore the last of the original inhabitants to be dealt with. There would have been those who
would have thought the promise to Abraham given nearly a thousand years before would never come to pass. "On that
day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to
the great river, the Euphrates the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites,
Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites’" (Gen 15:18-21).
Time never dissolves God’s promises. It was with faith in what God had said that David planned his attack.
If it were not for the promise of God that David was to be king whoever would have believed that he would have been
king, what with Saul out to thwart him, Abner and Joab being anything but helpful. Ish-Bosheth thinking the job was his
and not in any hurry to let go. But David never doubted that God would fulfil His promise and make him king. And if God
kept that promise, against all the odds, will He not also keep His promise to drive out all the pagan tribes from their land?
We need to hear it again and again, all God’s promises are certain no matter how much resistance they meet.
David had already worked out that a frontal attack was going to be an impossible task. However David came up with the
brilliant and very innovative idea of having his men crawl up the underground water shaft. Jerusalem was on a hill and
there was no water on the hill. The water had to be drawn up a shaft and the shaft was connected to a tunnel that ran
outside the wall. This meant that even when the city was under siege the citizens still had access to water.
There was a spring called Gihon which was outside the city wall and the water from this spring was brought under the
city wall via the tunnel and shaft.
Joab led the squad in and from the inside they launched their attack on these so called “blind and lame” who thought
they could defeat David’s army.
So it is that the first thing David does when he enters Jerusalem is attack the “blind and lame”. Obviously they were not
really blind and lame. However, even if he did not come to attack the blind and the lame he did come to clear the place of
pagan Jebusites.
By the way David’s true feelings for the lame is perhaps best seen in his care of crippled Mephibosheth which we will
read of in chapter 9. And David was not racist. He did not push the Jebusites aside because they were foreign. He
pushed them aside because they were godless. Again David’s feelings toward foreigners are best seen in the fact that
one of his best friends was a Philistine, Ittai of whom we shall read in chapter 16.
We are given two pictures which show us how David’s power and prestige were growing. The first picture is the fact that
the king of Tyre wanted to establish diplomatic relations with David. He was keen to set up trade with this new and
17

vibrant king. Foreign recognition by powers outside of Palestine was a new and significant development. Tyre was
welcoming David into the circle of kings. It is as part of this act that he plays his part in helping David get up a palace.
But this new and very financially rewarding development David does not take credit for. He sees it as an act of God for
the benefit of God’s people. David had heard the law that said no king in Israel was to consider himself better than
anyone else in the kingdom (Deut 17:20).
The second picture is of David’s large family, the kind of family that only a king could provide for and house. And so the
matter of polygamy is before us again. David happily accommodates himself to the culture of the day which assumed
that all monarchs would have multiple wives. David should have known better. The law said otherwise (Deut 17:17). It is
interesting that he is not censured by the Bible writer. The Bible does something else it will simply tell the story of the
terrible pain that his complicated family life will bring to him. As we shall see David can and does ignore the law on
occasions as here, but he never gets away from the consequences of ignoring the law.
The Bible rubs our noses in the failures of our leaders. One of the reasons it does that is so we might never be tempted
to make more of them than we should.
There is only One who always does what pleases the Father (John 8:29). And He will never fail and He and He alone
deserves our total commitment.
Be careful of making too much of any pastor, or deacon, or preacher, or any other leader in the church. They are all
sinners, less then perfect.
The Philistines had occupied the centre of the land for the last seven years. Neither Ish-Bosheth nor David had been
significant enough for them to have been worried - but not now. David had united the tribes and is starting to assert his
authority over the land. It was time to go to war with Israel again. The last time they had gone to war they had easily
defeated Israel and in the last battle they had seen king Saul die.
No doubt they were not expecting a different result this time either. They had smashed the kingdom of Saul and they now
set out to smash the kingdom of David. They marshalled their troops in the Valley of Rephaim.
This event took place before David had moved up into Jerusalem. This chapter does not record matters in a
chronological order. What we have here is more like a collage.
I attend a meeting of our denomination once a month. I make notes as the meeting goes along. My notes are all on the
lines on my bit of paper and my notes follow the items as they come up on the agenda. A note about item one, a note
about item two and so on. But I often sit next to this chap and he does not. If he thinks item one is not very important he
will scribble something about it down at the bottom of his page and if he thinks item two is a bit of a side issue he will
make a note to the side of his page. Then when we finally get to something he thinks is important it will be put at the top
of his page.
For our writer David moving to Jerusalem is the important issue and the lesser issue is the defeat of the Philistines, even
though the Philistines were defeated before David moved into Jerusalem and built his palace and had all those kids.
The Philistines moved as soon as they “heard that David had been accepted as king over all Israel”. This story is not as
important as the story of David moving into Jerusalem so it is put second. Jerusalem becoming the capital is so important
that the author gives the story precedence over the story of the crushing of the Philistines.
Now the folk in the north must have been waiting with baited breath to see what David would do. At this point it would
have been very easy for David to have withdrawn back into Hebron and promised the Philistines that he would continue
to be a good neighbour and abandon the north to look after them. The north are about to find out if David is indeed going
to be a shepherd to them. Is David interested in his own well being or the well being of the kingdom?
In two major campaigns David breaks the back of the Philistine army. His defeat of them was so catastrophic the
Philistines never recovered.
David describes God breaking through his enemies as a massive wall of water which pushes everything before it. David
wants us to know that there is more going on here than his troops being a bit better than the Philistine troops. There is
something supernatural here at work. God is pictured as the one leading the charge. God is the number one warrior in
the battle.
Here is God as the great Shepherd defending His sheep.
These must have been massive battles. But we are given virtually no details. The battles are ignored in order that all the
attention is placed on what is going on at headquarters. Battles are fought in two places. There is the battle field. This is
where all the action is. This is where the excitement is. This is where the physical action is. This is where the blood is
spilt and the cries ring out. This is where there is noise and madness. This is where nothing is safe or normal. This is
where the film maker spends all his time. The other place is back at headquarters. This is the quiet office. Here the
generals discuss and move markers around on maps. Here morning tea and lunch happen as on any other day, here
18

there is quiet and normality. But bad decisions at headquarters lead to disasters on the battle field. What the Bible writer
gives us is what is happening back at headquarters.
What we see is that David is totally God reliant. When the Philistines marched David prepared for battle. While watching
the Philistines manoeuvre he and his troops must have been itching to commence the battle. But David will do nothing
until he knows he has God’s blessing. And in the second battle God’s leading was even more specific.
In the second battle David is instructed to go around and attack from the rear. This meant moving his troops through a
wood of Balsam trees. These particular trees tremble with the slightest movement of air. When the troops heard the
leaves rustle or make the sound of marching men they were to go into action. They were to know that God was passing
through them to lead His people into battle. They would not be going alone.
These are God’s battles. If God wants His people to form a functioning community then the Philistines will have to be
dealt with. David understands this matter so clearly that he does nothing until he has a real sense of what God wants.
David knows that this is God’s “show” not his! God is King, David is only under king. Therefore how the Philistine
problem is dealt with is ultimately God’s problem.
This is God’s battle and God moves supernaturally. And if supernatural intervention is what is needed then we can be
sure that God will not fail to provide the miracle. But God does not always do miracles. Jerusalem had to be taken by
crawling through damp disgusting dangerous water tunnels. There were no miracles. It was simply hard demanding
work. But in the battle at Rephaim there is a miracle! It seems that the army had very little work to do at all.
And this is our God. Most of the time, in fact nearly all the time, there are no miracles. But when one is necessary God
does not fail.
19

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 27 February 2005
6
20
2 Samuel 6:1-23
Worship is what it is all about
The days when the Philistines controlled what happened in the land were over. With the Philistines finally subdued Israel
brings the ark of God back into prominence. The ark had been taken as plunder by the Philistines and for the last 75
years had been in storage.
The ark represented the presence of God and the presence of God meant security. David did not want the nation to find
its security in him or his government. The country is about to grow in power but it must not find security in its military or
economic power.
This community that David rules over is the community of God’s people - the Community of those who chose to live
under the authority of God. It is therefore appropriate that the ark be situated in the new capital city. At the very centre of
the lives of these people will be the worship of God. By bringing the ark to Jerusalem David is declaring that his kingship
is subordinate to God’s kingship. It is God who must be the centre of the life of the people and not David. The people
now had a capital city and a king to be reckoned with. It would have been easy for David to have allowed all the glory to
flow to him. But that is not what he wants. It is the worship of God that must be the centre of the community’s life.
David was not simply building a kingdom or a nation. He was overseeing a community of God’s people. Maintaining a
kingdom was only a means to an end. The end being the people of God, functioning as the people of God should.
For David it was unthinkable that the ark should remain in obscurity in a private house. David wanted God honoured and
worshipped. David wanted his capital city and his people centred on God.
In the centre of our public life is our Parliament House. It sits there on a hill in Canberra. It is before us all the time.
Parliament House represents our government. It represents the place where our laws come from, the place where our
security comes from – this is the home of Centrelink our welfare system. This is the home of our chiefs of defence –
those whose job it is to defend us. We are meant to honour our government as the source of our laws to guide our
behaviour and the source of our support and our security.
But not Christians! We are the people of God and it is God who gives us our laws, it is God who provides us with our
support and it is God who gives us our security. Now we are Australian citizens and we happily live under Australian
laws. But they are not the ultimate for us. The law of God is. And we are happy to draw on CentreLink if we are
unemployed or need the old age pension but this is not our ultimate support, we have a Father in heaven who will
answer our prayer “give us this day our daily bread”. And we are happy enough to know that the Australian defence
forces are always ready for action. But our real sense of security does not lie in the army but in our God who has
promised never to leave us or forsake us.
The ark was a chest or a box that measured three and three quarter feet long by two and a quarter feet wide by two and
a quarter feet high. It was made of acacia wood and was overlaid with gold both inside and out. It had two rings of gold
on either side to hold the poles that were used for carrying it. The poles were never to be removed as the penalty for
touching the ark was death.
It contained the two slabs of stone on which were written the Ten Commandments, a pot of manna (Ex 16:33) and
Aaron’s rod (Num 17:10). The tablets of the law were a constant reminder of how God would have His people live. The
manna was a constant reminder that God had not failed to care for His people while they were in the wilderness. The rod
was a constant reminder that God can bring to life that which is dead.
On top of the ark was what was called ‘the mercy seat’. This was in essence the lid. It was made of solid gold. A model of
a cherub made of pure gold was placed at each end. “The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward,
overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover” (Ex 25:20).
The Hebrew word “Kapporeth” translated “mercy seat” literally means “a place of covering (for sin)”. God did not wipe
people off because of their failures. God is a God who forgives and goes on forgiving. God is a God who does not
abandon His people.
The ark is about God’s grace and kindness. Everything about the ark brought home the fact that God was a God of love
and grace.
The ark represented God. It represented the history of all that God had done. It represented His good laws and as people
gazed on it they could not help but worship.
This God of ours is not simply an idea! He is the God who has acted in history. We know what He is like by the things He
has done in history. The story of God’s provision of food in the wilderness is a story of God’s kindness. It is a story that
told these people that God cared, and cared enough to act.
On the 26 July 1977 two 19 year old Sydney university students become parents - Kathy Donnelly and Tony Abbott.
Tony and Kathy were not married. They had been going out since high school. They were also both committed Catholics

and hence had deliberately not taken precautions as they had never planned to be sexually active. However it happened
and the young couple were confronted with a pregnancy. Of the three options in front of them, marriage, abortion or
adoption they believed adoption was the most honourable.
In the account of the story that I read (Bulletin, 1 March 2005, p18) there was one moment of grace after another. Tony
and Kathy’s relationship finished at the time of the birth of the baby. Both went on to marry other people. They were both
blessed with marriage partners who openly and fully forgave the past. On Christmas Eve after a 27 year silence, the
baby now a 27 year old young man came back into the lives of his biological parents. His first words to his biological dad
were “thanks for having me”. When Kathy spoke to his son’s adoptive parents who had done all the hard yards and spent
all the money on raising the child her first words were, “Our boy”. “Our!!!” What grace. No hogging. The boy, Daniel, says
he so loves his adoptive parents that he would not want to have changed his life at all. Tony and his wife have three
daughters and all have welcomed Daniel into their lives with an openness that is moving.
Stories of grace, kindness and forgiveness are moving. They are moving because we know that grace, kindness and
forgiveness are never ever deserved. If they were then it would not be grace and kindness, and forgiveness.
Let it be said again, if God were under any kind of obligation to us to reach out and love us, then He would not be
extending real grace to us. Grace is only grace because it does not have to be given.
David did not have to work up worship within his people. No, as they contemplated all that God had done worship rose
within them. We come here to worship services not because we have to but because we are moved to as we
contemplate all that God has done for us.
The ark was going to be a constant reminder of God and His goodness. That is why we come to worship week after
week and why we listen to sermons. Our sermons do not say anything new. They are not meant to. They are simply
meant to remind us again and again of what God has done for us.
Look how many men are involved in bringing the ark up from Baalah - 30,000 of them. What we are to see is that David
is turning this into a major event. But there may have been another reason for 30,000 men. There had been 30,000
troops lost in the battle in which the ark had been taken by the Philistines so many years before. Baalah is 14 kms to the
west of Jerusalem down the road to Joppa.
For the last 20 years the ark had sat in the home of a man called Abinadab. And his son Eleazar had been given the
responsibility of protecting it (2 Sam 7:1). But when the moment to move it came it was Eleazar’s brother who seems to
have taken charge. We can imagine Uzzah enjoying his moment as the important one, fussing about and giving orders in
front of this huge crowd.
Uzzah and his brothers had had to protect this box for the last 20 years of their lives. They had lived in a quiet little back
water and now the ark was to be the centre of attention, and they were not about to hand it over to others. This ark was
going to be the head of a great parade and Uzzah wanted some of the glory, thanks.
This was quite a procession and the cart was being pulled by oxen. The cart was the Rolls Royce of available transport
at that time. A massive crowd of 30,000 folk, a pretty full on band of harps, lyres, tambourines, and cymbals and loud
singing. I say “loud” because I think that is what is intended to be conveyed with the words, “celebrating with all their
might”.
This would have been an exciting morning. This must have been a day off for everyone. The kids would have been
squealing with delight, the teenagers would have been running from the front to the back and from the back to the fount
of the parade, the old folk would have stood and watched it pass with comments of, “I have never seen such a good
day”, and the heart of the crowd would have been singing their favourite songs of worship with unrestrained volume.
The parade had 13 kms to cover and at the speed a parade moves at this would have needed around four hours. The
planning for this day would have been considerable. This was on the same scale as our Moomba Parade.
The threshing floors were simply decent sized pieces of ground that were rock hard. In the days before concrete a nice
rock surface that was just above ground level was perfect. The road to Jerusalem passed over such a nice smooth piece
of rock. After plodding on the dirt road the oxen found themselves on a hard smooth surface. A hoof slipped. The cart
shook. Uzzah took it upon himself to manage the incident and took hold of the ark.
In that second in front of thousands of happy families the man dies. He dropped down dead. The music stops. The
singing stops. The laughter stops. Everyone stands there in silence. We are not told how he died. We have no details.
But all those who saw it were left in no doubt that God had done it.
It was a shock. We never think that God would do anything that we would not like. But it was obviously good for God to
take Uzzah’s life no matter what we think. David thought he was doing a great thing. God thought otherwise!
This thrilling day had just become a disaster. The rain had just started to pour down on the parade.
What on earth is the ark doing on a cart?! In the law there were specific instructions on how the ark was to be carried and
it was certainly never to be carried on a cart.
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There was a prescribed way of transporting the ark. Uzzah does not go back to the word of God he instead copies what
the Philistines did when they moved the ark. They had transported it on a cart and now Uzzah does the same (1 Sam
5:19-21).
Now, if carried properly on the poles which were never to have been removed from the rings, it would have meant that
the ark would not have needed to be touched. This whole system was designed deliberately in order that it would never
be touched.
"Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the
Levites shall do it. Anyone else who goes near it shall be put to death" (Num 1:51). If this is the word of God why on
earth was anyone surprised when Uzzah died? In fact they should have been surprised if Uzzah had done what he did
and lived! Uzzah was not a Levite and the ark was being carried in a way expressly prohibited by God.
The poles were the old fashioned way. It was hard manual labour. David and Uzzah like the idea of the new Philistine
way, a cart - modern technology. The cart was much more efficient and it looked nicer than a group of men carrying the
box on poles.
But it was the role of members of the tribe of Levi to carry the ark. It was never to be put on a cart and pulled by oxen.
"Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Then
make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest to carry it"
(Ex 25:12-14).
God did not want Uzzah to die. That is why God laid out in the clearest terms what needed to be done to avoid death. Do
not touch! The law is a set of guidelines. Stay inside and you are safe. Stray outside and you suffer the consequences.
Uzzah may have had a good idea in getting the cart organised. But in this community it is not about good ideas it is about
obeying the word of God. And there are consequences for not obeying that word.
It is because of stories like this that we are not surprised when we see the massive infighting that breaks out in David’s
family. We know that he has done something awfully wrong in taking multiple wives and we know that sometime in the
future there are going to be consequences. It is the same when we see him on the roof of his palace looking at
Bathsheba. We tremble because we know that there will be consequences. And we are not surprised later in the story
when we read of his son Absalom going up on to that very same roof top and having sex with some of David’s wives. Did
David honestly think that he would be spared the consequences of his sin?
Thinking that they could pop the ark on a cart and move it about as they saw fit they had failed to take God’s word
seriously enough. There are real and unavoidable consequences to all our actions.
And David who had put this whole show together is embarrassed. He is humiliated. David calls the parade off. He will not
proceed. The ark will have to stay where it is.
So David is left with a question, “how can the ark ever come to me?” How can God’s presence ever come into my life? It
is all over! David has failed. But is it all over? Never! If God is a God of grace then it can never be all over.
The ark was moved into the home of the family of Obed-Edom. For the next three months this family protected and cared
for the ark. And during that time God blessed this household.
This information encouraged David to try again and bring the ark up to the capital. Why, because David knew that Obed
was not perfect. So if God was extending kindness and grace to Obed, then why not to him?
David will go back and do it again, and this time does it properly. So another parade was organised. We are not told if
this one was as large but it looks as if it was. But what we are told very plainly is that the ark is carried properly this time.
There is no doubt now that David is doing things properly. We now have people carrying the ark. This story is also in 1
Chronicles 15 and there the point is underlined. Not only was the ark “carried” it was carried by members of the tribe of
Levi as was required in the law (Ex 25:14).
The Levites’ lifted the ark. They took their first step. There would have been silence. Is all going to be all right? They took
their second step. The ark was moving. Uzzah would have been on everyone’s mind. They took their third step. All was
looking good. By the sixth step David knew all was well. A great wave of relief and joy washed over him. The procession
came to a stand still and a sacrifice was offered - a bull and a fatted calf, a very significant gift.
The mistake of the last time is forgiven. His failure is not held against him. David discovers that it is not all over at all!
What David experienced that day is that there are terrible consequences for doing wrong. He had lost Uzzah. But one of
the consequences does not have to be the loss of God’s love. One of the consequences does not have to be the loss of
God’s favour. For the contrite, for the repentant the door is always open. David comes back and finds that the favour of
God is still available to him. It is this that he now rejoices in. The first parade was a disaster. But God had forgiven. The
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damage that the first parade had done could not be undone, but the love and presence of God need not be lost. God
forgives!
As the parade got underway the excitement returned. The joy was infectious. The trumpets were blasting away and
David in particular danced with glee, while everyone was shouting. The word “dance” here has the connotation of
“whirling”. In Psalm 47:5 it talks of shouting "God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of
trumpets".
Four times we are told that David danced or that he celebrated. In fact in this section we are not told at all that David
worshiped. We are told that he danced and celebrated (verses 5, 14, 16, 21). It is as if we are given the word ‘dance’ and
‘celebrate’ in place of the word worship.
We are meant to know that this worship was rich and joyful and was accompanied by the letting go of all inhibitions.
David was a very busy man. He was ruler of all Israel. Most of his time would have been spent in administration. He
would have sat through meeting after meeting. He was a political leader and would have been caught up in a very busy
life.
Time wise worship would not have been the centre of his life. He has left us some of the most remarkable songs of
worship – the Psalms. But we must not think that he spent all day writing Psalms. No he spent all day running a country.
Psalms would have been written on his day off. They would have been written after dinner. But nevertheless his time at
worship was the centre of his life.
David worships God. He does it with abandonment. He does not care what others think. This is the world of not caring
who knows what I do on Sunday mornings. This is the world of happily walking up the street with Bible in hand. This is
the world of saying, “No I cannot come to your show on Sunday morning I will be at church”. It may not be “cool” to go to
church but those who have tasted the love of God are happy to be “uncool”.
When David had arrived in Jerusalem as king there had been no public ceremony. But the arrival of the ark was put at
the centre of the most enormous public event. This was the way it was meant to be. This is a God centred community not
a community based around any particular person.
With the ark safely in Jerusalem David offers sacrifices to God. There were burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Part
of the purpose of the burnt offering was to express total commitment to God. The fellowship offerings were not burnt on
the altar but were given to God and then taken back and used for a party (Lev 7:11-18). It was God’s way of saying have
a good time on me! All this food that David handed out was food that he first offered to God and then instead of burning
on the altar handed out to the crowd. This was a huge crowd and so this was an enormous amount of food.
When it was all over David went home still full of excitement. He had just made a significant step forward in his job of
forming up the people of God. But he was met at home by a disapproving wife. Why was she so bitter?
Did she not like to see her husband king in this role? Did she think kings should not go dancing in the street along with
everyone else?
Michal took exception to all this religious excitement. She was embarrassed by the very qualities that made him great -
devotion to God and spontaneity in worship. There probably was some excess in the events of the day. Michal may have
had a point. But the protocol of worship must always take second place to the passion of the heart that loves God.
This woman has no idea what God’s community is meant to be or look like. It is not a community that centres round the
glory of the king but the glory of God. David does understand and so he is not concerned to foster his own reputation. All
he wants is people to catch a glimpse of the majesty of his God.
More; kingly status is not about dignity, for David it is all about service. He is here to serve the lowest of the low, the
servant girls of slaves.
But for Michal the real issue was that she did not understand that the nation and the king were delighting in and rejoicing
over God’s goodness to them. She could not see or feel what was driving this expression of emotion.
This dear girl had done it tough. It is no accident that we are told specifically that she saw David from a window. It is a
key word. It was from a window that she had seen David escape into the night when they were passionately in love
newly weds (1 Sam 19:12). Her life was never the same again after that night. She had been remarried only to have that
marriage broken up. Her father had been killed and her brother murdered. And she had allowed her bitterness and grief
to blind her to what God was doing. God was doing something new but no she will sit in her anger and have nothing to
do with it.
David knew God and delighted in God. Michal simply did not know God.
In New York some of the coffee shops allow buskers to work inside. Last year in a Starbucks shop just up from Time
Square a couple were doing a gig. They were playing easy listening pop songs. The couple asked for requests and a
woman who was sat alone asked if they knew any hymns. The request was out of left field, but little did that woman know
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that the couple happened to be Christians and knew every hymn in the book. They thought for a moment and said how
about we do, “His Eye Is On The Sparrow?” They asked if she knew it, “Why, yes”, she replied. “Would you like to sing a
verse for us”, the couple asked. She hesitated but with a little more prompting stepped out from behind her coffee and
came up to the microphone. She sang with a rich and powerful voice. The shop went silent. The coffee machine stopped
whirring as the staff stood still. Every eye was on her and no one was talking. The words left her mouth with emotion and
meaning that gripped the soul. “Why should I be discouraged, Why should the shadows come, I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free, for His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me”. It was a holy moment and when the
song was over there was plenty of clapping. The shop went back to its normal hum and the woman started to make her
way back to her seat. But as she did so she said to the couple why did you pick that hymn? “No reason” they replied.
“Why do you ask?” “Well the woman said, “That was my daughter’s favourite hymn and she died last week and she was
only 16 years old”.
It was the most remarkable coincidence that the couple should have chosen that hymn. But the most enriching thing to
come out of the story for me is the fact that this woman knew “God watched over her”. And knowing that gave her peace
and joy in the midst of the pain of life. This was something that Michal had shut herself off from in her pain.
The comment about Michal’s childlessness is meant to imply that from that point on the marriage was finished. She and
David were moving in different directions and the intimacy had dried up.
So we are left with a question. Are we like David whose whole live centred round the fact that God loved him? And David
enjoyed that love with such passion the pain and suffering and the awful consequences of his mistakes faded into the
background. Or are we like Michal who was so full of the agony of her life that she could not see how much God loved
her?
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A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 6 March 2005
7
25
2 Samuel 7:1-29
What are you worth?
Well from all the action of the last chapter we come now to a chapter that contains almost nothing but speeches. There is
the word of God to the prophet Nathan and then that message passed on by Nathan to David, and then David’s prayer.
This is Nathan’s first mention. He worked in David’s court, his job was looking after the official records of the kingdom (1
Chron 9:25). We do not know much about this chap. But we do not need to. What we need to know is what God said
through him.
The fact that Israel had now suppressed all the pagan tribes was proof of the fact that God kept His word. This is exactly
what He had promised Abraham would happen in time (Gen 15:18).
Again back when the people of God were leaving Egypt and preparing to enter their Promised Land God had given an
assurance that the day would come when they would have rest from all their enemies (Deut 12:10).
David sees the present situation as the fulfilment of that promise. Now the promise back in Deuteronomy was with a
view. "But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and He will
give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. Then to the place the LORD your God will
choose as a dwelling for His Name--there … rejoice before the LORD your God, you, your sons and daughters, your
menservants and maidservants" (Deut 12:10-12). The picture is that when the day comes and they have rest from their
enemies they will be free to spend time worshipping God. So we are not surprised that the moment David “has rest from
all his enemies” his mind turns to the matter of worship.
David did not wake up one morning and decide it would be nice to build a temple. No, David was a man who read and
reread the Word of God. David knew from his reading of the Word that when the land was at peace then maximum
attention should be given to worship.
We too are people who read and read again the Word of God and that word colours what we do. So it is that we do not
wake up one morning and decide it would be a good idea to have a sermon. Or that it would be a good idea to give
money to support a missionary in China or that it would be a good idea to gather together like this. These things are the
product of our willingness and eagerness to do what the Word of God says. It is because we take seriously words like
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of
the age” (Matt 28:19&20) that we do much of what we do.
Well the land was now at peace to the extent that David has had the time and the money to build a palace. Now it was
therefore surely time to start building something decent for the people of God to worship God in. The ark sat in a tent.
Surely it ought to be housed in a solid building.
David has a word with Nathan. The whole plan seems pretty good to Nathan too. However that night Nathan comes
under the strong influence of God. God brings to Nathan a revelation, or a word, or a message.
The first thing we are to note about what God is saying is that it is a command to David to give up his plans. David is
getting set to build a temple and God says, “No”. It is not a straight, “No”. God gives His reasons. He has always been
worshipped in a tent and there is no reason to change things at this point. When it is time to change God will make that
clear. He has not asked David to build a temple so leave well alone.
David had a plan to which God has said, “No” but God now presents His plan. In verses 8-11 the matter is stated
generally and then in verses 11-17 we have the specifics.
The first part of what God says puts everything back in its proper place. David was on about what he could do for God.
What David must hear again and again is that God is the one who has done everything for David! It was God who
opened the doors so that David could rise from being a shepherd out on the back hills of Judea to become king. And
David has been eminently successful, but only because God was with him. If it were not for the fact that God had
supernaturally aided him David would not have had the success he has had. David knows that it was God’s unseen
power at work which had brought him to where he was.
David had no doubt that the only reason he beat Goliath was because the Lord was with him (1 Sam 17:37 “the Lord will
deliver me from the hand of this Philistine”) and the only reason David was such a successful army commander in Saul’s
army was because “the Lord was with him” (1 Sam 18:14) and after he became king his power increased rapidly,
“because the Lord was with him” (5:10).
David must not think that he has to earn anything from God. David must learn that he is precious and valuable and of
incredible worth just because of who he is. He does not have to earn his worth. God is treating him according to his
worth. Hence God pours goodness on him.
David must understand that this kingdom is not about what “you can do for me, but what I do for you”. David must
understand that in this kingdom it is God who does the building. To start building a temple now would confuse things. It

would put all the emphasis in the wrong spot. God is the king and God is building a kingdom. And that is where the focus
must be. A kingdom in which there is forgiveness and justice and peace with God. Building a temple would put all the
focus on what David was doing.
God’s word to David is a statement of what he has done what he is doing, and what he will do. David, full of what he is
going to do for David, needs to hear again what God is doing for him. Our desire to do things for God is constantly being
outstripped by God’s plans to bless us.
In the culture of the day every capital city had its temple. It was a matter of some pride. To have a capital city without a
temple was to have an inadequate city. It would have been a matter of some embarrassment to David to have a palace,
a capital and not a temple. But his willingness not to have a temple underscores his understanding of what God’s
kingdom is all about. It is about people. God’s people do not need a temple to worship and the church discovered in its
infancy that it did not need buildings to be the people of God. God does not need a house of cedar. The word “cedar” is
to suggest luxury in the extreme.
God is building something that is going to last forever. No matter how nice David’s building it will have a very limited life
as do all buildings.
We all have what could be called emotional tanks. They are like our stomachs. When our stomachs have food we have
energy and we feel comfortable. When our stomachs are empty our energy levels go down and we feel rather
uncomfortable. When our sense of “well being” is up we feel energized and rather good about ourselves and life. And
when our sense of “well being” is down we feel dispirited and flat and empty.
Let’s measure our sense of “well being” on a scale of one to 100. No one is ever at 100, 90 is about as good as it gets.
What puts your sense of “well being” at the top - compliments, the completing of a job that brings lots of praise, a healthy
pay raise, the passing of an exam, the securing of a great job, giving a great performance. As lots and lots of affirmation
pours into your life your sense of “well being” moves right up to the top. You have done well and everyone lets you know
it. It is a great feeling.
What takes your sense of “well being” down? Much of the opposite – criticism, failure to complete a task, losing a job,
failing an exam, nice folk letting you know where you are failing. And how low does your sense of “well being” go, down
to 50 or 40 or 30, or even 20?
There is a part of me that you do not see. It is my inner life. Leonard Cohen has a song about his “secret life” and we all
know what he is talking about. There is a whole pile of stuff going on inside all our heads and in all our emotions that not
everyone is privy to. Then there is of course our outer life. Everything there is to see and know about me. All the stuff
happening in our outer life is having a huge and constant impact on our inner life and our sense of “well being”.
Now all this is quite natural and normal. We all go up and down. We all have successes in life and we all have failures in
life. David was out to build a temple. This was a good thing to do, but more than that it would have given him lots of
applause and I can tell you his sense of “well being” would have gone up and up. And it is nice to have one’s sense of
“well being” up.
But, and here we come to the heart of this sermon, our sense of “well being” and God’s assessment of us are not the
same! We actually think we are worth more if our sense of “well being” is up and we think we are worth less if our sense
of “well being” is down. This is not good. In fact some end up thinking that they are so worthless that they suicide, or at
the least start to feel full of shame. More, others when their sense of “well being” is up start to think that they are worth
more than others and become full of pride!
There is no link at all between your sense of “well being” and your worth and your value and your preciousness. Your
value to God cannot be increased! It is at maximum. Your value to God will not and cannot ever go down. What God is
doing for David as He pours all this goodness on him is not based on what David has done but simply on the fact that
David is valuable to Him.
David’s sense of “well being” is pretty high at the moment. He has just got the kingdom under control and he has just set
up Jerusalem and he has just brought the ark up to the city. But in just a few more years he will be having sex with
another man’s wife. Where will his sense of “well being” be when that sordid story comes out?
But his value in God’s eyes will not move! God values him because he is a human being not because he has done
anything or not done anything.
How much does God value you? “For God so loved you that He gave His only Son, that you and I might not perish but
live with Him forever” (John 3:16). To sacrifice His Son for us means He must value us at a level which is beyond
comprehension.
Listen to this; "For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her
overflowing abundance. For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations
like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees’" (Isa 66:11-12). And this also;
"But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me"
(Psa 131:2).
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In the passage from Isaiah, God pictures His people as babies being fed at the breast. The breast where the comfort is to
be found is God Himself. The overflowing abundance that we drink in is His deep love for us. When we see a mother with
a baby and we see the energy and the effort she puts into caring and feeding and providing for her little one we know
that the mum must see the most remarkable value in her baby. If we were to go up to the mum and say, “what is you
baby worth?” She would not be able to answer. The worth of her baby is beyond calculation. Her baby is worth more than
the value of all the homes in her street. Yet we might push the matter and say, “but your baby does not do anything. Well
nothing worthwhile! All it does is poo nappies and sleep and cry. It does not produce anything or do any work. So can
your baby be worth that much?” Again the mother would rightly attack our way of thinking. This baby of hers is precious
simply because it is. And so are we to God!
There is a contest called the Ironman contest. Each contestant must complete three legs of a most gruelling race. They
must swim for 3.8 kms. Then they must ride a bike for 180 kms. Then after that they must run a marathon which is 42
kms. And the first one to finish is the winner. In one of his books Michael Frost tells the story of a chap in his late forties
who did the race with his son. The son was a teenager and a sufferer of Cerebral Palsy. He was very severely
handicapped. He could not walk let alone run. The son could contribute nothing to the race. For the swim section the
man popped his boy in a rubber dingy and towed him. For the bike section he had him on a seat on the crossbar. And for
the marathon he pushed him in a wheel chair. It was quite something. The most remarkable thing was that the two
completed the race in very acceptable times. This got the officials thinking. If this chap could do the race in these sorts of
times with his son in tow what could he do on his own? Here was a possible world champion. The race officials
approached him and asked him to compete in a future event, but solo. His response was, “alone?” Well your son does
not contribute anything to your effort. In fact he is a drain. Why bring him along, why not go alone? But for this man, what
would be the point of going without his son? For this chap the completing of the course was not any big deal. For him the
exciting thing was doing it with his son. His son was precious and there was no way that he wanted to go without his son.
His son was not precious because he contributed anything. He was precious simply because his father loved him.
(Michael Frost, Longing For Love. p158).
If you allow your sense of “well being” to be coloured more by the value that God puts on you and less by what others
think of you, you will have much better mental health!
David goes in and “sits” before God. This is a very critical act. For it puts him out of the action. David quietly hops out of
the driver’s seat and climbs into the back seat. The wheel is handed over to God. It is important to realize that what God
does for us is infinitely more important than what we do for God. Sometimes God does not want us to do anything other
than accept what He is doing for us.
Everything that God does for David is because of kindness not because David has done something for Him. It is never a
matter of “you build a temple, and then I will choose your family”.
Part of this sitting included for David “counting his blessings”. Every now and then we need to sit down and realize that
God coped very well without us before we arrived and will do rather nicely after we have gone. This is God’s world and
God is doing His thing.
David is about to sit and pray he is going to think through what God has said. This is time very well spent. David stopped
to listen and think through what God had said. Our emotional lives would be so much the richer if we took more time to
listen to what God has said to us in His word.
The categorical statement in verse 15 “My love will never be taken away from him” is the heart. Here is a commitment to
David regardless. God has chosen the family of David no matter how they perform. And in this statement you get a
glimpse into the heart of God. God values this man and David’s worth is not based on what he has done or not done.
God promises to continue to bless into the future. God is with him and will continue to be with him. And why? Because
God is determined to provide peace for His people. And for that to happen they need good leaders. Here is the promise
that there will always be a descendant of David on the throne. There will always be a legitimate shepherd on the throne.
So rather than David building a house for God, God will build a house for David. God is not interested in David building a
house, but God is very interested in establishing a royal dynasty. God is very interested in giving His people a good king
- so much so that the line of David will last forever.
David understands that God’s intention to establish his dynasty is related to God’s great saving acts of old. The pulling
of His people out of Egypt and the establishing of His people in a land of their own are all part of a forward movement.
And the establishing of David’s dynasty is all part of that same movement.
David understands that if God has brought the story this far there is no doubt that He can take it on to its conclusion. The
God who brought Israel out of Egypt is more than capable of providing leaders from the descendents of David forever.
Confidence in God’s promises for the future is strengthened by a sharp knowledge of what He has already done. David
had no doubt that the Israelites coming out of Egypt was no accident of history. For David it was an act of God.
And God is not saying, “No” to a temple but He is saying there are more important things. “It is not around a temple that
the life of My people will revolve but around a King”.
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However although no stipulations are mentioned they are there. This covenant does not over-ride the law. Should a
descendent of David break the law then he will suffer the consequences. But in spite of the failure of any one of David’s
descendents God will still have His leaders from this family and no other family.
The people of God would watch their kings and leaders live under the law. And they would see the law work out in their
lives. They would see blessing as they obeyed and they would see them suffer the consequences of stepping outside the
confines of the law.
We have an unconditional promise that we are saved. But we also have to live with the terrible consequences of our sins.
What happened to king Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:7) for instance could have been predicted by anyone who knew the Law.
But what happened to king Zedekiah does not make null and void the promise that one of David’s descendents will
always be on the throne.
The generation that saw the fall of Jerusalem and the collapse of the nation saw that there are terrible consequences for
sin. But Jeremiah who lived through that awful time was fully aware of the fact that “the steadfast love of the Lord never
ceases” (Lam 3:22). Though the descendents of David suffer the consequences of their foolish actions, God never
withdraws His love for David’s family.
The prophets believed the promise to David and hence they could “see” that if that promise were to be fulfilled then a
“greater than David” would have to come from his line.
And so the promise became a hope that one of David’s descendents would live as a person was meant to live. That one
of his descendents would be a perfect shepherd. Many of David’s descendents were hopeless kings and rulers. And they
suffered the consequences! But the later prophets promised that the day was coming when a perfect King would come. A
son of David who was a King as a king was meant to be. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the
government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God Everlasting Father, Prince
of Peace” (Isa 9:6). “But you Bethlehem … out of you will come for Me one who will be ruler over Israel…” (Micah 5:2).
But for those with eyes that could see the story was far from over. If God was a God of His word then it had to be that a
descendant of David would come and would rule with justice and in righteousness. “the days are coming, declares the
Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and what is right in the land” (Jer
23:5).
And Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. In other words He would care for God’s people no matter what the cost.
And for Jesus that meant being the suffering servant.
David’s descendents only ruled God’s people for 400 years. They failed so badly that not only was the kingdom taken
into exile but upon its return it was not one of David’s descendents that took leadership.
If the word of God is true we also learn from this passage that the only one who can rule God’s people is a descendent of
David. Which begs the question, which of his descendents would ever be worthy to do that?
God’s promise that it would be one of his descendents who would always be the leader of God’s people was a more
magnificent thing than David could ever have comprehended. But this is our God, He does immeasurably more than we
could ever imagine (Eph 3:20).
And there is more to come which was way beyond anything David could imagine at that point in his life. A kingdom so big
that it would number thousands of millions, and a kingdom not based on nationality, but on a relationship with God, the
kingdom of those who had been forgiven.
28

