WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.419 2 Samuel chapter 15. We've been working our way through 2 Samuel and we're up to chapter 15 00:00:07.419 --> 00:00:14.580 this morning and I'm going to read it for us. In the course of time, Absalom provided himself 00:00:14.580 --> 00:00:23.400 with a chariot and horses and with 50 men to run ahead of him. He would get up early and stand by 00:00:23.400 --> 00:00:29.800 the side of the road leading to the city gates. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:34.520 placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, what town are you from? 00:00:35.179 --> 00:00:38.980 He would answer, your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom would say to him, look 00:00:38.980 --> 00:00:43.780 your claims are valid and proper but there is no representative of the king to hear you. 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:49.140 And Absalom would add, if only I were appointed judge in the land then everyone who has a complaint 00:00:49.140 --> 00:00:55.040 or a case could come to me and I would see that they would receive justice. Also whenever anyone 00:00:55.039 --> 00:01:00.679 approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. 00:01:01.420 --> 00:01:06.319 Absalom behaved in this way towards all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:13.680 and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel. At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, 00:01:13.819 --> 00:01:19.680 let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the Lord. While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:24.720 I made this vow, if the Lord takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord in Hebron. 00:01:25.460 --> 00:01:31.680 The king said to him, go in peace. So he went to Hebron. Then Absalom sent secret messengers 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:36.500 throughout the tribes of Israel to say, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:42.140 Absalom is king in Hebron. Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:46.480 They'd been invited as guests and went quite innocently knowing nothing about the matter. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:52.780 While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel, the Gilanite, David's counselor, 00:01:52.900 --> 00:01:59.659 to come from Gilho, his hometown. So the conspiracy gained strength and Absalom's following kept on 00:01:59.659 --> 00:02:06.180 increasing. A messenger came and told David, the hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom. 00:02:07.020 --> 00:02:13.280 Then David said to all his officials who are with him in Jerusalem, come, we must flee or none of us will 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:18.640 escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin 00:02:18.640 --> 00:02:24.420 upon us and put the city to the sword. The king's official answered him, your servants are ready to 00:02:24.420 --> 00:02:29.840 do whatever our lord the king chooses. The king set out with his entire household following him, 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:35.479 but he left ten concubines to take care of the palace. So the king set out with all the people 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:42.420 following him and they halted at the edge of the city. All his men marched past him along with all the 00:02:42.419 --> 00:02:47.759 Kerethites and Pelethites and all the 600 Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath, marched before 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:53.859 the king. The king said to Ittai the Gittite, why should you come along with us? Go back and stay 00:02:53.859 --> 00:02:59.159 with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland. You came only yesterday and today 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:05.199 shall I make you wander about with us when I do not know where I'm going? Go back and take your people 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:11.119 with you. May the Lord show you kindness and faithfulness. Ittai replied to the king, as surely as the 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:16.939 lord lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:23.860 death, there will your servant be. So David said to Ittai, go ahead, march on. So Ittai the Gittite 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:29.819 marched on with all his men and the families that were with him. The whole countryside wept aloud as 00:03:29.819 --> 00:03:35.759 all the people passed by. The king crossed the Kidron Valley. All the people moved on towards the 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:40.700 wilderness. Zadok was there too and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the 00:03:40.699 --> 00:03:45.799 covenant of God. They set down the ark of the covenant of God and Abathur offered sacrifices 00:03:45.799 --> 00:03:51.239 until all the people had finished leaving the city. Then the king said to Zadok, take the ark of 00:03:51.239 --> 00:03:56.299 God back into the city. If I find favour in the Lord's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see 00:03:56.299 --> 00:04:02.139 it and his dwelling place again. But if he says I am not pleased with you, then I am ready. Let him do to 00:04:02.139 --> 00:04:09.319 me whatever seems good to him. The king also said to Zadok the priest, do you understand? Go back to the 00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:17.079 city with my blessing. Take your son Ahimaz with you and also Abathur's son Jonathan and you and Abathur 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:23.659 return with your two sons. I will wait at the fords in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform 00:04:23.659 --> 00:04:31.939 me. So Zadok and Abathur took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there. But David continued up 00:04:31.939 --> 00:04:38.439 the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with 00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:44.240 him covered their heads too and they were weeping as they went up. Now David had been told Ahithophel 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:51.000 is among the conspirators with Absalom. So David prayed, Lord turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness. 00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:57.120 When David arrived at the summit where people used to worship God, Hushai the archite was there to 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:03.300 meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head. David said to him, if you go with me you'll be a burden to 00:05:03.300 --> 00:05:09.439 me. But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, your majesty, I will be your servant. I was your 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:15.759 father's servant in the past but now I'll be your servant. Then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel's 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:22.319 advice. Won't the priests Zadok and Abathur be there with you? Tell them anything you hear in the king's 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:29.519 palace. Their two sons, Ahimaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abathur are there with them. Send them 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:36.699 send them to me with anything you hear. So Hushai, David's confidant, arrived at Jerusalem as Absalom 00:05:36.699 --> 00:05:41.919 was entering the city. Well this is God's word for us this morning. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:53.199 I think it's perhaps true to say that there is no pain in life as great as the pain of betrayal, 00:05:53.199 --> 00:06:01.219 betrayal of being betrayed. That pain that a wife feels when her husband goes off with another woman 00:06:01.219 --> 00:06:08.439 or a husband feels when his wife is unfaithful. That the way that you feel when a friend who 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:15.519 was a dear friend turns on you and cuts you down. How a parent feels when a child runs from home and 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:22.219 doesn't want anything further to do with them. How a child feels when their parent walks out on them. 00:06:22.919 --> 00:06:28.399 How you feel as an employee when an employer ignores years of faithful service and dismisses you from 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:35.959 your job. You know these sorts of pains of betrayal are the sort of pains that that wake us up in the 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:43.939 night. They're difficult to focus on anything else. It's hard to concentrate as your brain tries to work 00:06:43.939 --> 00:06:52.019 out. Why did that happen? Why did they do that to me? What were they hoping to achieve? Did they not 00:06:52.019 --> 00:06:58.480 know how much that would hurt me? Do they not care what pain I'm going through now as a result of their 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:07.680 betrayal? It's betrayal like that that's at the heart of 2 Samuel 15 isn't it? In fact it's kind of 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:15.420 the worst end of that scale of betrayal. Absalom turns on his father and leads a rebellion against 00:07:15.420 --> 00:07:21.540 him. But what I want us to see together in 2 Samuel 15 is that actually in the midst of this story 00:07:21.540 --> 00:07:28.540 and particularly in the way that the story is told we are given hope both as people who are betrayed by 00:07:28.540 --> 00:07:35.780 others but also hope for people who betray others too. So let me show you that from this story and first 00:07:35.779 --> 00:07:41.759 let's try and get the story straight in our minds. So I want you first to see that the four steps to 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:49.239 Absalom's betrayal. The first step is this, look the part, look the part. It's where the passage starts, 00:07:49.359 --> 00:07:57.059 verse 1. Absalom gets a chariot, horses and 50 probably slaves to run before him. Of course it's all a show, 00:07:57.179 --> 00:08:04.119 right? This is a drama made to make him look impressive. This is the ancient equivalent of hiring a fancy 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:09.939 car and driving around in it so that people will think, oh wow, that guy is loaded, right? So this 00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:15.040 is what he's done. He has got horses and chariots and 50 people to run in front of him so that everyone 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:22.980 thinks, oh that guy is someone to take notice of. It's an interesting aside though that just like I 00:08:22.980 --> 00:08:30.340 suppose blacked out four-wheel drives had a slightly bad rep in our world, so too in the Bible by this point 00:08:30.339 --> 00:08:36.419 horses and chariots also have a bad reputation. They are consistently used up to this point by 00:08:36.419 --> 00:08:45.220 bad kings. Think of Pharaoh leading his army into the Red Sea pursuing the Israelites. So I think by 00:08:45.220 --> 00:08:49.759 this point, you know, although Absalom is trying to look impressive and look the part with his chariots 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:55.459 and his 50 runners in front of him, anybody who's a sort of serious Bible thinker by this point or a 00:08:55.460 --> 00:09:01.340 serious resident of Jerusalem is