WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.080 Amen. Well, our text tonight that we'll be looking at is 2 Samuel chapter 15. 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:14.740 That's page 266 in the Pew Bible. Let me encourage you to turn there with me. 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:23.719 We're also going to be looking at a few verses in Hebrews chapter 12. That's page 1009. So if 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:30.519 you want to stick a finger in Hebrews chapter 12 too, that'll make that easier to get to a little 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:36.379 later in the sermon. I don't know how you put a finger in a chapter when you're reading on a 00:00:36.379 --> 00:00:42.879 tablet. Is there like a bookmark you can use? See? Technology. Not always a good thing. No, I'm 00:00:42.879 --> 00:00:51.039 kidding. So let's look at 2 Samuel chapter 15. Let's start by reading the first 14 verses of 2 Samuel 00:00:51.039 --> 00:01:01.519 chapter 15. After this, Absalom got himself a chariot and horses and 50 men to run before him. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:07.000 And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:12.039 come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, from what city are you? 00:01:12.939 --> 00:01:17.159 And when he said, your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel, Absalom would say to him, see, 00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:21.599 your claims are good and right, but there's no man designated by the king to hear you. 00:01:22.539 --> 00:01:28.140 Then Absalom would say, oh, that I were judge in the land and every man with a dispute or cause might 00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:34.199 come to me and I would give him justice. And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, 00:01:34.739 --> 00:01:39.819 he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. Thus Absalom did to all of Israel 00:01:39.819 --> 00:01:45.479 who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:52.219 The end of four years, Absalom said to the king, please let me go and pay my vow, which I vowed to 00:01:52.219 --> 00:01:57.759 the Lord in Hebron. For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Gesher and Aram saying, if the Lord 00:01:57.759 --> 00:02:02.199 will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the Lord. The king said to him, 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:09.079 go in peace. So he arose and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:15.880 tribes of Israel saying, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, Absalom is king 00:02:15.880 --> 00:02:22.400 at Hebron. With Absalom went 200 men from Jerusalem who were invited guests and they went in their 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:27.920 innocence and knew nothing. And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel, 00:02:27.980 --> 00:02:35.800 the Gilonite, David's counselor from his city, Gilo. And the conspiracy grew strong and the people 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:44.060 with Absalom kept increasing. And a messenger came to David saying, the hearts of the men of Israel 00:02:44.060 --> 00:02:50.020 have gone after Absalom. Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, arise, 00:02:50.580 --> 00:02:55.600 let us flee or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest you overtake us quickly 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:04.240 and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword. Let's pray together. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:15.400 God, as we open your word now, we do so with an expectation based upon your promise that you will 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:23.479 speak to us and you will do your work in our hearts as you see fit. God, we thank you for scripture. 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:29.319 And we thank you for inspiring it and giving it to us for our good. Lord, we pray that by your Holy 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:34.039 Spirit, you would come and you would illumine our hearts so that we might hear what you're saying 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:42.539 to us tonight. So Lord, be honored by our meditations on this text and be praised by the change that 00:03:42.539 --> 00:03:52.419 results, we pray. Amen. So 2 Samuel chapter 15, not a sort of classic Christmas text. We get that. 00:03:52.419 --> 00:03:55.119 We're just sort of working our, if you're new tonight, we're just sort of working our way 00:03:55.119 --> 00:04:00.159 through 2 Samuel here in the evening service. And the sermon series stops for no one, not even 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:05.359 for Christmas. But anyway, here we are in 2 Samuel chapter 15. And this chapter is the story, as you 00:04:05.359 --> 00:04:10.619 caught, of Absalom's conspiracy. That's David's son. And David, who is the king in this chapter, 00:04:10.779 --> 00:04:16.719 David's flight from Jerusalem in response. That's kind of the basic narrative. But, you know, 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:23.860 when you put this chapter sort of in the context of 2 Samuel, you start to see that the message of 00:04:23.860 --> 00:04:32.800 this chapter is really a lot about how to respond rightly to the Lord's discipline. 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:43.140 How to respond rightly to the Lord's discipline. Let me explain that. What we've just read, 00:04:43.139 --> 00:04:49.539 Absalom stealing the hearts of the people, making a move for the throne, gathering basically an army 00:04:49.539 --> 00:04:55.839 at Hebron. All of this is actually a fulfillment of what God told David would happen as a result of 00:04:55.839 --> 00:05:00.959 David's failure in sin back in chapters 11 and 12. That's the infamous Bathsheba story and his 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:06.919 confrontation by Nathan. And even more immediately in chapter 14, just before this one, we saw that 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:15.259 David, you know, really just refused to deal with Absalom as he should have. Remember in chapter 13, 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:21.259 Absalom murdered his brother Amnon in order to avenge his sister Tamar. Absalom then runs away into exile. 