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 20 March 2005
8
29
2 Samuel 8:1-18
The Lord gave David victory
In a rather staccato fashion we have a narrative of David’s military successes on the east of the Jordan and the far north.
These victories are not given to us in chronological fashion. In fact this chapter takes up the story where chapter 5 left
off. For a start we know that most of this fighting had taken place before David thought about putting up a temple (7:1).
But the story of the promise of one of David’s sons being on the throne forever was more important than these details of
battles and so was given to us first. I am a male and I am also a Westerner. I love things to be dealt with one at a time
and in a proper sequence. I would rather like this chapter back there with chapter 5. But not everyone thinks the same
way that I do. I have noticed that females have a lot less trouble than I do in having half a dozen issues on the go at
once. More, not everyone thinks that presenting items in a chronological sequence is always the best sequence. Our
narrator is quite happy to gives us his information in a way that may look haphazard to someone like me but is in fact
anything but. More, he does not feel any need to conclude the issue of David’s wars before telling us the story of the
move to Jerusalem even though that move followed many of the wars listed here and most certainly the war with the
Philistines (5:19).
.
This chapter is meant to bring home to us just how successful David was. Saul had no palace. He had no capital city and
he spent all his time in a terrible tug of war with the Philistines. David within less than ten years of having the throne is
master not only of Palestine but of all the surrounding territory. There is not a tribe or nation in the immediate geographic
area that is not either subjected to him or at the very least in a healthy equal relationship. David’s kingdom became a
force to be reckoned with.
When David had finished his campaigning there was no one left standing! When we are told God had given His people
rest from all their enemies (7:1) we are meant to see that God does not do things in half measures. That God is generous
beyond belief. There is simply no one left to trouble God’s people.
The statement in verse 6 “The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went” is meant to show us that David’s military
successes were nothing short of miraculous. It is God who is establishing His people in their Promised Land.
These are the key words of the chapter; “The Lord gave David victory”. This massive growth in power is not natural, it is
supernatural. These military victories are a sign that God was keeping His word and saving His people from all their
enemies. That God was using His shepherd to protect His flock from those who would prey upon them. But the phrase,
“The Lord gave David victory” is telling us that God Himself, and not David, is the Saviour and Shepherd of His people
Israel.
God said He would establish His people in their land and now He does.
David poured all that he had into the wellbeing of his kingdom because he knew that this kingdom would be established
and would prosper. There was no doubt. It was God who was establishing it.
And it is God who is building the church. We have no doubt that the church is here and the church is growing and the
church is prospering because God said that it would. Jesus said He would build His church. “And I tell you that you are
Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt 16:18).
Before we make investments we are very keen to make sure that they are sound investments. Before we purchase a
home in a suburb we want to know that the suburb is a good one and that the value of our investment will not go down. It
is the same with shares. Before purchasing a parcel of shares we need to make sure that it is a sound investment. In fact
many people do make all sorts of investments and feel very insecure as they do so. What about the investment you are
making in the church, the investment of your time and energy and the investment of your gifts? I tell you that there is no
sounder investment. The church is going somewhere. The church has an eternal future. Paul summed it up this way,
“therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,
because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58). If the church has an eternal and particularly
glorious future then we can be certain that whatever we invest in it will yield huge returns.
This is something of what Jesus was suggesting with His comment about, “storing up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt 6:20).
The Lord had promised Israel the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates River (Gen 15:17-21 & Deut 1:6-8). It was
because David believed these promises that he acted so boldly.
The promises of God were not empty words as far as David was concerned. He was willing to take them at face value
and act upon them. The promise was that the surrounding tribes would come under the authority of the king of Israel and
so David moved to bring them under his authority.
And it is no different with the church. We believe that God has promised that in eternity there will be in God’s family
people from every tribe and language group on earth. John in the book of Revelation says, “… because You (Jesus)
were slain, and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You
have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Rev 5:9&10). Now if

that promise is true then obviously the church will go into action and proclaim, in one way or another, the Christian
message to every tribe and language group on earth.
In other words our missionary endeavors are the product of believing the promises of God. If the promise is true then we
know that our preaching will be successful and that our preaching the good news all over the world is exactly what God
wants. Hence we get on with it!
When David had come to the throne his kingdom had to live with being constantly bullied by the surrounding tribes and
nations. The people of God had again and again been taken advantage of by their more powerful neighbours. They had
been invaded more times than they cared to remember.
When we see a promise of God fulfilled like this, we are meant to take heart and note that if this promise has been
fulfilled so literally and so abundantly then so will all the other promises that God has made concerning His people. God
had promised His people rest, “But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the LORD your God is giving you as
an inheritance, and He will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety” (Deut 12:10).
This chapter is the fulfilment of that promise.
This chapter may appear as a somewhat harsh catalogue of military victories but it is much more. It is a statement
emphasising the faithfulness of God to His word. This chapter is telling us that our God keeps His promises.
To have lived in David’s empire would have been to live in a country where there was no anxiety about being invaded. It
would have been to live in a country where there was no fear about what some foreign nation may or may not do. David
ruled over a very secure people.
In fact what David has built is a small empire. All the surrounding nations lose their independence and come under
David’s authority. Their armies are neutralised. What David establishes is something the like of which has never been
seen before in Palestine. What he has built dwarfs every previous political entity that Palestine had ever known.
David was pretty rough on the Moabites. Basically only one third of the men in their army were allowed to live. The other
two thirds were put to death. By today’s standards we would want David up before some war crimes tribunal. The brutal
excess of David’s troops makes us feel very uncomfortable. But should we judge David’s actions by today’s military
standards?
For the original readers this story is simply saying that David’s small army had been so supernaturally prospered that
they had been able to permanently dismantle the military might of the Moabites. That the military might of the Moabites
was made up of human beings was a secondary matter.
But this action is even more remarkable in light of the fact that David had Moabite blood in him. His great-grandmother
was a Moabite, Ruth (Ruth 4:21 &22). More, during the days when Saul was seeking to find and kill him, his family had
gone and lived with the Moabites and they had provided a place of shelter for them (1 Sam 22:3&4).
We think of the fact that David put to death two thirds of the Moabite army. But in fact what he did was spare one third of
the Moabite army. In that day, it would have been quite normal to have slaughtered the entire army.
The hamstringing of the Zobah’s chariot horses was simply in order that they might not be used for war again. A
hamstrung horse was incapable of running. Zobah was far to the north, way up in the mountains north of Damascus.
When we are told that there are campaigns way over by the Euphrates River we realise we are now in another world to
the one Saul knew. The Euphrates was hundreds of kilometres away. Saul did not move much beyond the borders of
Palestine. David had no doubt that when God said that His people would control all the land as far as the great
Euphrates (Deut 1:6-8) He meant it. David was one of the few who seemed to have taken God at His word on this point.
The Edomites lived to the south of Palestine. The chances are that they would have initiated war with David to forestall
his encroachment on the lucrative trade routes that passed through their territory. Following their defeat David
established a garrison throughout Edom. This was to secure the safety of the caravans that would have travelled from
Palestine down to Arabia and Africa.
David is building a kingdom and he will not let anyone stand in his way. The kingdom is coming and it is a kingdom in
which evil will have no part. These Moabites were hostile to David. They were pernicious, aggressive, wicked, seeking to
do harm, Happy enough to plunder and cause havoc. They were the terrorists and insurgents of the day. David knows
that the only way to bring evil into line is by force. And David is not afraid to use it.
But not all have to be forced to submit. There is king Tou of Hamath who willingly joins himself to David. This wise king
brought to David incredibly expensive gifts (v10) and by doing so indicates that he willingly submits to David’s authority in
the region.
This king stands as a witness to the fact that no one need have been struck by David. David is a gracious king who
willingly accepted Tou’s overtures. Tou is brought into the kingdom peacefully.
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But this is for certain David will be king, either by force or by accepting his authority. Jesus is the same; there is no kinder
King than Jesus. But the day will come when every knee will bow either willingly or by force.
We are meant to take seriously the way David dealt with the Moabites. This is how God deals with evil. He will not
tolerate it. The Moabites had been a law to themselves and then all of a sudden the kingdom is upon them. The kingdom
is not something they can take or leave. Like it or not they must do business with the king. They could have been like
Tou. He willingly joins himself to the kingdom. But if they will not willingly join then they must suffer the consequences.
For David now rules and in David’s kingdom there is no room for evil men. David works on zero tolerance of wrong.
And so does Jesus. Jesus is King and when His kingdom finally comes in its entirety there will be no room for evil
people. David may have dealt harshly with the soldiers from Moab but no more harshly than Jesus will deal with the
workers of evil when He comes. We can be certain that David would have given the folk of Moab every opportunity to
change, but they would not. And King Jesus gives unbelievable opportunities for folk to accept His offer of amnesty and
His offer of forgiveness. But for those who will not accept His offer there is nothing but that place of outer darkness.
There is certainly no place for them in the kingdom and they will be excluded just as surely as were the soldiers of Moab.
David we are told, was doing what was just and right for all his people (v15). By this we are being told that he was
administering justice. David is ruling as God Himself would want His people governed. David is giving his people security
justice and a good administrative system.
When we are told that David did what was just and right for all his people (v15) we are being told that David acted as the
chief judge in the land. Justice is important to God. Jesus will be our judge in that He will bring justice to us. In David’s
kingdom wrongs were addressed and put right. No one need fear that they will be forced to live with injustice.
God loves justice (Psa 33:5). God rules His creation with justice (Psa 36:6).
It was because David was head judge and took such a keen interest in maintaining justice in his kingdom that Nathan
took to him a particularly unjust situation of a certain wealthy man who insisted on the one lamb in his flock that one of
his workers had become attached to (12:4).
We are left in little doubt that David was a brilliant man. His leadership skills, his IQ, his energy levels were all well above
average. But the amount of time that the Bible gives to this aspect of the man is not nearly as much as it gives to
exploring his character - and in particular the flaws in his character. Here we have one short chapter exploring some of
the best years of David’s life. But soon we will have two very long chapters exploring his one night of passion.
In Roland Perry’s life of John Monash a work of over 500 pages most of the words are given to exploring the man’s
phenomenal abilities. Chapter after chapter are devoted to his engineering skills and his military skills. Only a very small
part of the book is given to the matter of his affair with the wife of one of his employees. This is the opposite of what the
Bible does. In Perry’s work adultery is not that important an issue. Monash’s achievements are of much more
importance, but not so for the writer of the Bible. David spoiled another couple’s marriage and in God’s eyes it is not a
small issue but a big issue.
David is the king who rules over a kingdom in which evil is not tolerated. And David shows himself to be an evil man!
David deserves to be ejected from the kingdom just as forcibly as were those Moabites. David knows the standards!
But David is not rejected. David stays. For one of his descendents will be rejected in his place. In his great psalm, Psalm
22, David knew that there would be One who would have to reach the point of saying, “My God, My God, why have you
forsaken Me?” But because One was forsaken in his place David could also say, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever” (Psa 23:6).
31

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 3 April 2005
9.
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2 Samuel 9:1-13
Welcome
Here David is still at the height of his power he is living in the flow of much blessing. His kingdom is growing strongly and
rapidly. And it is while he is at the top, both with more than enough things to do and with no obligations to anyone, that
he decides to get involved in seeking out descendents of Jonathan. And that with the one aim of showing kindness.
David and Jonathan had been very close. Back when they were young men Jonathan willingly deferred to David. Even to
the extent of promoting David above himself when it came to the matter of who would rule after Saul. This should have
been Jonathan’s prerogative but he handed it over to David.
Jonathan was a man who listened to and responded to the Word of God. God had said that David would rule Israel. At
the time God spoke nothing could have seemed less likely. Saul was king and David was a young nobody. But Jonathan
believed the Word of God.
And because Jonathan believed he did not try to set himself as king, even though he was the crown prince and next in
line for the throne. Jonathan knew that if the word of God were true then David would be king and his family would be
living under the authority of David.
So understanding that the future would pan out just as God said it would pan out Jonathan made a request to David that
he care for his family in the days ahead.
Jonathan had no doubt that David was going to be the most successful of kings. So much so he requested David care for
his family when the day finally came that he was victorious over all the enemies of Israel (1 Sam 20:15). Jonathan
believed the word of God. God had said that David would rule and Jonathan pictures the future in terms of what God had
said.
Now if we picture the future in terms of what God has said we will be mightily encouraged. Paul said, “no eye has seen,
no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him but God has revealed it to us
by His Spirit” (1Cor 2:10). And “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be
revealed in us” (Rom 8:18). And “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or
crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev 21:4).
There is nothing like being loved to bring joy to your heart. And knowing God loves you cannot but bring great waves of
joy. So it is inevitable that one of the fruits of the Spirit will be joy. It is the Spirit who reveals more and more of the nature
and character of God to us and the more we know of God the more we see of His love for us and the more we see of His
love for us the more joy we have. And the more joy God brings into our hearts the more we will worship Him and love
Him. God desires us to worship Him and nothing brings us to worship like knowing how much He loves us. When we get
to heaven we will see and experience more of the love of God than we do now. And hence we will have more joy than we
have now and hence we will worship Him with more intensity than we do now. But will we fully comprehend the love of
God when we get to heaven? No. As eternity unfolds we will experience more and more of the love of God and as we do
we will experience more and more joy. Will we ever reach a time when this cycle will stop? In other words will we ever
reach a time when we have seen and experienced all there is to see and experience of the love of God? No! That is why
we need eternity. We need eternity to fully see all the love of God. Now eternity never ends and so we will never ever
fully comprehend the love of God. But as we go on growing in our understanding of the love of God our joy and
happiness will go on increasing, and forever.
If we know that this is our future we will make decisions based on what we know is coming. Jonathan would have been
stupid to have asked his dad to promise to care for his family for Jonathan knew that his dad had no future. He asked
David because he knew that David had a future. When Jesus tells us not to lay up treasure on earth but in heaven it is
because this earth does not have a future but heaven does.
Do you know that in Australia last year $10 billion was spent on goods and services that were never used. Gadgets, gym
membership, and so on (Bulletin, 5 April 2005, p29). And what was spent on things only used once or twice, or things
that were not really necessary at all? If life here were to go on forever then there may be some wisdom in investing in
material things. But if God’s word is true then life is not going to go on here forever. It is going to go on forever in heaven.
So a wise person would invest there.
We pray, “may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. What is heaven like? It is a place of love - deep genuine
compassion and charity. Now this earth is very temporary and is passing away all so quickly. But heaven is permanent.
So the wise person would act now the way we will be acting for all eternity. That is in love.
When our chapter opens Jonathan and Saul have been long dead. David has finally arrived in the sense that he is
secure as king. So the day has now come when David intends to make good on his promise to Jonathan. David
remembers the promise and is keen to show kindness. David is under no pressure to show kindness other than the
promise he has made.

But David will keep the promise and show the sort of kindness that God would show. Jonathan was quite specific in what
he asked of David, he wanted David to show to his family the sort of kindness that God shows (1 Sam 20:14).
What David will do is show Mephibosheth the same sort of kindness that God shows His people. We are told quite
specifically that it will be God’s kindness that will be demonstrated to Mephibosheth.
David had made a promise to Jonathan that was to be realised the moment David had victory over his enemies. That
moment is now and David moves instantly. In chapter 8 we are told that David, “had victory everywhere he went” and
now in chapter 9 David does one of the things he promised he would do when he finally had “victory”.
If David is going to show the sort of kindness that God shows, then we should be able to look at the way David acts here
and see something of the way that God acts.
Well the first thing we see is that David will love his enemies.
In the ancient near east no family of a defeated ruler expected to receive anything from the new regime. In fact it was
normal to completely eradicate all members of the old regime.
Mephibosheth’s grandfather had spent years trying to kill David. David had suffered so much at the hands of his
grandfather. David had every reason to quietly forget the private promise he had made to Jonathan. The promise had
been made a long time ago. If Mephibosheth was born at the time this promise was made he would have only been a
baby. The man is now old enough to be a father himself.
Anyone connected to Saul was an enemy. This is the point. David actually was willing to love an enemy. There were still
many who thought that a descendent of Saul ought to have the throne. David is reaching out to and strengthening
someone who could be a threat to him. It would be like John Howard telling us all the good points of Kim Beasly. It would
not happen! No Prime Minister builds up the leader of the opposition! But that in essence is what David is doing here.
Until now Mephibosheth has been living very quietly in obscurity. He was over the other side of the Jordan. He was well
out of the way. It was in his best interests for the king to not even know that there were any living descendents of king
Saul.
David’s love translated into real action. David did more than send Mephibosheth a greeting card wishing him well. David
went into action and provided for Mephibosheth in a substantial and costly way.
And what were we if not enemies of God? We were hostile to God. We were distant and happy to be distant. We did not
want God in our lives. We were self-centred and rebellious. And yet God loved us and reached out to us. “Enemy” is the
word that Paul uses for us. It is a strong word but it captures the truth of the matter. “For if, when we were God’s
enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son…” (Rom 5:10). It was to an enemy that David showed
loving kindness and it is to enemies that God has shown loving kindness.
While any descendent of Saul lived there was always the chance of one of them claiming the throne and being the
source of a coup. It was no easy thing that David did.
The second thing we see is that David will go searching for the family of Jonathan. It seems that David did not even know
Jonathan had any living children. But David is willing to go on a search. Mephibosheth will not have to come to David,
David will go to him. And so it is with us and God. It is God who has come to us. It is God who has come looking for us. It
is God who goes out like a shepherd seeking the lost sheep.
Here is the story of the lost sheep of Luke 15. The shepherd will not wait for the lost sheep to come home on its own, as
if it ever would. No, the shepherd will go searching.
When the people of God were the state of Israel the world was told to come to Jerusalem. But it is not that way any
more. Now the people of God are the church and the church has been told to “go”. “Go” to every tribe, every language
group, and every sub-culture. We are not to wait for people to come to us, we are to go.
I spent last Thursday teaching RE over the road at our local primary school. I simply went over to help for the day. It was
good, I tell you. Our RE teachers do the most remarkable job. They “go” to the school week after week after week. We do
not wait for the kids to come across the road to us. As if they ever would! We go to them. This is right. This is what Jesus
would have us do.
Next month is missions’ month in our church and we will spend five Sundays thinking about “going” to others. We will
spend five Sundays thinking about how to finance the sending of people to other cultures. We will spend five Sundays
concentrating on the mission of the church, which is to go to those who know nothing of Jesus.
Well David is told that there is this chap called Mephibosheth who is a relative of Jonathan and the order is given to bring
him to Jerusalem.
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What picture of David did Mephibosheth have in mind when he was making his way up to see David? If he had the
picture left by his grandfather, Saul, then he would have travelled with deep fear in his mind. But if he was travelling with
the picture given him by his dad, Jonathan, he would have had joy and excitement in his heart.
For Saul, David was a nasty piece of work, someone who was out to undermine him, someone who was out to take what
was rightfully his. But for Jonathan, David was the most delightful human being, someone who was kind and loving, and
caring and just.
This story begs the question, what picture of God do you have in your mind and where has it come from? Is it an
accurate picture?
In this week’s edition of the Bulletin, (5 April 2005, p8), there is a letter to the editor decrying those who wilfully hang on
to “superstition-religion”. Those who believe in God are pictured as those hanging on to a primitive past linked to the
worshipping of the moon, sun, stars, fire, mountains and so on. The letter writer describes such folk as “poor sods”. I ask
what sort of a picture of God does this person have? Where has he got it from? This I know he does not have an
accurate picture of God. There is nothing superstitious about the faith that I have committed myself to.
When Mephibosheth finally appears before the king he receives unbelievable kindness from the monarch. David’s first
word to Mephibosheth was his name. David calls him by name. David had gone to the trouble of learning the name and
using the name. Mephibosheth will not simply be another refugee he will be someone David will know personally.
Then the next words are, “don’t be afraid”. There is no need to fear simply because of the promise. David had every
reason not to show any kindness to this man. But David will be absolutely faithful to the promise he has made. And if
David is going to be faithful to that promise then Mephibosheth has nothing to fear.
God has many reasons not to love me. But I know that God is faithful. He has promised that those who trust in His Son
will be accepted into His family and loved. I know that I am loved by God, because I know that God is a God who keeps
His word.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have
eternal life” (John 3:16). Here is the promise of God. If I trust in Jesus God will stand by me. God never ever goes back
on His word. I can stake my life on His word and I have. I believe that if I put my confidence in Jesus I will be delivered. It
is not a matter of God “liking” me, or of God finding something “good” in me. In fact it has nothing to do with me. It is all
about God being faithful to the promise He has made to save anyone who trusts His Son.
So it was not emotion that drove David’s actions, it was not any sense of pity for Mephibosheth. It was his commitment to
the promise.
Having brought him to Jerusalem David will now extend to Mephibosheth the most remarkable generosity. Up until now
Mephibosheth had been living quite happily in a very ordinary way. Mephibosheth was not destitute. So what David
extends to Mephibosheth was not charity. It was generosity in the extreme.
We all know what it is to give to those who are in real need. And we all know what it is to give to those who do not need
what we give. When we give to those who do not need what we give, we are driven by love, not their need. I have given
presents to people who are much better off than I am. That they have more than me does not matter. I love them and
want to express my love via a present.
David does not do the bare minimum for Mephibosheth. He does the maximum. He heaps riches upon him. With God
there is no such thing as bare or minimum kindness.
David gives Mephibosheth ownership of Saul’s personal estate. He becomes the legal owner of a farm of some value.
Saul’s personal wealth would have become David’s upon David taking up the throne. David is doing all he can to give
Mephibosheth dignity. He is to become a man of independent means. David willingly hands over to him property that was
a part of David’s wealth.
David is reflecting God’s kindness.
David knew what it was to say “I shall not want” (Psa 23:1) and Paul could say, “He who did not spare His own Son, but
gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8:32) and John could
say, “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another” (John 1:16).
And Jesus said, “do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the
pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them” (Matt 6:31&32).
David brings this man from hiding and not only gives him permission to live but to live in luxury.
From this point on Mephibosheth will not have to live with any financial worries. He will not have to know anxiety about
paying bills. And Jesus would have us live without financial worries. He would have us live without anxiety. He would
have us believe that the kindness David showed Mephiboseth is not greater than the kindness of God but is a reflection
of that kindness.
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David is like Jesus who shares all that He has with us. He makes us joint heirs of all that He has received. We are now a
part of the heavenly royal family. And we too are rich. We have a Father who will supply all our needs.
But beyond having his financial needs met Mephibosheth will be given a place of esteem in the community. He will be
given the privilege of eating at the king’s table. That is he will be a part of the royal family and the very inner circle of
government. In the community he will be a person who will be honoured and respected. The man will now move and deal
daily with the highest echelons of society. Everyday he would be involved in conversations about policies and finances
and ambassadors.
It would be like us having the right to eat in the Parliament House dining room - or perhaps moving into the Lodge.
Mephibosheth will not be invited simply to a meal with the royal family. That in itself would be a great honour. But this
man will be a permanent guest in the palace.
And we are permanent members of the community of the New Jerusalem.
Paul’s self-esteem came from being a servant of Jesus. Imagine what self-esteem being the secretary of the PM would
bring. Being a secretary is no big deal but being the secretary of the PM is.
We must never forget our privileged position. This morning before I came down here to preach I needed to have a chat
with someone about how best to be of help to the congregation. I could have phoned our regional senior minister. He is
always available. He is a good man. But I felt I needed to go higher. I have a good friendship with the Directory of
Ministries for the BUV. He is the top Baptist in Victoria. I knew he would take my call. But I felt I needed to go higher. So I
thought about phoning the President of the Baptist Union of Australia. I happen to know that she lives in Melbourne and I
have met her on a number of occasions. I believed she would take my call. But I felt that I needed to go higher. So I
thought about the chap who is President of the Baptist World Alliance, a chap who oversees nearly 40 million Baptists
world wide. Would he take my call? Probably not - but even if he would I felt a need to go higher. How high can a chap
like me go on a Sunday morning? Well how about to the boss of everything? How about to God Himself? Yes that is how
high I can go. Mephibosheth had the ear of the king at dinner every night and I have the ear of God 24 hours a day.
Twice we are told in this chapter that Mephibosheth is a cripple. Here is yet another reason for David to have ignored
him. Here was a man on the edge of society.
Mephibosheth was born quite normal. He was five years old on the day that his father Jonathan, and his grandfather,
king Saul had died in battle with the Philistines. When news had reached his home of the military disaster, his nurse
realising that the Philistines would have been bent on wiping out the king’s family panicked. She grabbed little
Mephibosheth and started to run. But she dropped him. We are not given the details of the drop but it was a pretty bad
fall for his feet, or perhaps his ankles, were so damaged that the little chap was never able to walk again. The nurse took
him across the Jordan to safety and that is where he had lived ever since, in the obscure village of Lo Debar.
Cripples and handicapped folk were never welcomed in polite society in that day. It was normal for the king to surround
himself only with good looking and intelligent folk. We know that when Daniel was taken into exile by the Babylonians he
was chosen to work in the palace only because he was good looking and above average in intelligence.
The palace was the show piece of the country. When foreign dignitaries came it was to the palace and the palace would
be the place where the best and the brightest of the kingdom would be put on show. Their palaces are a bit like our
entertainment industry today. To be a pop star you not only have to sing well you have to look good too. You do not find
too many handicapped folk reading the news or comparing TV shows.
And when it comes to perfection we are all cripples. We are all men and women who are blemished. We all have failings.
Yet we are all welcomed by Jesus. He is not ashamed to call us, yes even us, brothers (Heb 2:11).
To all intents and purposes David has adopted Mephibosheth. “So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the
king’s sons” (9:11). Like one of the king’s sons - equal with the other members of the king’s family. And do you know we
enjoy the same privilege in God’s family? “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the
right to become children of God” (John 1:12). God no longer just has one Son He now has a family. And you and I are a
part of that family.
35

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 10 April 2005
10
36
2 Samuel 10:1-19
Righteous anger
We are about to move to the story of Bathsheba. That story is set in the midst of the war with the Ammonites. The outline
of that war is given here. The phrase, “in the course of time” is not just a comment about chronology it is a marker to let
us know that we are moving on into new material. We have the same phrase again at the start of chapter 13 thus
showing that chapters 10, 11 and 12 are a literary unit.
This is a tiny incident that has been amplified. From one angle it has been amplified out of all proportion. The war with
the Ammonites was a major undertaking. The matter of the king calling one of his subjects to his bedroom for a couple of
hours is a non event. The battle casualties of this war were running into the thousands. The death of one Hittite was a
non event.
I have a map at home of the universe. It has tried to capture the extent of the known universe. In poetic language there
are as many stars or suns as there are grains of sand on all the beaches of this world. We know that we have about a
billion stars in our galaxy. And we know that there are at least a billion galaxies. We are talking of something so big that it
defies our imaginations. This map of mine has everything in proportion except our solar system. On this map our solar
system is so small that it cannot be shown even as a dot. But the map maker has amplified the solar system and
deliberately made it out of proportion to the rest of the map in order that we can see it. This solar system is the most
important part of the universe and so the map maker has taken the liberty of amplifying it.
We are left in little doubt that David was a brilliant man. His leadership skills, his IQ, his energy levels were all well above
average. But the amount of time that the Bible gives to this aspect of the man is not nearly as much as it gives to
exploring his character - and in particular the flaws in his character. We only have a few short chapters exploring some of
the best years of David’s life. But we are about to start on two very long chapters exploring his one night of passion.
In Roland Perry’s life of John Monash, a work of over 500 pages, most of the words are given to exploring the man’s
phenomenal abilities. Chapter after chapter are devoted to his engineering skills and his military skills. Only a very small
part of the book is given to the matter of his affair with the wife of one of his employees. This is the opposite of what the
Bible does. In Perry’s work adultery is not that important an issue. Monash’s achievements are of much more
importance. Not so for the writer of the Bible. David spoiled another couple’s marriage and in God’s eyes it is not a small
issue but a big issue. This is evil and God never leaves evil unchallenged.
David may be a great king and a great warrior. He may be leading a nation at war. But for God the big issue is his
character and it is in this story that we see something not nice in the depth of this man and God will not gloss over it. God
will do the opposite, he will amplify the story.
Yesterday Prince Charles and Camilla married. Because both had in the past admitted to adultery they were called upon
to make a confession. They had to confess to their “evil and wickedness”. One newspaper that I was reading last night
made light fun of this well-to-do respectable couple confessing to “evil and wickedness”. Well that is the newspaper’s
opinion of their adultery. But for God the words “evil and wickedness” are just the right words. God will not let us
minimize our sin.
The Ammonites were a tribe that lived across the Jordan. Their capital was Rabbah. The city is still there today. It is the
capital of Jordan, Amman. It is about 80 kms from Jerusalem.
The story opens with the death of the Ammonite king, Nahash. Nahash, was no hero, nevertheless David had
established friendly relationships with him and his people. David naturally wishes to keep warm friendly relations with the
Ammonites and so sends a delegation to the new regime.
This is a bit like our Prime Minister making it his business to be at the inauguration of the new Indonesian President late
last year.
David sent a delegation of diplomats. David could have sent a military contingent just to remind Hanun who had the
strongest army in the region. But no, he sends peaceful diplomats. And they are sent with a message of sympathy and
goodwill.
The relationship between Israel and the Ammonites had not always been a friendly one. In fact there had been significant
tensions. Many Israelites lived on their side of the Jordan and the Ammonites were never particularly happy about it.
During the very early days of Saul’s reign they had planned the most awful atrocity against an Israelite city on the east of
the Jordan. It had been their intention to blind in one eye all the men of the Jewish town of Jabesh. Fortunately Saul was
able to bring the fighting men of Israel across the river in time to defend the outpost town (1 Sam 11).
In spite of this history David had been able to establish peaceful relations between the Ammonites and his people. But
the new king decided that the best course of action for him was a complete break from Israel. He would rather be free to
treat Jewish outposts as he thought fit rather than being tied to any treaty of friendship.

