Tag: Jesus

GRUMBLING vs LAMENT #5: Where are you God?

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, House Church, Lamenting, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Once again, during this series I encourage you to listen to the sermon, rather than simply reading the text. My right arm is in a sling, and I cannot type effectively. I am using voice dictation software to type these words, as well as any other content that I add to pastor Kevin’s message. Sometimes the results are not entirely accurate.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. You can also find us on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKzSHPFT466aXfNT2r9OD

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Lament Part 5

“Where are You, Lord?” The psalmist in Psalm 10, seems to be asking this question.  Have you asked this question or even thought it? You’d be very unusual if you haven’t. Though early in the Christian life we learn that God is omnipresent, or “everywhere present,” it often feels like He is not present to us in our current circumstance, especially if those circumstances are particularly difficult. 

     Technically speaking God is simultaneously present everywhere. How? He doesn’t explain that to us. It’s part and parcel of His “Godhood.” It’s one of His attributes, spoken about in Psalm 139. Note the following verses from this psalm.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11  If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

     God is everywhere. Jonah experienced God even in the depths of the sea. While God is actually present everywhere, He is usually only manifestly present, or present in a way that we can experience Him, at certain times and locations. Almost unpredictably. People who have journeyed with God and are known to know Him well will tell you that you cannot manipulate or manufacture His presence. Either God will or won’t be present in a way that is obvious. And, when that happens, you know it. There’s nothing quite like His presence. David testified that in God’s presence, “there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). When I have experienced the manifest presence of God on an individual level (as opposed to a congregational setting), and I can count on one hand the times that has happened in my 53 year relationship with Him, His presence satisfies every longing and infuses me with peace. It convinces me that there is no pleasure, no achievement and no material thing that can come remotely close to giving me what I have in Him. Asaph was a psalmist and he knew from his encounter with God’s manifest presence that there was nothing on the entire earth that could compete with it (Psalm 73:25,28– read this in a variety of translations).

     Even though you can’t have this variety of God’s presence on demand– in fact, demanding it is a sure way to guarantee you won’t get it— God doesn’t respond to our impertinence– it is still good to ask the question, “Lord, where are you?” It’s a way of saying, “Lord, I need your comfort. I need your embrace. I am aching for a hug from you. I need to know that You are near. Please, please don’t delay.”

(Tom here now, almost until the end). The Lord does come to us through our feelings and our thoughts. He sometimes comes in a way that is hard to describe. We might call his speaking to us as a “spiritual” experience. But sometimes all that can be a little bit vague. We can find ourselves chasing a certain set of feelings, or experiences, but not actually getting them. However, as Kevin said, God does not show up for us in an experiential way simply because we demand it. Perhaps we aren’t even being demanding, but we desperately want some kind of experience with God, and it doesn’t happen. As Kevin has been pointing out this can be extremely difficult.

Thankfully, we do not have to rely on only our feelings or experiences. The Lord has given us three objective ways of experiencing his presence. These three ways do not require any particular feeling on our part. The first way is through reading the Bible. I’ve preached extensively on the remarkable text that we call the Bible. I’ve even written a book about it (Who Cares About the Bible?). We can have confidence that when we read the Bible (which we also refer to as “God’s Word”) we are, in fact, hearing from God. When we read the Bible, we are not making something up in our own heads. The text is there for any human being to see. Thousands of generations before us have read these same words. But when we feel abandoned by God, it is especially important that we continue to read the Bible.

When I teach and preach on a passage of Scripture, one of my goals is to help us understand the original, objective meaning, that the Holy Spirit intended through the human authors of the text. Preachers should do that. But there is another, more personal way, of reading the Bible. And that is to pray before you read, asking God to speak to you through his word. And then read the text as if God is speaking it directly to you. It may have been something that God originally wanted Isaiah to say to the people of Israel twenty-seven hundred years ago. But Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word of God is living and active. That means that we can receive what God is saying to us through the Scripture as intended directly for us. We shouldn’t build doctrines on reading the Bible this way, but it can be tremendously helpful in our sense of God’s presence and love in our lives.

I want to give you a quick example of what I’m talking about. When I was in college I went through a time of dark depression. During this time I went on a spiritual retreat. The leaders gave us a list of Bible verses to read. They told us to listen for the voice of God speaking through those verses. I went off by myself. I prayed before reading the first assigned passage. I asked the Lord to speak to me through the Bible. And then I read this verse:

1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your God.
2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Tell her that her sad days are gone
and her sins are pardoned.
Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over
for all her sins.” Isaiah 40:1-2

This is a prophecy given by the prophet Isaiah. It speaks to the people of Judah after the Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and laid waste to the entire kingdom of Judah. The people of Judah were now in exile, far from their homes. So originally, this text was announcing to God’s people that their exile in the land of Babylon would soon be over. It was a reassurance to them that God was not angry with them, and he was going to bring them back into their homeland. If I was preaching on this text I would make sure that my listeners all understood this.

However on that day, when I was under the dark cloud of depression, the Lord spoke to me through this Scripture in a unique way. I felt that he was proclaiming comfort directly to me in my depression. He was saying to me that the time of depression was now at an end, that my “sad days,” were over. That was what it meant to me to me as I read it. Thankfully, I believed the message that the Lord was given me through that Scripture. And then, it was so. My depression was over. Now, I would never preach on that text, and say that the meaning of that text was that everyone who is listening to me who was also depressed would now no longer be depressed. But this of how God speaks to us through his word. This didn’t take place in my head. It came from words that I did not make up.

A second place where God meets us, regardless of how we may feel, is in the sacrament of communion. We are taking real, actual bread into our bodies; real, actual wine (or, grape juice). Communion is not some kind of vague emotional experience. It is real bread, and real wine, in which Jesus has promised to be present. So, if you are wondering where you can find God, communion is one place he promises to meet us. It is not necessary for you to feel anything as you digest the bread and wine.

The third objective place where God meets us is through the fellowship of other Christians. Everyone who trusts Jesus has the Holy Spirit within them. Therefore, in a very real sense, when you are with other Christians, you are in the presence of God in a way that is outside of your self. The Bible seems to tell us that there is a special thing that happens when we gather together with other Christians specifically to worship the Lord. You may or may not feel anything as you worship the Lord with other Christians. Even so, he is there with you and the others, whether or not you feel it. You can look at the other people who are with you, and see that this is not something you are making up. God’s presence is also outside of ourselves.

The words of the Bible are not dependent on how you feel. The reality of the presence of the Lord through communion is not some vague experience. This is also true of the reality of God’s presence when his people meet together for worship.

No doubt there are times when we would really, really like to have some kind of an emotional experience of the presence of God. But by giving us the Bible, communion, and the fellowship of other believers, he has made it so that we can reliably be in his presence, no matter how we feel.

(We’ll close with a final paragraph from Kevin)

  God sometimes uses silence and what appears to be aloofness to draw us to a deep longing for Him. When you are suffering, when you are confused, when you are desperate for His touch, ask “Where, Lord, can I find you?” And, be sure to include your faith community in your search for God’s incomparable touch. In time, He will provide a way to comfort you. He is faithful and He will not allow your despair to become permanent, if you turn to Him. Turn, turn to Him. Again. And again. Ask Him for the stamina you’ll need. He wants to do a deep work in you. Let Him.

GRUMBLING vs LAMENT #4: ASKING “HOW LONG?”

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Jesus, Lamenting, Podcast, psalms, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. You can also find us on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKzSHPFT466aXfNT2r9OD

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Lament Part 4

Grumbling vs Lamenting #4.  Psalm 13

For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O LORD my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6 I will sing to the LORD
because he is good to me. Psalms 13

There is more to the spoken sermon than there is to the text here. My right arm is in a sling and will be for several more weeks, so I type these words through voice dictation. But when I record the sermon, I add in things that will not show up in this written version. That’s why I encourage you to listen to the audio versions of these particular sermons.

When you are facing a trial have you asked this? This psalmist, David, continues his lament with, “How long must I… have sorrow in my heart all the day?” (v. 2). Read more from this psalm and you will see some of what David was facing.

What are you facing? Illness/Chronic pain? Divorce? Conflict? Insomnia? Bankruptcy? Legal problems? Loneliness? Addiction? Depression? Abuse?

The problem with trials and suffering is that each new one can seem permanent and worse than the one which preceded it. Suffering is an inevitable part of life on this side of heaven (John 16:33). We’ve learned that some suffering comes simply because we are occupying space here on earth. Sometimes it comes because we have done something to make our situation worse. Sometimes someone else does something which makes our situation worse. Sometimes God is pruning us and bringing us into a “dark night of the soul.”

 When you experience a “dark night,” which typically lasts far longer than a single night, your circumstances may not change for the worse, but you will be exposed to a kind of purgation, a spiritual aridness that is exceedingly painful. In these seasons, it can seem impossible to go on.

I remember my first such experience with a dark night. I was pretty new to the faith and had just been baptized in the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist describes that experience as “a baptism of fire” (Matthew 3:11). I was experiencing the fire of purgation, a terribly painful purifying process. I felt like I was being turned inside out. This has been experienced and written about by many who have gone before us, the most notable perhaps, would be St. John of the Cross.

     My circumstances were not more difficult than usual. I had some good friends and a budding relationship with the woman who became my first wife, Laura. Yet, internally I was in great distress (Sadly, Laura passed away just a few years ago). I was confused about what I was experiencing. I began to fall into despair and didn’t want to live. In my deepest pain, I heard, “John 15:2!” I didn’t know what it said, so I read that verse. It says, “…every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” Then I heard the same voice say, “You’ve been bearing fruit and now I am pruning you so you will bear even more…”

     When it appears that your suffering has a purpose, it helps. I found hope but the suffering continued. The writer of the book of Hebrews indicates that we should treat all suffering as God’s discipline and something that is useful for our sanctification (Hebrews 12:7, 10).

 Then I began to wonder, “How long?” I didn’t receive an answer. I think one of the reasons we may not get a definitive answer to this question is because we’re called to walk by faith, not by sight. God wants us to keep our eyes on Him and not fixate on what we are walking through. He wants us to learn to move forward putting one foot in front of the other, even when, especially when, we are confused, afraid and feeling alone. My first dark night lasted about two years. It was hard but it was an important season in my life. It helped me to know that God doesn’t remove His presence from us even though He sometimes will remove our awareness of it.

If you can get an answer to the “why?” question, ask “How long?” You may or may not get an answer. God’s silence is sometimes an answer. Sometimes it’s an invitation to trust Him when nothing makes sense. For now, perhaps it will suffice to acknowledge that God wants you to simply proceed without any assurances that your suffering has an end date. Ouch.

(Tom here, for a bit). In fact, there is a definitive end date for all of our suffering. We have the promise that when we leave this mortal life, if we have put our hope fully in Jesus, our sufferings are at an end. Sometimes I quail at the thought that I have another thirty years or so to suffer my kidney stone pain. At the same time, I know that it won’t be forever. The Lord has been faithful to me for these past ten years of physical suffering, and I can trust him to continue to be faithful to me, and walk with me, as long as my suffering endures, and in whatever other suffering I may experience. As it says in Hebrews:

For God has said,
“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”
6 So we can say with confidence,
“The LORD is my helper,
so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6, NLT)

Our culture, now more than ever, is all about instant gratification. I find myself frustrated that when I order something from a place like Amazon sometimes it takes three whole days to get to me. It’s insane that that length of time bothers me. But the economy of the entire world has grown by providing what we want ever more quickly. It makes life comfortable, but it leaves us confused, and at a loss, when things don’t work out for us the way we want them to. The promises given to us in and through Jesus are so very worth waiting for. There is literally nothing better that we could have than the fulfillment of those promises. Can we hold on in faith, knowing that what we wait for far outweighs any of the struggles we might have here and now?

The spiritual practice of lament encourages us to recognize our feelings. It isn’t wrong to feel like our struggles are long and drawn out. It isn’t wrong to say that to God, and to wish for them to end soon. But in lamenting, we don’t simply complain. What separates it from grumbling is that we also turn our hearts towards God in faith. In lamenting, in a sense, we preach to our hearts. We remind ourselves of God’s promises, and his goodness, and his presence with us in every moment.

So, go ahead and ask “how long?” You may or may not receive a satisfactory answer. You will receive a satisfactory Presence, whether or not you perceive that Presence. For the entire length of your struggle, the Lord does, and will, walk with you, no matter how long. And though we may not know exactly how long we will have to suffer, we know that there is a certain end to the suffering, and a real beginning of an incredible life free from our struggles, infinitely longer than the amount of time that we may suffer here in this life.

