WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.200 So I'm going to read for us from 2 Samuel chapter 16, 2 Samuel chapter 16. 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:17.839 When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth, waiting to meet him. 00:00:18.580 --> 00:00:27.519 He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with 200 loaves of bread, 100 cakes of raisins, 100 cakes of figs and a skin of wine. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:32.820 The king asked Ziba, why have you brought these? 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:41.179 Ziba answered, the donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who have become exhausted in the wilderness. 00:00:42.259 --> 00:00:45.579 The king then asked, where is your master's grandson? 00:00:46.659 --> 00:00:53.280 Ziba said to him, he is staying in Jerusalem because he thinks today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather's kingdom. 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:57.980 Then the king said to Ziba, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours. 00:00:58.539 --> 00:01:00.260 I humbly bow, Ziba said. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:03.179 May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:11.500 As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul's family came out from there. 00:01:11.579 --> 00:01:15.540 His name was Shimei, the son of Gerah, and he cursed as he came out. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:22.780 He pelted David and all the king's officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David's right and left. 00:01:23.320 --> 00:01:27.859 As he cursed, Shimei said, get out, get out, you murderer, you scoundrel. 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:33.340 The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.120 The Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of your son Absalom. 00:01:37.579 --> 00:01:40.939 You have come to ruin because you are a murderer. 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:47.680 Then Abishai, the son of Zariah, said to the king, why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? 00:01:47.900 --> 00:01:49.840 Let me go over and cut off his head. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:55.020 But the king said, what does this have to do with you, sons of Zariah? 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:59.920 If he's cursing because the Lord said to him, curse David, who can ask, why do you do this? 00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:05.920 David then said to Abishai and all his officials, my son, my own flesh and blood is trying to kill me. 00:02:06.320 --> 00:02:07.980 How much more than this Benjamite? 00:02:08.300 --> 00:02:09.020 Leave him alone. 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:11.120 Let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:18.740 It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of this curse today. 00:02:19.920 --> 00:02:28.920 So David and his men continued along the road while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt. 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:34.060 The king and all the people with him arrived at their destination, exhausted. 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:36.379 And there he refreshed himself. 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:42.840 Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem and Ahithophel was with them. 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:49.939 Then Hushai, the archite, David's confidant, went to Absalom and said to him, long live the king, long live the king. 00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:53.780 Absalom said to Hushai, say, this is the love you show to your friend. 00:02:54.180 --> 00:02:56.039 If he is your friend, why didn't you go with him? 00:02:56.900 --> 00:03:04.879 Hushai said to Absalom, no, the one chosen by the Lord, by these people and by all the men of Israel, his I will be and I will remain with him. 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:07.039 Furthermore, whom shall I serve? 00:03:07.579 --> 00:03:10.340 Should I not serve the son just as I served your father? 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:11.859 So I will serve you. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:15.659 Absalom said to Ahithophel, give us your advice. 00:03:16.219 --> 00:03:17.060 What should we do? 00:03:17.900 --> 00:03:23.019 Ahithophel answered, sleep with your father's concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:32.019 Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself obnoxious to your father and the hands of everyone with you will be more resolute. 00:03:32.020 --> 00:03:38.540 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof and he slept with his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. 00:03:39.480 --> 00:03:44.240 Now, in those days, the advice of Ahithophel was like that of one who inquires of God. 00:03:44.760 --> 00:03:49.340 That was how both David and Absalom regarded all of Ahithophel's advice. 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.140 Well, let's pray as we come to look at God's word together. 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:53.700 Let's pray. 00:03:53.699 --> 00:04:07.780 Heavenly Father, we come this morning as people who are hungry, not just for our daily bread, but hungry for the bread and food of your word. 00:04:08.619 --> 00:04:11.479 Our souls are hungry to hear of the living God. 00:04:12.459 --> 00:04:14.459 Please, we pray, speak to us by your spirit. 00:04:14.460 --> 00:04:23.400 Be at work in me, in all of us as we listen, that you might do your work for your glory amongst us as we listen to your word. 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:25.019 In Jesus' name. 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:26.220 Amen. 00:04:28.860 --> 00:04:35.199 Well, like I said, as I started the reading, we've been looking at 2 Samuel together as a church since about Easter. 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:42.159 And for the last couple of weeks, we have been looking at this betrayal by David's son, Absalom. 00:04:42.659 --> 00:04:45.519 It is, if you like, the worst kind of betrayal. 00:04:45.779 --> 00:04:52.300 You know, if you think about all the different kinds of ways that someone can be betrayed, this is on the very heavy end of it, isn't it? 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:53.139 A massive scale. 00:04:53.500 --> 00:04:54.719 It involves lots of people. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:56.279 David loses his kingdom. 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:57.939 He loses his palace. 00:04:58.079 --> 00:04:59.319 He loses his wives. 