He decides to accuse David’s envoys with spying. It would have been obvious to all that they were not spies. The
Israelites had better ways of gathering information and intelligence than via envoys that would have arrived with some
public fanfare.
There is something very evil about Hanun. There is something terrible in the way that he viciously humiliates these
innocent and unprotected envoys. There is little doubt that it is his first step in re-inaugurating his father’s anti Israelite
policies. His father was so keen to suppress and humiliate any Israelite living in his vicinity that he was prepared to
gouge out the right eye of all Israelite males.
Hanun set out to hurt David’s ambassadors and he did. The beard was the pride and joy of the Israelite male. It was only
ever cut off in periods of mourning. There was no better way to humiliate a man than to cut off half his beard. He would
be humiliated to the point of not wanting to be seen by anyone.
One’s garments reflect one’s status and one’s identity. The cutting off of their garments at the hip and so exposing their
genitals is in order to make them look like clown figures of fun to be mocked and jeered at by everyone. This was a
terrible humiliation. To be exposed is always utterly embarrassing. There is nothing worse than having someone come
up to you and say, “your fly is undone”!!!
It is sad that Hanun should have copied the worst in his father. There were other aspects to Nahash other than his plans
to cut out the right eye of the men of Jabesh. But sad to say Hanun copies the worst in his father and not the best.
There had been bad times and obviously some good times in the relationship between the Ammonites and the Israelites.
Hanun could have chosen to remember the good times as David obviously was. Or he could choose to remember the
bad times of conflict and war. Hanun chose to remember the bad times.
All the people we live and deal with leave us with memories. They have all brought some good into our lives and some
bad. We can choose to remember the good things that they have done for us and with us or we can choose to remember
the bad things they have done to us.
Your emotions come from what you are thinking about. One is not simply happy or sad. One is happy or sad because
one is thinking of something that makes one happy or one sad. It is the same as how you feel toward a person. It is what
you chose to remember about that person that will make you feel happy or sad, angry or warm.
Hanun chose of his own free will to think about the year of conflict and not about the years of peace and goodwill that
had existed between his people and David’s people.
Hanun’s humiliation of David’s men is in effect a declaration of war. He knew that such an action would cause him to be
seen as an enemy or as he puts it, “a stench in David’s nostrils” (v6) and therefore the immediate arranging of strong
allies.
Saul had gone to war against the Ammonites because of their cruel plans. Saul would not sit by and watch them torture
the men of Jabesh and David will not sit by and see these good men humiliated. More David will not wait until Hanun
starts on his anti Israelite policy of abusing Israelites living in the Trans Jordan.
When the message had come long ago to the village where Saul then lived the people were shocked. There was great
consternation, tears and distress. What the Ammonites were about to do to the poor people of Jabesh was shocking. But
no one did anything.
But just as the folk of Gibeah were digesting the news Saul came home from his day's work. He too was told the story,
but his reaction was quite different. No tears, but burning anger. We are told that the Spirit of God came upon him in
power. He felt what God was feeling about the situation. He entered into the heart of God. And the heart of God was
burning with anger toward the Ammonites. Saul started to feel the burning anger that God has toward evil.
Saul was going to defend these victims no matter what the cost. He was going to attack the perpetrators of this evil come
what may. And David is about to do exactly the same. David will not let this evil go unchecked.
Jesus knew what it was to burn with anger (Mark 3:5), He burned with anger as He laid into the stall holders in the
temple (Matt 21:12-13, John 2:12-17). John tells us that He was "consumed" with zeal. All other considerations were put
aside. He became singly focused. That temple court was going to be cleaned regardless of the consequences. There
was an evil being perpetuated and Jesus was not going to sit by and watch it. What Jesus did was great news for the
“little people” who had lost the only place they had to worship at the temple. But what He did was bad news for the stall
holders. For the perpetrators of evil what Jesus did that day was not good!
Jesus had no doubts as to what the effect of the Spirit being on Him would be. He would "proclaim freedom for the
prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed" (Luke 4:18). In other words He would get involved
with those with needs. But the down side to what Jesus was about to do in His ministry would not be good for the
oppressors.
37

Moses may not have handled the matter well, but it was because he was a man of God that Moses could not stand by
and watch while a Hebrew slave was being beaten mercilessly (Ex 2:11&12). He went to the aid of the victim but in doing
so he brought the life of the perpetrator to an end!
David will not sit by and watch evil rise again. He will take on the Ammonites no matter what the cost. For the Israelites
living east of the Jordan this was good news but for the Ammonites this was bad news.
Back in chapter 8 David, we are told, was doing what was just and right for all his people (v15). By this we are being told
that he was administering justice. David is ruling as God would want His people governed. David is bringing to his people
justice.
When we are told that David did what was just and right for all his people (v15) we are being told that David acted as the
chief judge in the land. Justice is important to God. In David’s kingdom wrongs were addressed and put right. No one
need fear that they will be forced to live with injustice. Victims can rest assured that they will be cared for. Evil will be
addressed. Perpetrators need to know that they will get away with nothing.
God loves justice (Psa 33:5). God rules His creation with justice (Psa 36:6).
It was because David was head judge and took such a keen interest in maintaining justice in his kingdom that Nathan
took to him a particularly unjust situation of a certain wealthy man who insisted on the one lamb in his flock that one of
his workers had become attached to (12:4).
Justice is marvellous when you are a victim. For the Israelites living east of Jordan knowing that David was passionate
about justice was fabulous. They were going to be saved from abuse from the Ammonites. For David’s envoys, knowing
that David was passionate about justice was wonderful. They were going to be vindicated. But what if you are a
perpetrator? For the evil Ammonites David’s commitment to justice meant war. Perpetrators of evil hate justice. Victims
love it.
Many years ago in a particular state in the USA the penalties for drink driving were almost non existent. The reasoning
was, “well we all have a drink and we do not want to go interfering with people’s right to both drink and drive their cars”.
Everyone identified with the right to drive and drink. Then one day a drunk driver lost control of his car and it mounted the
footpath at the very moment a five year old girl was stepping out of a shop. She was hit and the impact killed her. The
case went to court and the driver walked away without a sentence. The parents of the dead girl were incensed. They
believed a terrible miscarriage of justice had taken place. They set out on a campaign to bring in much stiffer penalties
for drink driving. Their approach was to get people to change their thinking from seeing themselves as perpetrators to
victims. They wanted folk to sense what it was like to have a child killed by someone who was acting irresponsibly. Their
campaign worked. As more and more folk felt the emotional pain of those parents so pressure to deal much more
severely with drivers who were under the influence increased. In time the legislation in that state was changed and as
more and more stood with the victims, so more and more pressure was applied to the government to increase the
penalties applied to the perpetrators.
Now David has a problem. He is into justice. He is willing to go and attack the Ammonites for their evil. He is willing to
read the “riot act” when he hears of a chap taking the pet of a poor family (12:4) and eating it, but what about when he is
not the victim or defending the victim, but when he is the perpetrator?
Let’s go back to our history before we answer that question.
The Ammonites were not a particularly strong tribe. They knew that in a war with Israel they would need an ally. The
Arameans to the north willingly joined their cause.
As well as Hadadezer and the Arameans from the area we know as Syria, they formed an alliance with Beth Rehob and
Zobah and Tob. These were all small tribal states in the vicinity of the Arameans. This combined army was a formidable
force and must have given the Ammonites and the folk of Rabbah great confidence.
The Arameans and their allies were led by Hadadezer and when he marched he came with a considerable army to help
in the defence of Rabbah.
But Hadadezer did not bring his troops to the city as was expected. Hadadezer did not bring his men into the city to stand
with the Ammonite army.
Joab and the Israelite army marched on the city expecting to face a massive combined army. But out from the city came
the Ammonite army and only the Ammonite army. The allies were not with them. To his horror Joab discovered that the
huge Aramean force was coming in from behind him.
Hadadezer had out manoeuvred Joab by placing his troops in such a position that Joab would need to fight on two fronts
simultaneously.
Joab was left with no alternative but to divide his army. He had the Ammonite army advancing toward him from their city
and behind him stood the Aramean allies. Joab and the Israelite army were about to be annihilated.
38

Joab left his brother, Abishai, in charge of the larger section of the army to face the smaller weaker Ammonite army,
while he took a smaller number of troops and turned back to face the huge Aramean force.
The Arameans were a long way from home. In many ways this was not their war. But for Joab and his men this was a
fight for the very life of the kingdom and their homes.
To the horror and terrible disappointment of the Ammonites the Arameans collapse before the Israelite charge. Joab was
a brilliant and gifted warrior. We are not surprised that the Arameans were not able to withstand his attack.
But the main attack on the Ammonites and their capital led by Joab’s brother, Abishai was not so successful. Abishai was
not able to break through. He was able to drive them from the battle field back into their city but he was not able to take
the city.
Joab ordered the army home. The battle for Rabbah will need to be fought another day. Compared to the Aramean
forces the army of the Ammonites was small time.
The Aramean’s may have gone to war with David simply as the allies of the Ammonites but now that hostilities have
opened up they are going to see the matter through to the bitter end.
Who will control the lands on the east of the Jordan? Hadadezer knows that if he does not suppress David now the
Israelites will be masters of all the Trans Jordan territories. Knowing the significance of the matter Hadadezer brings
reinforcements from as far away as the Euphrates River. He comes with chariots and cavalry. Knowing that David’s army
had virtually always been an army of foot soldiers Hadadezer must have felt rather pleased with himself.
The moment that David realized that Hadadezer was preparing for war he led his army back across the Jordan to face
the Arameans. We ask how did David know that Hadadezer was preparing for war on such a scale? We can only
assume that David had a rather effective spy network.
This second battle is fought much further north to the east of the Sea of Galilee.
The battle was decisive. David destroyed the Aramean military machine. At the end of this war David was undisputed
master of all the Trans Jordan lands.
The Ammonites are now without allies. They are holed up in their city. When the Israelites return it will be to besiege their
city and wear them down to the inevitable conclusion.
But while the Israelite army is engaged in besieging Rabbah something terrible happens to their king.
When David took Bathsheba to bed did he not know how God feels about evil doers? Did he not know enough of God’s
heart to know that God would thunder down on this evil? Did he really think that this evil would be less in God’s eyes
than the evil of the Ammonites?
Nathan will tell him that what he did with Bathsheba he did in secret and he thought it would stay a secret. Was he not
the king? Could he not arrange everything? Nathan will assure him that the matter will be exposed in broad daylight
(12:12). In other words his evil will be judged just as severely as will be the evil of the Ammonites.
Judgement is coming therefore we need a Saviour - someone who will save us from the consequences of our failures
and mistakes. And there is a Saviour. There is Someone who has stepped in and who has made our failures His own.
So much so that David could say, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”.
39

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 17 April 2005
11
40
2 Samuel 11:1-27
Be sure your sin will find you out
We now come to the concluding section of the war. Matters commenced in chapter 10 will come to their finale at the end
of the story that comes to us in this, and the next chapter. After defeating the allies of the Ammonites David had pulled
his army home for the winter. With the return of the warmer weather his men marched out to take the Ammonite capital
Rabbah. Fighting in winter held extra difficulties with men having to sleep out in the open and the problems of moving
supply wagons through mud. It was far better to put everything on hold until the spring, when the rains would have
finished. And when the weather improved the army marched. We should expect more of the same sort of reporting that
we had in the last chapter. But no, the pace changes and the focus moves to Jerusalem.
His men are engaged in battle but the king is lounging around. All the able bodied men are in the field. The army is hard
at it. But David is doing nothing. At the time when “the kings go off to war” David stays home! What sort or king is this? If
the kings should be off at war and in tents with the men, then David is ceasing to be king-like.
This man who has done so much good, this man who goes to war to defend his people living on the east of the Jordan,
this man who takes in Mephibosheth, this man who holds no grudge against Saul. This man now does this. We are not
prepared for what David does here. This is out of character. We do not expect David to use anyone in the way he uses
this family. Will even David move from bring driven by love to being driven by lust?
Can a man of David’s character act this way? If he can then what hope is there for us? This story gives us a great
glimpse into human nature. This is all of us. Not one of us is beyond acting in mean, spiteful, and lustful ways. Not one of
us is beyond using, and abusing others. Not one of us is so pure that we could not, and would not do the most awful
things.
Peter told Jesus that he was there to the end no matter what. Jesus knew his character better and let him know that
when enough pressure was applied he would turn his back on Him. And this is exactly what happened. And it is exactly
what could happen to us. Not one of us is so good that we could not fall. The nicest person you know could do the most
horrible act. No one is incapable of doing evil.
And this is all of us. The best of us are more than capable of doing what David did. Our nature is not different to his.
We are not intrinsically good. We are in fact intrinsically bad so there is always the possibility of doing wrong.
Every Bible hero is shown at some point or another to be fallible. We must never think that there is anyone who does not
need a Saviour. This story alone shows how desperately David will need a Saviour when Judgement Day comes.
This battle was of some proportion. The Ammonites were fighting to defend their capital. The Israelites were fighting to
have control over the Trans Jordan. There were many Israelites living east of the Jordan and left to the mercies of the
Ammonites would suffer the worst of indignities. Here were two nations at war. Here were two magnificent armies
battling. Here were thousands of men at work and huge sums of money being spent. Here the destinies of two groups of
people hang in the balance. We would have expected a well balanced historian to have given us a long and detailed
account of this war with the Ammonites, and the strategies being planned in Jerusalem and Rabbah.
But no, the war is summed up in a relatively few words and the narrative moves to what happens in David’s bedroom.
The war ran for months, David’s time with this young housewife but a few hours. The war gives us a glimpse into David’s
genius as a commander and a king. The war gives us insight into the size of David’s army, and the military strength of his
nation. The war gives us a picture of the wealth of David’s nation. If we were to study only the war, and the ones that
went before it, we would conclude that David was nothing short of brilliant.
But God does not look on the outside to judge a person. God looks on the heart. God is much more concerned with the
character of His people than He is with their splendid achievements. God will not measure you by how much wealth you
have acquired in life, or how many degrees you have earned, or how good looking you are, or how nice your car is, or
your house is.
Your character is revealed in what you do when you believe no one else will ever know. It is what you do in what the poet
Leonard Cohen calls his “secret life”, the place that no one else knows about, your mind. It is what you think about here
that reveals more of what God is interested in than what you do out in the world where everyone can see you.
David thought what happened in his bedroom that night was so hidden away no one would ever know. It was a little
matter of no consequence to anyone else. Or so he thought!
This was a time of war. Hundreds of men were dying. Battle casualties were horrendous. What was one more and a
Hittite at that? When soldiers stormed cities everyone knows what the fate of the women will be. Soldiers could take any
pretty girl they wished. The point is in the culture of the day, the king taking a fancy to a woman and taking her to bed for
an hour was all quite normal. But it is not normal for God! Here we see David acting like one of the kings of any one of
the surrounding nations. And this is the last thing he should have done.

Why is the army at war? This war is all about David performing his rightful role as king in defending this people from
those who wish to abuse and destroy them. The Ammonites were the aggressors. It was they who insulted David’s
envoys and that was a precursor to taking up their old position of seeking to drive all Israelites from their homes on the
east of the Jordan. The irony is that instead of being with his men in the battle to protect and defend his people, David
stays at home and abuses one of his subjects. He goes out on a limb in raising the finances necessary to go to war in
order to protect his people from the destruction that the Ammonites were about to rain down on them, and yet at the
same time, he himself destroys one of the families he should have been protecting.
David does more damage to the Uriah family than the Ammonites could ever have done.
The people of God are not safe in David’s hands! This is the kingdom of God. And here in the kingdom people are being
abused! This is the one place where everyone should have felt safe. This is the one place where there should have been
justice. But here in the kingdom a family is being used and abused.
Did you ever think that the church is the one place where there would be no abuse? Did you think that the church would
be the one place where no one would ever get hurt? Have you been shocked by stories of abuse in the church, thinking
that it could never happen here?
Over 25 years ago I was the associate pastor of a church. The senior pastor had an affair with a single mother in the
church. It was I who “blew the whistle”. It was a traumatic time. The event took the heart of the church. There were many
people hurt in the episode as lies were told, and people took up their various positions and as the various versions of the
affair did the rounds. The whole thing left me physically unwell. I ended up with a tremble in my hands that took over a
year to subside. During the midst of this storm I went and sought the counsel of a well known Anglican Minister. I am not
sure what I was expecting from him but it was certainly not what I got. I suppose I assumed that he would have tut tutted
and commiserated with my pain. But no, he looked me in the eye and wagged his finger at me as he said, in a very
strong voice, “What did you expect sin to look like?” This is sin and sin is everywhere. It is not simply out there among
the criminals. It is here among the people of God and it is foul. It always hurts. It always damages. And it is always
among us.
There are two names that are linked to David in almost everyone’s mind - Bathsheba and Goliath; Goliath who was the
ugly cruel giant, Goliath the evil tyrant; Bathsheba who was the beautiful, gentle and innocent young house wife.
Goliath and Bathsheba are opposites both in character and appearance. Yet both bring David to a place of testing.
The giant and the woman enter David’s life at contrasting times. Goliath comes when David is unknown, young and
untested - we doubt that he would have been 20. Bathsheba comes when he is mature, famous and well tried and
tested, about 50. David is now in middle age. The point where he needed to prove anything on the battle field is long
gone. This man’s bravery is now beyond question. When he meets Goliath he emerges triumphant but when he meets
Bathsheba he goes down in defeat. David was safer in front of Goliath than he was in front of Bathsheba. Why? God.
The common element in the two meetings is God. When David met Goliath he could not get enough of God. When David
met Bathsheba the last person he wanted around was God.
David, it seems, had had a long afternoon siesta and after he had got up was stretching his legs on the roof of his
palace. The time of year was late spring warmth was in the air after the cool winter. The roof being, of course, a bit like a
huge veranda type area of David’s palace which was at the top of a rise, there were no other buildings more elevated
than his.
The palace was by far the grandest building in the city. And remember Jerusalem was not a big city back then. From his
roof David could see down into the surrounding streets and also down onto the homes of his people. The man is walking
on the roof of the palace. He is the master of all he surveys. This was no democracy that he ruled over! He was king and
his word was law.
We get the picture from the words “walked around” that David was walking aimlessly. The king was a bit lost for
something to do that late afternoon.
Well he happened to glance at a beautiful young house wife who was bathing. The word “beautiful” is meant to set the
alarm bells ringing. Danger is around the corner. The glance became a gaze. And the gaze became an obsession. The
glance he had no control over. She was there and his eyes lit upon her. It happens all the time to all of us. But the move
to gaze and from gaze to obsession, these were things that he had total control over. The decision to let the glance
become a gaze was a very definite choice. To indulge his sexual fantasies was a choice.
Job was so concerned about this matter that he made a contract with his eyes not to look lustfully at a girl (Job 31:1). Job
like the rest of us would have seen many girls every day. But he had decided long before he went out doors that he
would not allow his glances to become gazes.
Jesus has the same advice for us but put into more extreme language. Jesus talked of plucking out our eyes. Obviously
Jesus did not really want us to pluck out our eyes but He did want us to take very serious consideration about what and
who we gaze at! (Mark 9:47).
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Joseph had faced the same choice. He chose to act in a different way. When Mrs. Potiphar was trying to seduce him he
simply ran (Gen 39:11).
For a single man of Joseph’s age the temptation to have a sexual relationship with Mrs. Potiphar would have been very
powerful. The battle between doing right and doing wrong would have raged within him. We ask “what was it that kept
Joseph straight?” The answer is his dream. He knew that he had a destiny. The dream had revealed to him that he was
to be the next leader of the clan. And this clan was nothing less than the people of God. He was not willing to lose his
destiny for physical pleasure.
It is not simply a matter of saying, “sex outside of marriage is wrong”, although that is true. What we need to hear also is
why it is wrong. It is wrong because in the covenant of marriage there is a pledge to cherish. In marriage you are sexually
active with one that you have committed yourself to cherish. Outside of that commitment your sexual activity is a using of
a person, and God will judge people who “use” other people.
We all have a destiny, both in this life and the life to come. It would be so foolish to blow that destiny for the sake of
physical pleasure.
David was in the same position as Joseph. He is the leader of God’s people. But he seems to think that he can have
both. He can have all the physical pleasure he wants and he can still rule over God’s people. But he will discover that he
cannot. Up until this point his kingdom has been growing. But from the next chapter on it will all be flowing in the opposite
direction. His kingdom will start to shrink. David is about to pay a terrible price for this night with this housewife.
The king has all authority. He can do what he likes. There are many temptations that are not open to me simply because
no matter how much I might like something or someone there is no way it is going to happen. But David has authority
and he uses it to “send” to find out what he can about this very attractive woman. The more power and money you have
the more danger lurks at your door. If David had not had the sort of authority that he did have then there would have
been no temptation here, simply a fantasy.
The woman was the wife of a soldier. More she is the grand daughter of a prominent individual Ahithophel (23:34
&16:23) who son was Eliam whose daughter she was. That she lived so close to the palace is no surprise.
Knowing that the woman had connections should have been enough to cause David to let the matter go at that point.
More she is the wife of a soldier, a man who at that very point in time is fighting to defend the land over which David is
king. This woman is a wife, a daughter, a grand daughter; she was integrated into a family structure that was not his. She
is not simply a woman! She is a person.
In the story line David does not use her name. David did not sleep with Bathsheba; he slept with “her”. Even at the end of
the chapter it is still “she” who became his wife, not “Bathsheba”. To David she is merely a woman. He forgets that she is
a person. Even worse he forgets that she is a daughter of God!
God loves his creation. If you touch or hurt anyone you have touched someone precious to God. And God will hold you
to account. You too are precious to God and you can rest assured that no one who has hurt you will get away with it.
Not using his brain David “sends” again and has her brought to the palace. David is simply not thinking, as is the case
whenever infatuation or lust, grip a person. The ability to reason ceases. While David “glanced” he was in full control of
his thinking patterns. While David “gazed” his thinking was starting to lose some rationality. When David became
obsessed he lost the ability to think straight. This is a fact and it can and does happen to all of us. If you are infatuated
you simply cannot think straight. You lose that ability. If David was thinking properly he would never have done what he
did.
We are told that she was purifying herself when David noticed her. This woman was not simply having a bath in a less
than private space. She was purifying herself. She was engaged in a religious act. The law required a woman to engage
in ritual cleansing at the completion of menstruation (Lev 15:19-24). We are meant to understand that this person took
the law and its regulations seriously. We are dealing with a pure woman. We are also being told that this woman was not
pregnant.
Messengers were sent to “get” her. The language is telling us that Bathsheba had no say in this. David is using his
authority to have what he wants. One night in his bed and she can go her way. That is all, one night, nothing really; no
one’s business. She is on her way in no time at all. Used, abused and discarded.
We are not told what emotional agonies she suffered or what she went through at the realisation that she was pregnant.
But this we know up until this point David is the one who has been doing all the “sending”. He is the one in control of
everything. But now Bathsheba “sends” word to David, “I am pregnant”. Here are the consequences. These will be bad
enough. But these consequences are only half the story. There is someone else who will be doing some “sending” also.
For when God “sends” Nathan to David (12:1) David’s world will collapse.
But first we see David try to use his power to cover up that of which he is ashamed. We should do nothing that we are
not willing for everyone to know about. We should live transparent lives. If you have a part of your life which you would
rather was not made public then remove it. For this we are going to see, no one but no one has the power to keep the
truth hidden. Always work on the assumption that every part of your life will be made public. We have parts of our lives
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that are private. But there is a difference between something being private and something that you would be assumed to
be made public. You do not need to know what I do in my bedroom! But on the other hand I need to know that I do
nothing there which I would be ashamed of.
David works out a plan to hide the truth. The man honestly believes that he has enough power to hide his sin. He thinks
that he can keep this matter from ever seeing the light of day. We face the question, has even this man enough power
and authority to cover over his sin and guilt?
Using his authority he “sent” word to Joab asking that the woman’s husband be “sent” home. Joab obeyed his orders and
“sent” Uriah home.
Her husband was not a true born Israelite. He is a Hittite. He is a new Israelite. He is an immigrant into the nation. He is
one who has adopted the faith. What sort of a person will he prove to be?
David has him brought home from the battle. The battle at Rabbah was some 70 kms away, a three day journey on foot.
David asks the soldier a number of questions about the state of play on the front line. But notice none of Uriah’s answers
are recorded. We are meant to understand that David is not the least bit interested in Uriah’s battle report. When David
needs a battle report he does not look to the likes of soldiers such as Uriah. Uriah was not back from the front in order to
give David a briefing. He was back for much more sinister reasons than that.
As soon as the so called battle report was given David dismissed the man and told him to go to his home. Not back to
the barracks, but to his home and the instruction was even more specific. Go wash your feet! This is a polite way of
saying take your wife to bed. More, a gift is sent to his home. A gift from the king is meant to encourage Uriah to consider
himself favoured and therefore to feel free to relax and enjoy his time away from the front.
But three times we are told that Uriah did not go home.
David had planned on the fact that Bathsheba’s husband would be a man just like himself, grabbing the first opportunity
to go to bed. And if he had gone home it would have been assumed by all concerned that the pregnancy was his doing
and Bathsheba’s night at the palace would never have come to light.
But Uriah was not like David. He was a man of integrity. Sex may be good but there are many things much more
important. This man’s first loyalty was to his God and his country and not to his own pleasures.
The man states categorically that his commitment to God and His people influenced his behaviour. The “ark” and the
army of Israel are at war therefore it would be a terrible thing for a soldier to “go home”. He must stay on a “war footing”
because his people are on a “war footing” at that moment. This was required by the law. Deuteronomy 23:9 states that
soldiers on active duty were to abstain from sexual activity. This man lives by the law.
And David the one whose job it was to uphold the law does not. David as chief judge in the land knew the law, “you shall
not covet your neighbour’s wife” and “you shall not commit adultery”. David had broken one law after another. Coveting,
which only affected himself and therefore perhaps the least of his sins. Then adultery, which would have done enormous
damage but from which everyone could have recovered. Then murder, from which one man would never recover.
David is not simply a man free to do what he feels. He is the king of God’s people he was the chief judge of the nation. It
was his role to uphold the law. And the law here was black and white, adulterers should die (Lev 20:10).
The irony is that this convert from foreign ancestry is more righteous than Israel’s king. Seven times we are told that
Uriah is a Hittite. This man knows the law and will not budge from what he knows to be right. Even the king cannot cause
him to move from what he knows to be the correct thing to do. This man will not offend against God and His word.
David thinks that getting him drunk will cause the man to lose some of his resolve. But Uriah drunk is more pious than
David sober. David has enough power to take away this man’s wife and this man’s life, but he has not got enough power
to take away this man’s integrity.
Uriah will not bend so David has to do some more “sending”. David will have to destroy Uriah in order to save himself.
Here is sin in its starkest terms, sacrificing someone in order to save one’s self. This is the very opposite of love and
holiness, which is the sacrificing of self for the sake of another.
The sin of adultery could not be contained. So David turns to murder. And the only way to contain the sin of murder is to
hide it by the sin of setting up a military disaster in which a number of good men die. And as always with sin, on it goes,
in its terrible downward track. When the goal is hiding sin then no price is too high to pay. The only way to conceal sin is
do more wrong. You cannot conceal sin and not be lying.
There was only one way out for David, confession and repentance. There is no other way. And when we have done
wrong we can only go one of two ways, confession and repentance or more and more lying. If you seek to cover your sin
then the only way you can do it is by doing more wrong. There is no other way to cover sin. In confession you expose
your sin and in repentance you bring your sin to God. And what does God do? He removes it as far as the east is from
the west.
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Uriah does not know it yet, but his high morality is going to cost him his life.
David reads the man well and knows that this chap is so honourable that he can ask him to carry a letter which contains
his death sentence and know that he will not open it. What temptation did he feel to check the contents of this letter after
such an odd visit to the capital?
The letter is addressed to Joab and when Joab receives it, it puts him in a rather difficult position. Joab now has to
choose between loyalty to his king and loyalty to his men. David is now so desperate that he has to call his general to
compromise his professional competency. Joab now has to so orchestrate his troops that there is going to be a loss of
life; a completely unnecessary loss of life.
David asked that men be pushed right up into the strongest point of the enemy and then quickly withdrawn so as to leave
one soldier vulnerable. David was calling upon Joab to make a deliberate mistake.
In fact Joab did not follow David’s plan to the letter. Joab organised a mini battle on a section of the city wall where he
knew the resistance would be great. However, it guaranteed the loss of everyone who was sent on the mission not just
poor Uriah. This was not quite what David had asked for. But it was the best Joab could do. The sort of fighting David
had in mind was simply not taking place at that moment. And Joab was under orders to get rid of Uriah and sooner rather
than later! In his efforts to make sure that Uriah died a number of other soldiers had to die also.
The regular battle report was sent to David from Joab. But Joab knew that the only thing on David’s mind would be
Uriah. The war had shrunk in David’s mind to the matter of eliminating one man.
Nevertheless Joab had every reason to wonder if he would get a reprimand from David. David was hoping for a military
accident in which only Uriah died (11:15). But Joab knew that he could not send just one soldier into close quarters that
would look very suspicious. A small company had to be sent in to make the sortie look like a genuine attempt at attacking
the walls. As these men came in close they were easy targets for the archers on the wall.
Joab anticipates the sort of thing that David might say. And to do so he lifts from history the story in Judges 9:50-57.
Everyone knows that it is utter folly to allow one’s troops to get too close to the wall of a city under siege! What Joab
wants to make public is that the decision to put men that close to the wall was not his!!
Joab was a clever man. He could have made his point without reference to Judges. But a woman was involved in that
story and Joab was quietly hinting that he had come to the conclusion that there was probably a woman involved in this
little episode too.
It was because Joab had altered the plan that he needed to stress that Uriah had died in case David did not recognise
the plan as the one he had devised. This particular battle plan was about nothing except getting one solider killed in such
a way that it looked like an accident.
Joab need not have worried however. When David was given the casualties statistics he expresses no anger at Joab
and equally ignores the fact that these particular loses were brought about by his own orders.
When David tells Joab not to let the matter trouble him, David is, at the same time, speaking to himself and seeking to
placate his own conscience. This is all about war David is saying. But it is a lot more than that. Both David and Joab
know that victory over Rabbah is a forgone conclusion which means that both know that the death of these men was
utterly unnecessary.
For David Uriah is simply another soldier who has died, as far as everyone else was concerned it was the Ammonites
who had killed Uriah, one of many. But for God Uriah is a precious individual. And David is about to discover just how
much God loves this unknown and unimportant man.
The last time David “sends” he is sending for Bathsheba to marry her. Not the exciting matter that we normally associate
with a wedding. This woman will be brought into the royal household as simply another one of the king’s many wives, his
eighth in fact. David has achieved his goal he has made Bathsheba a war widow to whom he can be publicly
magnanimous.
And did David think he had won? Bathsheba is a widow, the widow of one of his soldiers. He has done a great and noble
thing in bringing her into the royal household. In seven or eight months she will have a baby and everyone will be happy.
Everything is back to normal and other than one or two folk no will ever know the real story. The matter is all over and
David can get on with his life. The law and its penalties are for others, not me!
David has used his power to cover this episode. But no one has enough power to cover the truth. The truth always
comes out. David has power, but not enough power to hide this. The sad thing is he thinks he has.
The famous words of Moses would have been known to David, “be sure your sin will find you out” (Num 32:23). Did he
honestly think these words did not apply to him?
But is it the end of the story? Not from God’s perspective. Now it will be God who does the sending.
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From the human angle it is all over. But there is always more than the human angle. There is God’s angle. The last verse
says, “What David did displeased the Lord”.
The silence of God in this chapter does not indicate the absence of God. Simply because sin is running at 100 miles an
hour does not mean that God is not watching. God may be silent but he is not sightless. The evil of this story goes from
one degree to another. Where is God? We know that He hates injustice, why did He not step in? God has seen all and in
time He will move and when He does it will not be a pretty sight.
David thought that he had concealed his evil. But nothing is concealed from God.
David could say to Joab, “don’t let this upset you” (11:25) but the matter had greatly upset God.
Chapters 13 to 20 are the story of the consequences of this story and it is grim reading. For this we know, God does not
allow anyone to sin successfully. There is always judgement. It may be delayed but it always comes. David is going to
need a Saviour and so are we.
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A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 5 June 2005
12
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2 Samuel 12:1-31
Justice
The story of Bathsheba did not end where David thought it was going to end. For David the end of the last chapter was
the end of this episode. Uriah was gone. Bathsheba had been married. A baby was about to be born. All was well and all
was under control. For the last six months David had been on top of the situation. Uriah was dead, a simple battle
casualty. Life is moving on.
From the human angle it is all over. But there is always more than the human angle. There is God’s angle. The last verse
says, “What David did displeased the Lord”.
Does the story end where David thought it would? No. Now it will be God who does the “sending”. In the last chapter
most of the “sending” had been done by David. But now God “sends”.
The silence of God in this chapter does not indicate the absence of God. Simply because sin is running at 100 miles an
hour does not mean that God is not watching. God may be silent but He is not sightless. The evil of this story goes from
one degree to another. Where is God? We know that He hates injustice why did He not step in? God has seen all and
now He will move.
David thought he had concealed his evil. But nothing is concealed from God. David could say to Joab, “don’t let this
upset you” (11:25) but the matter had greatly upset God. And the matter of justice always upsets us also.
We do not want the story to end at the end of chapter 11 we want a chapter 12. We want to see justice done.
I think I have read almost every one of Jeffery Archer’s novels. If a book gives clues to the character and personality of
the writer then Jeffrey Archer is a pretty decent bloke. And I certainly found him to be so when some years ago I wrote to
him. In his book, “As the Crow Flies” there is a short scene set in Melbourne. The book contains a couple of small
inaccuracies, obviously the product of the author’s lack of an intimate knowledge of Melbourne. I pointed out the errors. I
posted my letter and thought no more about the matter. Some months later I received the most gracious letter of thanks
written in long hand.
Over this last weekend I read his book, “A Prison Diary”. In July 2001 Jeffrey Archer, the Oxford Scholar, the English
Member of Parliament, Life Peer and world famous author was sentenced to four years jail for perjury. In his book he
maintains his innocence.
Is he innocent? Is Schapelle Corby innocent? Was Lindy Chamberlain innocent? None of us are sure. But what is more
disturbing is the fact that the courts have not been able to demonstrate to us the certainty of their guilt. Too often the
legal process has left us unconvinced. Have innocent ones been punished and, just as unsettling, have guilty ones
walked away?
The thought of injustices being perpetrated is very disturbing. We all like to see justice done. We Christians know that in
a world where mistakes are made true justice cannot be guaranteed. Not every wrong will be dealt with and not every
guilty one will be called to account. But Christians believe passionately that there will be a Day of Judgement, a time
when we will see justice done.
We expect to see the wrath of God fall on David in this chapter. But we find something else. We see grace and
forgiveness. Which is incredibly good news because if David is going to be judged then so are you and I.
Nathan is “sent” and he comes with little or no introduction. We have only met him once before. He addressed David on
the occasion of David expressing his desire to build the temple. But as we noted back then we do not need to know
much about Nathan. It is not Nathan that is important but what this man says. This man brings to us the Word of God. It
is his words that are important. It is his speech that demands attention.
David was the supreme judge in the land. Only the more difficult cases that had not been sorted out in the lower courts
would come to him. Since the prophet approaches him about a case it would have caused David to assume that, for one
reason or another, this case had not been adequately dealt with in a lower court. And it is quite conceivable that a case
of this nature would have come to David if it had not been sorted out adequately, as the king in Israel was under a
special obligation to see that the poor were treated fairly. This is the kind of case that could quite easily have been
ignored and have never been brought to the attention of the elders.
When travelling one did not simply, under normal circumstances, arrive at an unknown village at the end of the day and
expect to be put up. The system was a little more involved than that. Everyone knows somebody. If you were going to
travel say from Dan to Jerusalem you would let it be known in your home village. Your neighbours would give you the
names of friends they had in the various villages you would have to pass through on your journey. At the end of your first
day on the road you would approach a village in which lived someone whose name had been given you. After arrival at
the village, and most of these villages only had a population of a hundred or so, you would ask for the family whose
name you had. You would then introduce yourself as a friend of their friend. At this point hospitality, food and a bed were

given as a matter of honour. But it was more than the obligation of the home that you had gone to. The whole village
would feel some responsibility to make sure you were cared for.
It is not hard to understand the rich chap’s thinking. There was no reason why someone else rather than he should
provide the lamb even though the visitors were his.
That this man was rich means he was the most influential man in the village. The chap was poor, which means he was
the least influential. The poor man would have needed to be a day worker. The rich man would be the one who would do
the employing. Even though he had lost his lamb it would not be in his interest to make too much of a fuss. Nor would it
be in anyone else’s interest either.
Here was gross injustice. David is the chief judge of the land. It was part of his role as king to make sure his kingdom
was a just place. David took pride in ruling over a just society. And we take pride in our justice system. The cost of
maintaining our justice system is phenomenal. But we do not begrudge one dollar of it. That our judges and our QCs and
our lawyers all earn massive sums of money is a matter of pride to us. This is how seriously we take our legal system.
Bribery in the Australian law courts is unheard of. Our laws are sound. Our penalties are strong without being barbaric.
It is because we take justice so seriously that we become disturbed if we think that an injustice has taken place. We are
cross if we think someone has “got away with it”, we are cross if we think someone has received too light or too heavy a
penalty. Therefore we as a nation are ill at easy with what happened in Bali last Friday. We are not certain that Corby is
guilty and more even if she is we feel the sentence is out of proportion to the crime. The sense of outrage at this
perceived lack of justice is quite an indicator of our deep seated sense of justice.
David is so indignant at the actions of the well-to-do man that he literally burned with anger. What was David like as he
burned with anger? I heard the burning anger of many at the verdict in the Corby case. It was not pretty. David declares
the man deserves to die! What, for taking one lamb?! Obviously the man will not die but that his how David feels about
the chap.
The penalty in fact is that which is prescribed by the law for one who has stolen. That is repatriation multiplied by four.
(Ex 22:1)
The crux of the matter was, as David clearly saw, not simply theft but lack of pity. This rich chap had no concern
whatsoever for anyone. The pain of the poor man meant nothing to him. And it was this that David was angry about.
David saw quite clearly the character of this well-to-do man. It was his meanness and hardheartedness that stirred
David. This story of a poor lowly shepherd having his little lamb forcibly taken from him speaks directly to the heart of this
former shepherd.
David is appalled that such a thing could happen in his kingdom. And God is appalled that such a thing as David did
could happen in His kingdom!
Here is a man with more than adequate. Why on earth did he want what someone else had? Envy and greed are always,
to some extent, connected with a lack of appreciation of just how much God has already given us. The tenth
commandment is a commandment not to despise what God has given you. You only start thinking of what others have
when you start to feel that God has cheated on you. That what God has given you is not enough.
David has pronounced judgement on anyone who would act this way. They simply do not deserve to live. All Nathan now
has to do is point out that this is exactly how David has acted.
And this is always how the word of God ends up. If you read your Bible if you listen to sermons the message never stays
about someone else. It always comes back to “you are the man”. God’s word is never ever simply about someone else. It
is never general or abstract. David thought Nathan was on about someone else. But no, Nathan was on about David.
No one was richer than David. He had everything he could have wanted. But like the chap in the story David, with no
concern for anyone else, takes more. He takes a man’s wife and he takes a man’s life. How is it we see the injustices
others perpetrate while missing again and again our own?
David exaggerates the crime of the rich chap in the story. After all it was only a lamb! But at the same time he is
minimising the crime in his own life. The rich chap did not really deserve death. But David’s crime certainly did warrant
the death sentence.
When we say the Lord’s Prayer we say the phrase, “forgive us our trespasses” and we feel God will not have too much
trouble with that. Our trespasses are not that significant. Then we come to the phrase, “as we forgive them that trespass
against us”, and we nearly choke. This is huge stuff. We are going to forgive the most horrendous stuff. What we have
suffered at the hands of others is no one’s business. It is huge stuff.
Sin always tricks us. David did not feel like a sinner when he was in bed with Bathsheba. He felt like a lover. No one ever
does wrong. What we do is turn the wrong into a right and then do it! David was giving this wife of a soldier the night of
her life. What a good boy was he!!!
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Where will the story go? David is king. He could have had Nathan discredited and done away with. David does not have
to confess. That he submits to Nathan shows us this man is under conviction.
To confess to one of his subjects that he is an adulterer and a murderer is a terrible loss of face.
This passage shouts at us that our sin need not be the end. David should never have touched Bathsheba. But he did.
David should never have sought to deal with the issue by killing Uriah. But he did. In this story we came to the third
movement. Nathan. Would David keep going down? Would Nathan be ignored and perhaps killed too? Or would this be
the point at which David would turn? If David had had Nathan banished from the kingdom, would God have challenged
David in some other way? Would there have come a point when God would have stopped speaking to David?
This I know God has not stopped speaking to me and you. The place of sin is not only the place of accusation and
condemnation and shame, it can also be the place of forgiveness and restoration. David found God in his guilt. There is
no other place to find Him. We either come to God via our sins or we do not come at all.
David confesses not because he is trapped, he is not. Nathan has no power. Nathan was a brave man in going to David.
David could have dealt with him just as easily as he had with Uriah. David confesses because he responds to what he
knows God is saying.
How does David react? With a full confession, His “I have sinned” is full of genuine remorse and sorrow. The man is
broken. He spills out his feelings in a song – Psalm 51. David makes no attempt to minimise his sin. You know you are
dealing with someone who is truly repentant when you do not hear even one word of excuse, when you do not hear one
word of blame. When there is no attempt to dodge.
“I have sinned”. We would have liked David to have grovelled a bit more. But he does not need to. He does not have to
earn his forgiveness. It is all there in the one phrase, “I have sinned”. Like the sinner in Luke 18:13 the man with the
broken spirit is there with no excuses no cloaking, all that is necessary is the simply words, “I have sinned”.
There is no going back. But there is a starting again. One can start again with God. David is not repenting because of the
consequences but because what he has done has hurt his Father whom he loves so dearly. The heart of Psalm 51 is
verse 11 “do not cast me from Your presence”. It is the loss of intimacy that David is panicking over. He would be willing
to lose everything but not this. And in a sense he does lose everything but not God.
David mishandled his sexuality. Can God love a man who does not have his sexuality under control? Can God love and
forgive a man who could destroy another man? David discovers the answer.
But why, why is the law not enacted? Why is it that David does not die for the sins of adultery and murder? Both were
punishable by death under Israeli law. God is a God of justice but He is also a God of compassion. Moses discovered
that when you get to the very heart of who God is, you find a Being, a person who is full of compassion and kindness
(Ex 34:6&7). The law called for punishment and God extended mercy. Leviticus 20:10 - the demand that an adulterer be
executed, will not be enacted.
There is quite a contrast between David’s demand that the rich chap die and God’s mercy to David.
Nevertheless the consequences of his actions will not be blocked. David is going to have to live with the aftermath of his
actions.
Chapters 13 to 20 are the consequences of this story and it is grim reading. Consequences are not punishment.
The difference between the consequences for his actions, which David must live with, and the forgiveness for his actions
are played out in the story of the two babies.
The death of this baby, the death of his sons Amnon and Absalom of which we are about to start reading, are not
punishment for David’s sin, they are the consequences of David’s sin.
This baby will die, then his son Amnon will die and then Absalom will die, and then Adonijah will die. Four. Fourfold was
the law (Ex 22:1). David took and forced Bathsheba. His crime was not rape. He wooed her. Nevertheless he took her
against her best interests. And soon he will have to deal with his daughter being raped.
These things did not happen by accident. His kids modelled on him. We take our cues from our leaders. If it were okay
for David to take a girl that did not belong to him, then it would be okay for Amnon to do likewise. If it were okay for David
to push aside a man like Uriah to have his way, then it would be okay for Absalom to push aside men in order that he can
have what he wants.
David paid dearly for that night of passion. God acted exactly as He said He would (Lev 26 & Deut 27-30). These are the
terms of the covenant. However the covenant also included the offer of pardon and David took that promise at face value
(Deut 30 7, Lev 26:40).
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David is so sure that his relationship with God has been restored that he has no qualms about approaching God and
asking for his sick baby. David is in deep grief over this baby. He is not eating he is not sleeping. David loves this little
baby with a passion.
But he will not be allowed to have him. The child lives just seven days. This means the naming and circumcising
ceremony never took place. And David accepts God’s will. He does not go raging against it. His mourning comes to an
end and he gets on with the rest of his life.
This is the consequence of his sin and David wears it.
David will have to bear the consequences but he will not have to forego the presence and love of God. He is forgiven. He
is back in the place of intimacy with God. That David is restored and is at one with God is brought home with Nathan
returning to tell David that God loves the second child that Bathsheba and David have. David is again well and truly
connected to God. David is again under blessing. This second child is one that God is taking a particular interest in even
to the point of naming him.
God holds no grudges. The dynasty in not in danger - the promise of chapter 7 will hold true.
Does God love repentant sinners? The choice of Solomon shows that He does. David is forgiven. The baby is named by
God, Jedidiah that is beloved by God. Every time David looked at this boy he would know that he had been forgiven. The
past had been dealt with. There was a future.
It is with the birth of Jedidiah, Solomon, that Bathsheba is called David’s wife for the first time. Everything is now in order
God accepts that she, who until this point in the story was always Uriah’s wife, is now David’s.
The chapter ends where the story began, with the war with the Ammonites. This whole episode took place in the context
of a war.
We are meant to know that life did not stop while David sorted out his relationship with God. These things had to be
worked through in the midst of running his bureaucracy, and military machinery.
But the war ends. There is peace. The peace on the battle field is not mentioned here incidentally. No, we are meant to
know that David is now at peace. Two wars have been raging, one on a military battle field and one in David’s private life.
Both are now over.
And the most important battle was not that with the Ammonites, although it seemed the major concern. No, the most
important battle was the one to save David’s relationship with God. The battle with the Ammonites was a matter that took
up some years of David’s life but that is as nothing compared with eternity.
We have many things that occupy us - big things like buy houses and cars and keeping a job and getting married and
raising kids. But they are small things along side being intimate with God. All the external things look big but they are not
nearly as big as the stuff that is going on in our minds as we relate to God.
The story ends with David putting on the Ammonite crown signifying that he is now king of the Ammonites. But the more
important end was God sending Nathan to David with a name for his new son, signifying that David and God were in
relationship.
49