thinking, Absalom looks rather dodgy, doesn't he, as he's riding out 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:08.519 there with his horses and chariots. Step two, then be a man of the people. If you were with us last week, 00:09:08.540 --> 00:09:14.400 you'll know that one of the king's jobs in Jerusalem is to hear the more complex legal cases from around 00:09:14.400 --> 00:09:20.960 the kingdom. That means that there's a steady trickle of people entering Jerusalem who are harassed 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:27.220 and troubled and have lots of difficult things on their minds. Verse two tells you that Absalom gets up 00:09:27.220 --> 00:09:32.620 early in the morning, presumably before the morning sacrifice and definitely before the court opens to 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:39.800 hear their cases, and he listens to them. And what's amazing about the whole of Absalom's time in listening 00:09:39.800 --> 00:09:45.200 to all of this steady trickle of people coming into Jerusalem, for all the people that he speaks to, 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:50.480 he never meets a single case that he disagrees with. Amazing, isn't it? He agrees with all of them. 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:55.080 Verse three tells you that his stock line is, you know, your claims are valid and proper. 00:09:55.500 --> 00:10:00.860 You're right. You're right. He says the big problem in Jerusalem is not your case, which is excellent, 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:05.120 if I may say so. Your case is excellent. The big problem in Jerusalem is there's just not enough 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:10.540 judges. There are not enough people to hear your cases. A problem, verse four, which if I would judge, 00:10:10.540 --> 00:10:18.200 I'd sort out, says Absalom. Notice he's not yet asking, is he, to be king? Very clever, isn't he? He's not 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:22.960 trying to overdo it just now. He's just saying, just let me be a judge, and then the problem will 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:28.020 be solved. To cement this sort of man of the people appearance, you know, people would go to bow down 00:10:28.020 --> 00:10:32.200 to him. You know, what an impressive guy. They go to bow down to him, but instead he'd kind of, 00:10:32.400 --> 00:10:39.300 he'd grab them in and pull them in for a kiss and a hug. Oh, come on. We're friends. We're buddies. 00:10:40.400 --> 00:10:44.680 Verse six summarizes it, doesn't it? Absalom behaved in this way towards all the Israelites who came to the 00:10:44.679 --> 00:10:50.259 king to ask for justice, and here you go, and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:57.419 Look the part. Step three, be patient. Verse seven is remarkable, isn't it? Absalom was clearly patient 00:10:57.419 --> 00:11:03.219 with his wicked plans. I think we've had hints already to Absalom's patience. In chapter 13, he took 00:11:03.219 --> 00:11:08.919 two years to take revenge on his brother Amnon, but now we learn in verse seven that he keeps this show up 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:15.360 for four years. He must have met with hundreds and hundreds of Israelites and become famous among 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:20.439 the tribes. You know, this fine-looking man with all these chariots and runners, always agrees with 00:11:20.439 --> 00:11:25.799 everything. What a knight. You go to bow down to him. This guy, he doesn't even take that. He pulls 00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:33.719 you in for a kiss. What great patience for four years. Step four, then, be cunning. If you look at 00:11:33.719 --> 00:11:38.579 Absalom's request to go and worship in Hebron, it sounds a little strange. By this time, he's been in 00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:43.520 Jerusalem quite a long time, and even though he was born in Hebron, and I suppose it was plausible 00:11:43.520 --> 00:11:47.900 that he might return to the place of his birth to fulfill a vow, still it is a little strange, 00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:53.160 isn't it, that he asks for this right now. Nevertheless, Absalom is cunning enough, I think, 00:11:53.160 --> 00:11:58.900 to dress up a request in spiritual-sounding language to his father so that his father will agree. 00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:06.800 You know this, don't you? If you have a God-fearing parent, the way to get your own way with them 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:12.079 is to ask what you want for in a way which makes it sound like it's the sort of thing that God might 00:12:12.079 --> 00:12:16.399 want you to do, and then your parent will agree with you. Well, that's exactly what Absalom is doing 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:21.839 here. Oh, David, please, I know you're a man of God, aren't you, Dad? Let me go and worship God in 00:12:21.839 --> 00:12:27.459 Hebron. Of course, he had no intention, did he, of worshipping God? The real cunning, though, I think, 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:32.019 is in verse 11. Absalom had done a really good job of winning the hearts of the people of Israel with 00:12:32.019 --> 00:12:36.980 this four-year show at the gates of Jerusalem, and verse 10 shows you that he's confident that 00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:41.079 when he blows the trumpet, they'll support him. But the problem, really, if you think about it, 00:12:41.079 --> 00:12:47.860 is the people in David's court, the people in Jerusalem. You see, everybody else who comes to 