00:05:21.900 --> 00:05:27.480 In chapter 14, Joab kind of maneuvers to get Absalom back into Jerusalem. And at the end of that chapter, 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:34.240 David makes a pretty shallow, practically meaningless reconciliation with Absalom in verse 33 there. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:40.920 In other words, David doesn't actually deal with Absalom's sin. He doesn't correct him. He doesn't 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:46.600 absolve him. He kind of does nothing. And now in this chapter, in chapter 15, in many ways, David, 00:05:46.819 --> 00:05:54.480 having sown to the wind, as it were, is now reaping the whirlwind. And so this whole uprising, 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:59.840 Absalom's conspiracy and rebellion, the army is about to march on Jerusalem, all of it really from one 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:06.199 angle is part of the Lord's discipline of David. It's the consequences of his sin. 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:16.719 But an amazing thing actually happens in this chapter, in the story of 2 Samuel. David, at long 00:06:16.719 --> 00:06:28.439 last, wakes up. You know, in chapter 13 and 14, David is almost a non-entity in the events that start 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:33.939 swirling around him. He's passive. He's permissive. He's just sort of there, almost asleep. But now, 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:41.680 as the Lord allows the consequences of his sin to mount, as the Lord allows Absalom's conspiracy to grow, 00:06:42.019 --> 00:06:47.980 as the Lord begins to discipline David in and through it all, David is at last, it seems, jolted 00:06:47.980 --> 00:06:59.740 to spiritual life. So I want us to consider tonight, through this text, how we can respond rightly to 00:06:59.740 --> 00:07:06.600 the Lord's discipline in our own life when it comes. Perhaps the Lord's trying to get some of us 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:16.500 to wake up tonight. And this text can help us to do that. So I want to think about two big points then. 00:07:16.500 --> 00:07:20.459 First, the Lord's discipline. And second, how to respond. 00:07:22.740 --> 00:07:26.120 First, then the Lord's discipline. And quickly, we're going to move through this point quickly. 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:30.100 There are really just three things I want to sort of knock off here or tick through. First, 00:07:30.180 --> 00:07:34.959 the reality of the Lord's discipline, its purpose, and then its meaning. One, two, three, 00:07:35.019 --> 00:07:38.139 to just sort of get a grasp on what we mean by the Lord's discipline or what it means. 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:43.040 So first then, it's reality. And I've already alluded to a lot of these. So again, 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:47.480 we'll go quickly. But think about the reality of the Lord's discipline in this section, 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:51.379 in this chapter of Scripture. Absalom's rebellion, his stealing the hearts of the people, 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:57.680 shows and proves that God actually disciplines his saints. It's a real thing. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:06.020 That sometimes God will allow the earthly consequences of our sins to affect us in big ways, 00:08:06.019 --> 00:08:15.939 to chasten us. Now, that sort of challenges some of our sort of popular misconceptions of God, 00:08:16.099 --> 00:08:20.479 doesn't it? The reality of God's discipline. On the one hand, we often want to think of God 00:08:20.479 --> 00:08:26.680 sort of like a great, big, cuddly, benevolent grandfather in the sky, right? He's sort of like 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:30.740 a supercharged Santa Claus who just sort of doles out treats and wants us to be happy. 00:08:30.740 --> 00:08:36.720 Well, clearly, this isn't the picture of God that we get in this chapter or in the rest of the Bible. 00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:44.480 But on the other hand, you know, actually, the reality of the Lord's discipline also goes against 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:51.480 another kind of popular misconception of God. And that is the idea that God is some sort of stern 00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:58.240 negotiator who's really just, his involvement with us is always just sort of tit for tat. You do this, 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:05.419 I'll do this, sort of this moralistic understanding of how God works. You know, it's very interesting 00:09:05.419 --> 00:09:10.840 that the reality of God's discipline that we see at work here undermines that picture of God too, 00:09:11.100 --> 00:09:20.180 doesn't it? Because discipline, rightly understood, is actually a very loving activity. 00:09:20.179 --> 00:09:30.639 It's not a tit for tat, evening the score kind of thing. It's the activity of God that will not let us 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:38.919 go and will not let us remain as we are, but his pursuing of us, his persisting in pursuing of us to 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:45.719 get our attention and to draw us away from habits and patterns and idols that will destroy us and undo us. 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:50.560 And ultimately, it's God's activity in our lives because he wants to make us holy. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:53.879 He wants us to make, he wants to make us more like him. 00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:02.420 C.S. Lewis wrote this, I think it's helpful in this score, in his book called The Problem of Pain. 00:10:02.860 --> 00:10:09.120 He says, love in its own nature demands the perfecting of the beloved. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:14.740 Then he goes on to say this, he says, when Christianity says that God loves man, 00:10:15.560 --> 00:10:23.919 it means that God loves man. Not that God has some disinterested, indifferent concern for our 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:33.600 welfare, but that in awful and surprising truth, we are the objects of his love. And then he says this, 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:43.259 he says, you asked for a loving God, you have one. Not a senile benevolence that drowsily wished you to be 00:10:43.259 --> 00:10:53.000 happy in your own way, not a cold, philanthropic, conscientious magistrate, but the consuming fire 00:10:53.000 --> 00:11:03.160 himself. The love that made the worlds, persistent as the artist's love of his work, 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:15.759 provident and venerable as a father's love for a child, jealous, inexorable, exacting as love between 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:25.019 the sexes. In other words, God's purifying work in our life is a work of love. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:31.379 And that brings us to the second point about the Lord's discipline, its purpose, right? Look over in 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:36.519 Hebrews chapter 12. If you turned there, look at verse 10, Hebrews says there in verse 10, 00:11:36.620 --> 00:11:43.379 God disciplines us for our good that we may share his holiness. You see, at this point in David's life, 00:11:43.939 --> 00:11:53.539 God has forgiven David of his sin. Nathan told David in chapter 12, the Lord has put away your sin. 00:11:53.539 --> 00:12:02.179 So when we experience the Lord's discipline, it's not because God is punishing us for our sin. 00:12:02.839 --> 00:12:08.779 If we've placed our trust in Christ, all the punishment for our sin has been dealt with and 00:12:08.779 --> 00:12:16.500 dealt out at the cross. There cannot possibly be any more punishment for the sin of those who have placed 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:22.480 their trust in Jesus. There is no more punishment for sin. All of your sins, past, present, and future, 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:32.220 are forgiven. And you are at peace with God. And that means that God disciplines us not to punish us, 00:12:32.620 --> 00:12:43.259 but in order to perfect us, you see. In order, as Hebrews says, that we might share his holiness 00:12:43.259 --> 00:12:54.100 so that we can begin to become more and more beautiful and robust and strong the way God is. 00:12:55.700 --> 00:13:01.539 God wants to rid our lives of indwelling habits and sins that weigh us down and drag us through the mud. 00:13:03.779 --> 00:13:06.559 And that actually brings us to the third point here under this heading, 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:13.319 the meaning of God's discipline. What does it mean that God is disciplining us? Well, friends, it means 00:13:13.319 --> 00:13:18.039 this. It means that God is actually our Father who loves us. 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:24.879 When we who have placed our trust in Christ experience the consequences of our sin and we 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:33.679 experience the Lord's discipline, you can know that it's God's fatherly love of us wanting and working 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:41.099 to make us partakers of his own nature. And what greater love could God have for us than that 00:13:41.099 --> 00:13:47.739 to want us to share in his own infinite, joyful, robust nature. 00:13:50.819 --> 00:13:58.039 The Lord's discipline in our lives is this pursuing love that seals and affirms God's fatherly 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:07.639 commitment and care and pursuing love for us. Again, Hebrews 12 says it really clear as almost a sort of, 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:12.399 you know, theological description of this passage we're looking at in 2 Samuel. In verse 7, 00:14:12.459 --> 00:14:17.019 Hebrews 12 says, God is treating you as sons. 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:23.000 If you were illegitimate children or if you were just sort of around the household, 00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:26.939 God wouldn't care to discipline you. He'd leave you alone. But because you're sons and daughters, 00:14:26.940 --> 00:14:31.880 he's going to pursue you and make you into his own nature. 00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:37.820 Now let me pause here then and give us all some time to think. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:44.000 And let me say too that, of course, not all of the hardship that we face, 00:14:44.220 --> 00:14:48.760 not all of the trial and suffering that we experience is the Lord's discipline. Not every 00:14:48.760 --> 00:14:52.100 bad thing that happens to us is the Lord's direct discipline for sin in our lives. 00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:57.100 We live in a fallen world and Jesus said that in this world you'll have trouble. 00:14:58.540 --> 00:15:03.120 So, you know, not every painful thing is this reality at work in our life. 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:09.740 But there are times when God in love will act in this fatherly way. 00:15:10.940 --> 00:15:16.980 When he sees us going astray, when we've committed sins and he allows some of those consequences to 00:15:16.980 --> 00:15:21.420 play themselves out, friends, he's working to wake us up and to bring us back to himself. 00:15:24.779 --> 00:15:32.480 Now maybe you're tonight experiencing some of this fatherly, loving discipline in your own life. 00:15:35.259 --> 00:15:39.000 And if so, no doubt, it feels uncomfortable. 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:46.940 Back in Hebrews 12, if you look at verse 11, the writer says, almost obviously, for the moment, 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:50.620 all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant. 00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:56.720 I'm sure David did not like having to flee with his entire household out of the city of Jerusalem. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:00.139 The Lord's discipline is not comfortable. 