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 26 June 2005
13
50
2 Samuel 13:1-38
Infatuation
All our actions have consequences and the next series of events are all tragic and all the outworking of David’s affair with
Bathsheba. His one night of pleasure will cost David dearly. We are meant to understand that there is a connection
between the sin of the father and the sin of the son. David will reap what he has sown. In this story David’s sin returns to
haunt him. God had said, “out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you” (12:11). It is David’s own
children who will bring anguish into his life. It does not get much worse than this. His virgin daughter raped, his eldest
son a rapist, his second eldest a murderer.
Amnon models his father’s lust, and Absalom models his father’s cunning. And our kids too note our values and how we
live our lives.
This story will echo the last one. Amnon lies on a pretend sick bed; David rises from his siesta bed. One summons a
forbidden sister to abuse her; the other summons another man’s wife to abuse her. There is a cause and effect
relationship here. David is king and has what he wants. Well so too the king’s son will have what he wants. If David can
get away with adultery, then his son can surely get away with a little fling.
The key players are Amnon, David’s eldest and hence next in line for the throne, and Absalom second in line for the
throne and of course Tamar. Amnon and Absalom are sons of David but do not share the same mother. Tamar is a full
sister of Absalom and is used by both her half brother Amnon and Absalom; by Amnon as an object of lust and by
Absalom as the perfect excuse to get rid of Amnon and make himself heir to the throne.
Amnon’s mother was Ahinoan one of the wives who had been with David from his rough days of living in hiding. She had
been with David long before he became a king. She was the girl who became his wife after he lost Michal. Absalom’s
mother was Maacar, the daughter of the king of Geshur a small Arabian kingdom to the north of Galilee. She was a true
aristocrat. She had been married to David after he had come into his own. Tamar was a true princess. Absalom and
Tamar’s mum came from much further up the social scale than did Amnon’s mum.
Both Tamar and Absalom were physically beautiful people (Tamar v1 & Absalom 14:25).
The story opens with a picture of Amnon so infatuated that he is making himself ill. Here is a man who has gone from
glancing, to staring, to day-dreaming, to lusting. In the end he is obsessed. He has ceased to think straight. In fact he is
so infatuated that he has ceased to think at all!
But he does not love her; he only thinks that he does. Love is all about sacrificing yourself for the well being of the one
you love. Hence marriage is the perfect opportunity to love another person with the same sort of intensity that Jesus
loves us. In a healthy marriage one lays down one’s life for the well being of the other. The only goal is, ‘what can I do to
enhance my partner’s life?’ To get married and to take onboard the responsibility of standing with someone in good times
and bad is a huge matter. The only reason one gets married is in order to give. To choose marriage is to choose a life of
self-sacrifice.
The model is Jesus. We are to love our partners with the kind of self-sacrificing actions that He loved His church. And
there was nothing He would not do for His church. Even to the point of dying on a cross for her. At every turn He put the
interests of His bride above His own. And this is what we are to do. We are to take our money, our time, our energies
and use them to build up the life of our partner. We do not go into marriage looking for the best wife or husband, we go
into marriage looking to be the best husband or wife that ever lived.
Amnon’s goal was not the enhancing of Tamar’s life. Her future was the last thing on his mind. What was on Amnon’s
mind was what he could get. And because all he was thinking about was himself, he was incapable of loving Tamar.
Verse 2 says, “It seems impossible for him to do anything to her”. What a statement! What on earth does he want to do
to her?
The man gave no thought as to what his desires would do for Tamar. What Amnon wanted was not in Tamar’s best
interests.
This man was not interested in marriage with all its responsibilities. He was only interested in sex. Tamar could never be
his wife. She was not his to have. She “belonged” to her father. In time she would be given in marriage to another. But
she would never be given to him. She was off limits to him.
When we have weddings we make vows and after making those vows we put everyone else off limits.
The only place where you can have Christ-like sexual activity is inside a marriage. God has said that sex is to take place
in the context of love so strong that you are willing to take up the position of one who has publicly vowed to cherish your
partner for the rest of your days. It is in the context of love this strong that God blesses our erotic activities. And outside
this context He does not bless.

The great theologian Augustine said that the Spirit of God leaves the room when people are making love. He was wrong!
The sexual activity of a married couple is a source of pleasure to God. In a healthy marriage sexual activity is all about
bringing joy to your partner, it is all about bringing pleasure to your partner. It is all about enriching your partner. It is all
about your partner. Healthy Christ-like sex is a continuation of a Christ-like commitment to your partner. It is more of the
self-sacrificing life. The last thing it is, is anything that would hurt, offend or damage. And until you love someone enough
to make vows to cherish in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, in riches and in poverty you can bet your
bottom dollar your sexual advances have a lot more to do with your needs than the needs of your partner.
The virgin daughters of a king were carefully guarded. They lived in special quarters in the palace. They were escorted
everywhere they went. They did not have “boy friends” and they never went out on “dates”. In time they would be given in
marriage to someone who the king wanted to bestow special favour upon. Tamar’s destiny was to become the queen in
another country. She would have been destined to marry into the royal house of one of Israel’s allies. In fact her future
was a rather glowing one. It was a future that we assume she was anticipating with some excitement.
Under normal circumstances Amnon and Tamar would never be alone. In fact it is almost impossible to think of a
situation where they could ever be alone together. It would take a clever mind to think up a scenario that would allow
these two to get together.
For Tamar to visit Amnon or for Amnon to visit Tamar would require something to happen that was quite extraordinary. It
would literally need the permission of the king himself. No lower official in the royal household could, in the ordinary
course of events, allow these two to come into each other’s homes.
Amnon was so depressed that his cousin noticed. Jonadab was a cousin of Amnon he was the son of David’s third eldest
brother (1 Sam 16:9). There is something nasty about this man. At this point in time what Amnon needs is someone who
will talk straight to him. He needs someone to help bring him out of his infatuation. He needs someone to point out the
stupidity of his thinking. He needs someone to point out that he is acting like an idiot. But Jonadab knows that in time
Amnon will be king and he would rather butter him up and flatter him, than say what the man really needs to hear, and
risk losing his friendship. Jonadab did Amnon no favours in helping him get what he wanted. Jonadab suggested a plan
that would lead to Amnon becoming a rapist. Jonadab would see himself as quite innocent. But he was in on this.
Jonadab did not love his cousin enough to tell him the truth. He did not love him enough to confront him with the stupidity
of his fantasies. The last thing any of us need is friends like Jonadab.
Jonadab we are told was shrewd. He applies his brain power not to some scheme to get Amnon to change his mind, but
to put together a neat little plan that will get Tamar into Amnon’s bedroom.
It was a clever plan for it gets Tamar into Amnon’s bedroom with their father being the one responsible for her being
there - very clever indeed.
The plan is put into action. Amnon pretends to be sick. David comes over to visit him. The young man makes his request.
Asking for Tamar to come and make him his dinner was a silly and childish request. David should have seen the request
for what it was. It was not Tamar’s job to be making dinner for her elder brother. And even if it were the right moment for
a kind gesture, the dropping off of a casserole or cake would have been all that was needed.
We wonder how gullible is David? But then how gullible are most of us when it comes to our children’s sexuality?
Tamar does everything asked of her. She goes down to Amnon’s house and prepares the meal. The cooking process is
spelt out slowly in some detail. Although not mentioned Tamar would have had her ladies in waiting with her. Amnon’s
household staff would have been floating around. We also assume that Amnon and Tamar would have chatted away
while she was working on her meal.
When the food is finally ready Amnon pretends he is so ill he can’t bear to have all these people around. He needs to be
alone with Tamar. So all the staff are sent out of the house. Finally alone with the girl he continues to play the role of sick
invalid to the point where he claims to be so unwell that he will need help to eat.
He asks her to his bedside. Why did she go? Was she totally blind? Was she a complete idiot? Was she enjoying the
flattery? Was she enjoying the game? Could she not see the warning signs? The bells are ringing, the boom gates are
down, the train is coming and yet still she walks onto the tracks. At the moment he asked the staff to leave she should
have quietly left too. What sort of man wants to be alone with her? There is something wrong here and she should have
seen it.
Like a total moron she approaches the bed and the moment she was next to him he grabbed her. The “come to bed with
me my sister” of verse 11 is much stronger in the Hebrew. It may be pretty obvious what Amnon is asking for in the
English, but it is even more so in the Hebrew.
Tamar’s speech is full of wisdom. But the tragedy is that Amnon is beyond using his brain. Amnon is being propelled
along by his emotions. His brain is on holiday. Tamar’s wisdom is lost on him.
51

Her “don’t force me” is nothing less than “don’t rape me”. She has said the word, “no”. Did she say it loud, or softly, or
quickly, or slowly? It does not matter. She said, “No”. In their culture and our culture, in every civilized culture “no” means
“no”. If he does not stop at that point then he is committing a sexual assault. He is breaking the law. He is becoming a
rapist. She has said “no”. She does not want to be wooed by him. With that one word she has shattered his fantasy that
she wants him as much as he wants her. All sexual activity after that word “no” is criminal.
In her attempts to argue with him she points out that this is Israel. They are the people of God. To abuse someone is not
acceptable. He is the king’s son; he would know the laws better than anyone. “Do not have sexual relations with your
sister, either your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether she is born in the same home or elsewhere” (Lev
18:9).
She is saying “does it not mean anything to you to belong to the people of God? The people of God do not abuse each
other. Start acting like one of God’s people and not like a pagan.”
What is going on in his mind that he would want to do that which everyone knows is wicked? She wants him to see that if
he forces his sister to have sex he will be acting like an utter fool. What on earth does he think others are going to think
of him when the story comes out? Or does he really think that the story will not come out! She struggles to get him to see
that he is on the point of ruining both their lives. Neither of them will have a future if he goes through with this. It is not
just her life that will be wrecked.
No man who does this will ever get to be king of Israel. When news of this story gets out the people will refuse to have
him rule over them.
She wants him to see that he is on the brink of ruining both their destinies. Nothing will be the same again after this day.
He is destined to be king of Israel and he is on the verge of throwing it away. She is destined to be a queen and they are
on the brink of throwing it away also. All that God has planned for them is about to go down the drain. Did he not know
the Joseph story? If Joseph had gone with Potiphar’s wife he would never have become the leader of God’s family.
Joseph would rather face anything than spoil the destiny that God had for him.
Her last desperate attempt to get him to settle down and to start thinking seriously is to suggest to him that if he really
wants her that he ask their father for permission to marry. In fact there would be little chance of them being given
permission to marry but at that point all Tamar is trying to do is to get Amnon to start thinking logically. Does he really
want her for a wife? Then let’s start thinking about what that means.
But all her protests are wasted. He does not see her as a sister or indeed a person. She is now nothing more than a well
shaped female body. He has dehumanised her. In his mind she is nothing more than a sex object. Now we see that he
does not love her. Real love would never do something like this to another. He is using her. He is forcing her.
With his brain out of gear he follows the impulses of his body and forces her to have sex. And so in the midst of an awful
struggle she loses her virginity and her innocence. The man uses Tamar and leaves her desolate.
Then it is over and there wells up within Amnon a wave of revulsion. She, who only such a short time ago was the object
of his passion and desire, is now the one who is the source of his shame; she is now the one who represents all his
worst features. He wants her out of his home and out of his life. He wants her gone from him forever. From this point on
she would be nothing to him but a reminder of what an inadequate human being he was.
He will not even use her name. He tells his servant to get rid of “this woman”. But it is even worse than that. In the
Hebrew the word “woman” is not there. What he says in essence is, “throw this thing out”. He has finished with her and
wants her put out with the rubbish.
He, who longed to be with her and went to some lengths to have her come to his house, now wants her gone. He puts a
bolted door between himself and her.
She knows the law. Amnon must take her in. Amnon must marry and provide for her. The law was quite specific in cases
like this. "If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married, and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price,
and she shall be his wife” (Ex 22:16). Now that Amnon has done what he has done, to send her away would be the most
horrible thing to do. He has said that he wants her. He has taken her. Now he must keep her. Amnon has an obligation
under the law to stand by her.
Tamar is trying yet again to get this man to think straight. Even at this point she is trying to get the man to do right, to act
in accordance with the law. Even at this late stage the law can be obeyed and total tragedy averted. But Amnon sees
himself above the law and pushes Tamar out of his home.
How interesting it is that sex in the wrong place does not bind but does the opposite. It pushes people apart. You see she
was a sister. And brothers and sisters have a rich and rewarding relationship, but as brother and sister. Now he can
never relate properly to her again as a sister. He has damaged the brother sister relationship. In trying to make her more
than a sister he has lost her as a sister. How many good wholesome friendships have been lost forever because they
have gone beyond friendship, and into the area that is reserved for marriage?
52

He may see her as something to be used and abused and then thrown away. But he has just touched a daughter of God.
This girl is precious. The day is coming when God will call this man to account for the way in which he treated His
daughter. Why does God hate sin? Because he sees what it does to its victims.
David had acted as if Uriah’s life was of no great importance and now Amnon acts as if this girl’s life is of no great
importance. But David discovered that Bathsheba was very important to God, and Amnon too will taste the wrath of God.
Their culture may not value women highly, but God does.
He has violated her body now he violates her soul. What he does now cannot be accounted for by hormones and glands.
She had gone to his house to express kindness; she had gone intending to help and to heal. She leaves an hour later
devastated never to be heard of again.
She is out on the streets of Jerusalem. She is beside herself. Where can she go? She is no longer a virgin. She has no
place now back at the palace. She is homeless. She is damaged beyond repair. No one will want her now.
David’s sin with Bathsheba led him on to further wrong in the death of Uriah and so too Amnon’s sin with Tamar leads
him on to further sin in pushing her out.
Out on the street Tamar is a pitiable sight. The first thing she does is rip her robe. The long sleeves that indicate the
wearer is not about to do any manual work, are ripped off. This ornate robe signified her status as an unmarried virgin
princess. But that status has just been taken from her. Her life is ruined. In her grief and despair she rips her expensive
clothes. She will not need them after today. Her future is shattered. She will never marry. She cannot be offered by David
to someone of high rank as was her destiny. And as a member of the royal family she is not free to slip away into some
rural village and marry a peasant. Amnon has destroyed her life. She will never bear children. She will have to live as a
recluse for the rest of her life and she knows it only too well.
Her brother Absalom takes her in. Every day he sees her living in grief. He refuses to speak to Amnon, but other than
that does nothing.
Then we wait for the reaction of the king, the one who is chief judge in the land. Verse 21 is a verse that ends too
abruptly.
David is furious. Yes isn’t everyone who hears this story. And? And? And? And what is David going to do? David is
furious and he - but there is nothing. David does nothing. David is the chief judge in the land. At the very least he should
have insisted that Amnon marry and provide for Tamar. But he does nothing. How pleased was Amnon. He has got away
with it. If the king decides to do nothing, no one else will do anything. Or so he thinks.
David loved Amnon. He was his eldest son. The sad thing is he loved him more than he loved justice.
No one talks about it! “We will not talk about this”. Tamar is a victim. She needs to be listened to. She needs to be taken
seriously. It is not good enough to say “we will not talk about this”. It is not good enough to pretend it did not happen.
The trouble is there are too many Tamar’s out there. It is too easy to not talk about sexual misconduct. In 1980 the
Australian Women’s Weekly published an article on incest. Now 25 years ago it was pretty ground breaking stuff to talk
so openly about a taboo subject. The response to that article was phenomenal. The following week the Women’s Weekly
received over 10,000 letters. Almost every one of them a personal story of abuse. Woman, mainly, for the first time
feeling that they had been given permission to talk about their uninvited sexual experiences.
I tell you God talks about this stuff. Why else is this story with its graphic detail in our Bibles? God took Tamar seriously.
He made sure her story was written up and placed in His holy book. You do not think that Amnon wrote this up do you?
No, he would never have talked of this again. It was God who made sure that Tamar had someone to tell her story to.
David’s lack of action did Amnon no good. David’s grace in letting his wrong go unaddressed will be the cause of
Amnon’s death.
Has his own behaviour paralysed him? In light of his behaviour with Bathsheba does he feel it would be hypocritical to
speak to Amnon?
The story started with the word “love” and it ends with the word “hate”. Amnon did not have a clue how to “love” but
Absalom will now show us what “hate” can do.
For two years Absalom did nothing. He simply waited. Tamar’s plight may have been forgotten by others but not
Absalom.
Two years on with the Amnon/Tamar story fading into a yesterday’s story, Absalom goes into action.
It was common to have celebrations at the completion of sheep shearing, and as would be expected Absalom puts on a
party for his crew. The place was about 10 kms north of Jerusalem.
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Absalom asked David to attend. David was not inclined to go. He felt that the hosting of the king and his officials was a
burden that Absalom did not need to take on. But Absalom pushed the matter and eventually got the compromise that
he was after. David allowed Amnon, the crown prince and the other princes to attend. Amnon attended as the king’s
representative and this was Absalom’s goal all along.
Amnon had used David to get Tamar to the place where he could rape her, and now Absalom uses David to get Amnon
to a place where he can kill Amnon. Amnon had to go to some lengths to get Tamar alone where he could rape her. And
Absalom has to go to some lengths to get Amnon away from his body guards and into a place where he could attack
him.
David had failed to act like the king and execute justice. Absalom is disgusted with his father. So into the vacuum
Absalom will step and do the job for him. He does wrong. Two wrongs never make a right.
What was David thinking? He was not thinking when he sent Tamar to Amnon and he is not thinking when he sends
Amnon to Absalom. Everyone must have known that Absalom and Amnon were not speaking. Did David think this the
place at which the hatchet was to be buried? Was this the day when all would be forgiven?
Absalom is bent on bringing to Amnon the justice the king failed to bring. But Absalom will go too far. The penalty for
rape was not capital punishment. But Absalom has more than justice in mind. He is also bent on getting Amnon out of
the way. It is Amnon’s position as crown prince that Absalom really wants and he wants that more than he wants justice
for his sister. If his dad can dispose of Uriah because he was in his way then Absalom can dispose of Amnon because
he is in his way.
Note that Absalom did not push the knife in himself. He simply gave the order. This is how his father committed murder
also. And like his father he too used alcohol to soften up his victim. Once again a sexual sin leads to a murder.
The first word that got back to the palace was that all the king’s sons had been killed. There was pandemonium. Jonadab
assures the king that it is only Amnon who has died. How did Jonadab know? Did he simply guess?
David now starts to feel the pain of Nathan’s words that the sword would never depart from his family.
While his brothers are heading to Jerusalem in a panic Absalom moves in the opposite direction. He goes to his
grandfather, Talmai who lives in Geshur. There he is warmly received and finds protection from his grandfather on his
mother’s side. Geshur was to the north of Galilee.
The chapter ends with David grieving the loss of not one son but two. Verse 37 is very ambiguous. We are not sure
which son David is mourning. As much as he wanted to see Absalom again his sense of justice would not let him return
to him.
Where is righteousness? No one acts as God would have acted. A shattered woman is ignored by justice. A rapist goes
free. A murderer runs away and no one gives chase.
God is not mentioned once in this chapter. Here is where Godless actions lead, to a shattered family; to a terrible mess.
54

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 3 July 2005
14
55
2 Samuel 14:1-33
Reconciliation
David as the king was the one responsible for justice in the land. It was he who was responsible to know and implement
the statutes. Moses had even demanded that each king write out the law by hand in order that he have a personal hand
written copy of the law (Deut 17:18-20). The king was to know the law and know it intimately. And David did. And the fact
that he did led to his dilemma.
Absalom had murdered his elder brother. The man was a murderer. The law required that he die for his crime. The law
took victims very seriously. Amnon had had his life cut short. David had experienced the awful grief of having his first
born murdered. These crimes mattered. They could not be simply forgotten. The perpetrator had a price to pay.
Since the day of his crime Absalom had been living in exile. He had moved in with his maternal grandfather in the
territory of Gershur, which lies just north of the Sea of Galilee, some 150 kms away. As far as his life in Jerusalem went
Absalom was dead. He had lost his place in the country. By leaving Absalom in exile away from home, country and his
destiny David was in fact bringing judgement upon his son.
But David loved his son. And so David was caught between his longing for his son and the need to exercise judgement.
He is so torn as to be unable to move. He is the king and as such he is the chief judge in the land. Absalom has
committed a murder. The law was pretty clear on this issue. Absalom should have been executed (Ex 21:12 and Lev
24:17). Banishment was almost as good. Yet Absalom was his son. He loved Absalom. He missed his son.
But simultaneously David is boiling at what his son had done. David is angry at Absalom’s actions. Brothers might have
their squabbles but Absalom had murdered his brother. He had taken the life of David’s first born. David was justifiably
cross.
This must be a fairly important story for it contains the longest pieces of conversation in the whole book.
But there is more to the story. Following the death of Amnon, Absalom became the crown prince. If he is not in
Jerusalem when David dies there would be a real danger of a painful transfer of power. Joab had fought hard and long
alongside David in establishing peace in the land and the last thing he wanted was to see a succession of disasters and
a new civil war. The last thing Joab wanted was to see Absalom arriving back in Jerusalem following his father’s death
and having to go to war with another of David’s son’s who had taken the throne. The thought of David dying and
Absalom seeking to gain the throne from across the border did not bear thinking about.
David would have been 60 years old now and for many it was time to start thinking of the next generation. The people
were not silly; they knew David would not live forever. They wanted to see their crown prince being groomed for the job.
They did not want the next in line for the throne living abroad, out of touch with the issues of the day. But David does
nothing.
David is inactive. He is totally torn between his need to act as a king, and his need to act as a father. Justice and love are
in conflict.
The people believed that Absalom was needed back in Jerusalem, and David misses him dreadfully. Indeed the chapter
opens with the words, “the king’s heart longed for Absalom”.
Can David forgive his son and at the same time be just? No. But can there be mercy?
Joab thinks he knows what David is feeling. Joab thinks that David only needs a way around the matter of the law and he
could have Absalom home. But Joab has not read David correctly. For David it is more than the matter of the law. Even if
there were a way around the law and even if there were some legal loophole that would allow Absalom to return from
exile David would still be so cross with him as to not want to have anything to do with him. But Joab cannot see this.
We are now three years on and Joab believes it is time to push David into action. Nathan had brought to the king a story
in order to elicit a judgement. Joab will now do a similar thing. As Nathan did, so Joab will do. Speak to David with a
double agenda.
Joab called upon a gifted and eloquent woman; someone who could act, someone who could stand in front of the king
and not be nervous.
In the town of Tekoa there was such a woman known for such abilities. She was a wise and gifted person. This
remarkable woman was articulate and persuasive. Tekoa was 16 kms south of the capital. Far enough away for Joab to
be reasonably certain that David did not know her. Joab brings the woman to the capital and coaches her on how to
dress and how to act and what to say.
Stories are very powerful for we find it hard not to identify with one or other of the characters.

The king is the chief judge in the land and everyone had the right to bring an unresolved case to the king. Therefore it is
no surprise that a woman with an issue of this magnitude should appear before the king.
The woman comes to David as a widow, mourning the death of a son. She knows the king will identify with her. Her story
is a sad and complicated one. Her first son was killed by her second son. And she only had two sons. So now her one
and only son is a criminal. He is a murderer and the citizen’s of her village want him dealt with according to the law. They
claim the man deserves to die. And according to the law he does.
Here are echoes of the Cain and Abel story. Everyone in Israel would have identified with this story.
Her extended family are only interested in the matter of justice. No one seems to care about her and what justice will
mean for her future. In a clever way she expresses the conflict between the family’s impersonal insistence on justice and
her personal need for a relationship with her only son.
Those looking for his execution are absolutely in the right. He is a murderer and does deserve to be executed (Num
35:21). But the mum loves her son and without him she has no future. More she has no one to pass on her land to. Who
will get her property when she dies? It can only be someone who is not really entitled to it, but more than that it means
there will be no future generations from this family line. Her husband’s name will be lost.
Joab has very skilfully portrayed the conflict which has immobilised the king. How will he react?
His response was quick and to the point. He will give orders allowing the murderer to live.
But the woman wants something more solid than that. She wants a royal guarantee that her son will never have to face
the courts. She wants him protected against those who are bent on bringing him to justice. David gives her what she
wants. The man’s life is to be protected by royal decree. No one dare touch this man.
David’s response came in three stages. Firstly he said he would take up the case (v8). But that was not good enough for
her. Sometimes government wheels turn too slowly. Secondly David said he would protect her if anyone approached her
about the matter (v9&10). But this didn’t satisfy her. What she wanted was an oath from the king that her son would not
be brought to justice and executed. So David gave an oath in the Lord’s name.
By royal decree not one hair of his head is to be touched. If you so much as snarled at this man, now, you would be
breaking the law! The matter of his guilt is never to be brought up again.
The bit about the hair is interesting. For we know just how much hair Absalom had.
What the woman has done is bring the king to accept that there are times when grace and kindness are more
appropriate than the letter of the law. With the principle clearly sorted out the woman goes for the kill. If David can see
the logic of not having this murderer executed for the sake of this one insignificant woman, why can he not see the logic
of not having Absalom executed for the sake of the kingdom?
The trap has sprung shut. If one man can be protected against the death penalty even though he is a murderer, why
cannot another man also? If he can give an oath to protect a guilty man he did not even personally know, how much
more was he obligated to protect a son he loves? If he does not want her son destroyed how can he be willing to see his
own son destroyed? If he was willing to forgive the murderer of her son how could he not forgive the murderer of his own
son?
Once David has declared that the woman’s son can and indeed should be spared. Once David has declared that there
can be exceptions to the rule of law. Then he has to accept that if one exception then why not another?
As in Nathan’s story the case brought by the woman was a shadow of the real issue. Once David has placed the
woman’s son under royal protection, David is forced to consider his own son’s situation.
The woman goes on to speak of the mercy of God and contrasts it with David’s lack of mercy toward his son. The goal of
her story was to arouse in David a sense of mercy toward his son.
By forcing Absalom to live in exile away from his people, away from his destiny, and away from his work as crown prince,
David is bringing on Absalom a premature death. In fact to all intents and purposes he is dead. And the people, claims
the woman, want him home.
The woman points out that like water poured out on the ground that cannot be picked up so is Amnon. He is dead. He
can never come back. But Absalom can come home. Something can be done about him.
The woman goes on to say that God actually devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from
him. The woman cleverly suggests in verse 14 that David is less compassionate than God.
David has been set up. He has been tricked into a decision. He has been set on a course of action that he cannot avoid.
Like it or not he is left with no alternative but to have the crown prince brought home. In reaction to the woman’s story
David has allowed mercy to triumph over justice.
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That Joab was behind the whole interview now becomes apparent to the king. Hence the royal pronouncement, “Go
bring back Absalom” is given to Joab.
The story has a ‘gap’. Gaps are deliberate gaps of information and are meant to stir our curiosity. Something is not being
said here. David’s emotions at 13:39 and his actions here do not line up. There is a huge gap between what David feels
and what David does. Unless David was also feeling an anger toward Absalom and if his actions are the expressions of
his feelings David is feeling a lot more anger toward his son than he is love and forgiveness.
Gershur was 150 kms north of Jerusalem. Absalom would have been back in less than a month. And the people fell in
love with him. Here was their crown prince. Here was the man who would lead them into the future following David’s
death.
We are told that Absalom is very good looking. He was without blemish. In other words he was a perfect specimen. In
body and face this man had it all. His striking good looks are going to serve him well. In fact no other Bible character is
accorded such a picture of their beauty.
It seems that Absalom took some interest in his looks. It takes a vain person to bother weighing their hair after having it
cut. But we know how much his cut hair weighed, 2 Ö kilos!
The man now has a family, three boys and a very beautiful daughter who we notice is named after his tragic sister. It is
most unusual to give a daughter’s name while not naming the sons. The Bible writer is making sure that we never forget
the name Tamar.
We have a conflict here. This man is being praised. He is the model leader. Fine family, good looking, will take the law
into his own hands to defend the honour of his sister. But he is on the outer. Everyone loves Absalom except the king.
After two years of waiting for an audience with his father Absalom grew impatient. Had he been brought back only to be
publicly humiliated? Everyone would have been aware that Absalom was on the “outer”.
Absalom was not being allowed to get back into his work. He was being kept unemployed. He was not being allowed to
be active in politics and the issues of the day.
Jerusalem was not a big place. David would have to have worked hard at keeping his distance from Absalom. Being
cross with someone is always hard work. Absalom wonders if he is forgiven or not. His father is treating him like an
enemy.
David will not let Absalom come into his presence. Wherever the king is, and that is at all the important meetings and
gatherings, Absalom is not to be. He must not be anywhere near the king.
It is pretty obvious David has not forgiven. It was a judicial act. It was impersonal. He will not greet his son by name; he
will not permit him back into his home he will not even look at him. David has not forgiven! Absalom may as well still be in
Gershur. The exile has not finished at all.
Absalom may be home but he is only allowed to exist, not to truly live. But the man needs more than a house to live in
and food to eat. In fact as a prince he would have lived well. But he needs more. He needs his father’s love and
acceptance. He needs more than food to live, he needs kindness and forgiveness. This man needs his father.
Absalom is a man who likes to have what he wants. And he wants Joab to arrange a meeting with his father. But Joab
stays right away from Absalom. He refuses Absalom’s invites to his home. Joab was old enough to be Absalom’s father.
Joab had worked with and for his father from before he had been crowned king. If David wanted Absalom on the outer
then Joab was going to stand with David and not take up Absalom’s cause. He was certainly not going to be ordered
about by a young prince.
Out in the country side Absalom and Joab owned adjoining fields. Neither of these men were farmers in the sense that
they lived on their properties. Both men lived in the capital. But Absalom’s staff would have been working day by day
alongside Joab’s fields and would have known exactly what Joab’s fields contained.
Joab’s double refusal to respond to his invites to visit him caused Absalom to act violently. The blazing field of barley
acts as a symbol of Absalom’s blazing rage. Absalom is determined to have a meeting with Joab and so he has Joab’s
crops burnt. This act of vandalism is horrible. Here we see something not nice in Absalom’s heart.
It certainly achieved its purpose. Joab could not get to see Absalom quickly enough.
We are now five years on from the offence. Absalom wants the matter brought to a head. If the king really does think he
is guilty then let him pronounce the punishment, and “if he does not think me guilty let me be welcomed back into
society”. Absalom is not interested in the half way position that he had to live in.
But where is Absalom’s sorrow and humility. This man had killed his father’s first born. It was for him to wait until the day
his dad was ready to welcome him back. It was not for him to push his way forward. There does not seem to be any
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sense of guilt or remorse about the man. He seems to think that he has the right to come right back into his dad’s home
and right back into his old job. We have no record of Absalom’s repentance. Did the man have any idea of how much
pain he had left his father in? As Absalom had ridden off to his new life in exile he had left his dad to bury his eldest son.
The man does not seem to have any idea of the magnitude of the wrong that he has done.
Joab intercedes for him and the long awaited audience takes place. But it is all rather brief and formal. David may have
kissed Absalom but there is no mention of Absalom kissing David. There is something cold in the reunion. There is no
conversation here. David does not come across as warm. In fact there is no reconciliation!
For reconciliation to take place both parties have to move. When you hurt someone or have been hurt by someone you
pull back. You want that person out of your life. But it is the same on the other side also. The one who has done the
hurting is not particularly interested in you and your wellbeing. Both sides move on with a huge gap between them.
Normally the ones who love you the most are the ones who can hurt you the most.
How do we reconcile? Well each party can only go half way. If you have been hurt your work is to forgive. You open your
heart up and let the wrong go. You stop dreaming of revenge. You stop wishing that nothing good will ever come their
way. You stop feeling deep seated feelings of resentment. You stop playing the scenario of the hurt over and over in your
head. You extend mercy to them and let them off the hook. But that is as far as you can go. That is not reconciliation.
That is half of reconciliation. For reconciliation to take place the one who has hurt has to move. They have to come to
terms with the wrong they have done and stop making light of it. They start to agonise over the damage they have done.
They literally start to grieve at the pain they have brought into the life of the other. Now, when you have two people who
have both moved then you have reconciliation. For, no matter how much the one who has done wrong repents if there is
no corresponding offer of forgiveness and acceptance there can be no reconciliation.
In the prodigal son story you have reconciliation, but not here. The prodigal son story is how things are meant to work
out. This story is how things should not be.
As Absalom went to Gershur so the younger son went into the far country. As Absalom left behind a terrible mess and a
father with a broken heart so the younger son did the same. Absalom had taken from his dad his eldest son, the young
man in the story took from his dad a portion of the family farm and embarrassed his dad by his anti social behaviour.
Absalom had forfeited his place in the family. He had lost his inheritance; so, too, the younger son in Jesus’ story.
But from this point on the stories differ. In Jesus’ story the boy “came to himself”. This boy was broken. We have no
picture of Absalom being broken or indeed particularly sorry. In Jesus’ story the father runs to meet his son. David would
not even say “hello” to his son. In Jesus’ story the father gives his son the ring. That is the ring needed to sign the
business documents of the family business. David will not allow Absalom anywhere near the palace where all the official
business of state is undertaken. In Jesus’ story there is now a huge party. David can only muster a formal kiss. There is
nothing between David and Absalom like the hugging of the father and son in Jesus’ story.
In time David’s love for his son will flow. But then it will be too late. The day Absalom dies David will weep deeply and
openly. He will long for his son with a longing that breaks the heart. "The king was shaken. He went up to the room over
the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: ‘O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of
you--O Absalom, my son, my son!’" (2 Sam 18:33) But why not now, why could he not bring himself to forgive now?
Why could not David extend to his son grace and mercy? In his refusal to do so he destroys Absalom. The seeds of the
drama of the next chapter are here. But the saddest thing of all was that David refuses to give his son what God had
given him. It may be that Absalom was not contrite and so true reconciliation was destined not to happen. But this we
know David did not forgive.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive them that sin against us”. If Jesus linked our forgiveness with
our willingness to forgive others we dare not separate the two.
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A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 10 July 2005
15
59
2 Samuel 15:1-37
Worship
The passage opens with the familiar words, “In the course of time”. We are not told here how much time. We simply
know that we are now moving into a new story. In fact this story takes place some four years after the last one (v7).
This is the story of how Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel (v6); the heart being more than the affections.
The heart was also considered the seat of one’s intellect. We are being told that Absalom has won the people over good
and proper. If an election were to be held this candidate would pull in all the votes.
There will be many folk who simply cannot wait to have a man like this rule over them. But they are foolish. The words of
Samuel should never have been forgotten. God does not look on the outside. God looks on the heart. And so should we.
Absalom was always going to be the popular choice, but the majority were going to get it horribly wrong.
This man is long on image and short on substance. Saul was a head taller than any other (1 Sam 9:2). Eliab was good
looking (1 Sam 16:6&7) so much so that Samuel was convinced he must be destined for the throne. But it is never the
exterior that counts. It is the character that matters.
What sort of man is it who is so concerned with his appearance that he bothers to have his hair weighed? God is not
interested in physical beauty, but more is said about this chap’s looks than any other person in the whole Bible.
We are told much of his beauty but nothing of his wisdom or morality. Is this really what Israel wants in its king? Is this
what we want in our leaders? It is the character of our leaders that counts. Any church that chooses its leaders on the
kind of stuff that Absalom was putting forward is destined for trouble.
My brother and I got into a heated discussion the other day over President Bill Clinton. My brother is a bit of a fan of ex-
President Clinton. He greatly admired his presidency and the things he achieved. I ventured the opinion that Clinton lost
my confidence the moment the Monica Lewinski story came out. For me the man’s character was revealed. We had a
glimpse of what he would do if he thought he would never be exposed. My brother would not hear of such an idea. For
him all that mattered were his policies. I said otherwise. For me the man’s character was important and any man who
would be sexually active with a young student intern was immoral and not fit to lead.
It could be that political leaders are able to divorce their private lives from their public lives. But even if they can those
who lead the people of God cannot.
Absalom starts to build his platform by first of all acquiring a chariot and a personal escort of 50 men. Such accessories
were normally the privilege of the king. Absalom wants everyone to know that he is the crown prince. Absalom wants no
one to forget that he is next in line for the throne.
Jerusalem’s terrain was highly unsuitable for chariots and horses. Absalom’s decision to use them distinguishes him as
an innovator. And 50 men escorting him would have guaranteed that they would have moved along very slowly thus
setting a scene of grandeur. This chariot was never for speed it was always to show Absalom off.
Samuel had predicted all this nonsense (1 Sam 8:11), Moses had warned Israel’s leaders not to acquire horses (Deut
17:6). And David caught the heart of it all in Psalm 20:7 “some trust in chariots and some in horses but we will remember
the name of the Lord”.
David always worked on the premise that if God wanted him to be king then he would in God’s time be king. And David
did not have to manipulate and carry on like Absalom is now doing. Absalom had to trust his chariots because he cannot
trust God. Absalom is going to be king whether God wants him to be king or not.
Absalom is a man who had his goals and his desires all mixed up. Desires are things we must be very careful with
because we have no way of achieving our desires. Desires are things that are out of our control. For instance I might
desire to be the king of England. Now I can desire that with all my heart but I will never ever be the king of England and I
have no way of making myself the king of England. Or I might desire to pastor the perfect church. I can desire that too
with all my heart but it will never happen. I can do what I like but I cannot make any church perfect. I might desire to have
a perfect wife. But there is nothing I can do to produce a perfect wife. No, there is nothing wrong with desires as long as
we realise what they are - dreams. Now goals are different. A goal is a legitimate aspiration and one which can be
worked for. Absalom could and should have had the goal of being a highly respected and loyal prince. This is something
he could have worked on. This is goal that could have been achieved. I can have the goal of being a good pastor and
preacher. This is a legitimate goal. It is something that I can work at. I can have the goal of being a good husband. This
is a worthy goal. The most important thing about goals is that they can be worked at. Desires will frustrate you and if you
are not careful cause you to end up doing something foolish.
Secondly, Absalom starts to usurp the king’s role as judge. We are told that he got up early in the morning in order to be
on the job at the start of the day. We have a picture of keenness and diligence.