00:04:59.719 --> 00:05:00.699 He loses his home. 00:05:00.819 --> 00:05:02.279 He loses his trusted advisors. 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:12.159 And he leaves Jerusalem, as we saw last time, weeping and defeated as Absalom rides into the city crowned in glory. 00:05:13.399 --> 00:05:19.419 I wonder, though, and this is where we're going to come to this morning, if one of the most complex parts of this betrayal story, 00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:25.119 and really, I think of every betrayal story, is that even while this comes out of the blue, 00:05:25.119 --> 00:05:30.699 even while it's disproportionate and wicked, even while it hurts David intensely, 00:05:30.699 --> 00:05:38.579 still the backdrop to 2 Samuel 16 is not so much David's innocence as David's guilt, 00:05:40.180 --> 00:05:45.360 particularly his adultery with Bathsheba, then the murder of Uriah the Hittite, 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:51.259 followed then by a failure to administer justice against his son Amnon, who raped his sister Tamar, 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:55.719 and then the weakness in dealing with Absalom, who then killed Amnon. 00:05:55.720 --> 00:05:57.700 You can listen to this. 00:05:57.760 --> 00:06:03.960 Listen to what Nathan the prophet said way back in chapter 12 after David had committed adultery, 00:06:04.100 --> 00:06:05.440 and Nathan comes to confront him. 00:06:05.500 --> 00:06:06.180 He says this. 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:07.040 He says, 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:08.439 This is what the Lord says. 00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:12.420 Out of your own household, I will bring calamity on you. 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:16.900 Before your very eyes, I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, 00:06:17.200 --> 00:06:19.540 and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:26.000 You did it in secret, but he will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel. 00:06:26.900 --> 00:06:30.620 So here's the complexity of 2 Samuel chapter 16, if you like, 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:35.759 is that while David is on the receiving end of Absalom's betrayal and wickedness, 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:41.920 while it's undeserved, still there are things that David has done that he should not have done, 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:45.240 which have contributed to the situation he finds himself in. 00:06:46.379 --> 00:06:49.139 Now, in a way, I want to suggest to you that, in a sense, 00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:52.439 all of our experiences of betrayal are like that. 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:56.139 They are more complex than perhaps we first imagine. 00:06:57.019 --> 00:06:59.680 Perhaps you find yourself this morning in similar shoes to David. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:02.879 I mean, I doubt that you've lost a kingdom and a palace. 00:07:02.980 --> 00:07:03.480 You might have done. 00:07:03.540 --> 00:07:05.600 If you have, I'll speak to you afterwards, please. 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:10.079 But you might find yourself in a similar situation to David, 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:11.879 that you feel like you have been betrayed, 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:14.660 abandoned by a friend, perhaps, 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:19.000 been the subject of false accusations at work or by a family member. 00:07:19.860 --> 00:07:22.879 Perhaps you've been betrayed by a husband or a wife 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:25.340 who turned out to have a secret life you knew nothing about. 00:07:25.339 --> 00:07:32.779 And the complexity of all that is not just the immediate pain and confusion that comes with it. 00:07:33.179 --> 00:07:35.739 It comes also with it, doesn't it, if you're honest. 00:07:35.819 --> 00:07:38.319 It comes with a whole load of if-onlys, doesn't it? 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:40.379 If only I'd not done that. 00:07:41.379 --> 00:07:43.120 If only I'd said that. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.339 If only I'd not been on the roof that day and seen Bathsheba. 00:07:47.339 --> 00:07:52.939 If only I hadn't sent Uriah the Hittite back with that note. 00:07:54.599 --> 00:07:59.739 And perhaps that's how we expect to hear David speaking and thinking as we look at this chapter 00:07:59.739 --> 00:08:02.399 and going through those if-onlys. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:05.839 You know, if only I'd not been such a fool or such a jerk. 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:06.739 Why did I do it? 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:13.460 But actually the surprise is that he doesn't speak like that in 2 Samuel chapter 16. 00:08:14.259 --> 00:08:18.500 In fact, it seems as though David has a different answer to his experience of betrayal 00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:24.019 and to his own contribution to that betrayal other than a whole list of if-onlys. 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:25.680 And why did I do it? 00:08:26.699 --> 00:08:31.060 Instead, he seems to have an answer that doesn't come from the inside of his own if-onlys, 00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:36.779 but an answer that comes from the outside, from something that God has done and that God alone is able to do, 00:08:37.100 --> 00:08:42.000 which actually God has done and provides the answer for David's experience of betrayal. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:45.919 And I want us to see that together in 2 Samuel chapter 16. 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:49.559 But what I want us to do first is get the story straight in our minds. 00:08:49.620 --> 00:08:52.940 So I know that some of you are well familiar with 2 Samuel and you're like, 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:54.039 Oh, Steve, why are you doing this? 00:08:54.100 --> 00:08:58.960 But others of us don't know 2 Samuel so well and maybe you're just dropping into the series today. 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:00.879 So let me try and explain what's going on. 00:09:01.059 --> 00:09:06.519 And really, this chapter is kind of grouped around the encounters with three different traitors, 00:09:07.119 --> 00:09:10.259 three different people who are like twisting the knife in David's back. 00:09:10.619 --> 00:09:13.659 The first is Ziba in verses 1 to 4. 