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:52.620 Jerusalem might believe Absalom's case when he says, listen, the big problem in Jerusalem is that 00:12:52.620 --> 00:12:57.179 there's not enough people to hear the cases. You know, if I was a judge, I'd sort that out. But the 00:12:57.179 --> 00:13:01.959 people who know that's not true are the people who are working with David inside the court. They 00:13:01.959 --> 00:13:08.539 know that David does a fine job of all of that. And so Absalom's got to do something about David's 00:13:08.539 --> 00:13:15.120 government, David's civil service, all the people that will come in to fight for David when it comes 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:21.139 down to it. So what he does, very cunningly, verse 11 tells you, he invites 200 of them to come with 00:13:21.139 --> 00:13:27.100 him to fulfill his vow in Hebron. And they have no idea where they're going, no idea what they're 00:13:27.100 --> 00:13:32.439 going to. And what Absalom has done here is effectively sort of ripped the heart out of David's 00:13:32.439 --> 00:13:38.819 government and his ability to govern by taking them against their will to Hebron, all of which is then 00:13:38.819 --> 00:13:44.939 helped by this guy Ahithophel, who is David's most skillful advisor, voluntarily, it seems, joining 00:13:44.939 --> 00:13:49.700 Absalom as well. He was Bathsheba's grandfather. I wonder whether he wasn't a big fan of David. 00:13:49.700 --> 00:13:57.660 David. So there you go. Look the part, be a man of the people, be patient and be cunning. All of which 00:13:57.660 --> 00:14:02.020 lead to that conclusion at the end of verse 12, which tells you, and so the conspiracy gained strength 00:14:02.020 --> 00:14:07.900 and Absalom's following kept on increasing. Now, if that's Absalom's four-step plan to take over the 00:14:07.900 --> 00:14:13.900 kingdom, look at David's response. What does he do? Well, it's there in verse 14, he runs. He runs. 00:14:14.540 --> 00:14:19.620 Flee, move quickly, he says, taking everyone with him except for 10 concubines who are 00:14:19.620 --> 00:14:26.159 left not so much to defend the kingdom as preserve the palace for Absalom. The narrative then just 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:31.360 slows down just a little bit, doesn't it, for this guy called Ittai the Gittite, who has, I think, 00:14:31.419 --> 00:14:35.720 a claim to being the best name in all the Bible, Ittai the Gittite. It sounds great to say it, 00:14:35.740 --> 00:14:40.940 doesn't it? He was a part of David's foreign conscript army employed in David's protection. 00:14:41.580 --> 00:14:46.240 But he's a new arrival, and David, perhaps to test his loyalty, suggests that he should stay with the 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:52.360 new king. Listen, your job, your job, your bodyguards to the king, and I'm not going to be the king 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:58.500 anymore. You should stay with Absalom, the new king. Ittai's answer is remarkable, isn't it? In verse 21, 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:05.180 he says that he's following not the king, but David's lord and David, serving him in life and death. It's an 00:15:05.180 --> 00:15:10.700 incredible statement of faith in David and his God. Next come the priests who've brought the Ark of the 00:15:10.700 --> 00:15:15.800 Covenant with them from the tabernacle, but David sends those guys back. David has learned by now, if you've 00:15:15.800 --> 00:15:21.060 not remembered this already from 2 Samuel, that carrying the Ark as a lucky charm is not the way to go. 00:15:21.140 --> 00:15:27.360 It can be very costly. Instead, he's content to trust the Lord and leave it in Jerusalem. And that's then when 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:33.040 you see David making some plans. He sets up the sons of the priests as messengers to communicate what's 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:39.659 happening in Jerusalem. It's sort of the ancient equivalent of an encrypted message, sending even 00:15:39.659 --> 00:15:44.699 Hushai back to the palace to work with them. In fact, I think the way that Hushai is introduced, it 00:15:44.699 --> 00:15:51.019 seems as though Hushai's arrival is the answer to the prayer of verse 31, when David asks that 00:15:51.019 --> 00:15:57.559 Hithophel's advice would be frustrated. So David sends his old friend Hushai back just in time to deceive 00:15:57.559 --> 00:16:03.039 Absalom to say, oh yes, I'm going to serve you, but actually I'm going to supply information back to 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:10.559 David. And verse 37 tells you that Hushai arrives just as Absalom is arriving in the city. Now that's 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:15.439 the story. Okay, so that is 2 Samuel 15, but I want us just to slow down a bit and focus on David, 00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:21.379 because I think there's something remarkable in how the story is told about David, which brings to us 00:16:21.379 --> 00:16:29.039 hope and really sort of healing in the midst of betrayal. Take a look at verse 30 again, and let 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:35.000 me try and explain what I mean. Let me just read it to you again. But David continued up the Mount of 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:42.279 Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and he was barefoot, and all the people with him 00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:48.879 covered their heads too and were weeping as they went. These verses, I think, are meant to pull out a 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:55.639 contrast in the passage. What you've got in the passages is Absalom arriving in the city in great 00:16:55.639 --> 00:17:03.320 triumph and great victory, and David walking out of the city in great defeat, barefoot, weeping, 00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:11.200 head covered, walking with a company of other weeping, head covered followers. Absalom's cunning has won 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:16.140 the kingdom and put him in the seat of the power, and David is now handing over everything to the Lord, 00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:21.520 insisting that even the ark remain in the city. He is walking and weeping, defeated. 