It seems that he made himself available to folk who were waiting for an audience with the king. He subtly suggested that
they would not get too much justice with the king, but if he were the king how different things would be.
Absalom presented himself as always ready to listen and as one desperately eager to right all the wrongs in the country.
Sadly he puts out false information. He tries to suggest that getting justice from the king is hard work. But we know that is
not the case. We have just seen how easy it was for an unknown widow to have her case brought before the king.
He speaks like a member of the opposition party in our country, “If only I were in power, then we would have justice”. He
is suggesting that everyone who was seeking justice was in the right. It is so easy to promise people everything when
you do not have to actually deliver.
Absalom wants everyone to like him. True leadership means that many will not like you. The good leader and ruler, rules
for the benefit of the community which means again and again there will be individuals within that community who will not
be happy. To live in a community means living with tolerance and compromise. It means accepting the fact that one will
not always get one’s own way.
Absalom has no doubt that he will make the best of judges. And deep in his soul Absalom would always see his father as
one who failed to provide justice. For Absalom every person coming to seek justice was one more illustration of the fact
that there was no justice in the land.
Absalom knows he would bring justice. He has done it once with his bother. And he is ready to do it again and again.
This man was driven by the matter of justice. For him murder is nothing more than the means to bring justice.
How many people went home to their village with a story of how good this young Absalom was. Absalom was seeking to
get the whole land hanging out for a change of government.
Absalom had many gifts except the one that mattered, integrity.
Absalom spent two years plotting the murder of his brother and four years plotting the down fall of his dad. This man had
premeditated murder on two occasions.
But this man would never have felt like a murderer because both plots were carried out under the guise of doing good as
is most sin. As far as Absalom is concerned both murders were acts that justice required.
We will judge Absalom by his actions, as we should but he would have judged himself by his intentions. Here is human
nature. We always judge others by their actions and we always judge ourselves by our intentions. “You never called”.
“Yes, but I was going to”. You did not call. That is the action. You failed and the one you did not call has judged you and
condemned you for letting them down. But you were going to call and so you feel virtuous. The fact that you did not call
does not really matter to you for you were going to do it.
For four years Absalom has carried on in this way. It seems that in his own mind he is already the king.
What was David thinking? Obviously David was so secure in his hold on the kingdom and the affection with which the
people held him that he was happy for Absalom to have his fantasies and play his games.
David does not allow for how wicked his son could be. He assumes the best. Jesus on the other hand had a much more
realistic view of human nature. He considered everyone “evil” (Matt 7:11). David does wrong in giving his son so much
freedom.
The reason our democratic system works is because it trusts no one! In a healthy democracy we put people into power
but then limit their power by constantly reminding them that in three years we will throw them out if they have done
anything we do not like. The democratic system of government grew out of an understanding of the sinful nature of
humans.
Right now our denomination is preparing a set of ethical guidelines for Baptist Ministers. There are pages on how
ministers must and must not interact with the opposite sex; pages on what ministers should not watch on TV and their
computers; pages on paying all bills on time; pages on not pinching other people’s sermons, well at least without
acknowledging so. I, along with 100 others, went to the presentation of the first draft of this document. In the question
and answer time one of our ministers said that the very fact that we need to put out a document like this says something
awful. Yes it does say something awful. It says we are all sinners and need help to stay straight.
Absalom was a sinner. He was out to have his father’s position. He held deep resentment toward his father and was
going to undermine him. Given the chance he will do wrong. And David should not have been so gullible when it came to
his son’s behaviour.
The man is as patient and calculating in rebellion as he was in his revenge on Amnon. His request to go to Hebron even
sounds like his request to have Amnon join the sheep shearing party. Again David suspects nothing. Hebron was some
30 kms to the south of Jerusalem. It was the town where Absalom was born. The man has been back four years now.
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Any religious ceremony connected with a vow made while in exile should have been fulfilled long ago. And why Hebron?
The ark and the priests were situated in Jerusalem.
We know why Hebron. There is no one who could have launched a coup in Jerusalem. Not with David’s personal
presence and David’s elite and very loyal troops.
David sends him away in peace; Absalom goes away to prepare to destroy his father.
Absalom presented himself as one on his way to worship God. But the worship of God was the last thing on his mind. We
become more and more like the one we idolise and worship. There was nothing God-like in what Absalom was about to
do.
Where is “honour your father and mother”? Where is “do not envy”? Where is “love your enemies”? Where is “peace”?
What about “do not steal”. The throne belonged to his father. To take it by force was to steal.
Do we idolise Jesus? Do we seek to copy His actions and be like Him? Are we serious about being Christ-like or
Christian?
Jesus was under no illusions as to what the military would do to Him after He had been arrested. Even so He willingly put
Himself out to heal the wound of one of the arresting soldiers. This is loving your enemy full on.
At the Ministers’ School of Ministry last week I was introduced to Dirk Willems. Dirk died in the winter of 1569. Apparently
in some circles he is somewhat famous. What he did has been analysed again and again. I am sorry to say I had never
heard of him. Dirk lived in Holland and was an Anabaptist.
Anabaptists were those who had come to believe that baptism is for adult Christians only and should be conducted by
immersion. This was in a day when the church taught that baptism was for every baby and was to be done by sprinkling.
The outworking of this belief is that everyone is in the church and hence a Christian.
The word “Anabaptist” means “re-baptiser”. As everyone had been baptised as a baby to be baptised as an adult
Christian could only mean to be re baptised.
During the days of the early church baptism was done outdoors in large bodies of water - rivers, lakes and the sea. To be
baptised and come into the church was a huge deal. To become a Christian was to take a radical step. From that point
on you were known as someone who was different. Being immersed out in the open in a big body of water in public view
expressed all this. As the centuries wore on the amount of water used got smaller and the water was brought into
buildings. The church built special baptisteries. From the fourth century on the Roman Empire was Christian. The Roman
Empire became the Holy Roman Empire. To be born into the Holy Roman Empire was to be born into a Christian culture.
The Church and the empire were one. Everyone was a Christian. This we called Christendom. Now if everyone is a
Christian then getting baptised is no big deal. So the amount of water used got less and less. The water also got higher
and higher. No longer down into the sea or a river. Now the water was in a special container at chest height. No more
“going down”.
The Anabaptists proclaimed the obvious that not all were Christian. Christians were those who had made a conscious
adult decision to be followers of Jesus. And Anabaptists believed that at the point you make that decision you should get
baptised by full immersion. But of course in saying this they were also saying that those who did not believe were not
Christians and not in the true church.
The government of that day in Holland felt they had to stamp out the teachings of the Anabaptists.
Dirk Willems had not only been baptised my immersion himself he had baptised others and was an organiser of
Anabaptist groups. Most of these groups were underground. Many Anabaptists had fled Holland and those who had not
were very careful to keep their activities quiet. Nevertheless Dirk Willems was caught and imprisoned. It was normal for
prisoners to be tortured in order to extract the names of other Anabaptists.
Dirk was imprisoned in a cell high up in the building where he was being held. By tying clothes and bedding together he
made a rope which he used to climb down and escape. Outside he ran for his life. If he could get outside Holland he
would be safe. Having got out of the building his chances of a full escape were very good. He set off at a good pace with
his pursuer behind him. Dirk made a dash for the river which was frozen over. The ice creaked and cracked under his
weight but he made it safely to the other side. Not so his pursuer. He got half way across the river and the ice gave way
and he dropped into the freezing water. The man screamed for help. If he were not pulled out within seconds he would
have no hope. Dirk stopped in his tracks and turned around ran out on to the ice and pulled the chap out. But the action
cost him his freedom. He was arrested and taken back to prison. As he knew would happen, he was tortured and then
sentenced to be burned alive.
The question that has been asked again and again by those who have studied this tiny piece of history is, “Why did Dirk
turn back?”
The only worthwhile conclusion that has been put forward is that it was a reflex action. This man had so modelled his life
on Jesus that he literally did love his enemies enough to die for them.
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This man worshipped God. This man idolised God. This man copied God. This man acted as God would act. And those
who act this way are obvious worshippers of God.
62

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 31 July 2005
16
63
2 Samuel 15:1-37 & 16:1-23
The consequences
On his excursion down to Hebron to worship, Absalom takes 200 of the leading men of the Jerusalem community. They
are kept in the dark. But once Absalom declares himself king they will have no choice but to stand with him. They will be
far too connected to the event to ever be able to extract themselves. The heart of David’s government was in on the coup
whether they liked it or not. The hope was that these 200 leading citizens would galvanise the population to Absalom’s
cause; 200 men of this calibre could not be wrong!!! And via secret messengers a signal would be given to have ram’s
horns blown simultaneously throughout the land. Thus all opposition will be cut off before it can gather speed.
With everything in place Absalom marches on Jerusalem. Absalom had been preparing for this day and has a decent
contingent of soldiers ready to go into battle.
David discerns pretty quickly that he has no hope of organising a defence. If he and his supporters are to avoid being
taken by Absalom he will need to flee rapidly.
David could have barricaded himself in the city but that would have led to the most awful fighting. Fighting on a battle
field is one thing, fighting in city streets is another. And David will not bring that type of agony on his people. David’s
decision to run was an act of great kindness to the citizens of Jerusalem.
David will be homeless and vulnerable in order that the people can have their homes. He will go into the wilderness in
order that they can have the security of the city.
David never saw his role as king in terms of personal power and prestige. David only ever saw himself as a servant of
the people.
This was what made David a great king. David was a true shepherd. True leadership always costs. True leadership is
always about serving and giving. The moment any leader puts their needs above the needs of those they are leading are
no longer leading as God would have leaders lead.
David has to run from his home. In an instant he is homeless and has lost all that he has spent his life working for. But
this he will sacrifice for the sake of his people. David was always at his best when things were tough and he was always
at his worse when at ease.
After leaving Jerusalem David and is party will drop down into the Kidron Valley and then up and over the Mount of
Olives. From there they will make their way down to the Jordan.
Not everyone goes with David. The city was not evacuated. Indeed most of the citizens would not have moved. But those
who were passionate about David joined the exodus.
Special mention is made of the foreign troops who are still with David. These were men who have been with David from
his days in Ziklag. The foreign troops get a special mention because of the contrast - these people stay loyal to David
even when his own son deserts him.
These are professional troops as distinct from the men who made up Israel’s regular army. These were the members of
David’s standing army as opposed to the civilians who joined up to deal with national emergencies. These crack troops
were attached directly to the king.
This passage is known as the flight story. In it ten individuals will meet up with David. Ittai comes first and he and David
talk on the outskirts of the city, then Zadok and Abiathar and their sons in the Kidron Valley. David gets the bad news of
Ahithophel as he makes his way up the Mount of Olives. And at the summit he meets with Hushai. His meeting with Ziba
will be just past the summit. Shimei will be at Bahurim just a kilometre further on.
Ittai is a Philistine from the city of Gath, and he is given a release from his commitment to the king. David does not think it
fair that this man should have to lose his possessions and risk his life in following David into an unknown and very
insecure future. He does not need to get involved with Israel’s civil war.
Such thoughtfulness at a time of terrible stress shows David at his best. David cares so much for this Philistine soldier
that he puts his interest above his own.
But this man is totally dedicated to David and we have every reason to believe that the dedication to David is an
outworking of his dedication to David’s God. As was David’s great grandmother also a foreigner Ruth’s total dedication to
her mother-in-law, Naomi.
Ittai was from the same town that Goliath had come from. This man had come to know David’s God. It is interesting that
David had started out killing warriors from Gath and had ended up converting warriors from Gath.

Ittai’s oath of loyalty does much to make up for the treacherous actions of Absalom. Ittai would have been a huge source
of comfort and encouragement to David at what was one of the lowest points in his life.
So the Israelite Ahithophel puts the knife in David’s back and the Philistine Ittai stands by David no matter what the cost.
This is not what we would have expected. All the goodies are Israelites and all the badies are Philistines. Surely all
Philistines are like the evil Goliath and all Israelites are as pure and good as Moses - but not so.
Are all Muslims evil? Some are. Certainly the views of the extremists are. Simply put, they desire everybody to submit to
their interpretation of Islam. They are demanding the removal of western influences from Islamic culture, extraction of
foreign troops from Islamic countries and the establishment of Shariah law among other things. The ultimate goal is to
see every nation living under Islamic law. Every nation ruled by a Muslim Cleric.
The last thing they want to do is negotiate because their demands are uncompromising. Anyone who does not share
their views is a heretic and thus worthy of death. Terror attacks are intended to drive opponents into submission to their
point of view regardless of the cost.
But there are those who would argue that terrorist attacks have more to do with nationalism than religion. The real driving
force behind those who blow themselves up is the deep passionate desire to see their homelands free of any and all
foreign forces.
Religion, politics or is it simply human nature? What we have at the moment is a radical ideology of hate and violence
which has seduced disaffected young men searching for some great cause.
There are over a billion Muslims in the world today. It is pretty obvious that only the tiniest fraction are terrorists.
I have a friend who is an overt Christian. He lives in Newport. He has a neighbour who is an overt Muslim. He works for a
Christian organisation and the Muslim works for a Muslim organisation. Yet the friendship is of some substance. These
two care about each other. Who would have thought it?
It is a great thing to be an Ittai; to stand by someone when they are in the depths of despair. To bring reassurance to
someone suffering that they are not alone; that you will be there with them.
Jesus has promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us. Powerful stuff at moments of feeling totally abandoned.
The next event on the journey was the crossing of the Kidron Valley. There Zadok and Abiathar and their team caught up
with David. They had brought the ark.
David sends the ark back to Jerusalem. That is where it belongs. If David is going to worship at the ark then it will be
because God has restored him to his home.
David knew there was more going on than Absalom’s rebellion. David had been told that he would come under God’s
judgement. If this was God’s will for David then he would not rebel against it.
Absalom is tearing David’s world apart. And David recognises that he deserves every blow.
In the act of sending the ark back David signifies that he will accept whatever it is that God brings to him. Obviously he
would love to have the ark with him. He would love to hang on to the priests. But they belong in Jerusalem. If David is to
have a worship service at the ark then it must be restored to Jerusalem. If God does not restore him to his home then he
will accept his destiny.
What comes through here is David’s complete submission to the will of God.
God’s word had told David that there would be trouble in his house. Therefore David does not believe that God has
abandoned him. God has not forsaken him. God is still at work in his life. These troubles had been promised!
From the Kidron Valley David moves up the Mount of Olives. Not long before reaching the top David receives the news
that Ahithophel has gone over to the other side. Ahithophel was part of David’s inner circle (1 Chron 27:33). He was a
man that David had admired and had leant upon.
While David has some who are going to stand with him regardless of the cost he has others who moved to the other side
rather quickly - Ahithophel being one. Ahithophel is a very important ally for Absalom as his counsel was so highly valued
by David.
For David the sad thing was knowing why Ahithophel had abandoned him. Ahithophel is Bathsheba’s grandfather (11:3 &
23:34). We are not surprised that he joins the anti David movement. David had been warned by Nathan that there would
be terrible troubles (12:11) as a result of his adultery and murder and here they were.
From the top of the Mount he would have had a clear view of his palace and all that he had worked so hard to achieve.
All that he loved was being taken from him.
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David prays that God will turn Ahithophel’s normally superb counsel into foolishness. Praying that God will frustrate the
plans of those planning evil is a good thing to do.
David’s prayers are starting to be answered when his friend Hushai arrives on the scene. Who would have believed that
the dishevelled Hushai would be the means that God would use to answer David’s prayer.
David sends Hushai back to the city to join the Absalom camp as a counter espionage agent. And when the prayer is
answered it will be so natural that only those who believe in prayer will understand that Absalom’s choice of Hushai’s
advice over Ahithophel was nothing less than an answer to prayer.
It would seem that Hushai was aged or perhaps infirmed because David felt he would not cope with the life in the
wilderness.
David is going to have a group of five very influential men in the very heart of Absalom’s camp.
Zadok and Abiathar will set up a system of spies. These two venerated priests will be privy to all that is going on. Every
useful piece of information they will pass on to their sons who will then carry the reports to David’s camp.
The plan is for Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son, Jonathan, to bring what news they can to the ford on the river
Jordan. The ford being a well known spot would serve them well as a rendezvous.
The journey continues and just after crossing the summit of the Mount of Olives David meets Ziba. The exodus had been
a rushed affair. The party would have left with inadequate provisions. The hungry weary travellers would have been
greatly cheered at the sight of donkeys loaded with food and wine. There were no “Road Houses” back then. Going to
bed hungry that night was all David and his party could look forward to. Ziba’s thoughtfulness was guaranteed to bring
happiness to the party.
Ziba was the chief steward in the house of Saul. He was the manager of Saul’s estates and farms. Following his death all
Saul’s wealth was transferred to the next king. David had in time given Saul’s property over to Saul’s grandson,
Mephibosheth. Ziba was an employee of Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was a cripple and had not joined David as he fled
from Jerusalem. Why? Well according to Ziba, Mephibosheth was hoping the coup by Absalom would so unsettle things
there might be a chance the people will want to go back to the house of Saul and put him on the throne.
But no stretch of the imagination could have caused anyone to believe that the cripple Mephibosheth would ever be king.
Besides he had been more than happy living in retirement.
David asks, “Why have you brought these?” “Well” says Ziba, “they are for riding on and for eating”. That is not what
David was asking. What David wants to know is what is behind your decision to follow me?
Ittai’s decision to follow David is without self-interest. Is Ziba’s?
Ziba wants David to know that he is fully with him to the point of abandoning his master. Ziba’s loyalties are with David.
But are they? As Ziba probably guessed David rewarded him rather nicely. Everything that had belonged to
Mephibosheth is handed over to Ziba. This is quite some wealth.
But in order to picture himself as being loyal he had to picture Mephibosheth as being disloyal. But is he? Later in the
story (19:24) we will see that Mephibosheth will claim that he was never anything but loyal to David. The only reason that
he had not followed David was because he could not, due to his handicap.
Ziba is all about making a good impression and then profiting by it. He is the very opposite of the one who would do his
good deeds quietly, seeking no reward. He is the opposite of the one who does not let the left hand know what the right
hand is doing.
David and his party move on and pass the town of Bahurim. Out of Bahurim came a rather difficult individual, named,
Shimei. He was a member of Saul’s extended family. He had a chip on his shoulder. He had never come to terms with
the fact that David is now the rightful king. He makes the assumption that David is suffering because David has pushed
Saul out. He certainly got the bit right about David suffering. But the bit about why David is suffering he got wrong. It has
nothing to do with Saul and everything to do with Bathsheba.
Shimei is so angry David is king and not a descendent of Saul that as far as he is concerned David is nothing but bad.
He shuts his eyes to the good that David had done for some of the descendents of Saul. He seems to have chosen to
forget how much David has done for Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth.
Shimei ran up onto a ridge which ran parallel to the road that David was travelling along. There was some sort of ravine
also which separated the ridge from the part that David was on. The ridge and the ravine must have given him a feeling
of safety. From this position he started to scream obscenities at David. He worked himself up into quite an emotional
state. As well as screaming he started to chuck dirt and stones down on David and his party.
Shimei was incredibly vindictive. The party was already weighed down with great emotional stress, yet he continued
pelting them with stones and clods of earth.
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In the nations surrounding Israel, there was a terrible fear of being cursed. Curses were seen as powerful. They were the
means of manipulating situations and causing people great harm. There were plenty of anti curse rituals that were in use.
But we find none of these rituals in use among God’s people. For those who believed in the sovereign control of God
over all things curses could simply be ignored. If God wants to bless you then all the curses in the world will do you no
harm.
It was not Shimei and his words that needed to be feared but God who judges. If David has done wrong then he needs to
fear God, for it is God who will judge. Shimei’s curse is powerless. All Shimei’s words were doing was awakening David’s
conscience to the wrong he had done
Shimei is so worked up he has no idea that he is courting death. One of David’s body guards, Abishai, turns to David and
asks for the order to go and kill this maniac. One word from David and Abishai and half a dozen crack troops would have
been up the side of the hill on Shimei long before he could have escaped.
Removing Shimei’s head is one way of dealing with this problem. But there is another. Rather than lash out David will
take his pain and hurt to God.
David in essence saved the life of the one who was cursing him.
David will trust God to bring justice in His time. David knows the word of God well. “It is mine to avenge; I will repay”
(Deut 32:35). If that word were true then David would not need to waste too much time and energy on Shimei. Whatever
wrongs Shimei was committing God would deal with in time.
Jesus too was reviled but did not revile in return (1 Peter 2:23).
Psalm 132 opens with the words, “O LORD, remember David and all the hardships he endured”. And He did - so too us.
Your hardships are always before Him.
But David will have no part of silencing Shimei. David wants to be submissive to God in every respect. Shimei is very
badly motivated. But David willingly accepts the pain that God has brought into his life. David is as good as his word. He
had said he was ready for God to do with him whatever seemed good to God (15:26). Now David shows that he meant
those words.
David in humility accepts that much of what Shimei says is true. David is a man of blood. Shimei has got wrong the place
where the damage was done. But he has not got wrong the fact that David has damaged people. And David knows it.
There is truth in what this man is screaming out. And David will not deny the truth even when it comes from such an ugly
mouth.
As an adulterer, and a murderer, David knew that if God had applied justice he should have died. Yet God had let him
live. Why then should he complain about stones and dirt, and some words that had an element of truth to them?
David knew he was living out the consequences of the wrong he had done. But he also knew he was forgiven and
therefore he did not have to live out those consequences alone. God was with him.
Verse 12 says, “it may be that the Lord will see my distress…” but the verse could be translated, “it may be that the Lord
will see my iniquity…” The word “iniquity” would seem the better translation for David seems to be acknowledging the
fact that the whole story is an outworking of his sin. David is owning the fact that even though he was assured of
forgiveness he knew there would be on going consequences for what he had done in the past. David was willing to
accept that Absalom’s revolt and Shimei’s abuse were consequences of his own actions.
David is saying, although God has seen my iniquity, and my sin, maybe He will nevertheless allow me to have prosperity.
Shimei is doing exactly what David deserves. He is looking upon David’s guilt and then responding accordingly. Cursing
him and throwing dirt at him.
David looks to God, and to God’s kindness, and believes that even though he deserves the curses which are being
rained down upon him, God will in fact treat him differently and extend kindness to him. David knew something about the
kindness of God.
David knew that God was deep and warm, and loving, and that He would extend compassion even while He was
disciplining him.
David believes in a God who reverses the curse. "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb
will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him." (Rev 22:3)
With verse 15 we return to Jerusalem. As David makes his way to the Jordan River, Absalom makes his way into the city
of Jerusalem.
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We are taken to a nasty little story to drive home the point that what David is suffering are the consequences of his own
actions.
David had left behind ten concubines. He had left them to take care of his palace. Concubines were never to be a part of
Israel’s kings’ way of life. Concubines may have been common among the kings of the neighbouring countries but they
were not for those who rule God’s people.
David had left behind a harem. He had obviously followed the practice of other kings in having concubines. That which
was meant to enhance his prestige will now be used to humiliate him. The notion of concubines was never God’s will.
Sexual relations with a king’s wife, or concubine, were tantamount to a claim to the throne. If a king was so weak that he
could not protect his wife from another he was too weak to rule.
Absalom’s act was a powerful message to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. If Absalom was strong enough to do this, then
David must be finished. After this outrageous act there was no going back. This act made the break between David and
Absalom irreversible.
Absalom was completely undeterred by the dehumanisation of the women involved. The deep concern that Absalom had
about the way that his sister was treated does not seem to have extended to these women. These are real women. What
Absalom does this afternoon will affect the rest of their lives (20:3). Tamar was never the same after Amnon touched her
and so too these women. The note about the affect this act will have on these women for the rest of their lives has been
included in the story because God wants us to know that He knows, and cares. These are women for whom God had
affection and compassion and pity.
The only goal now for Absalom was cementing his hold on power and to do this ‘corners’ must be cut. These were the
people of God and their law was very plain on the issue of being sexually active with a female that your father had been
sexually active with (Lev 18:7&8). It was not on.
By invading his father’s most intimate and private world he was taking his attack on his father to the farthest extremes.
The event was staged in such a way that no one in Jerusalem would miss either the act or its significance. Everyone on
the streets would have watched the concubines file in followed by Absalom. That tent would have held the attention of
the whole city. Looking at the tent would have been everyone’s occupation. This was all pretty gross. This is a bit like Big
Brother. This public display of sexuality is all very much over the top.
But this new king is going to be pictured as being strong and virile no matter how gross the scene.
God had said something like this would happen (12:11&12). In fact it happens at the very spot that David had lusted after
Bathsheba.
This episode shouts at us, indeed it screams at us, “here are the consequences”. There are always consequences. As
Nathan said, "This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before
your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad
daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel’” (2 Sam 12:11&12). When Nathan
said those words such a thing was so inconceivable that many would not have believed him. But God’s word always
comes true.
67

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 7 August 2005
17
68
2 Samuel 17:1-29
Narcissism
If Absalom is going to make this coup work he is going to have to make some very wise decisions. But being cut off from
God, his only source of wisdom will be human brain power. He will not have access to God. While deliberately doing
wrong he will be wasting his time praying. He has already said, “No” to what God wants.
Absalom’s major failure was to seek what God would have. But this he cannot do for there is no way God would bless
any part of the rebellion. His act of rebellion was as much against God as it was against his father.
This church is led by a group of rather intelligent men. Our deacons meet once a month to discuss the well being of this
place. Their combined brain power is not insignificant. But these men know that human wisdom and insight is not
enough. So they pray. In fact they meet once a month to do business, and once a month to do nothing else but pray.
Each time they hold a prayer meeting they are acknowledging that straight human intelligence is not enough. We need
God’s guidance and wisdom as well.
Absalom may have bright brains working for him, but he does not have the wisdom that God can, and does feed to those
who seek it.
It would seem on the surface that Absalom has nothing in front of him but success. He has Ahithophel with him.
Ahithophel has a brilliant mind and had been in the past a very useful colleague of David. But Absalom does not have
God and without God his ultimate end is not going to be good.
Absalom’s rejection of his father must go the whole way. While his father lived he would never be secure. The previous
king must die before Absalom can be the undisputed leader. And so he turns to the chief political advisor in the land,
Ahithophel, and asks him what he should do.
Reality is Ahithophel’s advice is absolutely spot on, he has read the situation correctly and to march now would have
virtually guaranteed victory against David.
Ahithophel’s advice to march with 12,000 men is in order that everyone knows that all 12 tribes are represented. In fact
Ahithophel did not actually say 12,000 men but 12 divisions. Ahithophel’s plan was not to have an all out war but simply
eliminate David and then bring his supporters back into the fold. It is a picture of David dead and all living happily ever
after under Absalom’s rule.
Ahithophel was not interested simply in a war, but the elimination of David. Any plan that avoids going to war has to be a
good plan.
We know that David is disorganised, and discouraged, and in no position to mount any substantial defence.
If Absalom had acted on Ahithophel’s advice things would have turned out quite differently. But he did not! It is interesting
that Absalom feels so insecure as to need further advice.
Hushai is called in. He has to think on his feet. He is under terrible pressure. If what he says is too obviously slanted
toward giving David the edge he will be seen for the double agent that he was. If on the other hand his advice is solid
wisdom truly designed to give Absalom the best move he will be failing in his real goal, to help David.
Hushai’s comments are based on the fact that Absalom, and everyone else, knows that David is the most formidable
warrior. David was nothing if he were not a military genius. Hushai throws up some rather emotive comparisons. David
and his men are “as fierce” as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Even men with “hearts of lions” will “melt with fear” before
David. He needs to sow the seed in Absalom’s mind that Ahithophel is underestimating David.
At the very heart of Ahithophel’s plan was the assumption that David was feeling defeated. At the very heart of Hushai’s
plan was the assumption that David was like a ferocious lion ready to destroy anyone who got too close.
According to Hushai the way to deal with David is to mobilise the whole of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba. Then and only
then with a huge army marshalled should Absalom go to war with David. Absalom himself as the new king should lead
this massive roll out of fighting men.
Hushai’s speech is a master stroke. It plays up to Absalom’s vanity. The man can already picture himself at the head of
these massive columns of troops. If people think David is fierce then let them see how fierce Absalom looks at the head
of his army.
Hushai’s speech made Absalom the centre of everything. Hushai’s speech appealed to Absalom’s vengeance. Why just
eradicate David why not kill all those who went with him.
More Absalom liked the idea of crushing a powerful warrior and his troops, more than he liked the picture of quietly
bringing home David’s men.