00:09:14.619 --> 00:09:18.379 Now, it might, as you listen to it, seem kind of cruel to call Ziba a traitor. 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:24.519 After all, he's turning up with food and donkeys and supplies for the runaway David and for his men to eat. 00:09:24.739 --> 00:09:28.699 But if you read the account carefully in the context of the rest of 2 Samuel, 00:09:28.700 --> 00:09:31.580 you'll realize that Ziba isn't really who he claims to be. 00:09:33.060 --> 00:09:34.500 So what's going on here? 00:09:35.060 --> 00:09:38.900 Well, in verse 2, David says, Why have you brought all this stuff to me? 00:09:39.580 --> 00:09:40.259 This is a bit weird. 00:09:40.340 --> 00:09:41.460 Ziba, why are you doing this? 00:09:42.160 --> 00:09:46.960 And then in verse 3, David asks him, Why is Mephibosheth not with you? 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:51.420 In case you don't know this, Ziba was a servant of Saul. 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:55.840 And for the sake of David's promise to Saul's son Jonathan, 00:09:56.660 --> 00:10:03.580 David had taken Jonathan's son Mephibosheth into his care and appointed Ziba to look after him. 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:09.860 Mephibosheth was crippled in the feet and Ziba was to look after him and farm his land and provide for him, 00:10:09.860 --> 00:10:13.279 while Mephibosheth was to eat at David's table in the palace. 00:10:14.060 --> 00:10:20.980 And Ziba had obviously done a great job of farming Mephibosheth's land and had brought the produce for David and his people to eat on his way. 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:26.680 But he had come without the person who he had been entrusted to their care, without Mephibosheth. 00:10:27.460 --> 00:10:33.639 And Ziba says that Mephibosheth has stayed back in Jerusalem because Mephibosheth is hoping he's going to get his kingdom back. 00:10:34.259 --> 00:10:35.720 That's what Ziba says at least. 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:38.340 But really, all of that is a show. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:40.720 Ziba is actually playing David. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.500 So notice he doesn't go with David at all. 00:10:43.580 --> 00:10:44.680 He stays where he is. 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:49.580 And in chapter 19, Mephibosheth tells David that Ziba actually abandoned him, 00:10:50.060 --> 00:10:52.660 which seems like a more likely story than the one that Ziba is telling. 00:10:53.460 --> 00:10:56.500 But if you want to know what Ziba is really interested in, just look at the end of verse 4. 00:10:57.019 --> 00:10:57.300 He says, 00:10:57.300 --> 00:10:58.940 I humbly bow, Ziba said. 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:04.139 May I found favor, charm or popularity in your eyes, my lord the king. 00:11:04.139 --> 00:11:05.679 Here's the point. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:07.620 Ziba is really interested in himself. 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:09.639 He's giving David a gift. 00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:12.860 What he really wants is David to be nice to him. 00:11:13.259 --> 00:11:14.059 That's what he really wants. 00:11:14.100 --> 00:11:15.080 He wants David's favor. 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:18.439 Just in case David ends up returning as king. 00:11:19.100 --> 00:11:23.080 But he's not throwing his lot in with David because he's not quite sure whether Absalom might win. 00:11:23.179 --> 00:11:25.279 So he's just hedging his bets a little bit. 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:28.399 The second traitor is more obvious. 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.399 It's the guy Shimei in verses 5 to 14. 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:34.500 He's introduced as a member of the household of Saul, a Benjamite. 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:40.799 And he is sure that David's going into exile is God paying him back for taking the kingdom from Saul. 00:11:41.199 --> 00:11:42.120 Ha ha, says Shimei. 00:11:42.439 --> 00:11:43.899 You're getting what you deserve. 00:11:44.179 --> 00:11:45.759 You stole the kingdom from Saul. 00:11:46.100 --> 00:11:47.559 Now it's been stolen from you. 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:49.720 Look at how he puts it in verse 7. 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:51.600 As he cursed, Shimei said, 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.420 Get out, get out, you murderer, you scoundrel. 00:11:54.980 --> 00:11:59.659 The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. 00:12:00.060 --> 00:12:02.899 The Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of your son Absalom. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:05.899 You have come to ruin because you were a murderer. 00:12:06.860 --> 00:12:10.460 David is a murderer, but he actually didn't murder people in the household of Saul, did he? 00:12:10.460 --> 00:12:13.840 It's not just words that Shimei throws, though, does it? 00:12:14.100 --> 00:12:16.920 He's lobbing stones and throwing dirt as well. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:19.920 So much so that Abishai wants to take off his head. 00:12:20.940 --> 00:12:23.220 Such a kind of Iron Age response, isn't it? 00:12:23.420 --> 00:12:25.900 Can I just go and chop his head off? 00:12:26.060 --> 00:12:26.920 Am I allowed to do that? 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:28.860 David says, no, don't do that. 00:12:29.300 --> 00:12:29.900 Don't do that. 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:31.480 I mean, it's a fair point, isn't it? 00:12:31.540 --> 00:12:35.200 I mean, who is Shimei to insult the king like that? 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:39.820 But David says, listen, I've got bigger problems than Shimei. 00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:41.240 Absalom is against me. 00:12:41.300 --> 00:12:42.980 He's trying to kill me and take over my kingdom. 00:12:43.100 --> 00:12:44.980 I'm not worried about a few names and a few pebbles. 00:12:46.400 --> 00:12:50.740 If you're on the run for your life, you're not worried about getting dirty from a raving madman on the side of a hill. 00:12:51.580 --> 00:12:55.460 The final traitor is Ahithophel in verses 15 to 23. 00:12:56.180 --> 00:13:04.360 Here, if you like, the camera's swung from where David is with his people back into Jerusalem and to Absalom and to Absalom's arrival in the city. 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:14.720 First, we meet Hushai, who you might remember from last week, is David's friend who David has sent back to Jerusalem to try and kind of confuse Absalom about what to do. 00:13:14.779 --> 00:13:17.659 And we'll find out next week about how he does that. 