00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:01.940 It often hurts. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:04.759 But then Hebrews says this. 00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:09.100 He says, no discipline is comfortable when it's happening. 00:16:09.100 --> 00:16:18.039 But later, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 00:16:20.100 --> 00:16:26.120 That God is at work in and through that activity to bring forth peace and righteousness in our lives. 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:29.779 So how do we respond to that? 00:16:29.819 --> 00:16:34.500 How do we respond so that we can sort of yield this harvest of peace and righteousness 00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:36.799 when we experience the Lord's discipline? 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:41.419 And the rest of 2 Samuel chapter 15 that we haven't read yet gives us this picture in David 00:16:41.419 --> 00:16:42.919 of how to respond well. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:47.320 David, as I've said, it finally seems to be kind of woken up from his spiritual stupor 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:48.460 of the last couple of chapters. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:52.620 And we see sort of through his life, through this sort of episode in his life, 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:57.559 as he's fleeing Jerusalem, we see four things in these verses that show us how to respond 00:16:57.559 --> 00:16:59.039 rightly to the Lord's discipline. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.840 And the first one, they're all little commands. 00:17:02.840 --> 00:17:05.299 The first one is this, submit. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.140 Pick up the story in verse 24 of 2 Samuel 15 here. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:13.779 David and his servants are fleeing the city. 00:17:14.299 --> 00:17:19.519 And what happens is that the leading priests come to meet him as he's on his way out of the city. 00:17:19.860 --> 00:17:20.579 Look at verse 24. 00:17:20.700 --> 00:17:22.380 And Abiathar came up, this is one of the priests, 00:17:22.380 --> 00:17:27.560 and Zadok came also with all the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of God. 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:31.380 And they set down the ark of God until all the people had passed out of the city. 00:17:31.760 --> 00:17:35.860 Then the king said to Zadok, carry the ark of God back into the city. 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:42.380 If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:45.100 But if he says, I have no pleasure in you, behold, here I am. 00:17:45.099 --> 00:17:47.539 Let him do to me what seems good to him. 00:17:49.159 --> 00:17:52.059 The king also said to Zadok the priest, are you not a seer? 00:17:52.459 --> 00:17:57.240 Go back to the city in peace with your two sons, Ahimaaz, your son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar. 00:17:57.379 --> 00:18:01.259 See, I will wait at the fords in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me. 00:18:02.139 --> 00:18:06.279 So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem and they remained there. 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:17.539 Now I want to kind of focus in on verses 25 and 26 here where David willingly submits his situation in trust and in love to the Lord. 00:18:19.079 --> 00:18:21.139 Notice that Abiathar and Zadok bring the ark. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:29.279 They're ready to go out with him and they bring the ark, that symbol of God's presence along with them. 00:18:29.339 --> 00:18:30.559 Now think of what David could have done here. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:36.240 David could have tried to use the ark like some sort of good luck charm, right? 00:18:36.980 --> 00:18:39.279 Sort of like the people did back in the beginning of 1 Samuel. 00:18:39.379 --> 00:18:43.379 If you remember back then when they went out to fight the Philistines, they got beaten and they said, well, let's bring the ark. 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:44.139 That'll probably help. 00:18:44.619 --> 00:18:45.899 And then they get smashed again. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:52.680 But you see here, David is starting to see something spiritually that maybe he's sort of forgotten. 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:57.000 David knows that God isn't a God to be manipulated. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:04.559 He's not some sort of candy dispenser that if you just figure out how to pull the lever hard enough, he'll sort of start spitting treats out at you. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:05.000 No. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:06.480 No. 00:19:07.339 --> 00:19:09.359 This is the holy God. 00:19:10.899 --> 00:19:16.000 The God that you can trust and the God that you submit yourself to. 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:25.400 The ark, David knows, belongs in the tabernacle and the tabernacle belongs in the midst of the people. 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:32.680 And David is not going to interrupt the right worship of God just to try to get himself out of a jam. 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:34.759 Instead, what does he do? 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:44.140 He actually himself worships God as God by saying, I'm in the Lord's hand. 00:19:45.060 --> 00:19:48.539 Let him do what seems best to him. 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:53.120 That's his posture before the Lord. 00:19:53.980 --> 00:19:56.500 Let the Lord do what is best with my life. 00:19:56.500 --> 00:20:07.220 Now, we also see in this paragraph in verses 27 and 28 that this isn't a sort of just kind of let go and let God mentality. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:10.980 David doesn't just sort of become resigned or inactive. 00:20:11.740 --> 00:20:13.539 And we're going to explore that in just a minute. 00:20:13.539 --> 00:20:20.059 But, you know, we see here that David's submission, his entrusting himself to God actually sort of liberates him to act the way he should be acting. 