Absalom will follow advice that will lead him to his death. He has been persuaded by a speech full of vague references,
words like, David is hidden in a cave or “some other place”, and we will attack him “wherever he may be found” and if he
withdraws into “a” city, which city?!
At the start of Hushai’s speech David is a dangerous warrior at the end of his speech David is hiding in some unknown
city. But Absalom misses all this. Absalom is lost in the image of riding at the head of a splendid army.
Absalom is oblivious to the fact that Hushai’s only real goal was to give David time. And the time taken for Absalom to
arrange his army is the time David needs to recover and also place himself in territory that was going to give him the best
advantage.
But there is more to Absalom’s response than his pride. God, we are told, was determined to frustrate the much more
wise advice of Ahithophel (v14). And God was determined to do this because He was answering David’s prayer (15:31)
that God do exactly that.
God had promised to sustain David on his throne (1 Sam 7:16) and God is going to keep His word.
“The God of heaven will set up a kingdom and it will stand forever” (Dan 2:24). The kingdom is always under attack and
the kingdom always survives. So the kingdom is under attack and equally under protection.
We have no guarantee that we will be saved from personal disaster but we do have a guarantee that we are part of a
kingdom which will stand forever.
We have to live with the fact that God’s sovereignty seems invisible and we see evil men doing all sorts of dastardly
things, but we know the truth, God is sovereign and the kingdom will survive.
God’s sovereignty is not meant to give us answers to philosophical problems but spiritual comfort.
Things are not happening haphazardly. Events are not controlled by luck and fate. It is God Himself who is in control.
Even in this messy piece of history God is alive and active.
God’s sovereignty is hidden behind conversations and decisions, and activities and crises, in our lives but it’s working all
the time. God is not absent but neither is He obvious.
God is always at work. He is at work in history, and history is a very long story. God is working out His purposes in this
story, and in all our stories.
Hushai’s ability to persuade the court of Absalom is outstanding. But there is more going on. Absalom is not simply
persuaded by Hushai’s arguments, powerful though they were. He is not persuaded simply because Hushai’s approach
appealed to him.
There is more happening under the surface. God had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to
bring disaster on Absalom (17:14). Having heard what God is determined to do there is no doubt now as to how this story
will end. It will be interesting to see the story unfold, but the suspense is gone. We now know the end. God has spoken.
God has told us the end. If we believe what God says then we know that Absalom is doomed to fail.
The other night Anne and I went to the cinema. We made a bad choice of films. We saw War of The Worlds. The
problem with the film was the fact that there was no suspense. We knew how the story was going to end. There was a
scene or two that had a bit of action but for the rest of the time it was simply a matter of waiting for what we knew was
going to happen. This was a story where the end was well known and was an end where everything works out well.
So it is here. Now we know that God had “determined” we know that David is safe. No matter how precarious he may
look at this point in time, we know he is safe.
So too you and I we know how our end will be. We know that an eternity in heaven awaits us. We know that we have
nothing to fear at the judgement. We know that our end is going to be good, very good in fact. There is no suspense left.
We may have a few scary moments on our way through life but the end is absolutely safe. The great inheritance that
awaits us in eternity is guaranteed.
With the decision made in Absalom’s camp Hushai’s next job was to inform David. David needed to be told both what
Ahithophel had said and what Hushai had advised, just in case Absalom changed his mind and went back to
Ahithophel’s plan. We know that Absalom has opted for Hushai’s plan but Hushai does not know it yet. David must be
warned to prepare for the worst.
All the ‘goodies’ are in the dark. They still think there is every chance that Absalom will follow Ahithophel’s advice and
attack immediately. David must be warned of an imminent attack from a small elite band or of a massive onslaught in the
next couple of weeks.
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So David needed to keep moving and get as much space as possible between himself and Absalom. He needed to be
on the other side of the Jordan before nightfall.
Jerusalem is now on a war footing. No one could simply head off in the direction that David had gone without being
questioned as to their business.
David’s five allies in the city had already worked out how they would get news to David. Hushai informs the two senior
priests, Zadok and Abiathar of the situation and of the possibility of an imminent attack if Ahithophel’s advice is followed.
The five men are named but in fact the plan would have failed if not for the bravery of two unnamed women.
Here is a story within the story showing how God is for His servant David; and if for David then for all his servants. The
getting of the news to David is going to be very precarious. The way things go you wonder if the message has any hope
of getting through. And without God’s intervention there was no hope.
The priests send word to their sons via a servant girl. The two sons of the two senior priests Jonathan and Ahimaaz had
stationed themselves outside the city walls at a well called, En Rogel. Not much more than a kilometre in the Kidron
Valley. To and from the city to the well there was a constant stream of traffic.
The plan was for the girl to take the information to the two young men and they were then to get the news to David. A
servant girl making her way out of the city to the spring of water would not draw any attention at all. There would be
nothing suspicious about this. Dozens of girls would be doing the same thing.
The first part of the plan went well. The girl connected with the two young men and passed the news along. But the
second part of the plan went wrong. A young chap saw Jonathan and Ahimaaz and realised that if they were out of the
city chatting to a servant girl they must be up to no good. The young man immediately went and informed Absalom of
what he had seen.
We wonder what happened to that servant girl.
Jonathan and Ahimaaz realised that they had been seen and took off over the Mount of Olives and headed into the
village of Bahurim. This is the village where Shimei lives. Obviously not all in the village are of the same persuasion as
was Shimei. They approached the house of someone who they must have known supported David. By going to this
home they were putting the man and his wife in terrible danger. The couple willingly took Jonathan and Ahimaaz in. They
hid them in their well and then the wife spread a covering over the top and scattered grain over it. She camouflaged it in
such a way that it looked undisturbed.
Within a very short period of time Absalom’s men were in the village searching high and low for the sons of the priests.
The house where the young men were hiding was searched and the owners questioned. The wife informed the soldiers
that the chaps had passed through the village but were now gone.
With Jonathan and Ahimaaz down the well things were looking very precarious, but God was at work and the soldiers
gave up and went back home. Here is the first failure of Absalom’s troops.
Was this a coincidence? It could have been. Or it could have been God at work. What do you think? A few weeks ago
one of our number had a massive aneurism. He could have died. But he had it just out the front of his place. He had it at
the very moment there were a couple of chaps on hand to give first aid and get medical help. Coincidence or God at
work? What do you think?
Here is the balance again. If one person in Bahurim hates David so much that he will throw rocks and dirt at him there
will be another in the same village who loves David so much that they will risk their lives for him. If there is an Ahithophel
ready to sell David out, there is an Ittai who will stand with him. If there is an Absalom ready to kill David, there is a
Hushai ready to die for David. If David must run with nothing, then there will be friends enough who will feed him.
And so it is with us. If there are bills then there is money to pay them. If there are those who put us down then there are
those who lift us up. We all have problems and things that worry us, and we all have nice things in our lives too. Which
we spend our time thinking about is up to us. Count your blessings. It could be that there are in fact more of them than
there are problems.
As soon as Absalom’s men were gone Jonathan and Ahimaaz were on their way. On hearing what they had to say David
immediately crossed the Jordan with his company in spite of the fact that it was night. Moving David’s whole party across
would have taken some time. It would have been like getting all the cars out of a car park at the end of football match.
With the river between himself and Absalom, David now had both the time and the room to manoeuvre. With David on
the other side of the river Absalom had lost his golden opportunity to strike. He had forfeited his advantage. There can be
no sudden surprise attack now.
Ahithophel was a very wise man. He now knew that from this point on David would go from strength to strength. There
would be no stopping David now. And when David finally had the kingdom back Ahithophel had little doubt as to what his
fate would be. In his mind he followed the path of logic and reason to its bitter end.
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And according to logic there was nothing in Ahithophel’s future but death. When judged he will be found guilty of treason.
This man has no notion of forgiveness. He does not allow for grace and kindness. Surely he has seen the way that David
has forgiven others. Surely he has heard enough of the grace and kindness of God. Does he really think that his wrong
and sin is too great to be forgiven. Does he really think that his sin is greater than anyone else’s?
David speaks of Ahithophel in Psalm 41:9 where he says, “even my bosom friend in whom I trusted and who ate bread
with men has lifted up his heel against me”.
The heart of Ahithophel’s sin was his selfishness. The man was an opportunist. The moment he saw a better opportunity
for himself with Absalom than with David, he happily ditched David. When David was on top he was with David when
David was on the way down he dropped him.
He is like Judas, a trusted companion who at the moment of crisis turns on his leader in anticipation of personal gain. It is
not incidental that Jesus quotes Psalm 41:9 when speaking of Judas (Matt 27:5 and John 13:18).
Gethsemane, by the way, is very close to the point where David learnt of Ahithophel’s betrayal (15:30-31).
At the end of the day Ahithophel and Judas had both been living for no one but themselves. When self could not be
benefited and pampered there was no purpose in living.
If you live a life of service then there is never an end of reasons to go on living for there are always people with needs to
help and serve. But if you live only for yourself there comes a point when there is no point in going on.
Jesus said in John 13:17 ‘now that you know these things you will be blessed if you do them’.
What are the things? Well what He has just done - that is wash dirty feet. So the blessed life, the rich life, the life
abundant (John 10:10) is the life of serving others. A life of service is rich beyond belief.
Here is evilness. Evilness is self-love or narcissism. It is to be only interested in yourself. What others are feeling and
suffering matters nothing to you as long as you are okay.
Ahithophel suicided when things did not work out for him. This should not surprise us for suicide is the most selfish act
that a human can commit. It is saying that “I am not getting what I want in this life so I am out of here”. There is no
thought of the fact that life is for serving others.
The opposite of evilness is holiness. So holiness must be whatever evilness is not. Therefore if evilness is self-love then
holiness is love of others. God is holy and God is love. Holiness and love are the same thing.
Be careful, the temptation to betray is always at the door. If our primary goal is to ‘get’ then when our leaders, our friends,
our parents, our spouse, our church, our God disappoint us we will “turn them in”. If God does not deliver what we had
thought He would we will turn Him in and go and find a god who will. Dig deep and you may find it is all about God
serving us and not us serving God. It is all about our church serving us and not us serving the people of God.
Meanwhile David headed on up to Mahanaim, some 45 kms to the north. This was where Jacob had seen the army of
angels sent to protect him (Gen 32).
The delay while Absalom raises his army is the delay that David needs. It is the opportunity that David will not miss to
organise himself for battle. And the area that David sets himself up in is forested hill country. When the day of battle
comes Absalom will have to move all his troops and equipment over the river and he will have to do battle in a place of
David’s choosing.
The army commander was the formidable Joab. Joab was of course with David so Absalom needed to appoint another to
the role, he chooses, Amasa. Amasa is a cousin of Joab. The reason for the family history is that we might not miss the
fact that this is a civil war. In this war the people of God are fighting each other. This is terrible fighting for all are
ultimately fighting to make Israel a better place. Absalom honestly thought the people of God would be better off under
his leadership. This has all the hall marks of church infighting.
David is now on the east side of the Jordan. The local heads of government all rally around David. These small territories
are all part of the empire that Jerusalem ruled over. These rulers are going to stand with David.
These men of substance brought David substantial provisions. Their concern for David is expressed in their giving.
David has a table furnished for him in the presence of his enemies (Psa 23:5). Against all that would be expected David
is provided with all he needs. God does not fail to provide.
These men were acting in faith. They believed God would bring David through. From a human point of view David could
still lose. If he did then all who had supported him would be punished when Absalom arrived to reign.
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Our king Jesus may not look very powerful at the moment. He is despised and treated with contempt. But like David’s
friends we will stand with Him in faith. Like these Trans Jordan rulers we believe that Jesus’ destiny is to rule, and we
believe this no matter how things may look at the moment.
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A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 14 August 2005
18
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2 Samuel 18:1-33
A father’s love
This battle was a disaster in the making for Absalom. Of this there was no doubt because God had determined to bring
disaster on Absalom (17:14). And because God had determined to bring disaster on Absalom things had worked out in
such a way as to allow David to get to the far side of the Jordan River. We are not dealing with David’s good luck! We
are not dealing with a series of lucky coincidences - God is at work.
With the river between him and Absalom and his army, David has had the time to establish himself in the city of
Mahanaim. The most important thing about all this is that David has been able to choose the spot where the battle will
take place. In order to fight, Absalom and his army will have to go wherever David is. And David has chosen a densely
wooded area. Therefore an area which is much less suited to the huge army that Absalom is seeking to wield and much
more suited to David’s smaller numbers.
By delaying going to war Absalom has handed on a platter everything David needed to bring about a victory.
Much of Gilead was covered in forest at that time. This is where David wanted the battle fought, about 5 kms from
Mahanaim. Here in this type of terrain huge troop numbers were not going to count for much. Mass numbers of soldiers
could not be marched in lines and columns through this type of country. Absalom’s solid mass of men were not going to
do well in the forest. Visibility would be very limited. The commanders would have no end of trouble communicating
orders. In this environment what would count would be the experience and the courage of the individual soldier. And
David’s professional soldiers would be infinitely more skilled than Absalom’s part time soldiers.
The chapter opens with the battle imminent. With the somewhat chaotic rush from Jerusalem now behind them David is
able to put together his battle strategy. Joab is his commander-in-chief and so we would have expected him to be given
full command of this small army. But no, David divides what men he has into three companies, and he himself will take
the role of commanding officer. In the environment that they were about to fight in three independent companies were
going to be a much more efficient fighting force than one company.
The men were most unhappy at the thought of David exposing himself to the dangers of the battle field. His men could
see what Ahithophel had seen, only David needed to die for the coup to succeed. So they insist that he not go into battle
with them.
David will not fight but he is still the commander-in-chief and gives his generals a last minute briefing. He says the most
remarkable words. “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake”.
Absalom had pushed David from his palace. David is now homeless. Absalom is coming after him. Absalom is coming to
kill him. More, Absalom has been working for years toward this moment. David is literally being hunted. Yet in spite of
this his words are, “deal gently with the young man”. What depth of forgiveness resides in this man’s heart?
Absalom had stood at the gate of Jerusalem and had constantly undermined his father (15:1-6), David stood at this city
gate and gave the word that Absalom is to be dealt with gently; this Absalom who had been anything but gentle with his
father; this man who had violated his concubines; this man who killed his eldest brother, David’s first born son. Yet this is
the man that David wishes to protect.
As the men marched off David had little doubt that they would be victorious. The best of the army officers were with
David. And although his army was small it was a professional army. Absalom was working with the “B team” of officers
and the bulk of his men were part time volunteers. Absalom may have had vastly superior numbers David may be
grossly outnumbered, but David’s men were well trained and totally dedicated.
David was so convinced that his men would be victorious that he gave a very specific order. Absalom was not to be
killed, or as David worded it, deal gentle with him. What David is longing for is reconciliation with a repentant and broken
Absalom. It was David’s hope that with the rebellion smashed Absalom would come home seeking forgiveness and
reconciliation. And above everything David wanted reconciliation with his son.
David forgives all. This is not easy stuff. We must not think that it was a light thing for David to forgive all that his son has
done. We know it isn’t because David has not come to this place in a hurry. When Absalom arrived back from his
grandfather’s following the murder of his brother, David would have nothing to do with him. But David has got beyond
that point now.
David does not deal with his son according to his sins. He absorbs the wrong done to him.
David has done his half of the work necessary for reconciliation to take place. David has given up his resentment. He has
given up any longing for revenge. But that is as far as he can go. If reconciliation is to take place Absalom must do his
half of the work. He must repent, he must apologise, he must confess, he must own the pain he has caused his dad. And
until he has done that there can be no reconciliation no matter how much forgiveness is in David.

David has moved since Absalom arrived home. We wonder why? Is it that he is starting to see what happens when there
is no forgiveness? Things do not stay the same they get worse.
Absalom had murdered his brother and David had publicly humiliated him by refusing to allow him back into the inner
circle. So Absalom retaliates by launching his coup. And we would expect David to retaliate by making sure that Absalom
was killed in battle. But no, David brings the cycle to an end. He will not retaliate any more.
Jimmy Carter the American President 1976 to 1980 has written an historical novel. It tells the story of the effect of the
Revolution on his home state, Georgia. In the 1770’s the most awful war took place between America and England as
America struggled for independence. But it was not really a war between America and England it was more a civil war
between those who wanted to be free of the English parliament and king and those who preferred to live under the
English government. His book is history with a few fictional characters to help spice things up. What Carter brings out
brilliantly is the terrible way in which evil proliferates when there is nothing but retaliation.
One of his key characters is a chap by the name of Thomas Brown. Brown is committed to the king and the English
parliament. One day he happens to be in a frontier town hotel. He was on a journey and was simply staying overnight.
During the evening one of the locals proposed a toast to the revolution and the damning of the king. Everyone took up
their glasses - but not Brown. The rough crowd turned on him. They knocked him about and tied him up intending to do
him more damage in the morning. And this they did. They stripped him of his clothes and poured hot tar over his body
and then covered him with feathers. It took him some weeks to recover from the ordeal. He lived for the rest of his life
with burn scars.
But was this the end. Of course not, Brown changed direction in life. He poured all his time and energy into forming the
Florida Rangers, a group of men who made it their business to harass the ranches of known Whig or revolutionary
sympathisers. Their vandalism reaches its peak on the afternoon they charge into the coral of a ranch of a revolutionary
and kill a seven year old boy, the only son of the couple who were both away from the homestead at the time of the
attack. And as you can imagine the grieving father then abandons everything to join the revolutionaries and plays his part
bringing mayhem.
Why were the men in that frontier hotel so hostile to a man who would not join their toast? Because not that long before
one of their number had had his barn with all that he owned burned down by sympathisers to the cause of the king.
The frontiers men in the hotel could not forgive those who were rampaging and burning the property of those who
supported the revolution and hence they could not forgive Brown for failing to join in their toast. Brown could not forgive
the frontiers men for tarring and feathering him. The father of the murdered child cannot forgive those who took his son.
And on it goes.
And if you do not forgive you stand in danger of doing evil. In fact you do not have much choice, either forgive or add to
the amount of bitterness and evil in this world, even if that bitterness is only in your heart. Only in your heart! Whatever is
in your heart will come out in your attitudes even if not in your words and deeds. Oh yes, if you have resentment in your
heart you are adding to the total amount of evil and wickedness in this world.
We are told that the battle spread over the whole countryside (v8). What we are being told is that the effect of the
wooded landscape was to remove all sense of direction so soldiers were constantly losing their bearings and getting lost.
But even more importantly Absalom’s men were unable to hold together as a unit. David’s choice of battle field was
perfect. This was very rough terrain. There was much undergrowth, there were many hidden pitfalls. David’s men did not
have to take on the overwhelming numbers that Absalom had brought across the river. The forest broke up Absalom’s
formations. David’s troops had to deal with individual soldiers and in that David’s men were far superior to the men
Absalom had.
David’s battle plan had been to draw Absalom into the forest. And Absalom was so sure of himself he had not realised
that it was the worst possible place for an army of his type to do battle. Moving large numbers of troops quickly through
thick woods and bush was a hopeless task. So much so that we are told the forest claimed more lives than the battle did.
Men got lost, men got tangled up in thickets, and formations broke up. Officers were unable to communicate to the men.
It was an awful day, 20,000 men died. Probably mainly the less well trained and disciplined men who had volunteered to
join Absalom. Yet for all these huge losses the account gives no space to the battle. All centres on Absalom’s death.
In the end it was nothing more than a tree that undoes Absalom. God did not need a sword to stop Absalom, only a tree.
When some of David’s men come across him they do not have to fight. All they need to do is report his predicament to
their superiors.
In Israel kings and princes normally chose mules rather than horses. Whatever, his mount and the chariot he had
brought for himself were all of no real value in this dense terrain he would have been better off on foot. But the man was
keen to look like a king and hence would not leave his mule.
The man was obviously more interested in looking like a king than he was in being a warrior. Where was his helmet?
Why no hair cut before going to war?
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As he was moving through the forest, obviously much quicker than he should have been, he did not duck quickly enough
as he went under yet another tree, or was he looking back over his shoulder. His head, or more likely his hair, got caught
in the branches, in a second he was dragged off his mule and hanging from the branches. The comment about his thick
and long hair given earlier when we were being told how good looking he was (14:26) was probably a hint as to how that
which he was so proud of would be his undoing.
So Absalom is not caught by David’s men but as a result of an accident.
Absalom only cut his hair once a year. It was a pity that hair cut day was not this week. That which he took so much pride
in as to have it weighed, now becomes the means by which he is rendered helpless.
The man hangs there defenceless and useless in the middle of the battle.
God has brought him down. His army is gone. His dignity is gone. His grab for the throne is over. He is hanging there
with nothing.
Do you remember when he wanted to have a chat with Joab and Joab would not go and see him? So what Absalom did
was bring some pain into Joab’s life. He set fire to his crops. Absalom had Joab’s attention within the hour. Absalom
knows how the system works.
God has brought him to this place. It is God who has brought this disaster on him. God is screaming at the man. If he
does not start asking the big questions now he never will. God has brought this man to the end of his tether. And God
has brought him there because God wants to do business with him.
Judgement is about to strike. But before it does there is this moment in which Absalom has time to cry out for mercy.
He hangs between heaven and earth. Death is imminent. This is the time for him to come to terms with the reality of his
life. And so it is with us. We hang between heaven and hell. Now is the time to come to terms with the reality of our lives.
Now is the time to seek the mercy of God. Absalom only had a short time left. Did he think Joab would not dare touch the
son of the king? Did he think he was immune from judgement? Do you?
It was CS Lewis who said that pain is God’s megaphone. God would remind you again and again that life is very short
and judgement is on the way.
The first man to come across Absalom honours David’s command not to hurt him. Absalom is a prisoner and the soldier
simply reports his capture to Joab.
Joab could not understand how his men could have come across the enemy and not kill. Joab tells the man who had
found Absalom that if he had come with a report of having killed Absalom he would have rewarded him with money and a
promotion.
The warrior’s belt that Joab said he would have given the chap implies a promotion (1 Sam 18:4).
This man is no wimp. He bites back at his officer. He tells him straight that he knows what the king had ordered and he
has no intention of breaking an order. But this chap pushes the matter further. He tells Joab that if he had killed Absalom
he doubts that Joab would have protected him when the king finally found out who had disobeyed his direct instruction.
To go against an order of the king would be treason. And the soldier does not believe for one minute that Joab would
have defended him when he was brought before the king. His assessment of Joab is not very high.
But his assessment of David was very high. His understanding of David is that David is in on everything. David was a
king who wanted to know. He was no distant landlord. This soldier felt so safe in David’s kingdom that he would answer
Joab back.
Joab had invested no small amount of time and energy in bringing Absalom back from his time in exile. Joab had
believed that Absalom needed to be in the country ready to take over when David finally died. But things had not worked
out as Joab had hoped. David and Absalom had never been reconciled.
We wait for Absalom to speak. We lean forward to hear him say, “I am sorry”. We inch forward to hear his, “plea for
mercy”. We want to hear his, “it’s all my fault”. But there are no words.
There is no conversation between Joab and Absalom at all. There is no cry for mercy, there is no cry for salvation and so
the judgement falls.
Joab takes three spears and jabs him three times in the chest as he hangs there helpless, but not deep enough to kill
him, just enough to cause him excruciating pain. In fact one of the commentators points out that the word for spear could
equally be used for stick. Only after he has tortured him does he give permission for others to join in and kill him. Joab
not only sees Absalom dead he sees him violated. No one person actually killed Absalom, it was a team effort.
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With Absalom dead Joab sounded the retreat signal. As the trumpet sounded throughout the forest David’s men started
their pull back and Absalom’s men in disarray started to make their individual ways home, each man keen to melt away
to oblivion. To be able to say in years to come that they were not a part of Absalom’s army.
Joab arranges the burial and it is to be nothing more than a pile of stones in a field which in a relatively short time would
cease to be identifiable. In fact it was not a burial. The body was thrown down and then pelted into oblivion in an orgy of
stone throwing.
This is how accursed men are dealt with (Josh 7:26). But this is what always happens to those who would defy God’s
chosen king.
Ahimaaz the son of one of the chief priests Zadok, had been in the inner circle from the time Absalom had launched his
rebellion. This young chap was keen to stay right in the middle of things. It was he who had brought the secret message
to David to get over the Jordan before nightfall. He had risked his life to deliver that message. If it were not for the couple
who had hidden him down their well he would have been killed by Absalom’s men. Now he wants to be the one who
takes to David the news of the victory. He was rather impatient to continue his important role of messenger. He wanted
again to take to the king a very important piece of information. It was he who had brought the message that David
needed to run, and now he wanted to bring the message that David can be at peace. Ahimaaz believed that David would
see God’s hand in the outcome of the battle. The young Ahimaaz was full of excitement. The rebellion has been crushed.
He had played a key part. He wants to be there when the king gets the results.
Joab knew the king much more intimately. He knew that David was going to be more interested in his son than the battle
in general. And this was not going to be good news for David. More, he does not want Ahimaaz blabbering on about the
way Absalom died.
Joab chooses a foreigner, a man for whom this would merely be a duty, a man for whom there would be no emotion in
the content of the message.
The Cushite doggedly does his job. The Cushites were African. We can assume this man was a slave. He follows his
orders and runs the shortest way back to Mahanaim, which means back through the forest. Ahimaaz uses his brain. He
goes around the forest. The route he uses is longer but it is all out in the open and so he can travel faster.
David is waiting back at Mahanaim. He is sat in the gate of the city. This is the porch area. The gateway would have had
an inner and an outer gate. In times of battle only one gate would be opened at a time. In between the two gates would
have been seats along the walls. The gates of cities were the place where the city elders gathered to do the city’s
business. It was a comfortable place out of the sun and yet still a public place.
Above the gateway would have been a turret. In the turret would have been a watchman, watching for anyone coming
from the area of battle. The watchman sees one man running alone. This is a good sign. The alternative would have
been either dozens of David’s men crawling home defeated or worse hundreds of Absalom’s men charging at the city.
But one man running with purpose and energy would have to be a bearer of good news.
When the watchman reports that it looks like Ahimaaz David is convinced that he is about to be told good news. Ahimaaz
was part of the inner circle. All must be well if he had come from the battle field. It was such disillusionment that Joab
wanted to save David from.
Ahimaaz brings the good news of the battle but when questioned about what was really on David’s mind, Absalom,
Ahimaaz pretends vagueness. David is so preoccupied with Absalom that he does not ask the expected questions -
losses, the welfare of his officers, the state of the enemy. The moment Ahimaaz realised that David was much more
interested in Absalom than he was in the battle, he realised the least he said the better.
Then the Cushite comes with the official news and expresses it objectively and kindly. He does not use Absalom’s name
and he does not use the word “dead”. This bad news needs to be wrapped up to soften the blow.
David is so overcome with grief that everything else fades. He does not even seem to appreciate all that his men have
just done for him. We would have assumed that he would have had joy at the victory and sorrow at the death of his son.
But there is nothing but sorrow. No joy at all.
The grief so overwhelms David that he starts to shake and to quiver. He is desperately agitated. The king sobs. He
responds as a father not a king. His throne is saved but his heart is broken. David has just heard the best news a king
could hear and the worst news a father could hear.
It is a deeply moving lament. "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you--O
Absalom, my son, my son!" In it David says, “Absalom” three times but “son” five times. There is no “young man” now. It
is his son. The son he loves and was never reconciled to.
What Absalom experienced in the end was justice and judgement and punishment, a judgement and a punishment that
David longed to save his son from.
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David would have willingly died for his son. He loved him though he was not loveable. If there had been some way that
the king and the father could have taken Absalom’s place he would have. There is nothing that this father would not have
done for his son.
It is the heart beat of the Father in heaven. It is the heart beat of the King of kings. Can you hear Him agonise over you?
Do you sense how much He loves you?
“Oh my son Jack.” “Oh my son Colin.” “Oh my son, ‘put your name in’.” “My son, my son, Brian.” “Oh my daughter Jane.”
“Oh my daughter, my daughter, Heather.” “Oh, ‘put your name in’ my son, my son.”
David can only say, “If only I had died instead of you”. But my King says, “I have died instead of you”. My King loves me
so much that He has stepped into my place as the one deserving punishment.
And so too our Father He loves us though we are not loveable, though we are rebels and sinners (Rom 5:7-10). Jesus
was willing to die for us though it is the last thing we deserve. David does not deal with his son according to his sins. And
neither does our Father. David extends kindness and grace to a son who does not deserve it and so does our Father.
David’s heart was open to Absalom, but Absalom missed his opportunity to respond. God’s heart is open to all of us. But
have you responded?
If we do not respond in repentance there can be no reconciliation, and without reconciliation the judgement must fall.
77

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 28 August 2005
19
78
2 Samuel 19:1-43
The return of the king
David’s men had come home victorious this should have been a day of victory celebrations and parties. But David’s
reaction to the death of his son had turned it into a day of heaviness.
The king has shut down emotionally. This grief consumes him and his troops go unrewarded. This situation could not be
maintained.
Normally after a battle the soldiers received much of their reward from the spoil and plunder. But there were never going
to be any such rewards from this war. The only reward that David’s men could look forward to was his personal
appreciation.
Medals needed to be handed out and David was not there to do it. David’s men needed to know their work had been
noticed and appreciated, that their lives have meaning and dignity. It is not enough that he was there as they marched
out he needs to be there as they march back.
It was not for nothing that Absalom had arranged a monument for himself (18:18). He had erected a pillar in memory of
himself in order that he and all that he had done should never be forgotten.
The thought that his name should be forgotten was of quite some concern to him. Without a son to pass on the stories of
his life he knew he would soon be forgotten. The matter of not having a son is interesting because we know that in fact
he had three. Was this monument built because he felt that without a son his name would be forgotten? But we know
that he had three sons (14:27). Does this mean that the three sons had died in infancy? Or does it mean that none of the
boys was showing any sign of promise? Or does it simply mean that he had built the monument before he had a family?
There is something awfully sad about having nothing more than a monument by which to be remembered.
I do not think Absalom is alone in wanting to be remembered after he dies. None of us wants to think that after we are
gone all we were and all we did will be forgotten in five minutes. They said of Gough Whitlam that he had his eye on the
history books, yet to be written.
We are the people of God and we know that our God remembers everything we do. We know that our lives have
meaning and dignity. That the things we do will never cease to count and be remembered.
The poor widow thought no one noticed as she put her tiny offering into the temple treasury. But Jesus was watching.
What she did was of quite some significance. It was of significance to Jesus. That act of generosity will never be
forgotten (Mark 12:41-44). The Roman centurion Cornelius was told that God was fully aware of all his good works (Acts
10:2-4). The matter is put in the plainest terms. We are told firstly that he is a generous man who prays much. Then we
are told that God was fully aware of the fact he is a generous man who prays. This Roman soldier working away in the
town of Caesarea doing his little bit of good is being watched by the Creator of the cosmos. What he is doing is of such
significance that God takes note of it.
On Judgement Day Jesus is going to pass comment on all our acts of kindness. In fact He tells us that as far as He is
concerned He will treat them as if they were done for Him personally. And if we do not forget in a hurry nice things done
for us we can be sure that He will not. "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my
Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you
gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I
needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then
the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to
drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick
or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers of mine, you did for me'” (Matt 25:34-40).
Paul said to the folk at Corinth, “Know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58). These lives of ours lived
for Jesus count for something.
Jesus spoke of our rewards in heaven. In fact Jesus believed that if we had lots of praise now we were in actual fact
diminishing the reward we will receive in heaven. Jesus said, "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand
know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in
secret, will reward you" (Matt 6:4). For Jesus there was no doubt about all that we had done being honoured.
David’s men are longing to be acknowledged by their king but David could not have ignored his men more completely
had they come back as failures. David sits with his face covered. His whole world has shut down. He has lost his son and
he drops into deep, deep depression. He is totally consumed in his own world. He cared nothing for what others were
feeling or going through.

He was not the only one who had lost a loved one that day. Many had died in that day’s fighting; there were other dads
and mums, wives and children, who had been shattered. But David misses it all. The only grief he wants to know about is
his own.
The king is failing his people and Joab will not have it. He confronts David head on. No sympathy. No apologies. No talk
of some time off work, just a brutal confrontation of David’s obligations.
His men have saved his life and the lives of the rest of his family members. David owes his men at the very least a word
of genuine appreciation. David’s men had laid their lives on the line for David. Fighting Absalom’s huge army had been a
life threatening exercise. These men honoured and loved David enough to have done this. But David will not so much as
come out and chat with them. It looked as though David would actually swap these good men for Absalom! He would
rather have had them die and Absalom live.
Joab needs to get David to see that nothing will bring Absalom back but if he is not careful he will lose his friends and
men, and nothing will bring them back either. Joab’s speech contains the longest sentence of spoken words in both 1
and 2 Samuel.
David must act. He must move immediately to reward his men with his personal thanks. Five times in his speech Joab
uses the word “today”. This is a crises and David must act now. Tomorrow may be too late. Tomorrow will be too late.
The troops may not be there tomorrow!
So David got up and took his seat in the gateway that is in the most public spot in the city. But there was no crowd. The
great celebrations that should have taken place when the men had marched home never eventuated. The men now have
to be called back.
So what we have is an anti-climax. The king should have been there to greet his men as they marched back from battle.
He should have been the first to move among his warriors and speak to the wounded, and commend the brave and
thank one and all.
Although it was an anti-climax at least the king has acknowledged his men and so the crisis has been averted. The men
will remain loyal.
Absalom is dead and now there is great uncertainty in the kingdom. Obviously all could see that the best way forward
would be to acknowledge David as king again. But no one seems to take the initiative to invite him back to his capital.
Everyone was acknowledging how appropriate it would be to invite David back but no one does anything. So David
sends a message to his close friends in Jerusalem, Zadok and Abiathar, the two chief priests, asking them to get things
going.
For David is was not just a matter of all the folk of Israel wanting him back, David needs to taste the kindness of his inner
circle back home. If these folk are in no hurry to have him back then the affirmation of the masses does not mean much.
David wants those in the capital to know that all is forgiven. So much so that he offers the post of chief of his army to
Amasa. This was Absalom’s general. He is about to appoint the general of Absalom’s men over his own general, Joab.
This was all that was needed to cause a huge wave of action the people of Judah and Jerusalem went into action to
bring David and his entourage home.
The elevating of Amasa was a powerful signal to the nation that those who had stood with Absalom will not be pushed
aside.
If someone as involved in the Absalom rebellion as Amasa had been could be restored, then anyone could. Here was a
powerful message that all was going to be forgiven. Ahithophel had suicided for nothing!
It was also a message to Joab that his action in killing Absalom was one step too far.
But we ask had Joab gone too far? How was it possible for Joab to deal gently with a man who would not admit defeat?
Absalom would not surrender. There were no words of submission. Absalom had his moment as he hung in the tree but
he would not cry for mercy. He was a stubborn rebellious man for him there could be nothing but judgement.
If our king, and our kingdom, is going to live forever then those in rebellion against it must be punished and dealt with.
Praying “deal gently” with those who never submit to Jesus is a waste of time. Hell is a reality.
Absalom hung between life and death as he hung from that tree. He was not dead but if he were to go on living he would
need to submit to his father and king. And if he would not submit then death was the only alternative. Joab thought he
had had long enough to repent. David would have given him longer.
Would he have changed his mind if given a little longer? We will never know. But what about you? We are each in the
same position as Absalom. We hover between life and death. If we are to live forever we must submit to the king who will
rule forever. How long have you got before Joab and death turn up?
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David moved down from Mahanaim and came as far as the bank of the Jordan. The crossing of the Jordan was a very
significant act for the Jordan was the border. All the action now takes place on the bank of the river. When the speeches
are over David will cross the river in procession with huge numbers of the population with him.
David will cross opposite the town of Gilgal. This was the place where Joshua had first camped after leading Israel
across the Jordan. Perhaps in choosing this town David was stating what this kingdom was all about. It was God’s
kingdom.
However this was not a procession with representatives from all the tribes. It is dominated by folk from the tribe of Judah.
As David left Jerusalem and the country he had a number of significant encounters on the way out. Now as he comes
home he again has another group of significant encounters.
The first one is Shimei, the man who had cursed David and thrown rocks and dirt at him. This man wants to be one of the
first to meet David and escort him across the river.
He comes to David and seeks his forgiveness. David has come back to rule and as ruler to be the chief judge in the land.
After what Shimei has done to David he knows he has no future! His only hope is that David will forgive him.
On what basis does he seek forgiveness? What excuses can he put up? What mitigating circumstances does he
mention? None, he simply and openly and freely lays out the fact that he has done an awful wrong. He confesses
everything. Abishai hears the confession. Abishai saw the wrong that Shimei had done. Abishai sums up the situation.
This man should die. And Abishai is quite right. But Abishai does not understand mercy, compassion, forgiveness and
grace.
David was not alone in having to deal with difficult people. If he had his “sons of Zeruiah” then Jesus had his “sons of
Zebedee”. These sons of thunder were all set to call down fire on a Samaritan village that offended them (Mark 3:17 &
Luke 9:51-56).
But Shimei has seen something of David. If David could forgive Absalom then surely there is hope for him. If Amasa
could be forgiven, then surely there is hope. This was the experience of the thief on the cross. When he heard Jesus cry
out, “Father forgiven them” of those who were torturing him, he came to believe that even he could be forgiven.
This man wants to be reconciled to David. He does his half of the work. He admits that he has hurt David deeply. He
owns the pain that he has caused David. He does not stay away from David. He comes willing to accept whatever David
does to him. This is good repentance. It is saying, “I know I have hurt you and therefore as much as I long for your
forgiveness I am willing to accept whatever you dish out to me. If you need to reject me and punish me then I am willing
to accept that without complaint for it is what I deserve”.
David forgives him. They are reconciled. There will be no punishment. But equally David never trusted the man again (1
Kings 2:8&36). David was wise enough to take steps to protect himself from this chap. David warned Solomon about him
and Solomon insisted that he live in the capital and never leave it for any reason whatsoever.
And so it is that we will have folk that we will forgive and be reconciled to but, simultaneously, we will protect ourselves
from them in the sense of not putting that person in a position where they can hurt us again.
In a marriage where one of the partners has done damage to the point where the marriage has collapsed the hurt party
must in time get over the rage and anger. They must come to a point of forgiving. But that does not mean that they
remarry the offender! That would be mad. No, they must protect themselves. You forgive and you protect.
Ministers who fail morally must be forgiven, but you would be mad to ever let them pastor a church again. Churches must
be protected from such people.
The next person is Mephibosheth. He presents David with a rather embarrassing situation. On his way out
Mephibosheth’s estate manager, Ziba, had gone to David with lots of provisions, and had told David that he had acted
alone because his master, Mephibosheth was standing with Absalom. David had believed Ziba. But here was the
evidence that Mephibosheth had been totally loyal to David all along. He certainly looks like one who has genuinely
missed David and taken no pleasure in Absalom’s reign. The only reason he had not gone into exile with David was the
fact that he was a cripple and had not been able to travel. Someone had refused to get his donkey ready. Without his
donkey Mephibosheth was so handicapped that he could go nowhere. The hint is that Ziba was the one who had made
sure that the donkey was not available.
Has David misjudged in giving Ziba all of Mephibosheth’s estates? David needs to do some cross examinations to find
out who is really telling the truth. At this point we are not sure. But David does not. We are left a little uncertain as to who
is, and who is not really full on for David.
David does not seek to get to the bottom of the matter. He simply makes the decision that Ziba and Mephibosheth divide
the estates between them. David accepts both men. David’s love is large enough and expansive enough to handle
faithlessness and fickleness, and lies and hypocrisy. David does not insist on a pure church. And neither should we.
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Mephibosheth is not nearly as interested in wealth as he is in a relationship with David. He is like his father Jonathan
who was willing to give up everything that the king might prosper. As far as Mephibosheth was concerned Ziba could
have the estates. All Mephibosheth wanted was to be with David. David had promised to provide for him and that was
enough.
Mephibosheth had a good sense of proportion. He knew that he was of the family of Saul. He should in fact be dead.
Every day he lived was a gift. He understood what Job was saying. “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away”.
Nothing that I had was mine by right any way. If you have this disposition you will not fall apart when you lose anything.
The rich young ruler was told to go and give everything away and come follow Jesus (Mark 10:21). But it was not a call to
poverty. It was a call to come and live the adventure of a life with Jesus. It was a call to come and live a life dependent
on Jesus. Mephibosheth knew that David would not fail to give him all that he needed to live off, and the young ruler was
to know the same thing.
The next person is Barzillai. He was one who had been very generous to David while he was stuck on the east side of
the Jordan. He had helped feed David’s household and army. Barzillai had been a very sweet host. Jesus will say of him
one day, “I was a stranger and you welcomed Me” (Matt 25:35).
Despite his age he has escorted David to the banks of the Jordan. David desires to return his hospitality and invites him
to a come and live in Jerusalem with him.
But Barzillai is not interested. He is too old now to start a new life in Jerusalem. All he wants now is to die quietly at
home.
Barzillai had done much for David. Mephibosheth had done nothing. But Mephibosheth had done what he could. By his
not caring for his physical appearance he was flagging to any who saw him that not everyone was pleased with Absalom.
We must always be careful of the attitude. “If I cannot do the big stuff I will not do anything at all.” Dale Davis tells the
story of a young chap named Orop. He lived in Sudan, that desperately poor country in Africa, a country far too poor to
provide schools for its children. However Orop was fortunate enough to live in an area where a Christian Mission had
established a school. He was even more fortunate to secure a place in the school. But things did not turn out as hoped
for. Orop simply could not get his head around the matter of reading and writing. Try as he may he could not make sense
of letters. Places in the school were very limited and the decision had to be made to give the place to another student.
Orop was dismissed. But the young chap had become captivated by the stories of Jesus. So much so that day after day
he would return to the school and sit outside under one of the windows and listen as the teachers taught the Bible. This
chap was never going to amount to much in a world where literary skills were paramount. But he was going to do what
he could. He would tell the stories he heard to other non school attending kids (Davis p200).
The chapter ends with representatives from the northern tribes stating that they feel left out because it seems that only
the folk of Jerusalem and Judah were the ones involved in the welcoming ceremony for the king. Harsh words are
spoken on both sides.
All Israel had been involved in the rebellion. Neither Judah nor the north had anything to be proud about.
Then Judah wants David as king and so do the northern tribes. But they each want it on their terms. Judah has got the
welcome home parade all worked out. But the northern tribes want a say in how it will all happen.
All Christians want Jesus to rule. We all want to be a part of His church. We all want to proclaim the good news that
Jesus saves us from our sins. But we want to do it in the Baptist way, or the Anglican way, or the Pentecostal way. There
are close on 20,000 different Christian denominations.
Everyone is happy that David is coming home. The huge welcome home parade is exciting. Everyone is pleased to have
David as king again. But all these people who are so pleased to have David as king are fighting among themselves as to
who will be the chief welcomers!!!
The folk from the north decide not to be a part of Judah’s welcome home parade. And how would David feel? And how
does Jesus feel when we decide that our way of honouring Jesus is just so much better than the Anglican way or the
Catholic way? How does Jesus feel when we reach the point of needing to have nothing to do with others who love Him
equally as much as we do?
How sad that we all want to sing God’s praises but we have to fight over which songs we will use to sing His praises. For
some it is a matter of “I will not sing His praises if I cannot do so with songs that I chose”!
It is no wonder that Paul tells us to ‘keep’ the unity of God’s people (Eph 4:1-6). We are not asked to manufacture unity.
The unity is already here. We are all a part of the one body, we are all filled with the one Spirit, we all have the one hope,
we have the one Lord, we are all committed to the one faith, we have all shared in the one baptism, and there is but one
God who is our Father. Seven times Paul uses the word ‘one’ in this passage in Ephesians.
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We are all part of one body. We all know that underneath there is a certain bond that all Christians are aware of in spite
of our denominations and our differences.
Every other Wednesday morning I pray for an hour with a group of about 30 pastors. They are of all theological
persuasions and denominations. But we all know that we are united in our love of Jesus.
Notice how we all have one ‘hope’. Hope in our current usage of the word means something that we wistfully long for but
we have no certainty that it will come our way. This is not the biblical understanding of the word. Whenever the Bible
talks of a hope it is speaking of something that is absolutely certain. Now all Christians have a common hope. That is of
the judgement of all evil and eternal life with God.
Our hope unites us because it is in the future. When we look back we are caught up with the things that play their part in
dividing us. We remember why it is that we Baptist broke off from the churches that did not baptise the way that we do.
We remember why it is that we kept our distance from the Pentecostals. The more we look back the more we are
committed to maintaining our separateness. But it is not the same as we look forward. All that we see in the future we
have in common.
On that great day when we all stand before Jesus the fact that you were a Baptist will not mean anything. We will stand
there with folk who have come from denominations that we have not even heard of! We will stand there with Salvation
Army folk who have not even been baptised at all!!
My way of worshiping God is in the confines of the Baptist traditions, but I am no more worshipping God than are the folk
who are worshipping him in the Anglican Church this morning, or the Uniting Church. At the end of the day Jesus is not
that fussed as to how much wine we drink when we take communion, nor how much water we use when we baptise.
Look, says Paul, at the end of the day there is only one Lord. If you are Christian then you serve the same Lord as every
other Christian whether or not they were baptised your way, whether or not they have the same sort of church
government as you.
There is only one faith. He is speaking of faith in Jesus for salvation from our sins. Every other Christian has had the
same experience of God that we have had in that they too have known the joy of having their sins forgiven.
Lastly says Paul there is only one God. So we conclude that if there is only one God then there can only be one church.
The company of people who live with and for God and this group is called to work at maintaining unity and harmony
among themselves.
82