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:19.220 It's funny, though, isn't it? 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:25.120 If you know that Hushai is a spy, which we know, don't we, as we read it, it sounds funny, his comments to Absalom. 00:13:25.220 --> 00:13:26.360 Look at verse 16. 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:32.600 Hushai, the archite, David's confidant, went to Absalom and said, long live the king, long live the king. 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:35.540 I wonder who Hushai was actually thinking about when he said that. 00:13:35.899 --> 00:13:38.519 Was he really thinking about Absalom or was he thinking about David? 00:13:39.620 --> 00:13:42.500 Absalom said to Hushai, so this is the love you show to your friend. 00:13:42.560 --> 00:13:44.200 If he is your friend, why don't you go with him? 00:13:44.779 --> 00:13:51.279 Hushai said to Absalom, no, the one chosen by the Lord, David, and by these people and by all the men of Israel. 00:13:51.460 --> 00:13:53.220 His I will be and I will remain with him. 00:13:54.180 --> 00:13:55.440 Furthermore, whom should I serve? 00:13:55.540 --> 00:13:57.779 Should I not serve the son just as I served your father? 00:13:57.860 --> 00:13:58.840 So I will serve you. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:01.639 Actually, though, I am still really serving David. 00:14:02.600 --> 00:14:07.899 Anyway, that's loyal Hushai, but really the focus here is on what Ahithophel advises Absalom. 00:14:08.620 --> 00:14:13.200 So you might remember that David has left behind 10 of his concubines, his wives in the palace. 00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:17.360 And Ahithophel suggests that Absalom makes it very clear to all of Israel, 00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:19.580 listen, this is no joke. 00:14:19.920 --> 00:14:21.540 This rebellion is a real rebellion. 00:14:21.680 --> 00:14:23.759 My betrayal of David is a deep betrayal. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:29.580 So he takes his wives on Ahithophel's advice, on a tent on the roof of the palace, 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:32.679 and has sex with them in a very public way. 00:14:33.419 --> 00:14:36.740 He does to David what David did to Uriah the Hittite, 00:14:36.860 --> 00:14:40.860 but he does it in public just like Nathan promised in chapter 12, 00:14:40.980 --> 00:14:42.620 breaking not only the commandment on adultery, 00:14:42.700 --> 00:14:45.200 but specifically breaking the law regarding his father's wives, 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:48.700 and deliberately making himself obnoxious. 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:51.680 I think it's probably an understatement, isn't it, to David. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.240 So Ahithophel, David's one-time trusted advisor, 00:14:55.420 --> 00:14:57.240 as you find out in the last verse of the chapter, 00:14:57.660 --> 00:15:01.680 turns out to become a treacherous backstabber, just like Absalom. 00:15:02.800 --> 00:15:07.240 There's no going back now for Absalom, no peaceful way out of this. 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.160 Now, those are the three traitors on whom this whole story hangs, 00:15:11.259 --> 00:15:15.379 but I want to show you this great truth that David is holding onto in the midst of it. 00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:18.379 So notice first the repetition of the word curse. 00:15:19.299 --> 00:15:22.360 Shimei curses David in verse 5. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:25.759 We're told in verse 7 again that Shimei cursed. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:29.679 Abishai is asking why this dead dog should be allowed to curse in verse 9. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:35.679 And in verses 10 to 12, David himself replies using the word curse four times, 00:15:35.740 --> 00:15:39.600 before in verse 13, the writer tells us again that Shimei cursed David as he went. 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:44.120 Now, you might just think this is bad English or bad Hebrew or whatever 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:46.000 by just repeating the same word over and over again, 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:48.519 but I think the writer is wanting us to pick up on something. 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:50.620 Curse, curse, curse, curse. 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:55.860 So Shimei claims directly in verse 7 that God is cursing David. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:01.299 David acknowledges that that might indeed be the case in verses 10 to 11. 00:16:02.259 --> 00:16:04.100 And in a way, having read to this point, 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:06.279 we know that that's at least in part what is happening here. 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:11.000 In these events, David is experiencing being cursed by God. 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:14.139 Not so much because he's a man of blood in the way that Shimei thinks, 00:16:14.220 --> 00:16:16.000 but because he's a man of adultery and murder. 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:20.360 And like we said at the beginning, the complexity of all of what's going on here 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:24.059 is that really this is an outworking of the events of David's life. 00:16:24.139 --> 00:16:26.779 This is because of what David did, that this is happening. 00:16:26.980 --> 00:16:29.100 And God is following through on what he said would happen, 00:16:29.340 --> 00:16:33.480 right up to the graphic horrors of Absalom on the roof with David's wives. 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:36.159 Now, none of that sounds very promising, does it? 00:16:36.179 --> 00:16:39.419 But look again at verse 12, and let me try and show you exactly what's going on. 00:16:39.419 --> 00:16:40.899 Look at verse 12, let me read it to you again. 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:45.539 It may be, says David, that the Lord will look upon my misery 00:16:45.539 --> 00:16:49.779 and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today. 00:16:50.699 --> 00:16:51.839 What does David mean? 00:16:52.979 --> 00:16:55.620 Well, surprisingly, the focus here doesn't seem to be 00:16:55.620 --> 00:16:59.439 on the wrong being done to David by Shimei or even by Absalom. 00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:03.759 Instead, the problem is what the writer calls his misery, David's misery. 