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:32.420 This contrast, I think, is meant to bring out the scale of the betrayal here. You know, the innocent David 00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:41.640 is left in pain and weakness. The betrayer keeps everything that's been left behind. I think this is perhaps, 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:48.980 isn't it, betrayal's greatest pain for us. I think it's not just the loss, is it, for David. It's not 00:17:48.980 --> 00:17:55.800 just the loss of the affections of a son. It is this contrast, isn't it, that the son is the innocent 00:17:55.800 --> 00:18:04.040 one, walking out weeping, while Absalom the wicked is riding in victory. It's the injustice of betrayal 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:09.579 that is so painful, isn't it? I think that's what David is probably reflecting on in the Psalms. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:15.859 Lots of the Psalms, as you read them, I think, have this story at their heart. Psalm 35, David says this, 00:18:16.220 --> 00:18:24.420 they repay me evil for good and leave me like one bereaved. They do not speak peaceably, but devise 00:18:24.420 --> 00:18:29.720 false accusations against those who live quietly in the land. Lord, you have seen this, says David. 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:36.819 Don't be silent. Don't be far from me, Lord. Arise, awake, arise to my defence. Contend for me, 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:42.000 my God and Lord. Vindicate me in your righteousness, my Lord and my God. Don't let them gloat over me. 00:18:42.779 --> 00:18:49.160 It's the injustice, isn't it? So you've got this great contrast between Absalom riding in in victory, 00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:56.559 David coming in in defeat. But there is another contrast, too, also in this passage, because it's, 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:03.359 as New Testament readers of the book, we get to see a contrast, not just between Absalom and David, 00:19:03.500 --> 00:19:10.940 but amazingly between Jesus and David here. It's a remarkable contrast, isn't it? It's one that the 00:19:10.940 --> 00:19:15.519 writer of 2 Samuel could not have seen, but that God, who is really the author of all the scriptures, 00:19:15.940 --> 00:19:22.819 he knows this as he inspires these words, that here is a contrast between not so much David and Absalom, 00:19:22.819 --> 00:19:28.119 but David and King Jesus. Let me just point that out to you if you've not seen it already. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:34.819 Here in this passage, as we read it, we see, don't we, that 1,500 years later than David, 00:19:35.559 --> 00:19:43.500 there is another betrayed king in Jerusalem. This other betrayed king in Jerusalem is also 00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:49.119 in the Kidron Valley. You remember that from John 18 that we read with the kids. He is also 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:56.839 on the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane. He's marked by grief. He's weeping. 00:19:57.619 --> 00:20:04.939 He's shedding sweat drops of blood, even, as a conspiracy against him forces him out of Jerusalem 00:20:04.939 --> 00:20:11.619 onto a wooden cross to die. And this, I think, is the whole point of 2 Samuel chapter 15. This is why 00:20:11.619 --> 00:20:17.719 it's in your Bible, because here's the thing. David, at the point of his betrayal, at the point of his 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:28.339 greatest weakness is the most like Jesus as he ever is. David is the closest to Jesus in 2 Samuel 15, 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:35.500 as at any other point in the story. In the point of his betrayal, he is literally walking in the steps 00:20:35.500 --> 00:20:43.400 of King Jesus. In other words, this great Old Testament shadow of Jesus to come shows us most 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:49.560 clearly what Jesus is like, not so much when he wins the battle, but when he loses Jerusalem. 00:20:50.600 --> 00:20:55.420 And this, I think, is then the mind-bending truth about David's weakness, not his strength, 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:00.080 pointing us to Christ. It's when he's betrayed, not honoured, that you see Jesus most clearly. 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:04.480 But we've not yet seen the contrast, have we? Because that's the way that Jesus and David are the same. 00:21:04.780 --> 00:21:08.780 Here's the contrast, okay? Here's the contrast between David and Jesus. 00:21:08.779 --> 00:21:17.539 David, in the weakness of his betrayal, is losing his kingdom. Jesus, in the weakness of his betrayal, 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:25.579 is gaining a kingdom. Do you see it? Jesus, betrayed on the Mount of Olives at the moment of greatest 00:21:25.579 --> 00:21:33.579 human weakness, is not losing God's people, but winning God's people the kingdom. As betrayed and 00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:37.960 bleeding out on the cross, he dies for the sins of his people, to gather them together as a kingdom of 00:21:37.960 --> 00:21:43.299 forgiven saints who will love and trust and worship God, Father, Son, and Spirit for all eternity. 