Here’s a promise we can speak to our hearts today, any day in which we wonder “how long?”

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:1-5)       

GRUMBLINGS vs LAMENTING #1. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Lamenting, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment
Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. You can also find us on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKzSHPFT466aXfNT2r9OD

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Lament Part 1

Numbers 14:1-4; 26-28 & Psalm 142

When I was a young pastor, I used to meet weekly with another pastor who was about 18 years older than me. His name is Kevin McClure. We met almost every week for about seven years. Kevin and I encouraged one another, learned from one another, and became friends.  I don’t see him very often any more (2 times in the last two years) but I still consider him a dear friend, and precious brother in Christ.

Kevin writes a weekly email called the E-pistle. The E-pistles are generally fairly short and pithy. Kevin might take several weeks to offer short teachings on one subject, and then move on to another topic. Recently, he started an E-pistle series on the topic of Lament and Grumbling. I found his thoughts interesting and helpful.

For the next several weeks, I’m going to be laid up after rotator cuff surgery, which will add a layer on top of my “normal” pain. So, I got Pastor Kevin’s permission to use his E-pistles on Grumbling vs. Lamenting. I know that many of you prefer to listen. Kevin is retired, which means he is too busy to record these as sermons 😊. So, with Kevin’s permission, I’ll read what he has written, and, at times, add a few thoughts of my own. I probably won’t mess much with what Kevin has written, because I won’t be able to type for a few weeks. So if you normally read, you might want to consider listening to this series instead; otherwise you might miss some of the sermon. Usually, I’ll probably use 2-3 E-pistle episodes as one sermon. In general, I would say that 80-95% of what I say in the recording will be Kevin’s words, and, depending on the message, 5-20% will be clarifications or other comments that I add.

If you are blessed by this series, please consider leaving a comment below, and I’ll share the comments with pastor Kevin McClure.

Ever grumble? If you are familiar with Scripture, you know that God doesn’t look kindly at it (Numbers 14:27). He was very upset by the grumbling and murmuring of some of the people whom He liberated from Egyptian slavery. In spite of what God had done for them when He provided a miraculous deliverance from Egyptian oppression, in spite of the way He led them through the Red Sea and demonstrated His presence quite supernaturally in a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of loud by day– in spite of all of this, some of His people whined every time it looked like they’d be facing another trial. There seemed to be little trust in God. Grumbling and murmuring dishonors God and sets you up for additional trouble.

The New Testament isn’t soft on grumbling either. Check out the following words by Paul: “Do everything without complaining or arguing…” (Philippians 2:14,15). James takes a dim view of it too: “”Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged…” (5:9)

On the other hand, God seems to welcome laments. These have the tone of a complaint but they are different. How? The people who are recorded as lamenting are worshippers, psalmists, who like the murmurers are suffering, but unlike them, they turn to God in their pain. They ask the questions every suffering person will eventually ask if he or she is actually paying attention. They ask, “Why?” and “How long?” and “Where are You?”

Jesus Himself lamented. Remember, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” That’s a lament. Lamenting is an honest way to pour out your troubles and invite God into them.

Over the course of the next few weeks I want to address the upside of being absolutely honest with God about the pain you are feeling in your suffering– identifying it and presenting it to Him to invite Him into it. We’ll explore a number of things, eventually getting to the three questions the lamenting psalmists ask.

During the days of Moses’ leadership, grumblers incurred God’s wrath because they were ungrateful and because they did not invite God into their concerns. In essence, they spurned God, belly-aching, but not inviting Him in.  Lamenters also face pain. But in their suffering they cry out to God. Consider Psalm 142:

​

A psalm of David, regarding his experience in the cave. A prayer.
1 I cry out to the LORD;
I plead for the LORD’s mercy.
2 I pour out my complaints before him
and tell him all my troubles.
3 When I am overwhelmed,
you alone know the way I should turn.
Wherever I go,
my enemies have set traps for me.
4 I look for someone to come and help me,
but no one gives me a passing thought!
No one will help me;
no one cares a bit what happens to me.
5 Then I pray to you, O LORD.
I say, “You are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in life.
6 Hear my cry,
for I am very low.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
7 Bring me out of prison
so I can thank you.
The godly will crowd around me,
for you are good to me.” (Psalms 142, NLT)

David probably prayed this before he wrote it. This “complaint” bubbled out of him when he was in a cave. When was he in a cave? He may have been in a cave a  time or two when he was shepherding his dad’s sheep, but more than likely, he’s talking about the time he was hiding from King Saul, who was trying to kill him (1 Samuel 24). In this psalm, he specifically mentions being in trouble. So, if he’s referring to the incident I think he is, his very life was at risk. That’s serious trouble. Unlike a grumbler who would simply harp about his situation, he talks to the Lord. Why? Because God had shown David  many times that He is trustworthy. David didn’t hide from God that he didn’t like his situation. It’s okay to do that, especially if  you invite God into it. 

     It takes faith to invite God into  your troubles. You might be low on faith at the moment. When you go through trouble, your faith takes a lot of hits and it can influence you to question whether God really cares. You might feel like you are really shaky. That’s okay. If you’ve never gotten to that place, it’s probably because you haven’t been tried to the extreme. When you  have faced extreme pain, pain that leaves  you feeling unstable, when you feel like your soundness of mind is hardly hanging on by a thread, you are probably not feeling strong in faith. That’s okay! It’s okay! That’s a great time to talk to God and ask Him to bolster your faith. Ask Him to help you find Him in the pain. It’s certainly fine to even ask Him  to deliver you out of your suffering– remember Someone saying, “Father, if possible, let this cup pass me by…?” Yes, even Jesus prayed that way. Yes, we know he also added, “yet not my will, but Yours be done” but we sometimes fail to linger in that place where our pain instructs us to cry for deliverance. This is another subject that I hope to explore some day in an E-pistle, but for now I just want to mention that Christians are far less in touch with their humanity than Jesus was. 

     If you’ve never done this, write out your prayer-complaint to God. What is it that you are facing that is so distressing? What would you like Him to do about it? Add that too. More on this next week.

2 SAMUEL #27: THE GLORIOUS COMPANY

On By Pastor TomIn 2 Samuel, Bible, Bible Teaching, Old Testament, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

God shines his glory not just through David, but also through the many people who were part of what the Lord was doing at the time of David. As each part of this epilogue shows, once again we see that salvation does not come from David, but from the Lord. He used some amazing people to build the kingdom of Israel. Just as those people shared in David’s hardship, and then, finally, David’s glory, so we too will one day share in the glory of Jesus, even when we suffer with him in this present life.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. You can also find us on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKzSHPFT466aXfNT2r9OD

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download 2 Samuel Part 27

2 Samuel #27.  2 Samuel 23:8-39

As I have mentioned before, 2 Samuel chapters 21-24 are a carefully crafted epilogue to the book of Samuel. The content is arranged in a common ancient middle-eastern pattern called chiastic structure. We are now in part B1.

A. The need for atonement

B. The Giant-killing warriors who took over that role from David

X.  David’s psalm declaring that the Lord alone saves his people

X1. David’s last words depending on God’s promise alone to bring an eternal messiah

B1. The warriors who helped David throughout the years

A1. The need for atonement and the provision for it.

One of the purposes of this epilogue is to encourage people to hope not in an earthly leader, not even a really good one, like David, but rather, to put all of their hope in the Lord alone. We can see looking at part B, above, that when David could no longer fight there were other warriors who stepped up. The point was, the Lord is the one who saves his people, and he is not dependent on any one person. That point is being reiterated now. Now, the author of Samuel is saying, “Look, even when David was young, it wasn’t only David whom the Lord used. He was surrounded by these amazing warriors, even in his prime.” Again, the message is that we shouldn’t look to any single person like David. The Lord is the one who saves.” There’s something else too. The beginning and end of this epilogue are focused on our need for salvation. Ultimately, there is something deeply ugly and rebellious at the core of every human being. But the Lord also made humans in his own image, and people are not only sinful: they are, at the same time, beautiful and amazing too. So here we see some of the amazing things done by David’s closest associates.

We are introduced first to “the three;” that is, the three most famous and honored warriors led by David. First was Josheb Basshebeth, also known, in 1 Chronicles 11, as “Jashobeam.” He killed 800 enemies with his spear in a single battle. Next of “the three” was Eleazar. He and David stood alone together against the Philistines at a place called Pas Dammin. They fought so long and furiously that Eleazar’s hand cramped around his sword, and he couldn’t let go of it for some time afterwards. Although David was a part of that battle, the point in this passage is not about David, but his men. Third was Shammah, son of Agee from Harar. He defended a field from the Philistines, apparently all by himself, and won a great victory. Apparently, one of the “thirty mighty men,” a man named Jonathan, was the son of this Shammah.

In verses 13-17 we have another exploit that “the three” undertook together. Some translations, in verse 13 say something like: “And three of the thirty chief men went down (ESV).” This casts doubt on whether it was “the three” or just three unidentified men out of “the thirty.” However, the text has not yet introduced us to “the thirty” and verses 16 and 17 seem to be talking specifically about “the three.” So I prefer the NLT. “The Three (who were among the Thirty—an elite group among David’s fighting men) went down to meet him there.” There is a bit of interpretation, or clarification, added to the Hebrew here by the NLT, but I think it’s the right interpretation, and it is supported by the context.

In any case, the incident took place when David was in the cave of Adullam, and the Philistines were in the valley of Rephaim, and had spread out all the way to Bethlehem. Although this could have been before David was king, when he was hiding from both Saul and the Philistines, I think the context best fits 2 Samuel 5:17-25. In fact, we looked briefly at this story in 2 Samuel #5.

David had only recently become king, and the Philistines invaded up the valley of Rephaim, getting as far as Bethlehem, which was David’s hometown. David, being a great strategist, had already taken his army and concealed it in the caves that were found in the south side of that valley. They were in a good strategic position, but it broke David’s heart that he had to let the Philistines occupy Bethlehem. It was probably a hot day, and he exclaimed how much he wished he could have a drink from the well at Bethlehem, the clear, cold water he grew up drinking. He was certainly wishing for that drink because he was hot and thirsty. But he was also wishing that the battle was over and the Philistines were defeated, and his hometown was safe. But “the three” took David at his word, and broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well, and brought it back to David without getting hurt themselves. David’s response is interesting

But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out as an offering to the LORD. 17 “The LORD forbid that I should drink this!” he exclaimed. “This water is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it to me.” (2 Samuel 23:16-17, NLT)

The reason the author of the book of Samuel tells that story here, and not in chapter five, is because it illustrates his main point in this epilogue. David is not the hero. Salvation does not come from David. Instead, David is just a servant of the Lord. It is through the Lord that salvation comes, and even David himself consistently testified to this.

When I first read this, I thought, “I’d be angry if I were one of those three warriors.” But actually, I think what David was saying was this: “I am not worthy of such a costly drink. I can’t claim it. Only the Lord is worthy of that kind of effort and self-sacrifice.” He was actually honoring the men more by pouring it out than by drinking it. He “poured it out to the Lord.” He was saying that the lives of these men were precious to the Lord. There was a type of offering called a drink offering, where a drink (usually wine) was poured into the ground. The idea was to say, “this is God’s, not mine, and I pour it out to show that everything I drink ultimately comes from God.” So, David did not consider himself worthy of that kind of sacrifice from his men, and he directed their attention to the Lord. Life wasn’t about him, it was about God. The Lord was the one who gave them the strength and flat-out guts to do this amazing deed. He was the one who was to be honored, not David.

The hero of this entire story is the Lord. David consciously realized this, and made statements to draw attention to the Lord, rather than himself.

The author of Samuel goes on to tell about a few more people whom the Lord used to establish the kingdom of his people, Israel. The next one is Abishai. There are some differences of opinion about the original wording of verses 18-19, about Abishai. Here’s one way it could be:

18 Abishai, Joab’s brother and son of Zeruiah, was leader of the Three. He raised his spear against 300 men and killed them, gaining a reputation among the Three. 19 Was he not more honored than the Three? He became their commander even though he did not become one of the Three. (2 Samuel 23:18-19, HCSB)

Or:

18 Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he wielded his spear against three hundred men and killed them and won a name beside the three. 19 He was the most renowned of the thirty and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three. (2 Samuel 23:18-19, ESV)

This difference is known as a “major variant” in textual criticism. Basically, the main Hebrew textual traditions have it the way the HCSB says it. But there are some early Hebrew texts, as well as a translation of this passage into Syriac (an ancient middle eastern language) that have it as the ESV translates it. The ESV contains a note explaining this.