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 4 September 2005
20
83
2 Samuel 20:1-26
Included or excluded
There is nothing new in this chapter. But there again there is nothing new in the Bible in the sense that “we have never
heard this before”. What we have here is more rebellion and more conflict and more hurt and death. This is because we
have more stories of people and their selfishness. Where there is sin then there must be more conflict and hurt.
Let me run some names by you. Does the name Daniel O’Connor mean anything? What about John O’Connor? Well
what about Bill Kensell? All these folk were on the front pages of our papers last summer. They are all connected. Kathy
Donnelly? Well let me give you one last name and I think all the others will come into focus. Tony Abbot, our health
minister. Yes you have it. When Tony and Kathy were uni students they were an item. Kathy fell pregnant and everyone
assumed it was Tony’s baby. The child was put up for adoption. John O’Connor and his wife raised the baby and he was
called Daniel O’Connor. The reuniting of the adopted child with his biological parents was front page news simply
because the biological dad was a very famous person. But then a Bill Kensell put his hand up and announced to a
shocked world that he and Kathy had been sexually intimate while Kathy was going out with Tony. Bill suggested that the
child could be his. DNA test proved this to be the case. The matter got an airing in every paper in the land. Someone
pointed out that in almost all the articles John O’Conner was nearly always referred to as “the adoptive dad”, whereas
Tony and then later Bill, were nearly always referred to simply as “the father” or “dad”. Why? Is being the adoptive dad
any less a role than being the biological dad? If John needs to be tagged as the “adoptive dad” surely Bill needs to be
tagged as the “biological dad”. Personally I would argue that John has been much more of a father to Daniel than his
biological father. If anyone should carry the title “dad” without qualification it should be John.
Today is Father’s Day. And the matter of dad’s is on our minds. Knowing who our biological dad is, knowing that we have
been well fathered, knowing that we have a dad who loves and cares for us is very important to our emotional wellbeing.
But who has the perfect father? Not one of us. But that does not lessen the need to know we have a strong person who
is there for us. But our dads were never meant to be ‘the be all’. God is our Father. Our biological dad’s and the dad’s
who brought us up only ever had a limited role.
When Jesus was 12 he said to his mother, “I must be about My Father’s business”. He was not thinking of Joseph and
the carpentry business. He was thinking of God. God was His Father. Well what about Joseph? Joseph had a role, a
very important role. It was his role to bring Jesus up to the point that he could start relating to God as Father. Now
Joseph was already relating to God as Father so the moment Jesus really entered into a solid relationship with God
Joseph became in essence His brother.
So it is with all of us. This is interesting because none of us expect too much from our brothers. We know that they will let
us down and be much less than perfect. Brothers being like that is a given. But we expect our fathers to be perfect and
never let us down. So much so we tend to be very hard on dads who are less than perfect. But if we understand that our
dads are brothers and we share the same heavenly Father we can allow our dads to be less than perfect, and not expect
them to be what they can never be, perfect, and we can forgive them.
By the way Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father”. Never ever, “My Father”. We come to our Father not as individuals but
as a community.
This is a chapter about inclusion and exclusion. We have Sheba and Joab who exclude and we have David and the wise
woman who include. We are meant to ask are we more Joab like or David like?
The fight over the arrangements for the “welcome home parade” leads to the most awful breakdown of relationships.
With a bit of compromise and a bit of tolerance you would like to think that a position could have been reached that would
have seen everyone happy. But there was no compromise there was no tolerance. Even more tragic there was no one
there to act as a peacemaker. In fact the opposite, a chap called Sheba cannot wait to grab the nice new position of
“leader of the opposition”. The last thing this man wants is harmony he is much more interested in being a leader with a
following. There is always someone willing to be the leader of the opposition.
The roots of the division lay in the fact the folk of Jerusalem and Judah, that is the people of the tribes of Judah and
Benjamin, had taken the lead in bringing the king back across the Jordan and into Israel. The people of the northern
tribes had been left out of the procedures. The formal crossing of the river had taken place and most of the northern
tribes had missed it.
The welcome home parade was symbolic of bringing the king back to reign. It was symbolic of wanting the king. The folk
from the north wanted everyone to know that they too wanted David as their king. There was a feeling abroad that the
folk from the south wanted David as their personal king that they were quite happy to have had the welcome home
parade without the folk of the north. The folk from the north were offended at the thought of these folk from Judah
marching up the road in procession with David. They wanted to be in the procession too.
There was wrong on both sides. The folk of Judah could have and should have waited. There was no need to rush. It
would have been proper to have waited until the folk of the north had had a chance to travel down to the banks of the

Jordan and played their part in putting together David’s return procession. On the other hand the folk from the north were
over the top in making more of this than they should. They did not get their way, but it was hardly the end of the world.
There would be plenty of other occasions to demonstrate loyalty and allegiance to the king.
But neither side will back down. Peace was not the first objective. The first objective was teaching the other side a
lesson. And so we read that the “men of Judah responded even more harshly than the men of Israel”, that is the folk from
the north (19:43). And for their part the men of the north were willing to follow a hot headed trouble maker, called Sheba
and split off from the folk of Judah.
Unbelievable the nation is going to split! The people of God are going to divide. The church is going to split! One half will
exclude the other. These folk are not to their liking and will be excluded. There is no thought of looking for some common
ground in order that they can be embraced.
Amasa is David’s new general. He had appointed him as a sign to everyone connected to Absalom’s rebellion that he
was going to forgive. Amasa had been Absalom’s general. David now gives him his first assignment. He has three days
to ready an army. Sheba is going to have to be dealt with. And David knows exactly why Absalom’s coup failed, Absalom
had not moved quickly enough. David will not make the same mistake.
David is filled with alarm when Amasa fails to have the army ready to march. David was convinced that three days would
be all that would be necessary to pull the fighting men of Judea together.
David is so concerned to have Sheba dealt with sooner rather than later that waiting for Amasa to get ready was not an
option. So David sends Abishai with the much smaller standing army to pursue Sheba. Amasa will be bypassed.
However on their way north they come across Amasa. They are in fact about 10 kms north of Jerusalem when they
meet. Joab, who is in theory the second in command to Abishai, took the opportunity of the meeting with Amasa to
murder him.
What actually happened? None of the translations seem to be able to capture just what transpired. One interpretation
suggests Joab had two swords or daggers. One was fastened on his belt under his outer tunic the other was in full view
in its sheath. As he went forward to meet Amasa one fell out, or was perhaps taken from his sheath, and dropped to the
ground, leaving Amasa under the impression that Joab was walking forward unarmed as a gesture of good will. Then as
Joab pulled Amasa toward him in a friendly playful fashion using his right hand, that is the hand that one holds one’s
weapon with, to give him a kiss of greeting he slipped his hand under his tunic and pulled out the hidden dagger and
plunged it into Amasa.
David all the time kept working for reconciliation and peace. Joab will not have a bar of it. Amasa had led Absalom’s
army and as far as Joab was concerned was an enemy. David could see good in Amasa, David believed the man had
changed and should be welcomed into the camp. Joab does not want a bar of anyone who has ever been on the other
side. Peace making was not Joab’s strong point.
David had wanted to forgive and be reconciled to Abner, Saul’s general, but Joab killed him. David had wanted to forgive
and be reconciled with Absalom, but Joab killed him. David had wanted to forgiven and be reconciled with Amasa, but
Joab killed him too.
David and Joab are opposites. Abner, Absalom and Amasa were all enemies. They had all caused trouble. But while
David sought to be a peace maker and turn his enemies into friends, Joab’s way was simply to get rid of enemies.
David’s way was to welcome them back. David’s way was to seek out ways to find reconciliation and friendship.
What do you think? With Amasa dead life was less complicated. But equally life now had less character. Getting rid of
people you dislike is one way of simplifying your life! But equally as you do so you impoverish your life. Joab wanted an
Israel where everyone thought like he did. David was willing to have an Israel with a whole variety of views and opinions.
Joab killing off everyone who does not agree with him is no different to Sheba seeking to have nothing more to do with
the folk from the south.
If you are to have a pure church it will have to keep on shrinking. Some want Peter, some want Apollos some want Paul.
What do you think? If they are each going to exclude the others, their church will have to divide.
Joab’s world will grow slowly smaller. It will be purer and smaller. It will be less and less complicated. He will go on
excluding all who do not fit his understanding of things. But it is not healthy. David’s kingdom will grow bigger and bigger.
It will be complicated it will be anything but formal. David will embrace his enemies and those who do not think exactly
the same way that he does. He will forgive and he will forget past hurts and insults.
Including friends and those that think like us is easy. But David included his enemies. Abner, Absalom and Amasa had all
hurt David and hurt him badly.
At the communion table we are included into the family of God. Here we are embraced. But how can we come and
accept the embrace of God while still excluding others from our own embrace?
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I tell you Joab never forgot the attitude and the actions of Abner and Absalom and Amasa. David did.
David forgot the wrong done to him but he never forgot the wrong he had done to others. And because he did not forget
he did not repeat. Joab did the opposite. He forgot the wrong he had done to others and therefore repeated it again and
again but at the same time he never forgot the wrong done to him.
In heaven you will have no memory of the wrong done to you. If you did it would not be heaven. The God who will not
remember your sins will not remember the sins of those who have hurt you either. Therefore there can be no memory of
sin, both that which we have committed and that which we have suffered.
"Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to
mind" (Isa 65:17). "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no
more" (Isa 43:25).
Jesus will have swallowed up all the wrong ever committed.
Abishai disappears from the story at this point, obviously unable to hold his own against Joab.
Meanwhile Sheba had moved right to the north of the country. To a town that sits on the head-waters of the Jordan
River. Abel Beth Maacah.
Joab and his army put the town under siege no one could get in or out. Everyone in a city under siege knew the stakes.
When the invading army finally broke through there would be no mercy. On the other hand the city walls had been built
for just such a time as this. There was every reason to believe that the city could see off the attackers.
The next task was building a ramp, a huge undertaking. The long earth ramp meant the soldiers would be able get their
battering rams up against the much narrower top of the city wall.
Joab and the army had reached the point of actually having battering rams up against the walls hammering away, when
a representative of the city asked for an audience with the general.
The city representative is simply called a “wise woman”. She would not have been speaking of her own volition. She
would not have got her audience with Joab unless she had some official standing. She was obviously a member of the
city governing council. She was obviously a person of some influence in the community.
What she does is based on the law (Deut 20:10-16). God’s word called for an offer of peace to be made before a city
was attacked. And in all conflicts an offer of peace should be made before we launch our attacks.
Her message to Joab is this city is peaceable. It is a city that is faithful to the king. It is a city that represents the best of
all that Israel is. It is a city where many well educated and wise people live. For Joab to destroy such a community is
barbaric. The city is a mother city that is it is the centre of commerce for the many surrounding villages.
If Joab succeeds in destroying this city he will have succeeded in destroying a city that is playing a significant part in the
well being of God’s people. If he succeeds in destroying this city he will have played a part in wiping out a huge number
of faithful solid innocent members of God’s kingdom. He is not dealing with foreigners here. These people are not aliens
and part of a country at war with David.
The wise woman seeks out the issues that she and Joab have in common.
She knows that if the city wins and it could have, then the conflict between the north and the south would have gone on
for years.
The woman touches a nerve. She says the truth. Joab is a killer and a destroyer. His first way of tackling every problem
is to kill. She needs to bring him around to another way of thinking. But she also has to bring the city around to another
way of thinking.
Joab responds that he is not after the destruction of such a city, he is only after one man, Sheba. We know Joab, we
know how he thinks, if this city has given Sheba a home than it too must be as bad as Sheba. To bring Joab around to
accepting that the city should be left alone was no mean feat. It is not for nothing she is called “wise”.
Joab then offers the woman a deal. If she hands over the man he wants he will leave the city in peace. This is just what
the woman wanted. Joab offers the woman the very deal she had been angling for. She had been clever enough to stop
this general fighting. And oh how Joab loved fighting. Joab was always at his professional best when leading armies and
killing enemies.
For Joab there is no other way except killing enemies. But for this woman there is another way. She can see a way in
which the city can be saved. She can see a way in which the folk of the city will not have to fight. She sees beyond the
world of winners and losers.
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Without consulting anyone the woman responds, that Sheba’s head will be thrown over the wall to Joab. The head being
thrown over will be the very obvious proof that the city has executed Sheba.
This woman was keen to embrace Joab she did not want to exclude him. She wanted to be at peace with him. She
wanted reconciliation. She did not want a victory. She believed that she and he had enough things in common to build a
relationship on. She believed that what they had in common was much greater than the matter over which they
disagreed. She was willing to give up on support for Sheba for the sake of peace. Joab for his part was willing to give up
his much loved war for the sake of peace.
‘Includers’ and ‘excluders’. Joab was by nature an ‘excluder’. David was by nature an ‘includer’. Jesus was an ‘includer’.
Everyone else had excluded Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-7) Jesus included him. Simon had excluded the immoral woman
from his party, Jesus included her (Luke 7:36-39). The adulterous woman was to be excluded but Jesus included her
(John 8:1-11). Samaritans were excluded from Jewish society but Jesus included them (John 4:9).
The next time we are tempted to exclude someone we need to ask, why?
86

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 11 September 2005
21
87
2 Samuel 21:1-22
Justice.
The story line that has run continuously through this book is now finished. The defeat of Sheba’s rebellion brings the
story to its conclusion. In fact there is a little bit more but we would have to turn to another book in the Bible to find it, 1
Kings. The story of the death of David is not to be found in the books of Samuel.
The list of all the key bureaucrats with which the story ends in the last chapter is to let us know that the kingdom is very
much intact. The kingdom carries on as normal in spite of the turmoil that people like Sheba and Joab bring. This is like
the church it suffers all sorts of turmoil, goes through all sorts of agonies, and heartaches yet still keeps moving on. If it is
not one person than it is another, if it is not one issue then it is another. We think this person or that issue will be the
death of the church. But no. The church is invincible. It will always be. If the church should come to an end than we could
only conclude that the words of Jesus were nothing more than hot air. But we know that the word of the Lord will stand
forever. Jesus said He would build His church and He will.
The book finishes with four chapters of bits and pieces. Here we have something like an epilogue. Here we have a
number of incidents taken from various periods of David’s life. They are not in chronological order. In fact we do not know
just when in David’s life each of these stories takes place. Here are a number of stories that did not fit into the main story
line but are too important not to have been passed on to us, so we are given them as an epilogue. These stories help fill
out our portrait of David and God’s dealings with him.
And we need to know how God deals with him because that relationship will give us clues to our relationship with God.
We need to study the way he repented, the way he forgave, the way the way trusted. These are attributes that we are to
model. Paul said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor 4:16). We have much to learn from these characters.
The section starts and ends with a story about a public disaster, 21:1-14 and 24:1-25. We start with a story of three years
of famine and we end with a story of a plague, although another three years of famine was on offer! We start with a story
of God’s wrath against Israel, and we end with a story of God’s wrath against Israel. We start with a problem that David
inherited, and we finish with one of his own making. The next story concerns David’s heroes, and the penultimate story
concerns David’s heroes. In the middle we have a song of praise from David and his last words.
Now this is a classic type of material lay out used much in the Bible. It is used to highlight or underline that material which
is placed in the middle. So the heart of this epilogue is the song that deals with the way God has saved David, and
David’s personal relationship with God dealt with in his “last words”.
This messy story concerning the Gibeonites assumes we know the story of Joshua’s promise to this small tribe that they
would always be safe and secure (Josh 9:3-27). These people, although not Israelites, were promised a place among
God’s people. On behalf of the nation Joshua had made a promise that Israel would never hurt these folk. These people
had been promised the right to live in safety and security among God’s people.
We now learn for the first time that Saul had at some time or other committed genocide upon this ethnic community. We
are given no details of the event. The event must have moved into history, and as far as most were concerned, it was a
matter long since gone - but not to God obviously.
Saul was another of those black and white people. The thought of these non Israelites living in the land of promise was
more than he could cope with. Best to eliminate them, and so he obviously had. A genocide.
Many, many years later a devastating drought hits the land. There are crop failures. There is a massive down turn in the
standard of living. People are distressed. The whole nation is suffering. There is much personal pain.
The dire situation that the country found itself in caused David to do some deep thinking and praying. He “sought the
face of the Lord”. David stopped praying for rain and started to look at himself.
What do you think? When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans last week did we try to figure out what sin had been
committed by the USA? Or did we try to find out what sin caused Cyclone Tracy to smash into Darwin? We know how
the weather system operates. Well, so did they! But they could equally see the hand of God behind their present
predicament.
We are not happy with the Columbia Christians For Life group declaring New Orleans was paying the price for abortion.
Because New Orleans has five abortion centres. Nor do we feel good when Repent America announced the hurricane
was God’s vengeance upon a wicked city because of their Mardi Gras. And we are even more disturbed when a Kuwait
government official wrote, “it is almost certain that this is a wind of torment and evil that Allah has sent to this American
empire” (Bulletin p74. 13 Sept 2005). And we were not that happy with those who thought any city named after Charles
Darwin was destined to be wiped out!
We do not go there. But equally we do simply set out to overcome the calamity. David’s first concern was not to go and
find new ways of getting water. The lack of water was the “small” issue. David was not going to spend all his time on the
“small” issue. He also wanted to deal with the “big” issue.

Calamities of this nature bring home to us afresh the precarious nature of life. David knew that whether it was drought,
an invading army, a plague or some other catastrophe, or even simply old age death was always close at hand. And
death meant doing business with God. So it is to God he comes to talk. He wants to know if all is well. The man is keen
to hear from God. Can God put His blessing on his life? If not, what is wrong? David wants a clean conscience.
David will not block from his memory wrong that he or his people have done. He is willing to remember.
We would be the most shallow of people if we did not take stock of ourselves each time calamity strikes. Calamities are
wakeup calls. They are forewarnings of the greatest calamity that will strike every one of us, death. Are we ready to die?
David would have known his country’s history. The matter of the genocide of the Gibeonites was not going to go away.
Now was the time to deal with it. If his people were going to have a clean conscience then this matter would have to be
sorted out. At some point in history Saul had killed a significant number of Gibeonites. Saul had ignored the treaty of
peace that protected this community and had harmed them. Saul had gone back on the treaty. Saul had broken the word
of his community. A terrible injustice has been committed. God is a God of justice and David must address the matter.
The Gibeonites deserve justice.
The Gibeonites may be insignificant members of society in fact they were at the bottom end of the working class. But
they still deserve justice. Saul is long dead. But the issue is not. The next generation must deal with it.
For the Gibeonites it was much more than the loss of some of their people. It was the breaking of the promise that hurt.
They had been lied to.
The promise to always protect the Gibeonites was taken in God’s name. To swear in God’s name is to basically ask God
to bring the curses of the covenant upon oneself if one should fail to keep one’s word (Josh 9:15-19). The people of God
represent God. God is a God who keeps His word and so should His people.
Here is something that has never been sorted out. David owns the fact that his people have done wrong. Here is
something that has never been repented of.
You would think at this point David would ask God what ought to be done to restore a sense of justice. But no, he asks
the Gibeonites. They want an execution. Someone must die. Not just one person, seven of them! Justice for them is to
see some of Saul’s family die.
What they demand is understandable. What is not understandable is that David listened to them. Surely David should
have gone to God. Surely he should have gone to his Bible. Human sacrifice is not God’s way. David knew that human
sacrifices were totally forbidden (Lev 18:21 Deut 12:29). More David knew that it was not right to punish children for the
sins of their fathers (Deut 24:16).
If David does what they ask for he will commit yet another atrocity. The cycle of atrocities will go on!
Just because the Gibeonites think the execution of seven men is a just thing to do does not mean that it is. They have a
distorted notion of justice. David should not have acquiesced. He does wrong. Even though they think he is doing right.
Back in 1843 General Charles Napier conquered Sind and installed the order of British colonial rule. One of the first
things he did was outlaw sati. Following death bodies were burnt. If a man died and left behind a widow the widow was
taken and put on her husband’s body and burnt alive. This was considered a good thing. The wife would never be parted
from her husband and would go with him to the after life. By outlawing sati the locals thought the English were acting
most unjustly (Exclusion & Embrace. Miroslav Volf p193).
The English did right in rejecting the Indian notion that burning widows alive was a good thing.
Justice must be done. David will see that justice is done. He will dish out Gibeonite justice. He will not pull back from the
heart rendering task of selecting five grandsons and two sons of Saul.
These seven are a token for the many that Saul put to death. Seven is always seen as the number of completion.
Saul is gone so substitutes are needed. These chosen seven represent Saul and the nation of Israel. They stand in place
of Saul.
The Gibeonites executed all seven men. We are not told how. In one sense it does not matter. We are told that this was
done on the first days of the harvest just at the time they would normally gather in the barley. Late April early March. This
was drought time; we are not being told that there was a barley harvest simply what time of year the execution took
place.
The execution takes place. And what do we have, nothing but more deaths. Revenge is a terrible thing. Now more
innocent folk have died.
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But the death is only the first part of the punishment. Now the bodies are to be desecrated. The most shameful thing you
could do to a dead person in Israel was leave the dead body unburied. To leave a body exposed so that dogs and birds
could feed off it was most offensive. It is interesting that our society also takes the matter of burial very seriously. Our
funeral industry and our cemeteries, and our crematoriums all speak of the way we as a community feel about the
importance of treating the dead with the utmost respect.
Rizpah was one of Saul’s concubines (2 Sam 3:7). In many ways she is the centre of the story. She was daughter of a
man called Aiah. Two of her sons were taken, Armoni and Mephibosheth. Saul’s eldest daughter, Merab was married to
Adriel they were forced to hand over five of their sons. Saul also had a grandson called Mephibosheth. But this grandson
will not be touched because of David’s promise to his dad Jonathan.
Rizpah cannot cope with knowing that her son’s and nephew’s bodies have been left as food for animals. Her grief
consumes her. She does not have permission to bury the bodies but equally she will not let animals and birds feed on
them. As far as she is concerned another injustice has been perpetrated. Rizpah has become another victim. She has
suffered an injustice just as much as the Gibeonites have.
She will not go home; she will not get on with the rest of her life. Everything is on hold. Others may walk away from the
mess but not her. She camps out at this depressing spot for weeks. Alone at night with nothing but the smelly
decomposing bodies for company. The stench must have been awful. The sight repulsive. But she will not leave. These
are her children. She drives away the dogs and the foxes, she shoos off the birds, and she sweeps away the ants. She
suffers.
This she does all through summer. So she maintained her vigil for nearly six months.
The woman was powerless and helpless before the royal decree that ordered the death of her sons and nephews. She
could not save their lives but she will save their bodies from being desecrated. She will save their bodies from mutilation
and shame.
Her actions come to the ear of David. This powerless woman influences the king. And the story is written in such a way
that it is what David does in response to her which brings the drought to an end.
Moved by her plight David decides to make amends for the suffering she has been caused.
Not only will these dead bodies be given a proper burial but also the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan will finally be
dealt with properly. Their bones will be laid to rest in the family tomb.
Saul, the cause of this whole mess, will also have a proper burial. Not only will she see her sons properly buried but she
will see her husband buried too.
Her lonely vigil out on the mountainside stirs David. He sees that his actions have caused her terrible suffering.
In arranging the burial, and therefore cutting off the last part of the execution sentence, David is in essence admitting that
he has done wrong.
It is after the dignified burial that the famine ends. In other words it is not the Gibeonite sacrifices that breaks the famine
but David’s compassionate burial.
Rizpah brought David to his senses by demonstrating that it is not sacrifice God wants but mercy. David knew the truth.
He had taught it often. “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it, you do not take pleasure in burnt offering, the
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart O God you will not despise (Psa 51:16-17).
No sacrifice could atone for the wrong that Saul did.
More, what the Gibeonites needed was not to see more deaths. What they needed was not revenge. This is what they
thought they needed. What they needed was to see that which God had called for “A broken spirit and a contrite heart”.
Rizpah did not need to see someone punished for asking for her son’s lives. She did not need revenge. What she
needed was to see “a broken spirit and a contrite heart”.
Both the Gibeonites and Rizpah needed to see a repentant king. The repentant person is the person who will go back
and fix things up. The repentant person is the one who will come back to the one they have hurt and do whatever it takes
to make things right for them. The repentant person is the one who is so changed that they will never ever commit the
wrong they have done ever again.
A fellow minister was telling me the story the other day of a minister in South Africa who was very active in the anti
apartheid movement. One day he received in the post a parcel. As he was opening it the parcel blew up. He survived but
lost both his hands. He now lives with two stumps below the elbows. Someone asked this minister if he would be able to
forgive the man who sent him the bomb if he were to come and knock on his door and ask for forgiveness. The minister
replied “I could, and I would, provided my attacker is now spending all his days caring for amputees”.
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In caring for the bodies David is repenting. He is going back and fixing things up. He is seeking to undo the damage he
has done.
What those Gibeonites needed was not more deaths. What they needed was the help of David in rebuilding their
shattered community. They needed to see an Israel setting out to do the opposite of what Saul did.
This is repentance. It always leads to action. Zacchaeus was a fraud. Many had lost much to him. There would have
been many who would have wished him dead. But it was good that he did not die! Because when this guy repented he
sought out everyone he had taken from and gave them back four times that which he had taken from them (Luke 19:8).
After the Second World War, Germany poured untold billions of dollars into Israel. If I have my facts straight no other
country contributed as much as Germany to the establishment costs of the new state of Israel. This is the stuff of
reconciliation.
And here is our model for our actions if we have hurt anyone.
90

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 18 September 2005
22
91
2 Samuel 22:1-51
God saves the humble
Near the very beginning of 1 Samuel there is a poem, and here near the very end of the book there is a poem also.
These two poems act as bookends for the whole work.
The poems articulate more explicitly the theological assertions that have come through the story line of 1 & 2 Samuel.
The songs of Hannah and David offer insights into the nature of God. Insights that the life experience of both Hannah
and David affirm.
Songs and poems are designed to appeal to the emotions more than the intellect. Poems and songs use vivid figures of
speech which are designed to stir the emotions. David could have said, “God intervened on my behalf” five words,
instead there are 114 words of explosive emotive language describing God moving like a thunderstorm, of thunder and
lightening, he speaks of the earth trembling, the sea evaporating, of consuming fires and dark rain clouds.
In the history that we have just finished there is no thunder and lightening or earthquake, when David is saved from
Saul’s spear, or when he is saved from Goliath, but for David if felt like the heavens moved on those occasions.
The great George Whitfield was once asked if his sermons might be printed. Whitfield replied “I have no objection, but
you will never be able to put on printed page the lightening and the thunder.” David, via poetry, is trying to bring us some
of the emotional excitement he is feeling at the fact that God has brought him through all his difficulties to the throne.
David’s song, or poem, acts like a commentary on David’s life. Until now we have had a story about David, but here
David speaks for himself.
What we have is not a song about a great and powerful king, but about a great and powerful God. To hear David’s story
is to see something of God.
David is alive to God. God dominates his life. He thinks about God he talks to God, he forgets God at times, he disobeys
God. It is all here. But the reality of God defines who David is.
By the way this song is also placed in the book of Psalms as Psalm 18, which means David assumed that the people
would sing it during worship services at the temple. It was David’s song first. But all who know David’s God would have
had similar experiences of God.
This is a song of thanksgiving. The gratitude wells up because the songwriter has been delivered. Verse 4 is the key
sentence, “I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise and I am saved from my enemies”. David had more than enough
dark and heavy days. He had had his share of misery. Even Joab, not known for his sensitive spirit said on one occasion,
“this will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come upon you from your youth till now” (19:7). But David’s
mind does not race there. He goes to the things that God has done for him. He chose not sit and dwell on the tough
times.
David’s assessment of his life was that goodness and mercy had followed him all the way (Psa 23:6).
David’s primary work was war. That was his job to lead his nation’s armed forces. It was his job to keep the nation’s
enemies at bay. We must not think that David liked his job. It would not have been the world’s best job. But it was his job
and he had to accept the life he had to live.
We simply do not have a lot of say over where we were born, who our parents were, what IQ we have, how much energy
we have, what social class we have to live among. Sometimes our conditions are favourable, and sometimes
unfavourable, but they are always there.
We do not live our Christian lives in some sort of social, cultural or political vacuum. Jesus had to live His life in the
Roman Empire. The dominant culture of His day was Greek. The Jewish leaders of His society left much to be desired.
Your circumstances are not your destiny they are simply your trial.
These conditions do not limit what God can and will do with our lives they simply set the parameters inside which our
lives must be lived.
Jesus did not live in any golden age. He did His work inside quite unfavourable circumstances. But He did it. No
conditions preclude the Spirit from working. In fact the Spirit never works apart from the conditions in which He finds His
people.
David had to live in the midst of wars and God worked with David in his particular calling. David had to live his life
surrounded by the influence of the Canaanite culture which was very sexually orientated. There was no end to the
Canaanite fertility goddesses and their accompanying prostitutes. But under these circumstances David lived a life to the
glory of God.