00:17:04.420 --> 00:17:06.599 Literally, his affliction or even his guilt. 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:08.719 And what is that affliction? 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:12.719 Like we said, it's the fulfillment of the words of Nathan the prophet in chapter 12. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:16.480 What's happening here is what Nathan said would happen as a result of David's sin. 00:17:16.939 --> 00:17:19.799 David here is being afflicted by his sinfulness. 00:17:20.639 --> 00:17:23.459 His circumstances are the affliction of his sinfulness. 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:25.319 He's experiencing that. 00:17:25.980 --> 00:17:28.599 And that, like we said at the beginning, is the complexity of betrayal. 00:17:29.639 --> 00:17:31.480 But verse 12 doesn't leave it there, it carries on, does he? 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:37.720 Because he says that he hopes, he hopes that in the midst of his affliction, in the midst of his guilt, 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:40.099 he has a hope. 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:41.579 What is it? 00:17:41.660 --> 00:17:42.480 Look again at the verse. 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:43.160 Here's the hope. 00:17:43.579 --> 00:17:49.480 That God can still choose to show him kindness or goodness or what the NIV calls covenant blessing. 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:54.039 A blessing, given what has happened, which would be undeserved by David. 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:56.680 David, which would wipe out Shimei's curses. 00:17:57.339 --> 00:17:59.240 In other words, verse 12 is saying something like this. 00:17:59.299 --> 00:18:00.599 It's astounding when you think of it. 00:18:01.019 --> 00:18:08.099 It is saying that the Lord will look on my guilt and give me blessing instead. 00:18:08.859 --> 00:18:11.759 That's the astounding claim of David in verse 12. 00:18:12.619 --> 00:18:14.339 Just ponder what David is saying here. 00:18:14.339 --> 00:18:21.819 Notice that even as everything in his life is falling apart, even as these three treacherous men are twisting Absalom's knife in his back, 00:18:22.159 --> 00:18:27.599 even as that comes in part, at least as a result of his own sin, David is holding on, not to any kind of wishful, 00:18:27.679 --> 00:18:29.039 like, oh, I wish I had not done that. 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:30.059 I wish I had not sinned. 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:31.619 He's not holding on to that idea. 00:18:31.619 --> 00:18:41.479 Instead, he is holding on to this idea that his God, the God of the Bible, is able to take curses that he deserves even, 00:18:41.579 --> 00:18:50.119 and the ones he doesn't deserve, all of that affliction, and turn it into blessing, kindness, covenant blessings. 00:18:51.219 --> 00:18:55.339 In other words, this is David's bedrock go-to truth in the midst of betrayal. 00:18:55.719 --> 00:18:58.679 It's an action of God that wipes out guilt. 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:02.100 He's saying, in effect, let Shimei throw his stones. 00:19:02.560 --> 00:19:03.560 Let him throw his dirt. 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:09.019 Let him throw his insults at me, because I know that my God loves me, 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:13.019 and even though I deserve everything that I'm getting right now, 00:19:13.320 --> 00:19:18.840 still I know my God will be kind to me in the end, 00:19:19.380 --> 00:19:24.360 because my God does not treat me as my sins deserve. 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:28.400 Friends, this is the doctrine of justification. 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:31.200 By faith, here in the Old Testament. 00:19:32.519 --> 00:19:35.440 It's the great truth, right at the center of the scriptures, 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:41.860 that God can take wicked, hell-deserving sinners, like David, like you and me, 00:19:42.220 --> 00:19:46.640 in the midst of our sin, even with our sin, 00:19:46.900 --> 00:19:50.120 and through an action of his own that we don't deserve, 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:52.279 that we could not perform ourselves, 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:59.899 he is able to declare us not guilty, free, justified. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:03.200 Now, notice that David says in verse 12, 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:05.079 it may be that the Lord will do this. 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:09.740 In other words, David knows enough of his God to know that this is how he works, 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:11.519 even though he can't articulate it clearly. 00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:14.059 But of course, you and I know more than David, don't you? 00:20:14.059 --> 00:20:15.559 We've read the whole book, right? 00:20:15.619 --> 00:20:17.539 We know the end from the beginning. 00:20:17.659 --> 00:20:19.539 We know where the Bible goes, don't we? 00:20:19.859 --> 00:20:23.399 We know that God's eternal king is not David, but Jesus Christ. 00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:28.659 We know that Jesus is history's very only innocent sufferer. 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:32.399 No one else has suffered innocently except for Jesus Christ. 00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:38.359 He, Jesus on the cross, is literally taking a betrayal that he does not deserve in any way, 00:20:38.359 --> 00:20:43.059 in order to give us a righteousness that we don't deserve in any way. 00:20:44.059 --> 00:20:47.639 Cursed Christ, righteous sinner. 00:20:48.659 --> 00:20:50.699 So that in the language of our passage here, 00:20:50.819 --> 00:20:53.939 God might turn our guilt, our affliction into blessing, 00:20:54.199 --> 00:20:56.259 not with a magic wand, not by ignoring reality, 00:20:56.679 --> 00:20:59.959 not by compromising justice, but by taking the punishment on himself, 00:21:00.439 --> 00:21:03.579 dying in our place on the cross, bearing the weight of guilt and shame, 00:21:03.579 --> 00:21:06.659 so that you and I can be forgiven. 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:12.959 Justified, though afflicted and cursed, now declared not guilty. 