 We don’t know which one of these is closest to the original. You can see that it doesn’t matter theologically at all. What we can know for sure either way is that Abishai is one of the four most honored warriors of David. He’s either number one, and the chief of the three, or he is number four, the chief of the other thirty most elite soldiers.

As we’ve gone through the book of Samuel I’ve found myself admiring Abishai more and more. He shared David’s troubles while David was still an outlaw. He and David performed the amazing feat of sneaking into the camp of Saul and stealing his spear and water jug. He was clearly a fearsome warrior. He often didn’t understand, or agree with, the decisions David made, but he went along with David anyway, and submitted to David’s leadership. For instance, when they were standing next to a sleeping Saul, Abishai wanted to kill Saul, for David’s sake. David said, “no,” and Abishai acquiesced. Much later, Abishai accompanied David when he left Jerusalem in shame, fleeing from Absalom. The man named Shimei insulted David in a cowardly way, and Abishai wanted to kill him, but when David said no, Abishai did as he was told. When they returned in victory, Abishai wanted to kill Shimei again, then, but David still said no, and Abishai, again, obeyed. In other words, he followed David, and obeyed him, even when he didn’t understand, or agree. It boils down to this: he trusted David and David’s leadership even when he didn’t understand it. In that respect, he shows us how we ought to follow Jesus Christ.

In all of this, Abishai was very different from his older brother, Joab. We know that Abishai killed at least 300 enemies in a single battle. He certainly fought in many other battles, presumably killing other enemies. But the scripture never mentions Joab killing enemies in battle, except as a general, in which case he, personally, was not likely involved in the fighting. The only time we know for sure that Joab killed anyone was on the three occasions when he committed murder. And Joab committed those murders explicitly in defiance of David. Joab himself is not honored in this text as one of David’s elite warriors. Even though he was the overall commander of the army as a whole, here, he is only mentioned as Abishai’s brother. He also gets a mention because one of the thirty, Naharai, was his armor-bearer. Abishai had the strength of character to be a better man than his older brother, following God’s chosen leader faithfully, even when he didn’t understand, or fully agree.

The final person singled out for special praise is Benaiah, son of Jehoiada. If you want to think about what kind of a warrior he was, simply remember these things: on a snowy day he chased a lion into a pit and killed it; and on another occasion he faced an imposing Egyptian warrior with a spear, while he only held a wooden staff. He took the spear away from the other warrior, and killed him with his own weapon. Benaiah was younger than many of those named here, and only served David later on in his reign. However, he went on to serve as the chief bodyguard of king Solomon as well. In that capacity, he executed both Shimei and Joab.

Next, we come to the list of “the thirty,” who are, along with the others mentioned, the most fearsome, elite warriors of David. You may notice that the list of “the thirty” includes more than thirty people. It’s not clear whether Abishai is to be counted among them, or Benaiah son of Jehoiada. We know that some of those listed died when David was still relatively young. Asahel was killed before David became king over all Israel. We know, of course, that Uriah was killed when David was middle aged. So “the thirty” is obviously a round number, and there was some change in the composition of the group, but it was a special and exclusive company.

As we read about these people, their names are very foreign to English speakers. Even worse, most of them are also identified by their family or clan name, or possibly the town they are from, and those names are difficult as well. These things make this text hard to follow. Because of this I recommend reading a translation like the New Living Translation, since it simplifies and clarifies the names. The God’s Word version helpfully puts each name on a new line so we can keep track of them more easily, and that also helps us separate the first names from the family names and place names. Of course, what remains are still names that are strange to us.

But maybe these names are there for a reason. After thirty centuries, these names have never been forgotten. God knows his own people, by name. He knows you, too, and your name, if you trust Jesus, is also written in God’s book.

Even though we humans have been broken by sin, there is still part of the amazing image of God that shines through our brokenness. David’s gang of thirty were people who willingly gave themselves to serve David; ultimately, to serve God. Because of that, we see God’s glory through them. We too, are called, broken as we are, to let the glory of God shine through us, as we serve God’s chosen one, Jesus Christ.

Another thing I think we are meant to understand is that David did not become king all by himself. Though he was a remarkable man in many different ways, he needed the help of many others. No one really does anything significant without help from others.

We all need each other. We each need to find our own “gang of thirty” and guard each other’s backs, deal with life side by side together, and cheer one another on. Start with a “gang of three or four,” and build from there. In other words, we need close fellowship with a few other believers who will stand with us when we need it. We need to be prepared to stand with them in times of need, as well. If you don’t have a gang of three or four, or a larger support network, start by asking the Lord to provide that for you, and then keep your eyes and ears open to hear from the Lord who you should spend time with to develop that support network. Remember that these people will not only be there for you, but you should be there for them, as well.

Most of “the thirty” joined David when he was still an outlaw. Some of the others were children, who grew up in David’s nomadic camp, and then joined the thirty when they were older. They traveled with him, fought alongside him, planned, did chores and simply lived life together. They willingly shared David’s hardships and suffering, and, at the end of it all, they also shared in the success and honor of David. They were an important part of the kingdom that David was building.

David was not the messiah, but the Lord used him to show us some things about the true Messiah, Jesus Christ. Jesus invites us into close fellowship with himself. He invites us into everyday life with him. He also sometimes invites us into hardship and suffering; but that suffering is to be alongside him—we are not alone in it. In fact, if our lives truly belong to him (as they do, if, in fact, we trust him) then it is really his suffering that we are sharing in. David’s followers encountered that hardship and suffering as, and because, they went through life with David. Though they all suffered, it was, in a sense, David’s suffering; they shared in it because they were connected with him. In the same way, even our own sufferings are not really our own. We encounter them as we are part of the people of Jesus. So, we are not alone as we suffer. We have God’s own promise that one day the suffering will end, and we will share in the glory.

16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. (Romans 8:16-19, NLT)

When we see the earthly glory that David’s followers shared, we should be encouraged to look beyond. Jesus is better than David. His promises are powerful and real. We can learn to have peace and joy now, no matter what is going on, because we know that one day glory will far outshine the worst sufferings we experience.

16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NLT)

Finally, we should be reminded that hope does not come from earthly leaders, even really good ones. True hope that lasts is found only in God’s promised messiah, Jesus Christ. In Christ we will be led to our support network. In Christ, we will share in suffering, and in Christ we will share in eternal glory and joy so amazing that we will consider the sufferings of this life not worth mentioning.

2 SAMUEL #25: SALVATION DOES NOT COME FROM GREAT LEADERS.

On By Pastor TomIn 2 Samuel, Bible, Bible Teaching, Old Testament, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The writer of Samuel is using his epilogue (closing part of the book) to emphasize certain themes again and again. One of the most important of these ideas is this: The Lord is the only source of salvation and hope. Even if the people imagined that a king like David could save them again, David’s own words point them not to any human leader, but to the Lord himself.

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1 SAMUEL #25. 1 SAMUEL CHAPTER 22:1-51.

Let’s remember where we are. The narrative history of the book of Samuel ended with 2 Samuel chapter 20. Chapter 21 does describe a historical incident, but it’s out of chronological order—it happened much earlier in David’s reign. Chapters 21-25 form a six part epilogue, organized according to an ancient writing style called chiastic structure. I want to remind us of the overall picture of this epilogue, because we have now come to the center of the structure.

Part A: A sin, and the need for atonement

Part B: God’s provision of salvation for his people, even when David becomes too old to fight

Part X (our section today): A psalm of David proclaiming that the Lord saves

Part X1: A psalm of David proclaiming that the Lord works through leaders

Part B1: The warriors who helped David save and lead Israel

Part A1: A sin, and the need for atonement, and God’s provision for it.

So we see that our section today (which is all of chapter 22) is building on what has come before.

2 Samuel chapter 22 is almost identical to Psalm 18, but there are quite a few differences between the Hebrew text of 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18, and some of those show up in the English translations. Almost all of those differences are due to the fact that the book of Psalms was gathered together and compiled a few centuries after the book of Samuel was written. During those intervening centuries, written Hebrew changed somewhat. Whoever collected the Psalms into one collection updated and standardized them so that all of the psalms used the same, latest form of Hebrew. Our verses today were written in the older form of Hebrew. The small differences between 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 do not change any major teaching of the Bible (nor indeed any minor one).

The beginning of 2 Samuel 22 says:

 “1 And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.”

Because of the mention of Saul, and a few other things in the psalm, most Bible scholars think that David wrote this when he was a fairly young man, probably around the time when he first became king of all Israel.

Remember, the first section of this epilogue was about the seriousness of sin and the need for atonement. Next came the crisis of the giants, and how the Lord made sure to provide a warrior to save Israel from each one. Now, in the first part of the psalm, David makes the overall theme perfectly clear: God alone is our salvation:

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
3 my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.
4 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies. (2 Samuel 22:2-4, ESV)

The people of Israel may have begun to feel that David was their savior. He saved them from the first giant. He fought the Philistines and won many battles for Israel. He outlasted the unstable, volatile, king Saul. As a new young king, he defeated the Philistines again, more completely. But here he says clearly that salvation and deliverance come only from the Lord. He, David, is not Israel’s savior. That title belongs to the Lord.

Verse 4 is a concept that appears throughout the Bible. To call on the name of the Lord is to worship him, and to give over your life to serving and worshipping him.  Abraham “called on the name of the Lord.” So did Isaac and Jacob. Moses and the prophets urged the people to “call on the name of the Lord.”

The apostles made it clear that to call upon the name of the Lord was, in fact, the same thing as receiving and worshipping Jesus Christ. The apostle Peter quoted from one of the prophets when he urged people to receive Jesus:

21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Acts 2:21, ESV)

Paul wrote:

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13, ESV)

To call upon  God’s name is to look to him earnestly and trustfully for help. It is to recognize that the only true help comes from the Lord, the only true salvation or deliverance comes from him alone. And as I said, the apostles taught that this was the same thing as receiving Jesus.

So calling on the name of the Lord is not simply saying the name “Yahweh,” or even “Jesus.” It means to worship the Lord, and to follow him, to allow your whole life to belong to him. David, for all his faults, did indeed do that.

In the next section of the psalm, verses 5-7, David talks about being in very serious distress. He called out to God for help in his particular situation. The way I read it, he is talking about the precarious way he lived for almost fifteen years. King Saul wanted him dead, so it wasn’t safe for him to go north into Israel. The Philistines wanted him dead, so it wasn’t safe among them, to the west. If he strayed too far south, the Amalekites were ready to get him. The wilderness he lived in was no picnic either. At different times during that period of his life, David faced all of those dangers.

The person who put together the book of Samuel included this psalm because he wants us to remember that following God did not always mean life was easy for David. We can therefore expect that sometimes life will be hard for us, even if we are faithfully following God.

Next, David gives us a very pictorial, metaphorical representation of how God responded to save him. The most remarkable thing about this is that God in all his majesty and power, cared deeply about David, and came to save him. Again, it was not David who delivered Israel, but the Lord who saved both David and Israel. David ends this section with this:

17 “He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.
18 He rescued me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the LORD was my support.
20 He brought me out into a broad place;
he rescued me, because he delighted in me. (2 Samuel 22:17-20, ESV)

The next section of the psalm, verses 21-25, is probably the hardest one to stomach. In it David claims that God dealt with him according to his (David’s) own righteousness. In the first place, that can make it sound like we have to be good people before God will help us. Second, we know that David was far from perfect. We know that even before the terrible sins he committed in the Bathsheba incident, he still sometimes forgot to ask the Lord for guidance, or, at other times, he was hot-headed and angry. He didn’t listen to what the Lord said about having many wives.

However, remember, David wrote this in his youth, long before he sinned with Bathsheba and had Uriah murdered. And I think that David, when he talks about being “blameless” here, means that he faithfully followed the Lord in not killing Saul, and in not trying to steal the kingdom for himself. In other words, he isn’t claiming to be blameless in every area of his life, but rather, he is talking specifically about the way he waited patiently for God to make him king, and the times he refused to kill Saul.

Remember when Saul promised that whoever killed the giant would marry his oldest daughter, and be made rich? Saul broke those promises to David. Not only that, but he added conditions onto his public promises. Saul made David kill an additional 100 Philistines before he allowed him to  marry his youngest daughter. David did not complain about the broken promises, nor use them as an excuse to serve Saul poorly. Instead, he continued to faithfully serve Saul, even when Saul treated him badly. David is thinking about specific things like this when he says he was “blameless.”