00:21:45.460 --> 00:21:49.759 Now, I want to suggest to you that that contrast, which is at the heart of 2 Samuel 15, has 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:55.279 massive implications for you and I this morning. Let me just draw out two for you. There are others, 00:21:55.559 --> 00:22:00.420 but we're going to focus on two. The first one is this, hope for the betrayed. Hope for the betrayed. 00:22:00.420 --> 00:22:06.039 I think most of us probably know something, at least, of what David is going through here. 00:22:06.700 --> 00:22:13.060 We know something of the wounds of betrayal, don't we? You know what it is to experience this, 00:22:13.100 --> 00:22:19.480 of someone turning their back on you. Someone, at some stage, will do this to you if they have not 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:25.620 yet done it. Someone will turn their back on you, let you down, deliberately betray you. Maybe they'll 00:22:25.619 --> 00:22:30.579 overlook you because of the color of your skin. Maybe they'll gossip about you and cause you grief. 00:22:31.159 --> 00:22:36.239 And here's the truth of it. The closer they are to you relationally, the greater the depth of that 00:22:36.239 --> 00:22:41.979 pain will be. So as David says in Psalm 41, explaining this betrayal, he says, even my close 00:22:41.979 --> 00:22:50.619 friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me, he says. But here then is the 00:22:50.619 --> 00:22:58.719 healing power of 2 Samuel 15, that it is at that point of betrayal, at the end of himself, as David 00:22:58.719 --> 00:23:07.119 weeps and walks up the Mount of Olives, that he gets to share in the footsteps of Jesus. In other words, 00:23:07.500 --> 00:23:14.719 the betrayal doesn't take you away from Christ, but can actually bring you closer to your Lord and Savior. 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:22.140 Why? Well, for one hand, because Jesus, he knows exactly what betrayal feels like. He knows exactly 00:23:22.140 --> 00:23:27.440 what David is going through in 2 Samuel 15. He knows exactly what you're going through if you're being 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:35.700 betrayed this morning. As betrayal empties you and faces you up to injustice, he knows exactly how you feel. 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:44.500 But more than that, more than that, as betrayal empties you of your own strength, it is at that point that 00:23:44.500 --> 00:23:52.640 you begin to realize how strong Jesus is. Let me give you a silly illustration, okay, just to slightly 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:56.759 lighten the moment, but also just so that you can grasp what's really going on here. I want you to 00:23:56.759 --> 00:24:02.799 imagine for a moment that you're watching a guy try to undo a wheel nut on a car with a spanner made of 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:11.000 jelly, okay? You're looking at this person, they're trying really hard to get the wheel nut off their car, 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:18.059 but they have a spanner made of jelly. What are you doing as you think of that? You look at them and 00:24:18.059 --> 00:24:22.079 you think they have absolutely, I mean, you probably think I've entered a parallel universe, okay, where 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:28.140 this sort of thing happens. But anyway, you think they have no hope, do they? Every time they put the nut on 00:24:28.140 --> 00:24:35.019 the spanner on the nut, it just kind of spills and goes to nothing. But then as you're watching, along comes 00:24:35.019 --> 00:24:40.379 somebody else and he takes the jelly spanner out of the hand of the other person and he puts it in his 00:24:40.379 --> 00:24:46.639 own hand and he puts it on the wheel nut and in a remarkable event, which you can't even believe 00:24:46.639 --> 00:24:53.139 you're seeing, he turns the spanner, the spanner made of jelly, and he undoes the wheel nut on the car 00:24:53.140 --> 00:25:04.980 and off it comes. And you look there thinking, who is that? Who is able to undo the wheel nut of a car 00:25:04.980 --> 00:25:11.600 with a spanner made of jelly? Who can do that? Who can do that? Now in a roundabout way, that's what's 00:25:11.600 --> 00:25:19.460 going on in 2 Samuel 15 and this parallel with Jesus. In Absalom's betrayal, what you see is the 00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:25.799 human weakness of David. He's undone by a cunning plan, isn't he? He's weak, he's dethroned. David, 00:25:26.059 --> 00:25:31.059 in our illustration, David is the man with a jelly spanner trying to undo a wheel nut. He has no hope, 00:25:31.120 --> 00:25:39.019 does he? He is defeated, he is weak, he is hopeless, he is dethroned. And in contrast then in John chapter 00:25:39.019 --> 00:25:46.539 18, when you see Jesus walking the same steps with the same weakness, the same betrayal, the same 00:25:46.539 --> 00:25:55.559 human flesh, he undoes the wheel nut, doesn't he? It's his moment of victory. The same jelly spanner 00:25:55.559 --> 00:26:03.379 of humanity. He is not dethroned, but enthroned. He is not defeated, but he is victorious. And we look 00:26:03.379 --> 00:26:10.619 at that and go, who is this man? Who is this man who takes the weakness and the pain and the injustice 00:26:10.619 --> 00:26:18.299 of betrayal and takes it to himself, not in defeat, but in great victory to win the kingdom? Who is that? 00:26:19.059 --> 00:26:30.039 Who