00:21:15.099 --> 00:21:17.319 I want just to pause here and stay down for a moment, 00:21:17.419 --> 00:21:21.139 because I want you to notice just how unique this is. 00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:23.759 I don't know whether you could imagine, 00:21:23.879 --> 00:21:25.500 this is a slight stretch of our imaginations, 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:31.179 but if you imagine David walking into a counsellor's room somewhere in London today, 00:21:32.339 --> 00:21:37.879 and he walks in and he tells him the story of what's been happening in 2 Samuel chapter 15 and 16, 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:40.719 he said, oh, you'll never believe what's happening to me. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:45.819 My son, my eldest son, he's turned on me. 00:21:46.519 --> 00:21:47.939 He's got everybody to hate me. 00:21:48.539 --> 00:21:50.159 He's taken my most trusted advisors. 00:21:50.419 --> 00:21:54.139 He wrestled 200 people from the palace and took them against their will, 00:21:54.199 --> 00:21:55.399 but has now turned them on me. 00:21:55.979 --> 00:21:57.399 I've had to walk out of my palace. 00:21:57.500 --> 00:21:59.079 I've had to leave my wives behind. 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:03.740 I've walked up the hill weeping, barefoot, head covered. 00:22:04.699 --> 00:22:07.139 What do you think the counsellor would say? 00:22:09.339 --> 00:22:10.460 David carries on. 00:22:11.220 --> 00:22:11.579 Do you know what? 00:22:11.639 --> 00:22:13.339 I kind of think I deserved it, though, in a way. 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:15.939 See, this is what I did. 00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:21.940 I saw this beautiful woman, Bathsheba, really wanted her, so I took her, 00:22:23.019 --> 00:22:26.019 and she got pregnant, and so I killed her husband. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:28.180 Now she's my wife. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:31.080 What do you think the counsellor's going to say? 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:35.360 Oh, David, just forget these if-onlys, David. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:38.180 You know, you were just being authentic. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:41.340 You were just being yourself. 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:43.299 You were just following your desires. 00:22:43.439 --> 00:22:45.079 That's what you've got to do in life. 00:22:45.339 --> 00:22:46.439 You've got to follow your desires. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:47.679 You've got to be true to yourself. 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:48.959 Everyone makes mistakes. 00:22:49.059 --> 00:22:49.559 It can't be helped. 00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:53.639 Get rid of this feeling that anything in here is anything you deserve, right? 00:22:55.099 --> 00:22:57.519 Just be true to yourself. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:59.319 Love who you're meant to love. 00:23:00.399 --> 00:23:04.259 Try, if you can, David, just to live in this moment now, 00:23:04.259 --> 00:23:07.220 to smell the smells of now and feel the things of now 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:09.759 and just forget about everything else that's going on. 00:23:09.799 --> 00:23:10.459 That will help you. 00:23:12.199 --> 00:23:15.579 Now, of course, the problem with that advice is that it really doesn't work, does it? 00:23:16.919 --> 00:23:18.679 I don't know whether you've ever tried something like that. 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:21.179 I know I've tried to do that, and it doesn't work, does it? 00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:22.139 It doesn't help. 00:23:22.879 --> 00:23:25.059 Because in the back of David's mind would be, 00:23:25.159 --> 00:23:27.859 and in the back of our minds, if that's the advice we're listening to this morning, 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:30.579 is, but I did sin. 00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:34.679 And they are sinning against me as well. 00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:39.420 And all this kind of brushing it under the carpet doesn't actually work. 00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:40.480 It doesn't satisfy. 00:23:40.580 --> 00:23:41.420 It doesn't deal with it. 00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:42.380 It's still there. 00:23:42.380 --> 00:23:47.440 When I was a theology student, one of our lecturers, he was a bit weird, 00:23:47.660 --> 00:23:49.060 but one of our lecturers used to say, 00:23:49.520 --> 00:23:54.960 remember, students, remember kings had jesters. 00:23:55.400 --> 00:23:55.480 Right? 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:57.580 Kings had jesters. 00:23:57.579 --> 00:23:59.359 You're a bit weird. 00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:01.939 But most theology lecturers are weird. 00:24:02.059 --> 00:24:05.619 But he was saying that because he had a really important point. 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:06.779 He said, think about it. 00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:07.159 Why? 00:24:07.500 --> 00:24:10.399 If you've got everything that the world has to offer, yeah? 00:24:10.819 --> 00:24:13.460 If you've got power, you've got money, you've got status, 00:24:13.859 --> 00:24:18.139 you've got all the modern conveniences that your culture is able to provide for anybody. 00:24:18.579 --> 00:24:23.500 You have the world's greatest minds at your kind of beck and call 00:24:23.500 --> 00:24:26.079 because you're the most powerful person, right? 00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:26.759 You're the king. 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:32.039 Anything you want and anyone you want can be ushered into your presence at any point. 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:34.019 Why then? 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:38.359 If you've got all of that, then why do you call a man, 00:24:38.500 --> 00:24:43.980 it's normally a man, in a silly hat with bells on the end to crack jokes in front of you? 00:24:44.039 --> 00:24:44.920 Why would you do that? 00:24:45.319 --> 00:24:46.220 Why would you do that? 00:24:46.539 --> 00:24:50.779 Because what you know is that for all the great minds in all the world, 00:24:50.779 --> 00:24:54.619 for all the great power in all the world, for all the great accumulation of stuff in the world, 00:24:54.779 --> 00:24:58.000 you still have found no answers to the great problems in life. 00:24:58.139 --> 00:25:01.960 And so all you can do is laugh at the silly man in a hat in front of you. 00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:04.259 It's hiding it. 00:25:04.539 --> 00:25:05.599 It's covering it over. 00:25:06.700 --> 00:25:09.460 And let me say to you this morning, if you're in the midst of betrayal, 00:25:10.259 --> 00:25:16.420 if you're messed up by your sin or by the sin of others being done to you, 00:25:16.420 --> 00:25:24.580 you need to know that all the world has to offer you is silly men in hats with bells on the end. 