He is saying, in fact, that he knows the Lord gave him the kingdom, because he did get the kingdom for himself. He was “righteous” in not assassinating Saul, and in not leading a rebellion. He goes on:

26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
27 To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
(2 Samuel 22:26-27, NLT)

This section includes amazing promises, and serious warnings. First, this isn’t about earning our salvation. It’s more like this: if we allow the Lord to build a straight, open pipeline within our hearts and minds, then God can show us his love and goodness directly. When we trust the Lord, He uses that to build an open channel to show us his love and goodness.

On the other hand, when we don’t trust God, we tend to make deals with him, or try to manipulate him into giving us what we want, no matter what. We ourselves throw twists and curves and complications into our relationship with God, and then we blame him because he seems tricky and shrewd to us.

This isn’t actually all that complicated. Imagine a good human father who has two sons. He showers both sons with love, and he also creates strong boundaries with discipline. The first son, Peter, responds by trusting his dad, even when he isn’t always happy about the boundaries, or when he doesn’t understand them. The second son, Eric, wants what he wants, right now. He doesn’t see his dad’s boundaries as loving—he only sees that his dad appears to be denying him what he wants. So he tries his best to subvert the rules, and manipulate his dad, and get what he wants. Peter’s relationship with his dad is likely to be warm and loving, and not super complicated. But Eric will have a totally different experience with the same loving father. Because Eric himself has not responded to his dad in love and trust, his dad will have to find additional ways to discipline him, different ways to relate to him, and get through to him. Because Eric is so fixated on what he wants, his perception is that his dad is standing in the way of that. Therefore, Eric will not easily be able to have an open, honest, loving relationship with his dad, even though it’s the same dad that Peter has, who loves Eric just as much as he loves Peter.

Honestly, I think perhaps David was thinking of Saul when he wrote this part of the Psalm. Both David and Saul served the same loving God. But they had a totally different experience of God because David responded to God in trusting faith, while Saul only tried to use and manipulate God. When we try to make deals with God, or manipulate him, we find that these things backfire on us.

David finished this part of the psalm with this thought:

28 You save a humble people; but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. (2 Samuel 22:28, ESV)

This is another concept that is echoed and re-echoed throughout the Bible—in both the Old and New Testaments.

Here are two examples from the New Testament:

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:6-10, ESV)

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:5-7, ESV)

If we try to claim that we have something worthwhile to offer God, something with which to bargain, we will find God hard and inaccessible. If we think we don’t really need God, or that we can stand in judgment of him, we find that he opposes us. But if we approach him with true humility, with a understanding and attitude that we have nothing whatsoever to bargain with, no claim on him, no reason he should be kind to us, we find that he reaches out toward us in love and grace.

David continues in this psalm with a lot of words about his victories in battles, but if we pay attention as we read it, we notice that David always insists that it is the Lord who brought him victory, not his own skill or athleticism. He can “run through a troop” because the Lord enables him to do it. Over and over, in different ways, David tells us that the Lord alone is the source of hope and salvation. He is not king because he is an amazing person. He is king because God chose him. He did not win battles because he was a great warrior. He won them because he looked humbly to God, and God fought for him. We are meant to hear it clearly: God is the only source of hope and salvation.

One thought is that the way we approach God can have a large influence on our relationship with him. If we approach him like Saul, if our ultimate commitment is to ourselves, or to our own goals and desires, we might find that God seems difficult and tricky. If we approach him with pride or preconditions, we might feel almost like God opposes us. But if we approach him with open faith, and the humility to receive everything from him, even if some of what we receive we’d rather not have, we will find that God is kind and gracious and loving. He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. If you feel like God has been opposing you lately, give thought to whether you have been humble enough to trust him in all things.

Finally, we need to train our hearts and minds to look to the Lord alone for salvation. And “salvation” doesn’t mean “everything goes the way we want it to.” It means that God has us in his hands, that he will be with us no matter what we face in this present life, and in the life to come we will find joy beyond imagining with the Lord, and with his people.

2 SAMUEL #23: BAD KARMA

On By Pastor TomIn 2 Samuel, Bible, Bible Teaching, Old Testament, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, Uncategorized1 Comment

We have now entered the final section of 2 Samuel. It is arranged according to a typical ancient middle eastern pattern: chiastic structure. This first section shows us that the problem of sin is much worse than we usually imagine. It is meant to show us that we have no hope unless God does something to save us. Thankfully, he has, through Jesus Christ.

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2 SAMUEL #23. 2 SAMUEL 20:1-14

If you look at 2 Samuel chapters 21-24, they seem, at first glance, a bit messy, and even random. These chapters don’t seem to fit with everything else that has been going on. One of the things that is confusing is that up until now, the life of David has been going on mostly from beginning to end. In this last section, however, things appear to be more random, and there are stories from all throughout David’s life.

Some skeptics use this last section as the basis for claiming that these were all just stories that were embellished and put together more or less randomly over time, rather than a carefully written book by an author who had reliable source material and who wrote close to the time of David.

In fact, I myself believe that the narrative arc (that is, the main story) of 2 Samuel ends at chapter 20. However, in chapters 21, 22, 23 and 24, we have a kind of epilogue, a carefully structured end to the book of Samuel. It is not random or haphazard at all.

In our modern western way of thinking we often use outlines like this:

Introduction

Part I

Part II

Part III

Summary/Conclusion.

In ancient middle eastern  societies, they also had their own practices in making points. One of them is called “chiastic structure.” A chiastic outline looks like this:

Part A

Part B

Part X (Middle Part)

Part B1 (connects back to part B in some way)

Part A1 (connects back to part A in some way)

If you just look at this arrangement on the page, it looks like the left-hand side of an “X,” or , possibly, a “greater than” sign from mathematics, with the wide end on the left, pointing to the right. This is where it gets its name, since the Greek letter “Chi” (pronounced “kai”) looks like an English “X.”

There are variations on this structure, but you get the idea. As it turns out we can see that 2 Samuel chapters 21-24 form a chiastic structure like this:

A. Plague that ends with an atonement (21:1-14)

B. Battles and Warriors (21:15-22)

X. David’s Psalm (22:1-51)

X1 David’s Last words (23:1-7)

B1 More about warriors and battles (23:8-39)

A1 Another plague and atonement (24:1-25)

When we see it like this, it becomes apparent that this material was carefully arranged, not randomly thrown in at the end. It is arranged differently than a modern author might do it, but by looking at the arrangement, we can better understand what this material would mean to the original readers, and then think about how that meaning could apply to us.

So, in the first place, we need to know that this material is not chronological. Meaning, we are now done with the story of David moving from his youth to his older years. These chapters do add to David’s story, but we are not meant to think that all of these things happened in order, or after the rebellion of Absalom. In fact, it is quite clear that the incident in chapter 25:13-17 actually happened before the one described in 21:15-17. In fact, the one in chapter 25:13-17 occurred when David was much younger, during the events described by chapter 5:17-25.

We will take this section piece by piece. The first piece is in chapter 21:1-14. It could have happened any time during the reign of David. I’m inclined to think it happened before Absalom rebelled, mostly because there is no mention of David’s sin with Bathsheba, or any other disturbance in Israel. Also, because it concerns the family of Saul, I expect it was earlier in David’s reign.

The situation was this:

It started with a famine. This is equivalent to a modern-day economic recession or depression. Times were tough, families were struggling. After three years of this, David began to wonder if there was a spiritual reason for the hardship. When he worshipped and inquired of the Lord (probably through the prophet Gad, and through the Urim and Thummim, the “holy dice”) he learned that the famine was because of something king Saul had done.

There was a group of people known as the Gibeonites. They were not Israelites, but when Israel invaded in the time of Joshua, the Gibeonites had tricked the leaders of Israel into swearing an oath that they would not destroy the Gibeonites. So they had lived for more than four hundred years in Israel’s territory. According to the old agreement, they were essentially a tribe of servant-class people for the Israelites. They kept their part of the agreement, working as laborers for the Israelites, and remaining peaceful. But at some point not recorded elsewhere in the bible, Saul had tried to wipe them out. Essentially, he tried to commit genocide, similar to what Adolf Hitler did to the Jews in the 1930s and ‘40s. Apparently he slaughtered a great many of them, but obviously not all.

Stop for a moment here. The famine came along years later. Saul was dead. The whole nation had repudiated Saul’s family, and chosen David. David had never done anything like Saul’s slaughter. David is now leading the nation, and he had never hurt the Gibeonites. But the entire nation was still punished, years later, for what Saul did.

My first response to this is to think that it was not fair. Why should David’s kingdom pay for something David did not do? Why should the people suffer for a crime they had no part in?

But there is another question here also, and it is equally valid: Why should the Gibeonites suffer? Why should they be denied justice? Would it be right to ignore the crimes that were done to them?

When David heard what the problem was, he spoke to the Gibeonites directly.

He asked the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? How can I make atonement so that you will bring a blessing on the LORD’s inheritance? ”  (2Sam 21:3, HCSB)

There is a key concept here: atonement. The idea is that harm done must be made right; justice must be appeased. When you break a window, you atone for it by paying for a new window. But how do you atone for something like genocide? It would be appalling and offensive to simply suggest we should “just forget about it.”

The Gibeonites told David that they would like to execute seven of Saul’s descendants. David made sure to protect Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan. The seven who were executed were Armoni and Mephibosheth (a different one) – sons of Saul by his concubine Rizpah. The other five were sons of Merab, Saul’s oldest daughter (thus, they were Saul’s grandchildren). If you remember, Merab was  originally supposed to be David’s wife. They were hanged, and their bodies were left exposed.

I think there is an important cultural difference between the ancient world and our own. We think of the individual as the most important unit of society. So, we defend the rights of individuals to be free. Our laws primarily protect individuals. But in the ancient world, a person’s family identity was much more important than their individual personhood. So, even though the individuals who were executed did not themselves, murder the Gibeonites (at least we don’t know for sure that they did), both the other Israelites, and they, themselves, would recognize that guilt upon their family is the same as guilt upon them. The execution would not have seemed as unjust to ancient Israelites as it does to us. Family identity, and family honor and shame, was much more important to them than the rights of individuals.

Does this story disturb you at all? I hope so. In such passages, we are meant to be shocked, horrified and put off. This is how bad sin is. This is how completely unattainable holiness is.

In many areas of our lives, we accept that things must add up. If we want lunch from a restaurant, we must pay for it. If we aren’t willing to pay the price, we do not get the food. If we work for x number of hours, we should get paid for those hours. If our employer is unwilling to pay what was agreed,  the employment contract is broken. The only way to fix it is for the employer to give what is owed. If we break something that doesn’t belong to us, we must pay for it to be repaired, or replaced.

For another example, we sometimes say, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” Someone pays for it, even if it isn’t you. The food had to come from somewhere. Someone had to work to grow it, harvest it and cook it.

We understand that similar things are true in the laws of physics that govern the universe. If you jump off a cliff, you will fall to the bottom of it, and if the cliff is high and the bottom is solid, you will die. No one says, “That’s not fair. I want to be able to jump off this cliff without dying.” We understand physical actions have real world consequences.

But for some reason, we seem to think that in terms of moral actions, nothing must be paid for, and nothing has to add up, nothing has to have consequences. We readily accept that there is no such thing as a free lunch, but do we know that there is no such thing as a free lie, or free adultery, or free robbery? Why in the world would we think that moral behavior is exempted from the laws that are so clear in the rest of the universe? Immoral behavior incurs a “moral cost” that will be paid, one way or another.

Imagine you get drunk, and crash your car right into my living room. That action incurs a physical cost. Someone will bear the cost of that accident. If you, or your insurance company don’t pay, then I must bear the cost. If I say, “I’m not paying,” and you also refuse to pay, then I will bear the even greater cost of watching my house become unlivable because the front wall is open to the weather. The cost is there, whether we want it to be or not. It will get paid, one way or another.

This is also true of moral behavior. When we sin, it MUST be accounted for. The balance must be reconciled. Deep down, we know this. It would be a permanent obscenity upon the human race if no one had tried to bring justice upon the perpetrators of the Jewish holocaust. We know that. If someone entered a school and shot dozens of schoolchildren, it would be an insult to all humanity if we simply let the murderer go free. In the case of both of those incidents, however, the moral cost is even more than can be paid by the perpetrators. Executing the school shooter will not eliminate the horrible burden of grief and loss that he caused all of the families of his victims. Such a person cannot make up for his actions. The cost is too great.

If sin isn’t atoned for, it lasts. The cost is too great, and the consequences last. There is no statute of limitation. In the case of the Gibeonites, the atonement required was gruesome and was itself full of tragedy.