00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:33.339 But for now, the point to see is that when we experience the Lord's discipline, it is right to respond fundamentally with trust and to submit ourselves to God. 00:20:33.339 --> 00:20:43.579 Not to try to manipulate God to get you out of a jam or to manipulate the people around you. 00:20:45.019 --> 00:20:57.119 But to embrace what God's doing, as hard as that might be, and to humble yourself and to give yourself to him and to give your future to him. 00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:02.159 There's the first thing, submission. 00:21:04.059 --> 00:21:12.119 Second way to respond rightly to the Lord's discipline, not just submission, but we see that the next thing that David does here is that he weeps. 00:21:13.659 --> 00:21:15.799 Pick up in verse 30 where we left off. 00:21:16.739 --> 00:21:25.139 But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:27.360 Those were signs of mourning in that culture. 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:34.480 And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up weeping as they went. 00:21:38.020 --> 00:21:39.080 So get the picture here. 00:21:39.140 --> 00:21:43.640 David is sort of making his way eastward out of the city of Jerusalem. 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:49.560 He's just crossed something called the Kidron, which is a little stream bed that runs on the eastern side of Jerusalem. 00:21:49.640 --> 00:21:55.580 And he's going up the Mount of Olives, which is a mountain on the eastern side of Jerusalem that sort of overlooks the city. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.140 And as he's going up the mountain, what's he doing? 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:00.820 He's weeping. 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:03.020 And he's publicly mourning. 00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:06.880 Now why is he doing that? 00:22:07.280 --> 00:22:09.220 Why is David weeping in this moment? 00:22:09.220 --> 00:22:14.700 Well, I think he's weeping over his sin. 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:22.900 Now on the one hand, yes, what's happening, Absalom's rebellion, is incredibly painful. 00:22:24.100 --> 00:22:26.339 It's painful on a personal level for David. 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:31.200 I mean, his own son functionally wants him dead. 00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:37.819 When Absalom proclaims himself king in Hebron, the only way you became a king in the ancient world is if the other king died. 00:22:37.819 --> 00:22:44.279 So Absalom is very clearly here saying, I want my father dead and I want his place. 00:22:45.579 --> 00:22:48.519 So David has experienced a lot of pain on the personal level. 00:22:49.460 --> 00:22:52.099 This is a very painful situation for him on the family level. 00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:57.059 His household's being torn apart and now he's on the run with the rest of the people that he can gather around him. 00:22:57.720 --> 00:23:00.159 This is a painful experience on the national level. 00:23:00.159 --> 00:23:07.500 I mean, here the nation itself is being ripped into and weakened because of political instability in the midst of their enemies. 00:23:07.819 --> 00:23:12.359 And you know, the fact is that David could be weeping for all of these reasons. 00:23:14.859 --> 00:23:18.679 But above all, I think he's weeping for his own sin. 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:25.400 He's mourning for his own brokenness and for the ways in which he's disobeyed God. 00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:34.100 And I think, friends, for us, it's very easy to mourn over the consequences of our actions. 00:23:34.099 --> 00:23:48.299 For example, it's very easy and right to mourn and to be sad and to be broken when your infidelity has ruined your marriage. 00:23:48.959 --> 00:23:54.059 And it's easy to weep because your spouse maybe has left you and you're alone or other things have happened. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:56.500 Your relationship with your children has been fractured. 00:23:56.500 --> 00:24:08.220 It's easy to be broken and sad when patterns of lying and deceit maybe ruin your career and no one will hire you because you've cut corners and tried to cover it up too many times. 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:11.740 So now you're jobless and in debt. 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:13.720 It's easy to weep over those consequences. 00:24:13.720 --> 00:24:25.240 But, friends, if we're really going to begin to change, if we're really going to experience the Lord's redemptive work in our hearts through his discipline, 00:24:25.480 --> 00:24:32.779 we need to begin to weep not merely for the consequences of our sin, but for the sin itself. 00:24:33.579 --> 00:24:33.980 You see? 00:24:36.900 --> 00:24:39.559 We need to weep over the fact that we've dishonored God. 00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:42.339 And we've spurned his law. 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:47.379 And we've tried to put ourselves in the place of God and make our own rules and follow our own way. 00:24:47.899 --> 00:24:50.879 And we've refused to trust the one who is utterly trustworthy. 00:24:51.579 --> 00:24:53.619 And to love the one who is utterly lovely. 00:24:55.159 --> 00:24:59.759 And that through our actions we've made the creator of the universe small. 00:25:01.339 --> 00:25:05.220 Rather than showing him to be the awesome, holy, and infinite one that he is. 00:25:05.220 --> 00:25:08.980 This is what David's doing. 00:25:09.100 --> 00:25:11.380 And this is how we need to respond as well. 00:25:14.100 --> 00:25:20.620 And let me just say that it's okay to lament and to grieve over our sin. 00:25:22.660 --> 00:25:26.259 Yes, Christianity is a message of joy. 00:25:26.940 --> 00:25:27.400 Right? 00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:28.680 That's how we started our service. 00:25:29.180 --> 00:25:33.960 Christianity is a message of good news, of great joy for all the people. 00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:36.180 Joy that our sins are forgiven. 