And we too must live our lives under unfavourable conditions. The conditions of war, violence, promiscuity have not
changed much for they come from the human heart. But these are the conditions under which a holy life must be lived
The song has six sections. Verses 1 to 4 are words of praise to God. Verses 5 to 19 are the stories of being delivered.
Verses 20 to 24 deal with David’s most significant threat to his existence; his sin. Verses 25 to 29 tell us what it takes to
be delivered by God; namely humility. Verses 30 to 45 are more on being delivered, and verses 46 to 50 words of praise
to God.
The frame of the poem is verses 1 to 4 and verses 46 to 50, praise. Next we have verses 5 to 19 corresponding to
verses 30 to 45 dealing with deliverance. This brings us to the centre and hence the most important part of the poem.
The very heart of what David has to say lies in verse 28. God saves those who are humble enough to call out to Him for
salvation and deliverance.
The key words in the two deliverance sections are, “rock” “save” and “deliverer”.
The notion of “rock” as a metaphor for God was very common. God was seen as being as “solid as a rock”. Stability and
strength are the notions. Nothing moves Ayers Rock. It has been there forever and is not about to move on; and there is
nothing any of us could do to move it.
At the foot of Ayers rock are numerous pools of water, they sit up against the side of the rock. Around them are trees,
bushes and grass. These pools stay wet virtually all year round. They attract lots of wild life. Whenever there is rain it
simply cascades down off the face of the rock and pools at the bottom. Across the rest of the desert the rain water has
evaporated within minutes; but not in the shade of the rock. This phenomenon is not uncommon whenever you have
huge rocks in desert areas. David would have been fully aware of it. Travellers out in the desert would hone in on large
rocks knowing that they would find water. The rock would not only give shade but grass for a traveller’s donkey and
water for his water bags.
Huge rocky areas were the sort of places that David would have run to again and again when he was under attack. Once
in the rocks he would have been all but impossible to find. There would have been caves and over hangs in abundance.
Anyone pursuing him would have to do so on foot and would have to do it slowly.
The rocks were a place of safety and security. It is no wonder that they became a good illustration of what God was like
to a man like David.
The song uses the word “rock” four times; twice early in the song and twice late in the song. There use drives home to us
that God has been and is David’s protector and saviour.
The other key word in the song is, “save”. The song celebrates David’s assurance that God can be trusted. In fact God
has rescued him from certain death. David has found God to be totally dependable.
The word “saved” and its synonym “delivered” occur 14 times in the song. So in many ways the song is a reaction to
God’s actions in saving David.
It is not that we pray and then God acts. No, here we have the reverse. God has acted and David prays. He cannot but
thank God. This man has his eyes open to all that God has done for him.
In the wake of hurricane Katrina a black man by the name of Joseph Brant said that his opinion of white folk has changed
forever. Apparently this chap had a fairly negative view of white people. His experiences of them had not been good. But
in the aftermath of the hurricane he was cared and provided for in such generous and compassionate ways by some
white folk that his previous assessment of them was shattered. He now sees them in the light of what was done for him
in his hour of need (Bulletin. 20 September 2005. p11).
This is a song all about being delivered by God. David sees himself as a weak person who has triumphed only because
of outside help – God. This general statement of deliverance is then expanded in verses 5 to 20.
David defines his situation as that of certain and imminent death. Death is pictured as having tentacles which have
reached into life and are dragging David down into his grave. David is at the end of his tether. He is beside himself. He
has reached a situation of no hope. He has exhausted all his resources. He is distressed to the point of utter despair. At
that point he calls out to God and God heard him.
David is telling us that God hears prayers. If God did not answer prayers David would not have lived, it is as simple as
that. It may have been Abishai who actually saved David from Ishbi-Benob but David saw the hand of God behind the
timing of the event (21:16&17).
David’s problems were literally drowning him. His problems were washing over him like a flood.
But like Isaiah he could say even though he got wet he did not drown.
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God did not save David from some of the most bruising experiences, but He did bring him through them all. And David
came out of them the stronger.
It is true to say you will not have an encounter with God until you reach the end of your tether. You will not call to God
until you know there is nowhere else to go.
David’s experience is that God hears and will respond. David’s experience is that when crushed to within an inch of his
life God was still present.
The general theme is God delivers His king in his time of trouble and He equips him for his battles. But not just His king,
if we are to all sing this song, then it must be that God delivers all His servants in their times of trouble and He equips
them for the battles they must face.
David puts forward his story as an example. His story is proof of the fact God answers prayers. His experience is not
meant to be unique. David has not put his story out there to make us feel jealous or to frustrate us. We can all do what
David did. We can all pray. We can all turn to God when in need.
David is able to say, God heard “my” voice (v5). God distinguishes the individual’s need amidst all the cries that reach
His ears.
David is not trying to prove God to anyone. What he is doing is simply telling his story. There are many people who
would claim that there is no God. Well they can say that. But what they say does not take away from David’s experience.
And what others say about God does not take away from our experience of Him either.
No specific period in David’s life is referred to. David is telling us that this has been the pattern of his life. Verse 1 says it
all in one sentence, “the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies”.
More than once God has reached down into David’s tight spot. At times David has felt so threatened that it was like he
was being pulled down into his grave. Or it was like he was drowning. He had reached the point of feeling there was no
hope.
God is pictured as powerful. He arrives to stand with His servant and His arrival is accompanied by the quaking of the
earth and the mountains. In very picturesque language God is seen coming into join His servant in battle breathing out
smoke and fire. He comes as it were with all His guns blazing. He has not simply come to have a look He has come to
fight.
The coming of God to help His people is not infrequently described in terms of storm and earthquake and thunder and
lightening and even volcanic eruptions (Ex 19:16-19, 1 Kings 19:12 & Ex 28:9).
The language is the language of the Exodus. David believes that the God who ripped open the Red Sea for His people is
still doing huge things today for His people. David knows that if he had been stood on the banks of the Red Sea with the
Egyptian army charging toward him God would have included him in the number who got safely over. He would not have
been left out.
God will not fail to come to aid His servants no matter what the cost.
In answer to the cry of one person God harnessed all nature to make His triumphal entry to the scene of His servant’s
plight. God is in control of the world and nature and it all does His bidding. And God is willing to move everything in order
to answer the prayer of one man.
The picturesque language describing God coming to His servant on the wind and parting the heavens to come down and
the use of thunder and lightening and the dark rain clouds gives us a picture of God moving the very elements of nature
to answer this one man’s prayer. There is nothing that God will not do save His servant.
From the tight corner of verse 6 David is brought to the spacious open and safe place (v20). The period of calamity did
not last. And why has God done this, because He delighted in David (v20).
He did not come out into the open space over night. He had to trust that God would bring him there even when things
looked very precarious.
At times David’s problems must have looked overwhelming but when God comes into the picture the perspective
changes and David’s problems looked much smaller.
The second section of the song runs from verse 21 to 30 and in it the king maintains his innocence and righteousness.
But we immediately think of Bathsheba and Uriah, or the handing over for execution of the seven descendents of Saul.
David was not perfect.
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Here David claims to have maintained his relationship with God by his keeping of God’s law and the avoidance of evil.
But he is not claiming never to have done wrong.
We see here that God does not treat us as our sins deserve. The greatest enemy that David faced was his own heart.
But even this enemy was beaten by God.
In Psalm 66:18-19 David says, “If I have cherished sin in my heart the Lord would not have listened, but God has surely
listened and heard my voice in prayer”.
He is not saying that he is perfect. He is saying that he is not hiding any wrong. It is all out in the open and dealt with. His
sins have been confessed. He has repented and sought to put right the wrong he has done. He married Bathsheba. He
arranged the burial of Saul and his family.
In 1 John 3:9 we are told “no one born of God goes on sinning”. That is the people of God do not wallow in their sin. They
hate their sin. They fight their sin. They do all they can to avoid sin. Doing wrong worries them. They do not sin and then
make light of it. Sin for them is a very big deal.
The people of God are so disturbed by their sin that they come to God to sort it out. They come back to God to sort out
the wrong. In this they do right.
David is saying he has a wholehearted commitment toward God. Having done wrong David does not turn away from
facing the music. David is dealing with his life’s direction. It is toward goodness.
The man is not into self-justifying. He admits the wrong he has done.
When David says that he “kept himself from sin” (v24) he is saying he is on guard against his human nature. He knows
that he has a propensity to sin and he is watching himself.
In verse 28 we get to the heart of the matter. God saves the humble. But the haughty know nothing of God’s goodness. It
is the humble who know that they need God. It is the humble who acknowledge their dependence upon God. It is
therefore the humble who know God.
David loves God and he loves God’s law and he loves God for rescuing him from his failures to keep the law.
For the one who does not love God there is no love of His law, and no interest in being rescued from any failure to keep
the law. The breaking of God’s law was a matter of some personal pain to David for he knew he had hurt the one he
loves.
But beyond what we have just said, part of the way David speaks in verse 21 is based on his understanding of
forgiveness. If he has been forgiven then such words as “I have been blameless before Him” make good sense. David
was so convinced that God had literally removed his sin from him as far as the east is from the west, so David felt in his
being that he was as a perfect man. David believed that God was so genuine in His forgiveness that there would be no
reason why God could not deal with him as if he were perfect.
In fact his song celebrates not David’s goodness but God’s goodness in forgiving him.
In verses 31 to 46 we come back to the matter of deliverance again. David celebrates his military victories all of which he
acknowledges have been won as a result of God’s enabling. David knows that he is totally indebted to God.
His wisdom, his strength, and his initial victory over Goliath, were all God’s doing.
From the moment he had his first taste of battle David never for one moment saw himself as self-sufficient. He always
relied on God for help (1 Sam 17:37&47). The simple shepherd’s sling worked against a well armed warrior only because
God was in on it all. Otherwise the matter would have been as ridiculous as it first seemed to those who saw David
walking down into the valley.
Later when David commanded the most powerful army in that part of the world he did not put his confidence in it but in
the God who went with him into the valley to face Goliath.
David lived a very profitable life. He comes to the end of it looking back on a rather successful career. He went as high
as anyone could go. The kingdom was well managed under his leadership. But when David comes to summing it all up
he acknowledges he would not have achieved what he had without God’s input.
David believes that at the end of the day it was God who actually won the battles and not himself.
David understands that all he has, and is, comes from God.
David recognizes that it is God who has placed David where he is in life. He would never have had the life that he had if
not for God. All that he has is seen as a gift from God.
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Therefore, this being so, David’s only response can be “I will praise you, O Lord among the nations, I will sing praises to
Your name” (v50), which is exactly what all God’s people do. They do it not because they have to but because it flows
from them in automatic response for all that God has done for them.
That God lives (v47) is the reality in which David lives. By “lives” David means, active. God is actually alive and doing
stuff all the time. This is the reality of his life and he wants others to know. God is not an abstract idea to David.
God “stoops down to make us great” (v36). How good is God? He stooped down and took this young shepherd boy and
made him great. And He is in the process of making us great. Our eternal destiny is beyond belief. Out there keeping the
sheep David would never have seen himself as king of Israel. And I cannot see what I will be in Jesus’ kingdom but it will
be significant.
In verse 31 David brings home the truth, God is there for any who will lean on Him. He is a shield for all who take refuge
in Him.
As far as David is concerned there is no other God. In David’s experience there is no one else, or nothing else, that is as
dependable as God. In other words he would give up anything in order to have God. Here is the pearl of great price, the
one the merchant will sell all to get hold of (Matt 13:45).
There is no end of financial advisors around today. They are on the radio regularly and you can phone up for advice on
your money worries. Every last one of them says again and again to never ever put all your money into one investment.
Diversity is the name of the game. But not here, God calls you to bank everything on Him and Him alone. He will deliver
those who are humble enough to trust Him and Him alone.
95

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 2 October 2005
23
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2 Samuel 23:1-39
A witness
The first seven verses are David’s last words. In the great song of chapter 22 David was looking back, here he looks
forward. And what optimism there is in his view. He has no doubt that the kingdom he has worked so hard for will
triumph.
By the way these are not actually David’s last words; they come to us in 1 Kings. These are David’s last words as far as
the book of Samuel is concerned and therefore are very important as are any person’s last words. Last words are never
trivial. This is not a death bed speech but a summing up type comment toward the end of one’s life.
In these words David is pointing to his life. He is asking his descendents and us to have a look and take note and benefit.
It is far better to leave behind a good history than it is a huge estate. Far better to leave behind a life others can model on
and be inspired by, than a bank full of money. And this is what David has done.
Some of the people who have enriched my life the most have never given me a cent. They have given me inspiration
worth much more than all the gold in the world.
On one occasion Jesus told a story to help make the point that the joy of knowing Him is greater than all the treasure in
the world. A pearl merchant comes across a pearl of immense value. The merchant recognises at once its worth. So
convinced is he of its lasting value that he literally sells up everything he owns in order to purchase this one pearl
(Matt13:45-46). He put all his eggs into the one basket. Now the point is everyone hearing the story immediately tunes
into the value of the pearl. If this chap should invest everything he owns into this pearl, this pearl must really be of the
most remarkable worth. The merchant’s actions bear testimony to the pearl’s value.
Now when we see people passionately in love with God, when we see people put God above everything else in their
lives we get a message.
Yesterday I read Bethany Hamilton’s story. Two years ago this month Bethany, a young teenager, was surfing. She lives
in Hawaii with her mum and dad, and two brothers. Bethany is quite an accomplished surfer having won numerous titles.
Surfing, for her is a serious business. Friday morning on the last day of the month she was out practicing. It was just after
dawn. Suddenly a shark struck and in one swift bite took off her left arm which had been tangling in the water. Others in
the water got her back to shore and she lived to tell the tale. However, all that was left of her arm was a very short stump.
Bethany is a Christian girl. Her understanding of “where is God in all of this” says much. The accident led to a wave of
publicity. She has been interviewed far and wide. In almost every interview she has made it her business to speak of the
presence of God in her life. For her, the number one goal of life was not to be a world class surfer, but to be a witness to
the reality of God. The loss of the arm has furthered her number one goal. She does not believe for one moment that
God made the shark bite her. But she is convinced that God knew all along that it would happen, and in spite of it God
would do good in her life. She says, “If I can help other people find hope in God, then that is worth losing my arm for”
(Soul Surfer. Bethany Hamilton 2004. p209).
I have never met this girl and I probably never will. But her elevating God above everything else in life inspires me. Her
response to her tragedy points me back again to the greatest thing in the world - knowing God.
There are so many stories. Each one reinforces the great worth of knowing God. Henry Martyn was born in England in
1781 of well-to-do parents. They gave him the best education that money could buy. Martyn was a bright student and
virtually any career could have been his. But at about 20 years of age he had an encounter with God. From that moment
on his only goal was to let others know of what he had found. He left England and went to India to work as a Bible
translator. The life he lived in India was heavy going. So much so that he died aged 31. But it is in the story of his girl
friend that we see just how much he loved God. Lydia Grenfell was her name. He had to leave her behind when he
travelled out to India with the hope that, within a few years, she could come out and they would marry. Lydia’s mother
would never consent to her daughter’s departure for India. Henry loved Lydia passionately but he loved God more.
Proclaiming what he knew of God was more important to him than even having a wife. This man’s actions give us a
glimpse into how valuable it is to know God.
This second song from David starts off with a description of himself. He describes himself not in terms of human
achievements but in relation to God. The point he wants us to understand is that, but for God, he would never have
become king and would never have had this song to sing.
He tells us that he was anointed by God. But note how he introduces God, the God of Jacob; of all the ways of describing
God, why as the God of Jacob? Because in Jacob God transformed twisted human material. By bringing the name of
Jacob to our minds David is flagging the fact that he too needed to be transformed.
David wants it understood that he is not like the kings of their neighbour Egypt who considered themselves divine.
David knew he had much more in common with Jacob than a super saint. Jacob was a liar and a cheat. He did wrong in
lying to his father in order to get the official blessing that really belonged to his brother Esau. He failed his first wife, Leah,

terribly. He took a second wife Rachel and he loved Rachel. Leah had to live her life as a second class citizen; she was
always the second wife. Jacob had much to answer for. But God took this man and changed him.
David describes himself as a son of a chap called Jesse. Nothing unique here, he is just one of eight sons born to an
unknown farmer. But his biological roots are not the only thing to say about David. David is also anointed by God. David
is a son of Jesse, yes. But he is also a son of God. Samuel had poured the oil over him, symbolic of the coming of the
Spirit upon him. David had lived all his life with the presence of God about him. David had always welcomed the
presence and had nurtured the relationship.
You would not understand David unless you allowed for the presence of God in his life. Do you know someone who is
married and yet not know their partner? When I was working in factories this was always the case. All the men I worked
with were married. But none of us ever got to meet each other’s wives. But we each knew that we were all caught up in
the influence of another. What we going to do with our evenings or weekends were affected by someone who was not
there. We were men under the influence of another. And so was David.
David’s speech commends the benefits of righteous leadership for all who are so fortunate to be so ruled. The righteous
ruler is the shepherd, the one who seeks nothing but the well being of those he rules; which means as a ruler he will not
be oppressive, or mean, or exploitive, of tyrannical. Who does not drive his people like cattle, but leads them like sheep.
Such a ruler says God is to be compared with two lovely experiences common to people everywhere. The early morning
sunlight as the dawn breaks on a cloudless day, and the shafts of sunlight breaking through heavy black clouds following
rain.
Sunshine is imperative for the grass to grow, and for a healthy society a righteous ruler has an equally vital role to play.
David is delighting in the pleasure of being part of the community of God’s people. This community means everything to
David.
Therefore David delights in the reality that his house will last for ever. David knows that what he is trying to achieve will
come to pass. The kingdom Jesus came to establish was exactly the kind of kingdom that David had been trying to
establish. David knew that ultimately what he was seeking to build would be built. This was the kingdom of God (Mark
1:15). This was the kingdom where people submitted to the rule of God.
David knows that the type of kingdom he has been working on is the type which has an eternal future. It is the way of the
future. It will never be bettered. David could see how the future was going to pan out. God would always rule, and rule
the way David had ruled.
It is this kingdom, this community that will last forever.
Therefore David must go on to deal with the issue of those who do not submit to God. These people are described as
evil. Not primarily because of the naughty things they do, but because they refuse to submit to God. They ignore the first
commandment.
Such folk are to be treated like weeds and thorns. Just as a farmer has to clear his land of thorn bushes so God has to
clear his kingdom of those living in rebellion to his rule. Those who refuse to forgive, those who refuse to care for the
one in need, those who are self-centred and selfish will have no part in God’s kingdom (Matt 3:10 & 13:40).
David had no doubt there could be no half way position. Either you were for God or you were against Him.
The chapter moves on to look at those who had worked with David. All that David had achieved he had certainly not
achieved alone.
In particular we have the names of the 30. Although in fact there are 36 names here. The 30 was obviously a title. But
note there are only 36 names even though it says there are 37 of them. Why? Where is the name of Joab?
Joab’s name has been deleted. It has been deleted in order to say in effect “Joab is not necessary to this story”. You
may think that David would never have held the kingdom without Joab’s ungodly help. For the secular historian, who
deals exclusively with human motives and actions, the name of Joab cannot be removed. Joab was the most important
person in managing the military might of Israel. However for those of us who believe that God is working out His
purposes and can do it with kindness and forgiveness, you could take the name of Joab out and it would change nothing.
Joab thought that Abner had to be murdered and Absalom had to die and Amasa had to go. But even if they had not
been murdered the kingdom would have still moved forward. It did not have to be Joab’s violent way.
When the writer finally brings together the list of people who really counted in David’s kingdom, he quietly omits Joab.
And we do not even miss him. If all the evil things that Joab did were never done David would still have been on the
throne.
And what about Uriah, he is dead, why is his name remembered? It is remembered because he was one of the 30 and
David is insisting that his contribution not be forgotten no matter how embarrassing is was for David to raise his name.
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Uriah’s name is placed last where it must be noticed. It triggers memories of David at his worst. Whenever anyone
started to over eulogise David there would always be someone to stand up and say “Uriah” that we might be reminded
again and again of the grace of God. The memory of Uriah could have haunted David. And it must have done to some
extent but it was also a constant memory of the kindness and forgiveness of God. If we forget our sins we will forget just
how much we have been forgiven. If David made light of Uriah he would have made light of God’s forgiveness. More,
there is nothing like the memory of our sins to keep us humble, and humility is a beautiful thing.
David was a humble man and he knew he would not have achieved all that he had achieved but for the help of many. In
the account of his life and reign David made sure that we had a record of the names of some of the key players. Here are
the men who made David’s kingdom possible.
Above all the others David lists three who, in battle, had stood their ground when the remainder of the army had fled. In
each case the valiant stand had provided the turning point, victory instead of the expected defeat.
Yet even here the only explanation of these men’s remarkable victories is the action of God. The power behind these
men was God. The point is, if not these men then it would have been others. If these men had never been born we need
not think that the kingdom would not have come. No, God would simply have used other men. When remembering what
these men have done the source of their strength must never be forgotten.
We see this in Eleazer who fought on one occasion so fiercely that at the end of the battle he could not let go of his
sword. When the rest of the troops returned there was nothing left to do but strip the dead bodies. This chap had done all
the fighting on his own!
Eleazer knew who had given him the victory, and so in the spirit of that fact he shared the spoils which were rightly all
his. The man was also acknowledging that God had given him his strength and courage. We are not all created equal.
This man was not going to keep to himself the rewards of what he had been able to achieve with what God had given
him.
There are other special stories that are not to be forgotten. The story in verses 13-17 comes from the wilderness period
of David’s life. Saul had driven David from the country and David was living with a small band of followers and their
families. They were basically on the run, always trying to keep one step ahead of Saul’s troops. At the time of this
incident David was based at the cave of Adullam, which is in the hill country west of Bethlehem. A contingent of Philistine
troops was camped in the valley of Rephaim south west of Jerusalem (5:17-25). We are told that it is harvest time so we
can assume the Philistines have come up into Israelite territory to steal food from the fields.
Israel was so weak at the time that the Philistines could actually set up a garrison in Bethlehem. This was David’s home
town. This was a village well where David would have drunk regularly as a child and youth, the home of his mum and
dad. That the Philistines were garrisoned there explains David’s discouragement. That even Bethlehem was in occupied
territory was a source of much depression.
In expressing a wish for a drink from the well at Bethlehem David was longing for normality. He was longing for a time
when he could wander down into the village and call in on mum and dad and grab a drink at the village well. David was
not thirsty as such. He was longing for the day when the Philistines would be driven from Israelite territory.
But three of his senior warriors took him literally and risked their lives to bring him water from Bethlehem’s well. The story
of such devotion to a leader became part of Israel’s heritage. To break into Bethlehem was SAS stuff.
To drink such water would be to treat far too lightly what these men have done.
David responded by pointing out that only God was worthy of such a sacrifice and such devotion. This is why David
poured it out as a gift to God. That water literally represented the life blood of those three brave men. David did not
believe he was worthy to drink it.
David honours his men by ceremonially pouring the water out. David saw this water bought at such cost as being worthy
of a sacrifice to God.
“Pour out” is what happened to special drinks that were poured out as part of a sacrifice to God. Normally a drink offering
accompanied the giver of another sacrifice. It was seen as an act of dedication symbolising a person’s life being poured
out in service to God. Paul uses the image of a drink offering to describe his own dedication to the Lord (Phil 2:17 & 2
Tim 4:6).
A good leader will always honour and appreciate what his followers have done.
This water they brought to David, but in essence they were bringing it to God. They were serving God’s king. So too
when we bring money to church it is to God that we bring the money. Note Matthew 25:34 the smallest thing done for
another is seen by Jesus as a thing done for Him.
What Jesus wishes should be commands to us. We should be as keen to go into action as were these unnamed men. If
they loved David so much how much more should we love our King? Saul had to bribe his men to follow him (1 Sam
22:6) David had men who risked everything for him.
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Then we have Benaiah who is famous for three deeds. He was in fact a priest who became a warrior (1 Chron 27:5). He
struck down two of Moab’s best fighters. He went down into a pit to kill a lion. Now the lion would have been hungry cold
and distressed. It would take a very brave man to go down and take it on; especially in the slippery snow. Why did he do
it? Was he too like David and cared for others? Was he keen to get rid of the beast before it got out and attacked some
child? Lastly he took on some huge Egyptian fighter, even though the Egyptian was better armed. The Egyptian had a
spear, Benaiah only a club. But why go and fight a powerful Egyptian warrior? Again the answer has to lie in Benaiah’s
love of his people. Benaiah will not sit back while his people are being bullied. His skills and bravery won for him the
most important task of being overseer of the king’s bodyguard.
This chapter lists so many mighty men, but the mightiest of them all was David. He was the greatest of all Israel’s
warriors. David’s name is mentioned over a thousand times in the Bible, but only once in the Lamb’s Book of Life – the
same as you and me. In the one place where it is crucial that you are named David has no more prominence than you or
me.
There are lots of names in this chapter, but not everyone who was significant to David is mentioned. But God has every
name. David may not have named everyone but God does. The Bible loves lists. Paul was keen to list the name of those
who had fought alongside him Romans 16, Philippians 2:19, Colossians 4, and 2 Timothy 1:16. God loves naming
people because He never tires of hearing the names of His people.
These are honourable men and it is right that David names them. Paul named key people, Romans 16:4, and so did
Jesus, Luke 22:28. And it is important for the church at times to name key people who hold everything together. These
leaders in the church deserve to be honoured and respected not criticized and questioned.
99

A Sermon Preached at the
Beaconsfield Baptist Church
Sunday 9 October 2005
24
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2 Samuel 24:1-25
Dependent
This is not the story that we would have perhaps chosen to finish a book with. Much about the story is strange to our way
of thinking. It is important for the author that the book ends, not with David dying in royal glory or glorying in his great
nation, but that it finish with full focus on the mercy of God. The book ends with David being at peace with God in spite of
his sin.
The book also finishes on the same note that it started. 1 Samuel 1 is the story of a family at a sacrifice and 2 Samuel 24
is the story a man at a sacrifice. The story starts with a person, Hannah, being totally dependent on God and it ends with
a man being totally dependent on God. Hannah lets go of that which is most precious to her, Samuel, and relies totally
upon God for her emotional well being. She will not let her son replace the role that God should rightly have in her life.
And so too at the end of the story, David will learn that his troops and all they represent must not replace God in his life.
The parallel account in 1 Chronicles 21:1 has Satan inciting David to take the census. But here it is God Himself who
does the inciting. If we put the two accounts together we see that Satan is the one who instigates the evil and God is the
one who allows it to happen. The author of Samuel simply jumps to the first cause. If God allowed it to happen then God
must ultimately have the act as part of His will. What we are to understand from the way it is written is that God is
ultimately behind everything. Nothing happens that God does not want to happen. If it happens then God was content for
it to happen. If He was not, it would not have happened!
But why would God want evil in His creation at all? Why was there ever a Satan? The only answer is that everything is
for the glory of God. The whole of everything is for the glory of God. God created in such a way that His glory would be
revealed. And our deepest satisfaction and joy is in seeing His glory. Now the pinnacle of God’s glory is His love and the
depth of His love could never have been seen but in the face of evil. We would never have known what was in the very
depth of God if we had not seen Jesus on the cross.
David is about to taste the mercy of God again; a mercy that is only seen in the face of our wilful disobedience.
What was so wrong in David wanting to know just how many troops could be mustered? What was so wrong with him
wanting to know how big an army he could depend upon?
The matter here is pride. The matter is self-sufficiency. We are back in the Garden. The temptation to think one could
actually cope without God.
Israel had of course only a relatively small standing army. Whenever the nation was under threat every able bodied man
in the country was expected to arm himself and report for war. On any given occasion no one knew exactly just how
many able bodied men there were. No records were kept. There were new young men reaching the age when they could
go to war every month. There were others getting older who would need to think twice if there was a call up.
Israel basically defended itself with a volunteer army. When there was a need the men would leave home and loved ones
and sign on for battle.
For the king this was all very precarious. At any one time the king never knew just how many men he would have in his
army. But this is the very way that God would have it. God wanted His king dependent on Him. God wanted His king
always looking to Him and not to his army. If it was right to go to war then the king was to know that there would always
be enough men. Even if there were only 300 like Gideon had, it would be enough (Jud 7).
David knew his history. When the huge Egyptian army marched, Israel was told all they needed to do was stand still and
God would do the fighting (Ex 14:14).
Jonathan had said the truth when he said, “Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few" (1
Sam 14:6).
The church too must be very careful about measuring its resources. It will simply never have enough. It will always be
God dependent. And the day it thinks it has all that it needs it will fail.
The number of fighting men available is no measure of the nation’s ability to defend itself. Any more than how many
members a church has or how wealthy a church is indicates how strong it is.
God wants His people dependent upon Him. He wants us to live by faith in His providence, and His willingness and
ability to provide. That is why we are to pray and keep on praying.
Praying is asking. And we ask because we need. We are meant to feel our need.
The church is at war; at war in the sense that we have been sent out into a hostile world to make disciples. Now when
soldiers go to war they have walkie-talkies. This is their link back to headquarters. As the fighting gets tough and difficult
they can call in help. They can call out for air cover, or reinforcements, or medical support, or whatever is needed. The

people at headquarters have a great interest in keeping the troops at the front well provided for. They know those troops
cannot do it on their own. They know they need help and headquarters is only too willing to get help to them. They have
as much interest as the troops in winning the war. This is prayer. Jesus is back at headquarters. He hears our cries for
help and He is diligent in getting the help to us. He wants us to win the battle with temptation, the fight to put together a
healthy church, the fight to keep money flowing to the missionaries and so on. He knows these things are beyond us
without help.
Now prayer was never intended to be an intercom to the servant’s quarters! Prayer is not about asking for God to give
you a pay raise or a new car, or a nice holiday or a new home. And this may be the reason that we do not see as many
of our prayers answered as we would like (Let The Nations Be Glad. John Piper).
Depending on God to act when the nation was under attack would be an act of faith. David was rather keen to know just
how many troops he had. Knowing the size of his army made him feel more secure than knowing that God would not fail.
David was keen to see just how big an army he could pull together. He was getting a lot of satisfaction in looking at his
mighty military machine. In fact he was rather proud of it.
Not only David but the whole nation would have been caught up in this. They would have all been feeling rather good
when the figures came through. They would have all been rather proud of the size of their fighting force.
Gone were the days when the Philistines bullied them about. Gone were the days when the neighbouring tribes
plundered them at will. Israel was now a nation to be reckoned with and they were all very proud of it.
This is all sad in a man who had gone into battle against Goliath with the minimum of armour in order that the victory
would obviously be God’s.
The heart of the matter is David is departing from living by faith in the goodness of God. Counting soldiers is the very
opposite of trusting in God.
This is pride. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God” (Psa 20:7).
David knew better!
The route that Joab took is given to us in some detail. He started off in the territory of Reuben and then made his way
north. The team went from town to town and village to village. The task took Joab and his team nearly ten months.
The word “thousand” is a military term and means a contingent and not necessarily an actual thousand. But it could very
well be.
Joab and his team finish their work and report back the very impressive numbers. But the moment David hears the
figures he is conscience-stricken. He knew he had done wrong. He knew there was something wrong about counting
men as opposed to counting on God.
The words David uses are not quite the same ones he used when confronted with what he had done with Bathsheba.
There he said, “I have sinned” (12:13). Here he says, “I have sinned greatly”. Why is this sin a greater wrong? Is it
because the sin with Bathsheba was the sin of lust whereas this sin was the sin of pride? Is not pride the greatest of
sins? Here is a breaking of the first commandment.
With Bathsheba it was a sudden passionate act. Here it is calculated. Here he has a warning. Here there is almost a full
ten months and he could have called off the census at any time.
This time he does not need a prophet to stir his conscience. No one has to confront David this time. Here is true
repentance. David is confessing the whole sorry story. No one has to drag the story out of him. No one has to go and
point to the evidence. David will not seek to bury his wrong.
David is not always prayerful but he always ends up praying. He is not always sensitive to God but he always ends up
calling on God. This is why we have 40 chapters devoted to his life. Here is someone to model on.
There were to be consequences. But David is to have a say - a disaster of three years or one of three months or one of
three days. A famine, a military defeat or a plague; however, the shorter the time the more intense the suffering.
The punishment fits the crime. This proud people who like to think they were so self-sufficient will now be confronted with
a calamity that they will shake them to their core.
David makes his decision on what he knows of God’s nature. Deep in the heart of God was mercy “Do not withhold Your
mercy from me, O LORD” (Psa 40:11). David knew at heart God was merciful. David trusts God enough to fling himself
on his mercy.
This is why when asked to choose a calamity, David immediately chooses something supernatural. He does not even
want to start drawing on his resources. He wants to be dependent on God and God alone. If an army attacked he would
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look to his troops but in a supernatural disaster he could do nothing to help himself. If God did not do a miracle he would
go under.
So an inexplicable, incurable fatal epidemic hits the nation. It rages for three days. However the plague does not start in
the capital. In fact the capital was spared. Just as the plague reaches the outskirts of the city it is brought to a halt.
Although not stated it is as if the plague follows the same route that Joab and his team took.
Araunah was a Jebusite and the Jebusites were the original inhabitants of the city. He was obviously a well-to-do and
well known land owner.
David was a good king in that he knew that the heart of leadership was to serve those you lead. Even to the point of
being willing to sacrifice yourself for their well being.
As the plague moves up to the outskirts of Jerusalem David sees first hand the pain and grief of his people. David pleads
that God lay His wrath on him rather than on the people of Jerusalem. The plague has done terrible damage in the
countryside what would it do when it entered the close quarters of the city?
The plague is described as an “angel”. The word also means “messenger”. On the night of the Passover we have the
angel of death moving through Egypt. How we Westerners would love to know more about this plague and how it
operated and just what it was, and what David actually saw on the threshing floor. But these are not issues that our
author was interested in and therefore we are to know they are not important to the point of the story.
The man of God instructs David to go and offer a sacrifice. Here is the mercy of God. The plague is an expression of the
wrath of God. David wants that wrath to fall on him and so save his people. But God does better He points to the
sacrifice and says let it fall on the animal. Let that be a substitute.
Threshing floors were simply flat areas of rock on which wheat was threshed to remove the grain from the husks. This
particular threshing floor was just to the north of the city centre. In time it will become the site that Solomon will choose to
build the temple on (1 Chron 22:1 & 2 Chron 3:1).
David knows that mercy was what God offered again and again. It was not a one off thing, or something out of character.
This was God’s character.
A few years ago in a zoo in the USA a toddler fell into the gorilla pit. The three year old hit the ground so hard as to be
stunned. Everyone froze as one of the gorillas lopped over to the child. The gorilla picked up the child and to the relief
and amazement of everyone cradled the toddler in her arms. The gorilla then meandered over to the door where the
keeper normally entered the enclosure. The gorilla put the child down and a keeper swiftly reached in and lifted the child
out. Now everyone was pretty impressed with the kindly motherly actions of the gorilla. But equally no one was keen on
allowing children to play in the gorilla enclosure. No one believed that the actions of the gorilla that day could be relied
upon to be repeated consistently. Is God’s mercy an occasional matter, something that is great to behold but not
something you could bank on being there on every occasion?
At the threshing floor God’s mercy restrained His wrath. David was right about God’s mercy.
God provides a way for His wrath to be appeased via the sacrifice. Without the altar and the sacrifice the wrath of God
would have poured out continually on Israel. His wrath stopped at the altar. On this site these acts will be repeated again
and again. There will be sin. There will be confession and there will be mercy and forgiveness.
And not far from that altar was the place where the wrath of God upon me was poured out. For Jesus was crucified not
far from this very spot.
David tastes the mercy of God. And it is only because God is merciful that David was not destroyed. Here at the end of
the story we see David putting faith in God’s mercy. A faith he failed to put in God at the beginning of the story.
Araunah offers David all that David wants. It is his for the taking. This is some gift. The cost of this rather valuable piece
of land is considerable. David knows he cannot sacrifice to God that which has cost him nothing. He needs to give a
portion of his personal wealth to honour God.
David will not make light of what God is offering him.
By the end of this sad story the population has been depleted by 70,000. David’s census was a waste of time. His figures
are now all hopelessly out of date. All his efforts in trying to make himself secure were a total waste of time. As they
always are!
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Important End Note.
� These sermons have come straight from the pulpit – they have not been professionally proof read.
� Please note that sermons are not essays.
� The first thing to be said is that an essay will have footnotes. There are no footnotes in sermons.
� The second thing to be said is that the sermon is crafted to enter the ear gate whereas the essay has been
crafted to enter the eye gate. This means that this sermon was never originally designed to be read it was
prepared to be listened to.
� Although there are no footnotes it is freely admitted that information has been drawn from a plethora of sources.
I make no claim that all the thoughts in my sermons are original. Working with a text that has been studied for
the last 2500 years an original thought would be quite something! The bibliography has been my main, but by
no means the only, source. In the sermon you may find bits and pieces from current affairs and gems I have
picked up in conversations and from the dozen and one magazine articles and books that I have been dipping
into not to mention the various websites that I have glanced at. Please be assured that the lack of
acknowledging is not an attempt to hide my sources or to deny credit to those whom it may belong.
Bibliography
Baldwin, J. G. 1&2 Samuel Inter-Varsity Press 38 De Montfort St. Leicester. Eng. 1988
Brueggemann w. 1&2 Samuel John Knox Press Louisville, Kentucky 1990
Chafin K. 1&2 Samuel Word Inc Dallas 1989
Davis D.R. 2 Samuel Christian Focus Publications Geanies House, Rearn, Ross-shir GB 1999
Eaton M. 1 Samuel Sovereign Word Tonbridge Kent Eng. 1995
Gordon R.P. 1&2 Samuel Zondervan Publishing House Grand Rapids Michigan 1986
Klein R.W. 1 Samuel Word Biblical Commentary Waco, Texas 1983
Mowvley H. 1 &2 Samuel The Bible Reading Fellowship Oxford Eng. 1998
Peterson E.H. 1&2 Samuel John Knox Press Louisville, Kentucky 1999
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