This passage shows us the futility of what some religions call “karma.” If it is true that “what goes around, comes around,” then we are doomed. If we need to make up for all of our sins not only in this life, but also for past lives, we will never find rest for our souls. If the sins of previous generations are on our heads, there is no hope. If even “only” our own sins are accounted to us, there is no hope.

Now, if you read this passage, and you think about what I’m saying, there are two possible responses. One response is to say, “Wow! I really need to straighten out my act and get serious.” If that’s your response, you still don’t get it. If this makes you think you need to get it together, you still don’t understand how bad this is.

The only appropriate response to this passage is: “If this is the way things are, I’m dead meat.”

We are all dead meat.

Saul’s sons and grandsons were dead meat. There wasn’t anything they could do to avoid a shameful death. According to the moral law – according to God, if we understand this passage correctly – they deserved it. Nothing would be right until they got what was coming to them.

This is how it stands in the universe. The moral equation must add up. The only way to make it add up is for you to suffer and die. But even though that is the most any of us can pay, that is not really enough. Too many Christians don’t take it seriously enough. When someone tries to straighten out her life and live morally, to be a good person for God, she isn’t taking this seriously.

Imagine a homeless bum who is stupid-drunk. In his intoxication, he kills a woman – someone else’s wife and mother. Now imagine he sobers up, and realizes he’s done something bad. In response, to try and make up for it, he offers the family all the money he has, which amounts to $17.

“I’ve given them everything I have,” he says. “It’ll just have to be enough.”

It’s an insult. It is offensive that he would even offer it, let alone that he would try to pretend that it could make up for what he did, even if it is everything he has. That is just how ridiculous and offensive it is to suppose that we can be good enough to make up for the times when we sin. We are dead meat.

That is what this passage is all about. You have no hope. You have no options. You deserve to die and your attempt to make up for things is so pathetic that it is offensive.

Thankfully, these are not the only verses in the bible. Thankfully, the Lord loves us too much to leave us without hope. But get this straight: there is no hope in your behavior. There is no hope in you straightening out and doing better next time. You can’t dig yourself out of this pit – the walls will come crashing in and bury you.

Too many churches give the impression that Christianity is about getting your act together. It isn’t. That’s entirely false. If you think you can get your act together enough to make up for your moral failings, you aren’t a Christian. Sometimes I think Christians don’t get excited about the “Good News” because they haven’t taken the bad news seriously enough.

The accounts of morality must be balanced. But we can’t do it. And that is why Jesus came to earth. The most appropriate response should be profound gratefulness.

Jesus took our sins upon himself. The balance was paid out through his torturous death. Through faith in him, we were punished by his death. That is what we call atonement. There is no other hope of settling the score.

But in Jesus, that hope is real and true. There isn’t anything you can do. And so he did it all. Our part is to trust that, and accept it with gratitude, and live like it’s true. When we truly believe both the bad news and the good news, Jesus changes us from the inside out. When we know we truly don’t have to measure up, there is a tremendous freedom and joy that brings us even closer to God. We will actually start to live better lives, but not to try and make up for something, rather because we trust that God has already done it,

Pause now, and let the Holy Spirit speak to you today.

2 SAMUEL #22: ARE WE WILLING TO FOLLOW JESUS WHEN HE DISAPPOINTS US?

On By Pastor TomIn 2 Samuel, Bible, Bible Teaching, Jesus, Old Testament, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, Uncategorized2 Comments

As we consider the events of 2 Samuel chapter 20, we can see that David’s prayer for a new heart, and a willingness to obey God have been answered. After his awful mistake with Bathsheba, he returned to following the Lord faithfully, as he did when he was young. The way people responded to David at this time can inform us as we think about how we respond to Jesus Christ.

2 SAMUEL 2024 To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

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2 Samuel #22. 2 Samuel Chapter 20:1-26

Last week we spoke of the political situation at this point in time in Ancient Israel. There are more politics here, but be patient, I think we’ll find some good stuff.

If you remember, after David’s men defeated Absalom and Absalom was murdered by Joab, David waited, to make sure that the Lord wanted him to be king again. I think this is a really important point, and I want us to see how significant it is. If you remember, David had spent at least a couple of years “sliding” further and further away from the Lord, until he was willing to commit adultery, and then murder to cover it up. But after he was confronted by Nathan the prophet, David repented. We looked at his repentance in 2 Samuel #14. During his time of initial repentance, David wrote psalm 51. In that psalm he prayed (among other things):

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you. (Psalms 51:10-13, NLT)

We can now see, by David’s actions, that God answered this prayer. David has a new heart, and he is now, once again, willing to obey the Lord, and to teach the Lord’s ways to rebels. He didn’t force his way back into the kingship. In addition, he reached out to the rebels. The key leaders of the rebellion were from his own tribe, the tribe of Judah. Many of the leaders of Judah had betrayed David to follow Absalom, and afterwards they felt ashamed, and concerned about David’s attitude toward them. Even so, David reached out and forgave them, even before they came back and said sorry. He gave Judah the honor of escorting him across the Jordan River on his way back to Jerusalem.

Now, this act of forgiveness and kindness offended the leaders of the other tribes. They had not provided the key support of Absalom’s rebellion, like Judah had; they had talked of bringing David back as king even before Judah had. So they were offended that David reached out to Judah and gave them the honor of escorting him back to Jerusalem.

Apparently while David was returning to Jerusalem and all this was being discussed, a man named Sheba, from the tribe of Benjamin (Saul’s tribe), stepped up and said, essentially, “Fine then. If that’s how David wants it, let’s leave.”

He left, and most of the people of the other ten tribes followed him. The text doesn’t make this clear, but at this point, the leaders of the other tribes simply went home. They were simply choosing not to escort David to Jerusalem.

But Sheba, the man who instigated the walk-out, wanted to take it one step further. He wanted to immediately start another rebellion. However, Sheba was not like Absalom. This was not a carefully laid plot with long preparation. He was only able to get the Berites to join him. Some translations say “Bichrites,” but that is based on the Greek and Latin text of this passage. The original was written in Hebrew, and it says, “Berites.” These “Berites” were probably citizens of the town of Beeroth in Benjamin; it was almost certainly Sheba’s hometown. The Greek and Latin texts probably used “Bichrites” to make it clear that these were the followers of Sheba son of Bichri, who were almost certainly limited to the members of his own extended family (the family of Bichri, so “Bichrites”). The point is, this wasn’t a large rebellion: it was limited to the families from the town of Beeroth, or to put it another way, to the “family clan” of Bichri. So Sheba’s influence was quite limited.

Even so, David thought it best to stamp out the small rebellion quickly. He didn’t want to give it a chance to spread. So he ordered his new military commander, Amasa, to gather the troops.

When Absalom rebelled, he (Absalom) had chosen Amasa to be his general. After the rebellion failed, one of the ways that David reached out to the tribe of Judah was by promising Amasa that he was forgiven, and that he would command the army in place of Joab. Joab had murdered Abner years before this, and at that point he had David’s tolerance, but never again did David approve of him. More recently, Joab murdered David’s own son, Absalom. It happened when they were at war with Absalom, but when Joab came upon him, the battle had already been won, and Absalom was alone, unarmed and helpless. Moreover, David had commanded Joab to capture and spare Absalom if he could. Instead, Joab killed him while he hung helpless and trapped in a tree. So Joab was in disgrace, and David wanted no more part of him. So he replaced Joab with Amasa.

Another reason David made Amasa the new general was to try and mend the relationships he had with the leaders of the tribe of Judah. It was a peace offering to them, showing them he had forgiven them, restoring them to normal relations. In addition, Amasa, like Joab, was one of David’s nephews. In fact, he was Joab’s cousin.

Amasa took too long to gather the army, so in the meantime, David sent Abishai, Joab’s younger brother, after the rebel, with David’s personal force of elite warriors. Joab went along, supposedly to assist his brother. Eventually, Amasa and the army he had raised, met up with David’s forces under Abishai. Joab went up to Amasa. He deliberately allowed his sword to fall out of its sheath as he approached his cousin. He bent down and picked it up, and then, still holding the sword, reached out as if to greet Amasa. Instead, he stabbed him, killing him. This was very similar to what he had done to Abner. Immediately, he took control of the whole army again. He had one of his loyal followers cry out

“Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab! ” (2 Sam 20:11, HCSB)

The implication is that if you didn’t follow Joab you were against David and for the rebel that they were pursuing. Eventually, Joab’s flunky hid the body of Amasa, so it wouldn’t distract the soldiers as they marched by.

 They pursued Sheba and his followers to the northern borders of Israel, where he took refuge in a walled city. There Joab negotiated with a woman with a reputation for wisdom. She begged Joab not to destroy the city. Joab made it clear that their war was against the rebel, not the city. So the citizens executed Sheba, and thus ended the rebellion, and saved their city from destruction.

Now, what do we make of this? It’s a petty, bloody and gruesome chapter in the history of Israel. What would the Lord say to us through it? Well, let’s remember that the whole bible is about Jesus. This chapter is here to show us something about Jesus, or something about ourselves and how we relate to him.

Let’s start with the people from the ten tribes. They began by insisting how much they wanted to honor David, but ended up snubbing him deliberately because they were offended and hurt by the way he forgave his enemies.

Sometimes we might be tempted to behave this way with Jesus. It’s easy to get disappointed with him when he behaves in ways we don’t expect. Sometimes it’s hard to accept that he loves our enemies as much as he loves us. Sometimes what he does or doesn’t do, or the things he allows to happen in our lives, are difficult to understand. Maybe he’s not answering our prayers about our marriage. Isn’t God pro-marriage? I might think: “I’m trying to do the right thing, and work on our marriage instead of giving up on it, but you’re still not answering!” It’s disappointing. Or maybe we’ve been praying for someone we love who isn’t a believer. Doesn’t God want them to be reconciled with himself? Why isn’t he answering my prayers the way I expect him to, based upon the bible? Maybe we feel like God led us to take a certain job, and now it’s not going well. It’s tempting to think: Why would you let me believe that this is what you wanted, Lord? Why would you let me take this job? There are many other possible scenarios, but you get the picture. And so, we feel disappointed in him.

Often we respond by withdrawing from him. Maybe we aren’t overtly rejecting him or rebelling, but we just “go home.” We back off. I understand the hurt feelings we can have sometimes when God doesn’t come through the way we think he ought to. I’ve had them myself, frequently. But he is the king. He can do what he wants to. He is wiser than us, and he sees things we don’t. It’s better to trust him and stay engaged.

Maybe it’s not even Jesus himself, but something he’s doing that he wanted us to be involved in. For example, suppose you feel called to help out with a ministry to the poor. You do, and you truly make a significant difference, but no one recognizes your efforts. In the meantime, they honor people who seem to deserve it less than you. So you back off. I understand backing off a situation like that. But the question is: did the Lord call you to back off, or are you just withdrawing because your feelings were hurt? That can be tough, but the way of maturity in Jesus is to listen to him more than your emotions.

What about Joab? Joab comes across as someone who was always loyal to David, even though David did things he didn’t like. But was it really loyalty? He was loyal when he agreed with David. But we see now, for at least the third time, that when Joab had different ideas, he chose his own way. In fact, this was the third time he committed murder. He did what he wanted, no matter what the king commanded. Loyalty and submission to leadership are only really revealed in hardship and especially in disagreement. If you are only loyal when you agree with a leader, then you are not loyal at all. As we have seen, whenever there was disagreement, Joab chose himself over David.

By and large, Joab looked like a loyal and faithful servant. And, throughout his life, he did a lot for David. But ultimately, he did not buy into who David was and what he was all about. He was offended by David’s compassion and forgiveness. He liked the part where they got to kill their enemies together. He didn’t like the forgiveness part, so he didn’t do that, and he did not let David’s will thwart his own designs. Joab was aligned with the right side. But his heart was all about Joab and what he felt and what he wanted. He did not actually accept  David’s wisdom and judgment if it was different from his own.

Sometimes Christians can be that way with Jesus. Usually, these days, it is the reverse of Joab. We like the love and forgiveness stuff. But when it comes to giving up our favorite sins, we choose our own way. Or maybe we’re fine to go to church and sing songs. But when it comes to forgiving someone who has hurt us badly, we hold on to the right to nurse our grudges. We like to be perceived by others as believers, but we won’t listen to the Spirit’s call to be intimately involved in the lives of other believers, or to study the bible. Jesus said something very scary in Matthew chapter seven:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord! ’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? ’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’” (Matt 7:21-23, HCSB)

You can look like a Christian, act like a Christian and talk like one, but not really allow Jesus to change your life. You can even do things for Jesus, but those things won’t count if you don’t really receive him as your savior and king. Joab looked like a friend, but his actions revealed him here as someone completely separated from David and his values. We see how terrible and ugly that was in Joab. In fact, we can see that the fruit of it was pure evil: murder. The same is true for us: the fruit of our own self-will when it is asserted as better than the will of Jesus, is never good.