00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:40.279 Joy that God is with us in Christ and will remain with us. 00:25:40.700 --> 00:25:47.519 But friends, within that great glorious joy that is the gospel, there needs also to be a room. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:53.059 Because we live in a fallen world and we still give in to our sinful nature. 00:25:53.180 --> 00:25:56.079 There needs to be room to mourn for our sin. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:26:06.960 Because when we mourn and when we weep over our sinfulness like David here, we're actually doing two things. 00:26:08.659 --> 00:26:12.299 When we weep, we're actually honoring God. 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:17.179 Because we're agreeing with God that our sin is heartbreaking. 00:26:17.180 --> 00:26:23.500 And we're aligning ourselves with God's own heart that is broken over sin. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:31.140 And second, as we weep, we're actually weaning ourselves from the sin in our lives. 00:26:32.600 --> 00:26:35.180 That we're undergoing a process of heart change. 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:39.279 And that as we mourn our sin more and more, it loses its power over us. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:50.039 Third thing that we see, David not only submits, he not only weeps here, but he also acts. 00:26:50.920 --> 00:26:51.899 He does something. 00:26:52.639 --> 00:26:54.639 Pick this story up in verse 31. 00:26:54.640 --> 00:27:00.080 And it was told David, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. 00:27:01.259 --> 00:27:05.680 And David said, O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. 00:27:07.080 --> 00:27:14.380 While David was coming to the summit where God was worshipped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn and dirt on his head. 00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:15.800 Also signs of mourning and weeping. 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:20.860 David said to him, if you go with me, you will be a burden to me. 00:27:20.859 --> 00:27:26.659 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king, as I have been your father's servant in time past. 00:27:26.679 --> 00:27:27.859 So now I will be your servant. 00:27:28.679 --> 00:27:31.819 Then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. 00:27:32.519 --> 00:27:35.179 Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? 00:27:35.699 --> 00:27:39.979 So whatever you hear from the king's house, tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 00:27:40.579 --> 00:27:42.859 Behold, their two sons are with them there. 00:27:43.319 --> 00:27:45.439 Ahimaad, Zadok's son, and Jonathan Abiathar's son. 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:48.439 And by them you shall send to me everything you hear. 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:55.840 So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem. 00:27:57.940 --> 00:28:00.940 Okay, lots of old Hebrew names in this paragraph. 00:28:01.559 --> 00:28:03.620 Did you catch what David is actually doing though? 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:08.580 In the midst of mourning, David is maneuvering. 00:28:10.100 --> 00:28:17.080 He's basically maneuvering to set up, in the midst of this conspiracy, a counter-conspiracy in the middle of the capital. 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:23.699 David's working to architect this fifth column right under Absalom's nose. 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:30.139 He's sort of building a spy network that will allow him to track the enemy's movement. 00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:40.220 And hopefully, even as he sort of tells Hushai here, he's hoping to even kind of undermine Absalom's best counselor, the traitor, Ahithophel. 00:28:40.220 --> 00:28:44.160 Okay, that's kind of cool, whatever. 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:46.640 But what does that all mean for us? 00:28:48.299 --> 00:28:50.759 Well, take a step back and look what David's doing. 00:28:52.240 --> 00:29:00.120 What we see here is that David is finally starting to take some steps to do what he should have all along been doing. 00:29:00.119 --> 00:29:06.539 He's finally starting to do something to deal rightly with Absalom. 00:29:08.539 --> 00:29:11.439 Now, he's in a pickle, so he's got to do some funky things. 00:29:12.219 --> 00:29:14.059 But he's finally doing something. 00:29:14.379 --> 00:29:15.519 He's finally acting. 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:22.240 And friends, let me just say that this is what real repentance looks like. 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:24.839 That it means a change of heart. 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:26.000 We weep. 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:29.539 But it's a change of heart that results in a change of action. 00:29:31.940 --> 00:29:33.619 David wept over his sin. 00:29:33.819 --> 00:29:41.000 And now, out of that change of heart and that renewed perspective, that God-centered perspective, finally, he's starting to do the right thing. 00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:49.160 And when the Lord disciplines us, we too should not just mourn, but now begin to act. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:53.319 To do what God would have us do, whatever the situation is we're in. 00:29:55.019 --> 00:30:02.720 Because, you know, if we weep, but we take no action, I mean, that's evidence that we're not really being changed, right? 00:30:03.740 --> 00:30:07.539 Weeping without action is probably just a sign of falling into self-pity. 00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:15.519 But on the other hand, if we sort of act without the weeping, we're probably just trying to fix things ourselves. 00:30:15.799 --> 00:30:18.059 And think that I can kind of make things right. 00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:20.399 And I can sort of do this without any reference to God. 00:30:21.159 --> 00:30:23.899 And functionally, that's just kind of self-help and self-righteousness. 