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:28.380 Jesters, or whatever the contemporary equivalent is. 00:25:29.140 --> 00:25:30.840 Sometimes they're religious jesters, aren't they? 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:33.180 Sometimes they're material ones. 00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:36.060 Sometimes they're expensive holiday jesters. 00:25:36.860 --> 00:25:38.800 But David knows differently, doesn't he? 00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:41.920 David knows that there is something to say. 00:25:42.300 --> 00:25:44.060 There is a truth to hold on to. 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:48.159 He knows a God who doesn't sweep sin under the carpet, 00:25:48.700 --> 00:25:50.779 but he knows a God who justifies. 00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:56.119 He knows a God who is bigger and stronger than the story of our sin and our rebellion. 00:25:56.779 --> 00:25:59.319 He knows the story of redemption in the person of the Son, 00:25:59.700 --> 00:26:03.879 the only ever innocent sufferer who suffers for our salvation 00:26:03.879 --> 00:26:08.139 and for the salvation of all who would come and put their faith in him. 00:26:09.399 --> 00:26:12.759 Let me ask you, if I can this morning, as gently but as directly as I can, 00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:17.859 can I ask you this morning, have you discovered David's saviour? 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:19.779 Do you know him? 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:21.980 I don't mean do you know about him, 00:26:22.039 --> 00:26:26.519 because I presume that being in this room means that you might know something about the name of Jesus. 00:26:27.619 --> 00:26:29.559 You've probably heard some of this stuff before. 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:30.579 I don't mean that. 00:26:30.579 --> 00:26:35.279 What I mean is, have you put your faith in him? 00:26:35.919 --> 00:26:37.519 Have you put your faith in him? 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:39.460 Are you trusting in him? 00:26:39.679 --> 00:26:43.960 What I mean by that is, have you abandoned all your confidence in the power of everything else 00:26:43.960 --> 00:26:46.639 to solve the deep problems of your life and our world 00:26:46.639 --> 00:26:51.839 and put your trust in him alone as the only solution provided by God, 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:55.000 the one who can take the curses that we deserve, 00:26:55.399 --> 00:26:58.779 the guilt of our sin and give us instead blessing. 00:26:59.980 --> 00:27:01.779 See, this is the nub of the passage for us this morning. 00:27:01.879 --> 00:27:02.720 It's why it's in your Bible. 00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:08.339 It's so that you can appreciate the power of justification by faith in a real life story. 00:27:09.339 --> 00:27:12.439 Of a man in the midst of the mess of his own sin and the sin of others, 00:27:12.740 --> 00:27:15.839 he has found a God who can take his guilt and bless him anyway. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:18.519 And you need that. 00:27:19.079 --> 00:27:20.220 I need that. 00:27:20.599 --> 00:27:21.500 You want that. 00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:22.379 I want that. 00:27:23.819 --> 00:27:25.799 It's important just to be clear, isn't it, that, 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:30.619 I suppose to just try and iron out any potential misunderstandings this morning, 00:27:30.679 --> 00:27:36.639 what David has found by justification by faith has not lifted him into an easy life, right? 00:27:36.859 --> 00:27:38.579 That would be a mistake to think that. 00:27:39.859 --> 00:27:43.019 He's not saying, you know, oh, I've discovered this justification by faith 00:27:43.019 --> 00:27:44.740 and all of a sudden my life is going to be really easy. 00:27:44.740 --> 00:27:45.960 Nothing's going to go wrong anymore. 00:27:46.660 --> 00:27:51.259 The message is not put your faith in Jesus and you will kind of float above the sin of your own life 00:27:51.259 --> 00:27:52.599 and the sin of the rest of the people in the world. 00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:52.779 No. 00:27:53.299 --> 00:27:56.279 People do preach like that in London, but they're liars, right? 00:27:56.400 --> 00:27:57.799 It's important that you know that. 00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:00.779 They find no support in the Bible. 00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:03.759 Rather, the point is that for David, justification by faith, 00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:06.059 this power of God to take guilt and give blessing, 00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:11.359 is a power that Jesus brings through the cross, eclipses the trouble in this life. 00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:14.440 It doesn't remove it. 00:28:14.440 --> 00:28:17.220 We still experience it, but it eclipses it. 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:18.539 It's bigger than it. 00:28:19.160 --> 00:28:23.700 Amazingly, David here seems to understand that Absalom might have taken Jerusalem from him, 00:28:24.039 --> 00:28:28.440 but still somehow the covenant blessings of God are still his. 00:28:29.019 --> 00:28:29.779 Why is that? 00:28:30.059 --> 00:28:32.539 It's because Jerusalem was never the covenant blessing, right? 00:28:32.539 --> 00:28:37.740 God is able to bless us through justification by faith, 00:28:37.859 --> 00:28:40.480 even though we lose everything that this world has to offer, 00:28:40.539 --> 00:28:43.680 because the covenant blessings of God are not the things of this world, 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:46.519 but they are the resurrection kingdom of Jesus Christ. 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:51.139 Being with him in a world remade by his power and his glory for all eternity, 00:28:51.779 --> 00:28:53.319 that's the blessings of the covenant. 00:28:53.319 --> 00:28:56.240 That's what justification by faith is giving us. 00:28:56.240 --> 00:29:05.279 In the 1990s, a friend of mine went to what was a closed country to do student ministry. 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:12.299 It was a dangerous place, and people who'd been to that country before to do student ministry in recent past 00:29:12.299 --> 00:29:15.000 had been killed for the ministry that they were doing. 