Finally, consider the wise woman in the town of Abel. At first, the townspeople probably received Sheba into their town willingly. But when they realized the destruction he would bring and that there was no righteousness to his cause, they were willing to get rid of him in a very final way.

This also reminds me of something Jesus said:

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell!  (Matt 5:29-30, HCSB)

The people of Abel realized that they had something in their midst that would lead to their downfall. They got rid of it with awful finality. Sometimes maybe we need to do something similar. Maybe you have a habit of going out after work and having a few drinks before you head home. It might be fine for now, but it could be the kind of thing that ruins your life some day. Or, maybe you fudge the numbers a little bit at work, to make it look like you are doing better than you are. You could justify that because your bosses are themselves dishonest and unfair. But someday, probably sooner than you realize, you need to come clean, or your “fudging” could destroy your life.

 Perhaps you have some activity or habit that seems OK at first, and you like it, but Jesus has made you aware that this is a problem in your life. The time to get rid of it is right now, with finality. The people of Abel were considered wise for choosing to get rid of the rebel rather than having their town destroyed. We too, sometimes need to make a wise choice that is hard, even drastic.

Let the Spirit speak to you through the text today.

2 SAMUEL #21: OUTRAGEOUS GRACE

On By Pastor TomIn 2 Samuel, Bible, Bible Teaching, Old Testament, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

After Absalom was dead, and his rebellion put down, David encountered various individuals and groups who had conspired against him, or used the situation in some way to their own advantage. These people ranged from cowards to treasonous quislings. David, once again with the power of kingship, chose not to punish them, but rather, to forgive them. His kindness and grace to such despicable people comes across as offensive; outrageous, even. In this way, David reminds us once more of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, whose forgiveness to undeserving people is also outrageous. God’s grace is for those who don’t deserve it. We must never forget that.

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2 Samuel #21 .  2 Samuel Chapter 19:9-43

The second half of chapter 19 appears to be mostly a detailed record of the political history of that time. This was valuable and significant to the ancient Israelites who lived not long after David’s time. It is still interesting today to historians, and bible-geeks like me. But what is the point of it really?

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I think it is important to revisit it periodically. We all tend to forget. The Holy Spirit made sure first that this history was written; second, that it was preserved through the years; and third, that it was included in the bible. So there must be some reason for this. There must be some way the Lord wants to speak through it to Christians living today.

Sometimes, in order to hear what the Lord wants to say today, we first need to understand it better. So please bear with me. I think we’ll find some fruitful bible application here if we pay attention to details that might otherwise seem tedious.

Here’s the situation. David’s army has defeated and killed Absalom, who had rebelled against him and set himself up as king in David’s place. There were no computers or telephones or newspapers in those days, so it took a while for the news of David’s victory to spread. Meanwhile, David seems to have waited. This might seem a little bit strange. But remember who David is. He has many faults, to be sure, but he has never grasped at power. Instead, he always waited for the Lord, even refusing to take opportunities to gain the kingdom when he was younger. It is my opinion that once Nathan confronted him about the Bathsheba incident, David once again became like the person he was when he was younger. All of his confidence was once more in the Lord. So here, he once more waits until he is sure that the Lord still wants him as king. He doesn’t want the civil war to continue, so he waits until he is sure he can return in peace. This is David once more at his best, trusting the Lord.

The writer of Samuel often makes a distinction between the tribe of Judah and the other eleven tribes of Israel. Often when he writes “Israel” he appears to mean the tribes as distinct from the tribe of Judah. This shows us that there was some tension between those two factions even in the time of David. In the time of David’s grandsons, the nation was split. Judah absorbed most of the tribe of Benjamin and became a separate nation named “Judah” (from which we get the word, “Jew”). The other ten tribes formed a kingdom to the north of Judah, which was called “Israel.” I’m of the opinion that it was shortly after this split that someone took the writings of the prophets Samuel, Nathan and Gad, along with some official court history, and made it all into the books of First and Second Samuel.

After Absalom’s rebellion, people from the other tribes began talking about inviting David back officially, and officially receiving him once more as king.

Now Israel had fled every man to his own home.  9 And all the people were arguing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies and saved us from the hand of the Philistines, and now he has fled out of the land from Absalom.  10 But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?” 

Apparently, the people really had committed to Absalom. They said he was the one they had anointed to be king over them. This wasn’t as strange as it might seem. After all, he was the king’s son and heir. I’m sure many people assumed that sooner or later, Absalom would be king anyway, and why not have him in the full vigor of his youth? But now, he was gone. I would have thought that at this point it was a clear choice to go back to David, but the people still seemed at a loss. Even so, from most of the tribes, sentiment turned back toward David.

But the tribe of Judah did not seem to know what to do. At first, this seems strange, since David was from the tribe of Judah. But then, so was Absalom, David’s son. Absalom’s rebellion was conceived and carried out in Hebron, the chief city of Judah. Absalom’s military commander, Amasa, was a relative of his (and David’s) from the tribe. In fact, most of his inner circle were probably from Judah. In other words, although they were David’s people, they were also Absalom’s people, and they were probably chiefly responsible for the rebellion.

David reached out to them. He sent a message to the leaders of the tribe of Judah, saying,

 ‘Why should you be the last to restore the king to his palace? The talk of all Israel has reached the king at his house. 12 You are my brothers, my flesh and blood. So why should you be the last to restore the king? ’ 13 And tell Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me and do so severely if you don’t become commander of the army from now on instead of Joab! ’ ” 14 So he won over all the men of Judah, and they sent word to the king: “Come back, you and all your servants.” (2Sam 19:11-14, HCSB)

As David made his way back, he was met at the Jordan river by a host of people who wanted the honor of escorting him to Jerusalem. What follows was a slightly sickening display of sycophancy. People ended up arguing amongst themselves about who got to show David honor, and who was honoring him more (19:40-43).

Along with the leaders of the tribe of Judah, one of the first people to come meet him was Shimei. You may remember him from 2 Samuel 16:5-13, which we covered in Part 18 of this sermon series. This was the man who cursed David and pelted him with rocks and dust as he fled from Absalom. When David was down, he piled on with insults and taunting, rubbing David’s face in the humiliation, exulting in David’s misfortune and shame. Shimei did not just mess up and make a mistake – what he did was clear and deliberate. Now that David was king again, Shimei came fawning to him like a disobedient dog, begging forgiveness. Clearly, he wouldn’t have had this attitude of Absalom had won. I don’t know about you, but I think that Shimei was pond-scum. His behavior and attitude are despicable, detestable, the lowest and ugliest forms of hypocrisy and cowardice. He is a jerk, plain a simple, the kind of person I want nothing to do with.

And David forgave him.

Stop for a second, and think on that. Let it sink in.

Let’s be honest. David’s forgiveness and compassion are offensive. Abishai, brother of Joab suggests, as he did before, that Shimei would be a more attractive person if his head was removed. I tend to agree with Abishai. But David did not.

Does this remind you of anything? The love and compassion of Jesus were also offensive. The Pharisees were offended that he would eat with tax collectors and known sinners. He allowed a prostitute to kiss his feet in public, and wash them. It offended them.

I think once more, this text is a far-off picture of Jesus, the ultimate anointed savior of God’s people. It isn’t really about David, it is about Jesus, his wisdom and love, and how people respond to him. So let’s consider the rest of this text in that light.

We’ve been talking about Shimei. His sin was obvious and deliberate. There was no excuse for it. It wasn’t a momentary slip. It revealed an ugly character. Even so, David offered him forgiveness and redemption. Jesus does the same. That’s right, Jesus came to redeem and forgive class-A jerks, cowards and crawling hypocrites. It is offensive sometimes, to think Jesus would forgive someone that I want to hate so much. But he does.

Abishai was like me. Shimei’s character was clear to him. He was offended by David’s compassion and mercy. But David rebuked him. Sometimes we really are offended by the idea that Jesus would forgive certain people. Would he forgive a child-molester? Based on what I know of the bible, the answer is “yes.” Jesus is king, and he can forgive who he pleases. He does not answer to us.

But as an illustration, I do want to finish the story of Shimei, though it does not end for many years. When David was dying, he told Solomon to watch out for Shimei. So, even though David forgave him, he certainly saw the truth about what kind of person he was. Solomon made a just and fair ruling for Shimei, allowing him to live in peace if he would show his obedience and faithfulness by never leaving Jerusalem. Shimei, revealing his true character, agreed, but then ignored the agreement when it became inconvenient. As a result, Solomon had him executed. So in the end, forgiveness did Shimei no good, because he did not allow it to touch his heart and change the kind of person he was.

In the same way, the forgiveness of Jesus does not help those who don’t truly repent, who don’t allow him to work in their lives. Jesus sees all, so we can let ultimate judgment rest with him. He knows what’s really in each person’s heart, and responds accordingly. You can’t be truly repentant without letting God’s love change you.

Back to David, the next person to arrive was Ziba. At this point, Ziba was revealed as a trickster and manipulator, because right behind him was Mephibosheth, whom Ziba was supposed to serve. Mephibosheth revealed how Ziba took advantage of his disability, and took the donkey that was supposed to be for him, and lied, telling David that Mephibosheth rejoiced over David’s trouble. Mephibosheth had not washed his clothes, or cared for his hair or feet since David left. In those days, anyway, it was not possible to fake long fingernails and toenails. Mephibosheth’s physical condition proved that he was telling the truth.

So, David reversed his previous declaration, that Ziba should have all of Mephibosheth’s property, which was, no doubt, why Ziba lied in the first place.

Even so, even though he tried to trick his master Mephibosheth, David told Mephibosheth to divide the land between him and Ziba. This amounts to forgiveness, and even a reward, for the trickster and manipulator, Ziba. There it is again, that offensive forgiveness.

Mephibosheth’s response shows that his loyalty was always true. He didn’t care about the land, as long as David was safe, and king again. I mentioned before that Mephibosheth is a great picture of God’s grace. Unlike Shimei, the grace he received through David changed him permanently. He didn’t just want what David could give him. He wanted the best for the king that saved him, and he wanted fellowship with him, whether he had blessings from him or not. Mephibosheth rejoiced that David was back and safe, far more than he rejoiced about being vindicated in the dispute with Ziba.

This is an encouragement to me to have a similar attitude. It isn’t about what Jesus can do for me in this life. It isn’t about me getting what I think I deserve, or being proved right. It is about loving Jesus and being in relationship with him. You can’t manufacture that. It only comes when you love Jesus for who he is. If you feel like you lack that kind of love (as I often do), ask the Holy Spirit to give it to you.

One of the people who helped David in his exile was an old man named Barzillai. David blessed him and rewarded him, though again, Barzillai wanted no other reward than the safety of the king, and in fact, was too old to enjoy any of the blessings David wants to bestow. So too, I find it helpful to remember that even though Jesus sometimes offends me by his radical forgiveness of people whom I think are undeserving, he does also love his faithful servants. He does not forget them, or offer them less than anyone else. Maybe, like Barzillai, we don’t enjoy the blessings in this life. Even so, Jesus offers us blessing and joy that can never spoil or fade.

Another group to consider is the leaders of the tribe of Judah. They made a deliberate choice to follow Absalom instead of David. But before they even repented, David was reaching out to them, forgiving them, restoring them to a relationship with him. So Paul writes about Jesus in Romans 5:

For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person — though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! (Rom 5:6-8, HCSB)

Jesus’ love and forgiveness is given time and again to those who don’t deserve it – because no one deserves it. So, if you think you are unworthy, you are correct. But that doesn’t stop Jesus from giving you grace and forgiveness anyway. You may think someone else is unworthy. You are also correct about that. But if you don’t want the Lord to forgive them, you cannot have forgiveness yourself. We are all unworthy. Instead of being resentful about how God forgives others, be grateful about how he forgives you.

Abishai was not the only one who took offense at the mercy of God that David showed to all who would see. The ten other tribes of Israel were also offended that even though they were the ones who first talked of bringing David back, it was the tribes of Judah and Benjamin who got the honor of doing so.