is that? And the answer is, this is your saviour. Your saviour. The one whom your experiences of betrayal 00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:36.799 do not drag you away from, but draw you near to. He is the one who you will meet when you are at the end 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:41.559 of yourself. He is the one that you can trust when all of the hopes have gone. He is the one who can 00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:46.740 take the betrayal of his friends and win a kingdom with it. So you can take your experience of betrayal 00:26:46.740 --> 00:26:56.480 and let you know victory, bringing you to glory. Now hear me rightly, I'm not trying to glorify 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:01.159 suffering or betrayal as if it doesn't hurt or as if it doesn't matter. It really does, doesn't it? 00:27:01.160 --> 00:27:07.580 What I'm trying to help you see is not that it doesn't matter, but what I'm trying to get you to 00:27:07.580 --> 00:27:12.680 see is that neither suffering nor betrayal, if you're experiencing those things this morning, 00:27:13.120 --> 00:27:18.200 neither of those things are a contradiction of the gospel. Instead, they're right at the heart of the 00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:24.180 gospel. So much so that when all other hopes have gone, when we've run out of resources ourselves, 00:27:24.360 --> 00:27:29.680 that's when we see who Christ is and what he's done. It's that in betrayed human weakness, 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:35.180 you see the power of God at work. You know, this morning, maybe you're not a Christian this morning, 00:27:35.320 --> 00:27:39.019 or maybe you're not quite sure where you stand and you're thinking, why is all this about? I don't 00:27:39.019 --> 00:27:43.860 really understand all this. Well, let me try and say to you, this is what a Christian is, right? 00:27:44.460 --> 00:27:51.960 A Christian is someone who has discovered true strength and they've not discovered it inside 00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:59.080 themselves. It is not their own true strength. They have discovered God's true strength and God's true 00:27:59.079 --> 00:28:06.379 strength is not shown in a display of a sort of awesome power and glory, but actually God's great 00:28:06.379 --> 00:28:14.799 strength is found in the weakness of the cross. In what God can do with human weakness is where you 00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:21.039 see the strength of God. What God can do with human weakness is greater than whatever we could do with 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:26.659 great strength. So much so that becoming a Christian is not about bolting Jesus onto your life like a hobby 00:28:26.660 --> 00:28:32.759 or a therapist. It's not accepting a few facts that you didn't believe before. No, becoming a Christian 00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:40.120 is about seeing your own absolute weakness and abandoning all hope in yourself and trusting Christ 00:28:40.120 --> 00:28:47.060 alone. I'm never going to crack this life. I'm never going to make it through the betrayal and the 00:28:47.060 --> 00:28:53.779 heartbreak and the brokenness. I need a savior who is strong. I need someone who can take this weakness, 00:28:53.779 --> 00:29:00.899 this brokenness, this suffering and conquer it. I need a savior who can get me through death, 00:29:01.639 --> 00:29:08.680 a death conquering risen savior, Jesus. And if you're a Christian this morning, I want to suggest 00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:15.079 to you it's the degree to which you, like David, are willing to walk in the steps of Christ-like weakness, 00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:20.420 seeing your own hopelessness. It's to the degree to which you're willing to do that, 00:29:20.420 --> 00:29:26.039 that you will find the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't want to minimize anything that 00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:32.420 anyone in this room is facing. I know some of you are facing particular hardships and betrayals even. 00:29:33.660 --> 00:29:41.380 But let me say as gently as I can that if God has to let us face betrayal so that we might know his 00:29:41.380 --> 00:29:49.460 strength, it seems good to him to do it. Finally though, there's one other thing to see here, 00:29:49.460 --> 00:29:55.240 and not only hope for the betrayed, but hope for the betrayer. Hope for the betrayer. 00:29:55.940 --> 00:30:01.259 Think just carefully about this with me as we close. If you've thought about 2 Samuel 15, 00:30:01.400 --> 00:30:07.240 and we've understood this rightly, if this really is a sort of inspired acting out of the future 00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:14.019 betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ, if 1500 years after the drama of 2 Samuel 15, you see the real 00:30:14.019 --> 00:30:19.559 drama in Jesus on the Mount of Olives weeping and betrayed. If that's true, then who are you and I 00:30:19.559 --> 00:30:27.059 in the story? Who are we in the story? Well in one sense we're not really David, are we? We're not 00:30:27.059 --> 00:30:34.400 really Jesus. We're not really the object of the betrayal of others. The truth is we are the betrayer. 