00:30:24.019 --> 00:30:27.119 Which is mostly the problem, the thing that gets us into the problems in the first place. 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:40.119 It's certainly not repentance and it's certainly not change, but when by the Holy Spirit we do both, when we weep and when we act, friends, that's repentance. 00:30:42.339 --> 00:30:49.299 That's responding rightly to the Lord's discipline, to make him more like himself and to liberate us more and more from the power of sin. 00:30:49.299 --> 00:30:53.980 Last thing. 00:30:56.259 --> 00:31:04.059 Finally, this text shows us that we should not just submit and weep and act, but that we also need to hope. 00:31:06.339 --> 00:31:08.319 There are two things in this text that show us that. 00:31:08.619 --> 00:31:11.339 First, look back at the verses that we skipped. 00:31:11.619 --> 00:31:12.700 Verses 18 through 23. 00:31:13.980 --> 00:31:17.460 If you were actually following along, you probably realized, hey, wait a second, he skipped the whole verse. 00:31:17.619 --> 00:31:19.119 Or the whole paragraph, what's going on? 00:31:19.859 --> 00:31:25.180 Okay, so in this paragraph, verses 18 through 23, we meet this guy named Ittai. 00:31:26.299 --> 00:31:37.039 And he's a Philistine Gentile military commander who, through David's sort of sojourn in the land of the Philistines back in 1 Samuel, has come to serve and be a part of David's army. 00:31:38.639 --> 00:31:48.359 And in this paragraph, as David's fleeing the city and Ittai and his men sort of come out to follow David, David turns and he tells Ittai, basically, look, Ittai, go home. 00:31:48.359 --> 00:31:50.619 Go back to your people. 00:31:50.859 --> 00:31:52.719 Don't come with me into the wilderness. 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:56.699 Basically, David is saying, I don't want to drag you down with me. 00:31:57.000 --> 00:31:58.099 You don't have to come. 00:31:58.699 --> 00:32:01.859 In fact, I will give you the Lord's blessing to go. 00:32:02.019 --> 00:32:02.679 You are free. 00:32:02.680 --> 00:32:04.680 I absolve you from all of your responsibility. 00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:06.340 Go with the Lord's blessing. 00:32:07.860 --> 00:32:09.380 And how does Ittai respond? 00:32:09.740 --> 00:32:14.660 This Gentile, hardened military commander who's come to know David and know the Lord. 00:32:14.740 --> 00:32:15.700 Look at verse 21. 00:32:15.700 --> 00:32:28.600 But Ittai answered the king, as the Lord lives and as my Lord the king lives, wherever my Lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be. 00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:38.080 Ittai swears unreserved allegiance to David and to the Lord. 00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:51.139 You know, the only other instance of a Gentile in the Old Testament showing this kind of devotion to the Lord and to the people of God is probably Ruth, actually. 00:32:51.740 --> 00:32:54.699 If you've been coming to the morning service, we've been looking at the book of Ruth. 00:32:55.059 --> 00:32:59.939 And in the beginning of that book, Ruth's oath to Naomi, it really resonates here, too. 00:32:59.940 --> 00:33:07.740 But here's Ittai showing this unbelievable loyalty to David. 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:10.640 And take a step back and look at the whole chapter. 00:33:10.759 --> 00:33:13.400 Isn't that what's been going on as David's been fleeing the city? 00:33:14.120 --> 00:33:17.840 Not just Ittai, but the priests, Abiathar and Zadok. 00:33:18.380 --> 00:33:20.840 They've been coming out and showing their loyalty with David. 00:33:21.480 --> 00:33:28.120 And then Hushai, David's friend, his counselor, his close, intimate ally, he comes out and affirms his loyalty to David. 00:33:28.119 --> 00:33:33.500 And even a large number of the people who are weeping with him, going up the mountain, showing solidarity with their king. 00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:35.219 They're showing loyalty to David. 00:33:35.439 --> 00:33:37.039 They're all still loyal to him. 00:33:39.239 --> 00:33:41.839 Even though in many ways David's kind of blown it at this point. 00:33:44.239 --> 00:33:49.679 And that loyalty that David is just being surrounded with in this moment, 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:59.200 All of that, of course, is an expression and a sign of God's own continued loyalty to David. 00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:05.000 No matter what David has done or failed to do, 00:34:05.460 --> 00:34:10.579 the covenant that God made with David, the agreement, that binding oath that God made with David, 00:34:10.820 --> 00:34:12.559 remember it back in 2 Samuel 7? 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:17.360 Listen, you'll be my king, David, and your house is going to rule, 00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:19.699 and you'll have a king who will rule forever. 00:34:20.380 --> 00:34:22.579 That promise God will never break. 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:29.380 And here, even in the midst of being disciplined and perfected, 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:31.759 the Lord remains faithful and loyal to David. 00:34:32.759 --> 00:34:36.019 That steadfast love doesn't waver one bit. 00:34:36.019 --> 00:34:39.759 And friends, that's exactly what we need to know. 00:34:40.900 --> 00:34:44.860 When we go through and experience the same sort of thing as David, 00:34:44.940 --> 00:34:46.539 when we experience the Lord's discipline, 00:34:46.759 --> 00:34:52.179 God is still faithful to his children, and he does not give up on us. 00:34:54.759 --> 00:35:00.380 But you know, there's another reason how we know that God remains faithful to his children. 00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:02.360 Faithful to us. 00:35:02.360 --> 00:35:06.220 You know, on the one hand, we'll see, kind of like David, 00:35:06.340 --> 00:35:09.800 we'll see God's faithfulness to us through our brothers and sisters in Christ 00:35:09.800 --> 00:35:13.900 who stick by us even when we're undergoing hardship and trial and discipline. 00:35:15.120 --> 00:35:17.480 But even above and beyond that, 00:35:17.579 --> 00:35:21.880 we know that God's loyalty and faithfulness to us is unbreakable 00:35:21.880 --> 00:35:24.579 because of Jesus Christ. 