In Jesus’ time, the Pharisees were also offended at Jesus’ graciousness. In those days, the Roman government and the provincial government were corrupt and horribly oppressive.  Roman soldiers often raped local women and got away with no repercussions. Government officials took whatever they wanted, including, at times, the daughters of Jewish families. Tax collectors were Jewish people who worked for these awful Romans and got them the money they needed to maintain their power. Not only that, but they could collect whatever tax they wanted. So if the Roman and local taxes equaled six months labor, the tax collector could add whatever he wanted on top of that to make himself rich. Some people ended up as slaves because they couldn’t pay their taxes. Therefore, tax collectors were deeply hated, and with good reason. They were like Nazi collaborators in German occupied Holland or France during WWII. And yet Jesus forgave tax collectors. He fellowshipped with them. It was offensive.

God offers not only amazing grace. He offers outrageous grace. This is good news, and a tremendous comfort for those who know they need it, but it can be dangerous when we think only certain people should be allowed to receive God’s grace. The very essence of grace is that it is given to those who don’t deserve it.

I think that may be a key. If the forgiveness and mercy of God to others offends you, is it possible that perhaps you do not realize how much you yourself need that same grace? Jesus said:

“Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Matthew 11:5-6, ESV)

Let the Spirit speak to you today.

2 SAMUEL #18: SUPERFICIAL CHARM OR GENUINE GODLY CHARACTER?

On By Pastor TomIn 2 Samuel, Bible, Bible Teaching, Old Testament, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

These two chapters of the Bible show us that David has returned to the confident, humble faith of his youth. He is willing to take on personal danger in order to spare others. When people insult him, he refuses to punish them, but patiently entrusts himself to the Lord. In this, he reminds us of Jesus, the Messiah. The way people responded to David at this point in his life also show us the ways that various people react to Jesus.

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2 Samuel #18 .  2 Samuel Chapters 15:1-16:29

Some weeks we get into details about a text. This week, we’re going to fly through two chapters. Even so, we’re only going to cover one part of a much larger story concerning David’s son Absalom. There is a kind of smorgasbord of spiritual truths here. Feast on whatever the Lord has to say to you through this today.

After David restored Absalom to his official position as prince, Absalom began laying the groundwork for a coup. He started by running a popularity contest against David – a contest David didn’t even know was going on.

Absalom was good looking. Once he was “official” again, he began to act charmingly also. He spent time with the people. He appeared to sympathize with their problems. Very subtly, he planted doubts in their minds about David. When they tried to honor him as their prince, he forestalled them, and treated them as equals and good friends. By doing this, Absalom won the hearts of a great many people.

David was a worshipper of God and a warrior. Though he failed at times, he rarely compromised his principles. Almost always, David cared much more about what God thought of him than what the people thought. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about his people—it’s just that his way of caring and leading was oriented toward seeking the Lord, and leading the nation based upon what God wanted. For David, it wasn’t about being popular or satisfying the desires of the people. He felt, rightly, that if he was right with the Lord, then the Lord could use him to do his will for the nation of Israel.

However, the people were not as concerned with God as they were with themselves. So they were susceptible to someone like Absalom, who also appeared to be concerned with their desires. Absalom made sure he looked good. He always appeared sympathetic and engaging.

David was “old school.” He wasn’t a friend to the people—he was a leader. He stuck to his guns, because he believed right was right.

The people loved Absalom because they loved themselves more than God. If it was a choice between someone who followed God or someone who made them feel good, they wanted the one who made them feel good. We’ve already seen some things about Absalom’s character. He was ambitious for himself. He was arrogant. He wanted his own way, and worked to get it, regardless of the cost to others. He never admitted wrong, never repented, never said “thank you,” or “sorry.” But the people saw only the engaging, personable, friendly guy. They were too concerned with outward appearances.

There is no record of Absalom ever consulting the Lord about anything. And ultimately, he was not the Lord’s choice for king. But the people didn’t think about such things. They were already ready to repeat the mistake they made with Saul.

There is a classic scene in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The four hobbits have met a tall, stern, grim looking man. He tells them that he was sent by their friend, the wizard Gandalf to help them. They discuss whether or not they can trust him. Finally, Frodo, leader of the hobbits says something like this:

“I think one of the enemy’s spies would – well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand.”

In other words appearances are often deceiving. So it was with Absalom. He seemed fairer and better than David. But on the inside he was already rotten. He looked and seemed like the better leader. But it was the grim, steadfast old David who was the best king the people could have had, in fact, as history showed, one of the best kings Israel ever had.

I spend time on all this because I think we are often like the people who were duped by Absalom. It’s so easy to judge by external things like looks and charm. It’s so easy to fall for a leader or lover who looks good and makes you feel good about yourself and himself – at least superficially. This is also true of ideas. Ideas and principles that make you feel good about yourself can be very seductive.

I want to encourage the people of  God to not judge by shallow things like appearance or personal charm, or even by feelings. Sometimes it takes some hard work to realize that goodness doesn’t always immediately feel good.

In any case, Absalom was able to win over enough people to attempt a coup to dethrone David (and probably kill him). It is interesting to see David’s attitude toward his son. He had no illusions about Absalom. As soon as he heard the news, he knew that his son would kill him if he could. Even so, that never changed David’s love for him. Later we’ll see that when it came to battle, David tried to protect Absalom, and he was deeply grieved when his son was killed. David did what he had to, to protect himself and take care of the kingdom God had given him – but he never wavered in his love for his son.

That is sometimes how it is with us and the Lord. The Lord has no illusions about us. He knows who we truly are—the good, and also the bad.  And yet, God loves us with an unwavering love anyway. He’s always hoping we can be saved from destroying ourselves. He’s always hoping we will reconcile with him rather than be killed.

Here is where we begin to see that David has returned to the steadfast trust in the Lord that he had as a young man. Absalom began his coup in the city of Hebron. David got the news when he was in Jerusalem. If you remember, Jerusalem at that time was a walled city on top of a ridge, with an internal water source. Years earlier, David and his men had conquered the city through the water shaft, but David quickly built defenses to stop that happening again, now that he had the city. Before the water shaft was protected, people had considered Jerusalem to be unconquerable, and so now it was even more so. Therefore, the commonsense option for David was to shut the gates of Jerusalem and make Absalom try to conquer the city. Even if Absalom were able to surround Jerusalem entirely, it would have taken a year or two to starve them out. During that time, other allies might have come to David’s aid, or Absalom’s followers might have second thoughts. However, that route would have involved a lot of hardship for the people of Jerusalem, and many of Absalom’s men would also have been killed. David said:

“Hurry! If we get out of the city before Absalom arrives, both we and the city of Jerusalem will be spared from disaster.” (2 Samuel 15:14)

So, instead of staying where it was safe, David left the city, and allowed Absalom to come in unopposed. This shows that David was willing to trust God. He didn’t need to hold on to the advantage of the walled city. Instead, he spared the people much suffering, and took the burden upon himself.

Because of this choice, David had to run for his life. This had to be tough for him. When David was a young man, for more than a decade he had lived on the run in the wilderness. Life was physically difficult in those days. He was not respected or honored for who God made him to be. He was not recognized for his gifts. God’s promises did not seem to be fulfilled. Finally, he came through all of that and became king. If you remember, just a few years later, he ended up back in one of his old hide-outs, eluding the Philistine invaders (2 Samuel 5:17-25). He came through that. And now, well into middle age – perhaps almost sixty years old, he was back yet again, running for his life, not respected, not living out what God had promised him. In some ways, this might have been even harder. When he was young, he didn’t know exactly how it would feel to be king. But now, he knew what he was missing. And now too, he had a family to take care of. He brought his wives with him. Solomon was probably about ten years old at this point. There were other children also. I should note that he left his ten concubines behind him, because that comes up later on.

But in spite of this hardship, David did not turn away from the Lord. This would have been a time when it would be very easy to be bitter. David followed God faithfully for most of his life. True, he had failed at times, but he certainly had more than his share of trouble. Did he really deserve things to be this bad, for this many years of his life? Following God did not spare him from trouble and hardship. But he had a better hope than just a comfortable life on earth. And so as he went, we can see the grace oozing out of him. When people insulted him, he was not angry. He didn’t demand help from anyone. He went out in humility and trust.

The people seemed to have had three basic reactions to David during this period of his life. The first is shown to us in the person of Ziba. If you remember, Ziba was the man whom David made manager of the estate of Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, whom David had treated so kindly. Ziba gathered some much needed supplies and brought them to David. This was a welcome thing, and a great help to David. But it turns out that perhaps Ziba did this deceptively, for his own gain. We find out later that Ziba lied about Mephibosheth, slandering him in the hope that if David triumphed over Absalom, he, Ziba, would be rewarded with Mephibosheth’s estate. Mephibosheth, if you remember, was lame, and so Ziba took advantage of that to come see David, while not allowing his master to come. So Ziba supported David, but with the purpose of gaining something in the end. On the other hand he likely had very little to lose by doing what he did if David never came back. After all, it wasn’t his own food that he gave David. He surely took it from Mephibosheth’s supplies. There were others who doubtless supported David by way of hedging their bets, hoping to gain his favor if he triumphed, and having little to lose if he didn’t.

There was a second common reaction to David in all of this. Shimei was a relative of Saul’s, and he cursed David, throwing dust and stones at him as he left Jerusalem. David’s response reveals that he is once more a man whose heart belongs entirely to God. David’s nephew Abishai, one of his great warriors, offered to go relieve Shimei of his head (Abishai was the brother of Joab). But David restrained him. Nathan had told David (2 Samuel 12:10-12) that one of the consequences of his sin would be rebellion from within his own family. David was back to his good place in his relationship with God. His circumstances were a mess, but once more, his heart was fixed entirely on the Lord. So when Shimei cursed him, David humbly accepted whatever the Lord was doing. He trusted the Lord to straighten things out, if Shimei was wrong. There were others, obviously, who sided with Absalom and rebelled against David. David’s personal advisor, Ahithophel was one prominent one. It may be that David wrote Psalm 55 at this point. The close friend that David refers to in that Psalm was very likely Ahithophel.

Finally, a third group of people remained steadfastly with David, come what may. Ittai was a Philistine warrior who had left his home; he led a battalion of six hundred Philistines who had pledged allegiance to David. David released them from their pledge and urged them to return to their homeland, but they refused. For them it was not about being blessed or having good times. They were in it for forever, for good or for bad, no matter what. The two priests, Zadok and Abiathar, were like that, as was one of David’s advisors, Hushai. David sent them back to Jerusalem as spies, and they remained loyal to him.

Remember how David is a “type of Christ?” It shows up again here. Jesus did not return the curses and insults of those who reviled him. I think it is helpful for us to look at how people responded to David, and see ourselves, in how we respond to Jesus.

There are some people who follow Jesus, or at least, who are sympathetic to him, because even though they aren’t sure about him, they want to keep their options open. Maybe they want something from him. So they hedge their bets. They come to church. They try to manipulate Jesus into blessing them, in case he is in a position to do so. But they aren’t following him because he is the chosen one of God. They are doing it in hope for their own gain.

Others simply reject Jesus, particularly when it seems like he’s not a winner. These folks may seem to go along with the Lord for a while. But when something comes along that seems more attractive, or that makes them feel better about themselves, they desert the Lord and go along with the new thing. Sometimes they may reject Jesus because they mistakenly thought that the main thing he was supposed to do was make their lives on earth better, and when trouble came, they weren’t spiritually prepared.

And finally, there are those who remain faithful through everything. Sometimes their faithfulness costs them a great deal of suffering and hardship. Sometimes it brings peace or joy. But they follow in the certain hope that this life could never hold everything they want or desire. They are seeking their heavenly home. The book of Hebrews talks about them, and people like those loyal to David:

13 These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. 14 Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. 16 But they now desire a better place — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Heb 11:13-16, HCSB)

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you today. Maybe you need correction because your focus is on external things. Perhaps, like those who listened to Absalom, you are swayed by what looks good or what makes you feel good, and you need to be reminded not to judge based upon shallow appearances.

Or, maybe you need to be reminded that the life of faith always has ups and downs, that real saints throughout the ages have had many struggles in their lives. The trick is not to avoid struggles, but to let God’s grace surround you, and come out of you, when you are in them.

Maybe you are being challenged about the way you follow Jesus. Maybe you have been focusing more on your own personal gain. Perhaps you are susceptible, because of pain or struggle, to rejecting Jesus all together. Hear God’s gracious invitation to faith today.

2 SAMUEL #17: TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION

On By Pastor TomIn 2 Samuel, Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Old Testament, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

This Old Testament narrative reveals profound insight into redemption, forgiveness and the tension between Truth and Love. This scripture points beyond itself to Jesus Christ as the only satisfying answer to our need for both justice and reconciliation.