00:30:34.400 --> 00:30:41.840 We're the people who have ejected King Jesus. Our voices are the voices in the crowd shouting, 00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:48.500 crucify, crucify, crucify. We're the disciples who fall asleep in the garden and then run away 00:30:48.500 --> 00:30:53.259 when the soldiers come. We're the close friend who shared the bread and then put the knife in. 00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:57.440 Or maybe you thought, goodness me Steve, that sounds a bit dramatic, doesn't it? We're not really, 00:30:57.860 --> 00:31:02.400 I don't think about God like that. I don't want to put the knife in. I don't think about Jesus like 00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:07.720 that. I quite like Jesus, you think. Is that sin really that serious? Well let me tell you, 00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:13.440 that's exactly how the Bible describes sin. The horror of sin in the Bible is not so much 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:20.320 the wrong actions that you and I do. The horror of sin in the Bible is the fact that our wickedness, 00:31:20.420 --> 00:31:26.500 the wrong actions that we do are a betrayal of the God who made us. But I say this reverently, 00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:32.380 sin effectively is like flipping God off and saying, you know, stuff you. I'm going to get on 00:31:32.380 --> 00:31:36.640 with my own life. You know, I want to get to say what's right and wrong. You know, this is my life. 00:31:36.680 --> 00:31:41.140 I'm going to live it my way. I want to live for my glory. Saying to God, give me my share of the 00:31:41.140 --> 00:31:47.540 inheritance. Let me live for myself. You know, let me live in a world where the sun comes up, 00:31:47.620 --> 00:31:51.800 where the rain falls, where the crops grow. You know, give me an iPhone and give me money in my 00:31:51.799 --> 00:32:00.720 bank and let me get on with my life. As if you don't exist. And the Bible says that is betrayal. 00:32:01.659 --> 00:32:08.159 Betrayal on a grand scale. That you and I were created for God's glory and yet we live for our 00:32:08.159 --> 00:32:14.099 own. What might you expect God to do with that kind of betrayal in his universe? If you'd made the world, 00:32:14.940 --> 00:32:19.899 inhabited it with creatures you'd made for your own glory and they live for their own, what would you do? 00:32:19.900 --> 00:32:26.500 Well, I think we might expect God to lash out, but that's not what's going on, is it? Instead, 00:32:27.320 --> 00:32:32.940 in the moment of betrayal, in a display of humble strength that the world has never seen before or 00:32:32.940 --> 00:32:40.540 since, God himself in the person of the sun in human flesh, submits himself to the cross and pays 00:32:40.540 --> 00:32:46.620 for your forgiveness, for your restoration to the father. You know, this is the hope for the betrayer, 00:32:46.619 --> 00:32:53.459 isn't it? For people like us. It's found even as a result of the fruit of the betrayal of the sun. 00:32:54.059 --> 00:32:59.399 You know, like I said, we effectively flip God off and yet he graciously moves towards us and he says, 00:32:59.539 --> 00:33:07.179 listen, hey you, you, you, the one who's betrayed me. You, the one who lives as if I don't exist. 00:33:07.180 --> 00:33:12.060 You, the one who is pursuing your own plans and dreams without regard or reference to me. 00:33:12.700 --> 00:33:18.500 You, you, the one over there who breathes my air, the air that I have made, who lives in the flesh 00:33:18.500 --> 00:33:26.700 that I have made, that I have given. Come to me. I love you. I've overcome your betrayal. 00:33:26.700 --> 00:33:34.039 I've used even your betrayal to defeat your sin. Come, come and find hope. Find comfort in me. Come 00:33:34.039 --> 00:33:39.559 find strength in life and death. Come abandon all hope in yourself. Come trust in me. Come, 00:33:40.059 --> 00:33:47.380 come turn your back on your betrayal and come to me. Worship me. Live life for me and my glory. 00:33:48.700 --> 00:33:53.720 The words of our next hymn put it like this, turn your eyes upon Jesus. 00:33:53.720 --> 00:34:02.100 Look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. 00:34:02.380 --> 00:34:04.559 Let me pray and then we'll sing together. 00:34:07.339 --> 00:34:13.599 Let's just leave a moment of quiet for us to respond in our own hearts to what the Lord has said to us from his word. 00:34:23.719 --> 00:34:47.219 Let's just leave a moment of quiet for us to respond in our own hearts to what the Lord has said to us from our own hearts to our own hearts. 00:34:47.219 --> 00:34:48.219 Let's just leave a moment of quiet. 00:34:48.219 --> 00:34:49.219 Let's just leave a moment of quiet. 00:34:49.219 --> 00:34:55.819 Please, Heavenly Father, we know that we are the betrayers of 2 Samuel 15. 00:34:57.359 --> 00:34:59.000 That we've turned our back on you. 00:34:59.839 --> 00:35:07.959 The very air that we breathe and breathe out desires to live for our own glory is given to us by you. 00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:18.300 But thank you that even through human betrayal, the Lord Jesus is able to provide for our forgiveness and our reconciliation. 00:35:20.579 --> 00:35:21.699 Please, we pray. 00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:34.720 May there be nobody in this room who leaves without being reconciled with you, coming back to you, finding forgiveness and grace and mercy for our betrayal. 00:35:34.719 --> 00:35:41.819 And please, Lord, too, we pray, might you heal us from the wounds of others. 00:35:43.259 --> 00:35:54.919 Might you help us to appreciate that it is even in the pain of the injustice of betrayal that we might find you closeness with the Lord Jesus. 00:35:56.359 --> 00:35:59.299 That he trod where we tread. 00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:03.719 And he wins even when we lose. 00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:08.459 So please, Lord, bring healing and hope to us this morning. 00:36:09.159 --> 00:36:10.139 In Jesus' name. 00:36:10.799 --> 00:36:11.159 Amen. 00:36:11.759 --> 00:36:12.099 Amen.