00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:29.559 Because of what God did for us through his own son. 00:35:29.559 --> 00:35:35.000 It's hard to read this chapter in the context of the whole Bible 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:38.299 and not to think about another king, isn't it? 00:35:39.659 --> 00:35:44.000 Not to think about another king who also stood on the Mount of Olives 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:46.340 weeping for sin. 00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:51.440 In Luke chapter 19, 00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:55.719 Jesus, the son of David, the Christ, the king, 00:35:55.719 --> 00:35:58.459 stands weeping on the Mount of Olives. 00:35:59.959 --> 00:36:02.699 But Jesus isn't actually weeping for his own sin there 00:36:02.699 --> 00:36:04.219 because he had none. 00:36:05.339 --> 00:36:08.480 But there Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives 00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:11.879 weeping for the sins of the people that he'd come to save. 00:36:13.659 --> 00:36:15.739 And Jesus in that moment in Luke 19 00:36:15.739 --> 00:36:17.679 isn't actually fleeing Jerusalem. 00:36:17.819 --> 00:36:20.019 He's actually descending into Jerusalem. 00:36:20.019 --> 00:36:24.360 He's going into Jerusalem to go to the cross 00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:27.380 to deal with sin once and for all 00:36:27.380 --> 00:36:31.219 so that you and I and all those who believe 00:36:31.219 --> 00:36:33.639 could become sons and daughters of God 00:36:33.639 --> 00:36:37.280 so that we could be welcomed into his family. 00:36:38.900 --> 00:36:40.940 And as Luke continues to tell the story, 00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:42.820 on the third day God raised him from the dead 00:36:42.820 --> 00:36:44.699 so that we can trust in him 00:36:44.699 --> 00:36:46.099 and hope in him 00:36:46.099 --> 00:36:48.400 and through being united to him by faith 00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:51.400 we can know that God will never break his promises to us. 00:36:53.900 --> 00:36:55.179 That God will always love us 00:36:55.179 --> 00:36:56.579 even though he may discipline us. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:59.440 And that even when he disciplines us 00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:01.259 it's for our good that we might share in his holiness. 00:37:04.099 --> 00:37:05.900 So friends, let me end just by saying 00:37:05.900 --> 00:37:08.460 that if you want to know God, 00:37:09.019 --> 00:37:10.619 if you want to know God 00:37:10.619 --> 00:37:14.259 not as some distant, benevolent, 00:37:14.539 --> 00:37:16.239 grandfatherly figure in the sky 00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:17.559 or if you want to know God 00:37:17.559 --> 00:37:21.239 not as some harsh judge 00:37:21.239 --> 00:37:23.480 but if you want to know God 00:37:23.480 --> 00:37:29.980 as the loving, fatherly, caring, holy God that he is, 00:37:30.980 --> 00:37:33.699 if you want to be reconciled to him 00:37:33.699 --> 00:37:35.500 and know peace with him, 00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:38.639 then come to the Father through Jesus the Son. 00:37:38.639 --> 00:37:42.219 Put your trust in the one who came 00:37:42.219 --> 00:37:43.879 and weeped and died 00:37:43.879 --> 00:37:45.579 and was raised again for your sins. 00:37:47.699 --> 00:37:49.679 And if you are a follower of Jesus 00:37:49.679 --> 00:37:52.759 and if tonight the Lord's doing a work of discipline 00:37:52.759 --> 00:37:53.480 in your life, 00:37:55.139 --> 00:37:57.699 then tonight I hope you'll begin to respond rightly. 00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:00.259 That you'll open up your hands to him 00:38:00.259 --> 00:38:01.000 and you'll submit 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:03.779 and you'll mourn rightly for your sin 00:38:03.779 --> 00:38:05.679 and you'll begin to act 00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:06.919 and change 00:38:06.919 --> 00:38:09.759 and you'll begin to hope. 00:38:11.399 --> 00:38:12.879 And you can know that you can hope 00:38:12.879 --> 00:38:14.339 with an assurance, 00:38:14.659 --> 00:38:15.699 with a deep assurance 00:38:15.699 --> 00:38:17.379 that not because of you 00:38:17.379 --> 00:38:18.359 but because of Jesus, 00:38:19.379 --> 00:38:20.460 God is for you 00:38:20.460 --> 00:38:24.399 and God will remain so forever. 00:38:25.879 --> 00:38:26.480 Let's pray. 00:38:26.480 --> 00:38:26.500 Let's pray. 00:38:26.500 --> 00:38:35.340 Lord, we confess it's a heavy topic 00:38:35.340 --> 00:38:37.139 to think about your discipline 00:38:37.139 --> 00:38:40.380 and yet, Lord, it is one that we need to hear. 00:38:44.460 --> 00:38:46.400 So, God, we want to just say thank you 00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:49.260 for loving us as a heavenly Father 00:38:49.260 --> 00:38:52.579 with an unswerving, faithful love 00:38:52.579 --> 00:38:54.559 that would not leave us alone 00:38:54.559 --> 00:38:56.199 but love us enough to change us 00:38:56.199 --> 00:38:57.259 and to work with us 00:38:57.259 --> 00:38:59.159 and to keep pursuing us. 00:39:00.980 --> 00:39:02.820 And Father, we ask that by your Spirit 00:39:02.820 --> 00:39:04.639 we would begin to respond rightly 00:39:04.639 --> 00:39:06.659 to your work in our lives. 00:39:07.920 --> 00:39:10.000 We know that it's only by your Spirit 00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:11.599 that we can truly submit 00:39:11.599 --> 00:39:13.799 and grieve for our sin 00:39:13.799 --> 00:39:16.360 and begin to take steps of obedience. 00:39:16.360 --> 00:39:21.059 And we thank you that in Jesus 00:39:21.059 --> 00:39:22.039 we have a great hope 00:39:22.039 --> 00:39:24.820 and that we can know 00:39:24.820 --> 00:39:26.160 that your steadfast love 00:39:26.160 --> 00:39:27.420 is always upon us. 00:39:29.500 --> 00:39:31.200 Lord, if you have given us your Son, 00:39:32.099 --> 00:39:33.599 how will you not with Him 00:39:33.599 --> 00:39:35.480 graciously give us all things? 00:39:37.320 --> 00:39:38.700 Thank you for that promise, God. 00:39:40.039 --> 00:39:40.400 Amen.