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2 SAMUEL #17. 2 SAMUEL 13:37-14:24

Remember the horrible story: David’s firstborn son, Amnon, the crown prince, raped his half-sister, Tamar, who was full sister to David’s next son, Absalom. Absalom killed his half-brother Amnon, and then ran away to Geshur, which was the kingdom of his grandfather.

David mourned for his firstborn son. He had turned out to be a rapist, but nobody is just one thing, and that’s important for us to remember. This isn’t just a story, it’s about real people, who are usually a very complicated mix of good and bad. David probably mourned for what Amnon had become, as well as the loss of any opportunity for Amnon to become a better man. And certainly, David simply mourned because he lost someone he loved.

But after three years, David put Amnon’s loss behind him. Now he mourned for the second son he had lost—Absalom. But of course, Absalom wasn’t dead, just banished from Israel. Remember, when it came to Amnon, David did not know how to reconcile both love and justice, and he erred on giving love without justice.

Now, with Absalom, he is making the opposite error. He has banished him forever, which was his attempt at justice, but he has not provided for any way to love Absalom.

It is interesting that Joab is the one who does something about this state of affairs. A little history about Joab is useful here. If you remember, Joab was the son of David’s sister, Zeruiah (therefore, he was David’s nephew). He had two brothers, Abishai and Asahel. After Saul’s death, during a battle with Saul’s son’s men, Asahel insisted on fighting Saul’s old war leader, Abner. Abner didn’t want to engage with Asahel, and it seems that when he did kill him, it was almost by accident (2 Samuel 2:12-23).

Joab did not forgive Abner for killing his brother in battle, and he later tricked him and murdered him while there was a truce between them (2 Samuel 3:20-30). This shows us something about Joab. He was not like David. He did not have any use for grace or forgiveness. He didn’t even have a sense of honoring any kind of agreement with an adversary. Instead, once someone was his enemy, he wanted to kill him, no matter what. There was no change of heart for Joab. You saved the people on your own side, and you killed the ones who weren’t.

With regard to Absalom, I think Joab was thinking two things. First, Absalom had killed a rapist and I’m sure that such a thing met with Joab’s approval. That’s the sort of thing that Joab himself would have done, and had done. Joab understood it, he probably had sympathy with Absalom because he was suffering for doing the kind of thing that Joab himself would do. So, I think that Joab approved of Absalom as his kind of prince. Second, Joab knew that David did not trust him since his murder of Abner. He wanted to get back into David’s good graces. Joab thought, rightly, that David needed some kind of excuse to forgive Absalom, so he cooked up the scheme that the wise woman presented to David in chapter 14.

To finish out the story, at Joab’s prompting, a woman came and presented a story to David, much like Nathan the prophet had done in confronting  David about adultery and murder. The story was basically the same situation as the one with Absalom. As expected, David got into the story, and proclaimed that the woman should not have her only remaining son executed for murder, but that he should be given mercy.

Obviously, the point of the whole exercise was verse 13, in which she says that David’s own judgment tells him he should forgive Absalom.

13 She replied, “Why don’t you do as much for the people of God as you have promised to do for me? You have convicted yourself in making this decision, because you have refused to bring home your own banished son.

However, there are important differences in this event compared to the story told by Nathan the prophet. First, David had not sinned in any way. Absalom should have been banished. In fact, he should have been executed. Second, Absalom’s situation is actually not really like the fake situation cooked up by Joab and the woman. In her scenario, her sons got into a fight, and in the heat of the moment, one of them was killed. She had only the one remaining son, and if he was executed for murder, she would be destitute, and her family name would be erased from the people of Israel. That is not like the situation of David and Absalom at all. Absalom did not kill his brother in the heat of the moment. He waited two years, and schemed it all out carefully. It was utterly premeditated. And he was not David’s only remaining son, either.

Even so, David was willing to listen, and respond graciously. I think sometimes we in the 21st century don’t understand what a big deal that was. David was king in 1000 BC. We read his psalms in the Bible, and we see his heart for God. We see, rightly, that he was God’s man. But culturally, he was still an ancient king and warrior. Such people were held in great awe, and had as much power as any dictator that has ever lived. If you got him angry, even accidentally, you could end up dead in a heartbeat. So, the woman who told him the story was, in a very real way, risking her life. So was Joab. That is, Joab was risking both her life, and his own.

I think Joab was a complicated person. There is no doubt he felt personal loyalty to his uncle, David, and probably even admiration. He also got very frustrated with David at times, and felt that David sometimes looked weak or cowardly. Joab had seen David do amazing and courageous things, so he couldn’t believe David was actually weak, or a coward, but it is clear that he never understood David’s heart for God, and therefore he deeply disagreed with many of the decisions that David made. In addition, Joab in the past had utterly refused to forgive or reconcile with those he thought had done wrong (like Abner). Because of that, he would have no standing at all to tell David to forgive. David could rightly call him a hypocrite for suggesting that he forgive Absalom.

In any case, Joab knew that David wanted someone to tell him to bring Absalom back, and Joab knew it couldn’t be him, because David hadn’t trusted him since he murdered Abner. So Joab was trying to help David. But I think that Joab also admired Absalom for being bold enough to kill his enemy. Finally, I think perhaps Joab thought that Absalom might be king one day, and it wouldn’t hurt for the next king to owe him a favor.

So, David allowed Absalom to return to Israel, but he was forbidden to see David, the king. It was a kind of combination of justice and love, but it was a weak and ineffective one. Absalom was not grateful to either David, or Joab, and he didn’t thank either one of them. Absalom was not repentant in any way. He was, however, ambitious, and he needed to have the king’s official blessing for a little while in order to fulfill his ambitions. So, he tried to get Joab to help him again. When Joab ignored him, Absalom set fire to one of his fields. Finally, Absalom got Joab to do what he wanted, and David fully restored him as a prince in Israel. But I think Joab realized at that point that Absalom was not likely to remember that he owed favors to anyone except Absalom. Absalom’s mistreatment of Joab, and his lack of gratitude, had fatal consequences for Absalom in the future. Again, it is significant that nowhere here did Absalom show any sign of repentance or remorse.

One of the things that jumps out at me from this chapter is the tension between justice and reconciliation, between truth and love. We talked about this last time, but I want to draw out the importance of this in our relationships and churches.

We human beings are very bad at holding truth and love together at the same time. Usually, we err on one side or the other. David certainly did so. With both Amnon and Absalom, David tended to prioritize love and mercy at the expense of justice and truth. With both people, that backfired in spectacularly tragic ways.

Many churches, and even whole Christian movements, also tend to err on one side or another. I know of a small church near us where the pastor often publicly shames people who come to Sunday morning worship. I heard from someone who was there that one day he proclaimed to the church that a young woman was sleeping with her boyfriend. The pastor made this declaration while the young woman herself was present at the worship service. If his information about her was correct, the pastor was right about one thing: the young woman and her boyfriend were sinning, and they needed to know that their actions were jeopardizing their relationships with the Lord. But the way the pastor went about communicating that makes me sick to my stomach. There was no love or kindness in that pastor’s actions. He had truth, yes, but no mercy or compassion. His approach would likely generate anger, or shame, or both, but I doubt it led to repentance.

To make it perfectly clear: scripture does tell us in several places that we ought to speak to Christians who are openly sinning, and to make the truth known to them. For example:

1 Brothers and sisters, if a person gets trapped by wrongdoing, those of you who are spiritual should help that person turn away from doing wrong. Do it in a gentle way. At the same time watch yourself so that you also are not tempted. 2 Help carry each other’s burdens. In this way you will follow Christ’s teachings. (Galatians 6:1-2)

It is not OK to deliberately, consistently, live a lifestyle of sinning. The truth of scripture should be proclaimed generally, including clear words about things that God declares are sinful. Also, people who have meaningful relationships with a Christian who is living in sin should speak to that person specifically in the hopes of leading them to repentance. But the Bible tells us clearly that such a process should be done first of all in love and gentleness, and when applied to a specific person, it should begin with a private conversation. So, truth without love can be harsh and legalistic, and drive people either to despair, and sometimes to turn away from God.

On the other hand there are churches who prioritize “love” over truth. In such places, out of sensitivity to the feelings of others, the leaders proclaim that some things that the bible calls sins are not, in fact, sinful. Not even people who are openly living sinful lifestyles are confronted. The message seems to be that God affirms and loves everyone, so the way you live doesn’t actually matter. The truth about God’s holiness and justice is lost.

And frankly, love without truth ceases to be loving. If you truly love an addict, you won’t “affirm” him in his addiction. If someone is walking toward the edge of a cliff but believes she is perfectly safe, it is not loving to affirm her course of action.

I think one of the most damaging lies these days is the idea that to tell someone the truth, when the truth will force them to face the idea that they are sinful and wrong, is less loving than simply accepting them how they are, no matter what.

So, Truth without love is harsh, condemning and legalistic. It offers no hope.

Love without truth leads to compromise and eventually it fails to be loving at all. It also offers no hope for change.

I know that here in the Southeast USA, there are a number of Christians and churches who emphasize truth at the expense of love. I do not give them a pass. Truth without love ultimately condemns all people, even those who prefer truth over love. This approach does not honor Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, I think the overall practice of our culture, including a majority of churches in America and the Western world, is to try to prioritize love over truth. We don’t like to suggest that anyone is wrong, or sinful, or needs to address things that are painful, but true. We offer only affirmation, and not correction. As I just said a minute ago, when this is pushed very far, it ceases to be loving. We end up affirming people every step of the way on their journey away from God.

The wise woman who confronted David said something very profound:

14 All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him. (2 Samuel 14:14, NLT)

This was said one thousand years before the time of Jesus. I think it was a kind of prophecy, because it sounds exactly like the gospel as we find it in the New Testament.

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (Romans 5:6-11, NLT)

21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21, NLT)

27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27-28, NLT)

One of the remarkable things about this is that the New Testament writers don’t ever explicitly quote this verse from 2 Samuel. In other words, it’s not like someone thought of this verse in 2 Samuel, and then constructed the gospel to fit it. And yet, you can see that the basic idea is the same: human beings are separated from God, and are doomed to die in despair. God, in his mercy provided Jesus as a way to reconcile to God all of those who will receive him. Once again, we find the gospel in the Old Testament, but in such a way that we can see it was intended by God, rather than clever human beings.

Jesus is the answer to the struggle between truth and love, justice and reconciliation. The truth of our sins is fully evident in the things that Jesus suffered for us. Our sins—all of them—were severely punished by God through the suffering and death of Jesus. God doesn’t just give us a pass—he deals with sin as it deserves. We see how serious sin is. Sin is terrible. We can’t just say, “it’s no big deal,” when we look at the death of Jesus. We can’t say, “no, that’s not really a sin.” As it says in Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death.

At the same time, when we look at the death of Jesus, we cannot claim, “God doesn’t love us.” We cannot say that God doesn’t want us, or that we must be cut off from him forever. We cannot say that love is too weak to help us, or that there is a limit to God’s love for us. We cannot say that anyone is beyond redemption, because to say that would be to claim that the sacrifice of Jesus was not enough.

In 2019 there was a movie called “Unplanned.” It is an extremely powerful story about a woman who became the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic because she wanted to help women. After several years working for Planned Parenthood, she was called to assist with one of the abortions – the first one she had ever witnessed. She saw the baby in the ultrasound—clearly, a tiny human being—writhing in pain, and trying to move away from the needle that was killing him. This experienced caused her to see abortion in an entirely new light. She came to believe that abortion was morally equivalent to murder. One night she broke down sobbing about her own part in the deaths of so many children. She said something like: “How can I ever be forgiven?”

This was the worst moment in the film, in my opinion, because the question was not answered satisfactorily. But there is a satisfying answer. It isn’t enough to say, “It’s OK, no one is perfect.” That is an entirely inadequate response to such turmoil of soul, and the horror of sin. On the other hand, It is horrible to say, “There is no hope, you’re going to hell.”

But what if your sins were fully punished and paid for? Could someone then be welcome in God’s kingdom? Of course.

And that is what Jesus accomplished for us. We can’t say sin doesn’t matter. If we do, we are also saying that the death of Jesus was pointless, and we are actually really good people. But if we are honest with ourselves, we know we don’t have enough goodness to make up for our selfishness.

On the other hand, we can’t say that we, or anyone else, must still pay for our sins. To say that would be to claim that the death of Jesus was not enough, that we demand more than God himself asked for.

In Jesus, love and justice are perfectly fulfilled and balanced, opening up for us a way to be fully reconciled with God, even though we deserve to be separated from him.

Receive Jesus today. Trust him. Trust the love of God that he was willing to suffer for you. Trust the justice of God that your sins have already been paid for.