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:20.519 There was a massive need for people to go there and tell people about Jesus, 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:23.220 but there was also a massive potential cost. 00:29:24.599 --> 00:29:27.200 And at a conference just shortly after she left, 00:29:27.259 --> 00:29:30.359 one of the leaders of the mission agency that she was associated with 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:35.640 recounted a conversation that he had had with her just before she left. 00:29:36.339 --> 00:29:39.259 The leader had said to her and looked her in the eye and said, 00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:42.539 you know, what do you think is the worst that could happen? 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:44.599 What's the worst that could happen? 00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.339 And she thought for a while and she said to him, 00:29:49.339 --> 00:29:53.380 listen, I know, and I'm going into this knowing this, 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:54.980 I know that I could lose my life. 00:29:55.980 --> 00:29:57.000 I know I could lose my life. 00:29:58.380 --> 00:30:00.599 The leader said to her, yeah, that would be really awful, wouldn't it? 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:02.619 It'd be a terrible loss for us. 00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:03.839 It'd be a terrible loss for your family. 00:30:04.599 --> 00:30:06.880 But is that really the worst thing that could happen? 00:30:09.220 --> 00:30:10.099 She thought for a bit longer. 00:30:10.180 --> 00:30:12.019 She said, no, well, I guess not. 00:30:12.019 --> 00:30:15.599 I suppose I could be attacked. 00:30:16.359 --> 00:30:17.379 I could be tortured. 00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:19.400 I could be raped. 00:30:20.119 --> 00:30:21.319 I could be locked in prison. 00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:25.000 And he said, well, yeah, no, that would be awful too, wouldn't it? 00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:26.460 That would probably be worse. 00:30:28.779 --> 00:30:30.399 But is it the worst thing that could happen? 00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:36.919 And again, she paused and the leader pointed out that the worst thing in all the world, 00:30:37.659 --> 00:30:39.480 the worst thing that can happen to anybody, 00:30:39.480 --> 00:30:42.480 is to be abandoned by God, 00:30:43.400 --> 00:30:44.420 lost by him, 00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:47.339 and facing the judgment of hell. 00:30:48.539 --> 00:30:49.839 And then he said to her, 00:30:50.700 --> 00:30:53.039 and that cannot happen. 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:55.299 Why cannot, 00:30:55.740 --> 00:30:57.120 that cannot happen to you? 00:30:57.180 --> 00:30:58.000 Why not? 00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:00.759 Because you are justified 00:31:00.759 --> 00:31:04.299 by faith in Jesus Christ. 00:31:04.299 --> 00:31:06.259 So it can't happen. 00:31:07.240 --> 00:31:08.779 Listen, brothers and sisters, this morning, 00:31:08.899 --> 00:31:11.399 this is 2 Samuel 16, verse 12. 00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:15.440 Terrible things may happen in our lives, 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:18.339 but if you're trusting in Christ, 00:31:18.680 --> 00:31:21.279 the worst can never happen, 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:24.799 because it happened to him. 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:26.759 So that you and I 00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:28.339 can receive the blessings 00:31:28.339 --> 00:31:29.859 of the covenant, 00:31:30.539 --> 00:31:31.960 the blessing of membership 00:31:31.960 --> 00:31:33.240 in a resurrection kingdom 00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:34.500 for all eternity. 00:31:34.879 --> 00:31:35.740 So that you and I, 00:31:35.799 --> 00:31:36.779 if we're Christians this morning, 00:31:36.919 --> 00:31:38.680 we can say that whatever happens, 00:31:39.019 --> 00:31:40.379 and whatever is happening this morning, 00:31:40.839 --> 00:31:41.619 you and I can say, 00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:42.159 do you know what? 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:44.759 The best is still to come. 00:31:45.419 --> 00:31:46.319 Because it is. 00:31:47.399 --> 00:31:49.200 Let me pray as it goes. 00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:49.259 Let's. 00:31:54.799 --> 00:31:58.099 Just take a moment of quiet. 00:31:58.220 --> 00:31:59.919 Maybe we can just pray in our own hearts, 00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:02.519 reflecting on what the Lord has said to us. 00:32:02.519 --> 00:32:27.960 Heavenly Father, 00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:28.779 we thank you 00:32:28.779 --> 00:32:30.859 that through your Son, 00:32:30.859 --> 00:32:31.579 the Lord Jesus, 00:32:32.519 --> 00:32:34.940 you can take all of the curses 00:32:34.940 --> 00:32:35.759 that we deserve, 00:32:36.740 --> 00:32:37.619 even the judgment 00:32:37.619 --> 00:32:38.460 and the punishment 00:32:38.460 --> 00:32:39.859 that we deserve from you, 00:32:40.660 --> 00:32:41.819 satisfy it 00:32:41.819 --> 00:32:43.960 through his death on the cross, 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:46.160 and give us the great blessing 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:47.539 of belonging to you 00:32:47.539 --> 00:32:48.720 in a kingdom 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:50.319 from which we can never be taken 00:32:50.319 --> 00:32:52.579 and which we can never lose. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:54.660 Lord, I want to pray, 00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:56.019 especially for people this morning 00:32:56.019 --> 00:32:57.539 who maybe are really struggling 00:32:57.539 --> 00:32:59.799 with the suffering of their own sin 00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:00.859 or the sins of others. 00:33:00.859 --> 00:33:04.299 please restore them to this great joy 00:33:04.299 --> 00:33:06.279 that through Christ, 00:33:06.399 --> 00:33:07.459 through faith in him, 00:33:07.579 --> 00:33:08.659 through the justification 00:33:08.659 --> 00:33:10.199 that he provides, 00:33:10.539 --> 00:33:12.059 there is a great blessing 00:33:12.059 --> 00:33:14.379 and the best is still to come. 00:33:15.500 --> 00:33:16.579 Lord, we praise you 00:33:16.579 --> 00:33:17.559 and thank you 00:33:17.559 --> 00:33:19.059 and glory in your name. 00:33:19.059 --> 00:33:20.179 Amen. 00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:20.460 Amen. 00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:21.279 Amen. 00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:21.380 Amen.