I'd like to invite you to take your Bibles this evening with me and turn, please, to 2 Samuel, the 16th chapter, and we're going to begin our reading in the 20th verse. Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, give counsel among you what shall we do? And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house, and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father. Then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. So they spread Absalom a tent upon the housetop of his father, and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. The counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had inquired of the oracle of God. So was all the counsel of Ahithophel. both with David and with Absalom. Moreover, Ahithophel said unto Absalom, let me now choose out 12,000 men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night, and I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and will make him afraid, and all the people that are with him shall flee, and I will smite the king only, and I will bring back all the people unto thee, the man whom thou seekest, is as if all return, so all the people shall be in peace. And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. Then said Absalom, call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith. Verse 14, and Absalom and all the men of Israel said, the council of Hushai the Archite is better than the council of Ahithophel, for the Lord had appointed to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. We continue to verse 23 and we read, and when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass and arose and got him home to his house, to his city. He put his household in order and hanged himself and died and was buried in the sepulcher of his father. We'll be speaking this evening about what it means to face the giant of bitterness as we focus specifically on the life of this man Ahithophel, whose life so clearly intersects with David's. I trust the Lord will allow his word to reach down deeply in our hearts. Let's ask the Lord to bless as we look into his word this evening. Now, Father, I pray that you allow us with wisdom to enter into the study that is before us. And oh God, I pray that you would allow us to allow the mirror of your word to show us ourselves as we are so that as necessary, changes would be made and victories would be won. Use your word, Lord, this evening in our lives as that sharp two-edged sword to excise any bitterness that might be in our hearts that would prevent us from growing in your grace that would cause many to be defiled. Lord, use your word this evening and may your spirit be our teacher. And Lord, I pray that you would protect us from the awful malady of bitterness so that we might be servants fit for the master's use. So we'll thank you for it in Christ's name, amen. I'm gonna have you take your Bibles with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 14. Proverbs chapter 14. It's often said if you act as your own doctor, you have a fool for a patient. Certainly that adage is true in the physical realm. But the Bible requires us in Proverbs 14 and verse 10, in the spiritual realm, to practice self-diagnosis. When it comes to the matter of bitterness, Proverbs 14 says in verse 10, the heart knoweth his own bitterness. The heart knoweth his own bitterness. Bitterness requires self-diagnosis. Sin, you see, spreads. Sin is like broken glass. When glass breaks, the shards seem to find their way into the farthest corners of our homes. And the shards of sin cause scars. Sometimes the scars are seen. Sometimes the scars are not seen. When David sinned with Bathsheba, Nathan the prophet came to him in 2 Samuel 12 and verse 10, and Nathan said to David, the sword will not depart from thine house. Nathan was saying, David, the shards of your sin are gonna cause scars, not only in your life, but in the lives of others. When David sinned with Bathsheba, Nathan gave a warning of a ripple effect of that sin that would go on David's private sin brought a great deal of public pain, and that's how it always is. Bathsheba was shamed. Uriah, her husband, would be murdered. David's private sin of adultery would cause Nathan, the prophet, to have to tremblingly come before the king and point out the king's innermost sins and secrets. a baby would die. General Joab, he would lose respect for his commander-in-chief. The sons of David would learn their father's ways and bring shame to the household of the king. Romans 14 warns, no man lives unto himself and no man dies unto himself. Every life interfaces with another. 2 Samuel chapter 16 provides just a partial list of those affected by the awful sin of David. But in 2 Samuel chapter 16, we are allowed by the Spirit of God to zero in. The Spirit of God moves the light of the revelation away from the obvious victims of David and Bathsheba's sin, and introduces us to someone in the shadows, someone who was terribly, terribly impacted by the sin of David and Bathsheba, and his name is Ahithophel. A shard from David's sin strikes the heart of Ahithophel and contaminates him with a terminal case of bitterness, tragic, and terminal case of bitterness. Let me explain. Bathsheba was from a very noble and honorable family. Take your Bibles and turn back with me to 2 Samuel 11. 2 Samuel 11. 2 Samuel 11, we read that David rose from off his bed in verse two and walked upon the roof. of the king's house, 2 Samuel 11 and verse 2. And he saw a woman washing herself. The woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after this woman, and one said, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam or Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? Bathsheba's father is listed here, his name, Eliam. Of course, we know her husband, Uriah, and the tragic death that he would die. Now come over with me to 2 Samuel chapter 28. Let's see Eliam's name again. 2 Samuel chapter 28 is an interesting passage, 2 Samuel chapter 23 rather. In 2 Samuel chapter 23, we read in verse eight, now these are the names of the mighty men whom David had. And so we have a listing that follows of the great champions who fought alongside David for the securing and the extension of the kingdom. And as we read those various names, we come down through this list in verse 24 of Asahel, in verse 25 of Shema, and verse 30 of Benaiah, and as we continue through the list of names, we come to verse 34. And it reads, Eliphelet, the son of Ahashbi, the son of the Maccathite, Eliam, or Eliam, the son of Ahithophel, the Gilanite. Eliam, now that's the father of Bathsheba. Eliam is the father of Bathsheba. You find in verse 39 that Uriah the Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba, was one of David's mighty men. David's husband was one of David's or Bathsheba's husband was one of David's mighty men. Bathsheba's father, Eliam, was one of David's mighty men. And listed in this genealogy in verse 34, Eliam is the son of Ahithophel. Ahithophel was the father of Eliam. Eliam is the father of Bathsheba. So Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba. Ahithophel, the grandfather of Bathsheba, is named here in this Old Testament account some 17 times. Come back with me to 2 Samuel 16. Who is this Ahithophel? The father of Eliam, the grandfather of Bathsheba. Bathsheba was from a noble family. Her husband, Uriah, was one of David's mighty men. Her father, Eliam, was one of David's mighty men. And Ahithophel, why, her grandfather, according to 2 Samuel 16 and verse 23, the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had inquired of the oracle of God. Ahithophel was one of David's chief counselors. He was the father of Eliam. He was one of the most respected men in his generation. Who is Bathsheba? Bathsheba is the wife of one of David's mighty men, Uriah. She is the daughter of one of David's mighty men, Eliam. She is the granddaughter of Ahithophel, who is one of David's chief counselors. Folks, Bathsheba's sin affected her family. She lost her husband. She lost her little baby boy. She lost the respect of her grandfather. And in losing the respect of her grandfather, bitterness bit the heart of her grandfather and never let him go. Years ago, a pastor friend of mine flew out to California for a conference. Before doing so, he sent flowers to his wife. After all, he would be missing the time around their anniversary. She called to thank him for the flowers, and when she called, she inadvertently found that he was in California not at a conference, but he was in California meeting another woman that he'd met online. He flew back from California. The deacons of the church very wisely and rightly met him at the airport to confront him in his sin. He belligerently resigned from his pastorate and left his family. I remember months after that talking to his wife. She was brokenhearted. Talking to some of the leadership of the church that he had so terribly offended. His trail of tears was broad and wide. He was quite well known. And along the way, having followed that terrible story for some 20 plus years, I've seen people in the church that he affected never quite get over the disappointment, the lack of trust, the burden. And for some, no doubt, that burden, that lack of trust, that deep-seated anger that was never resolved turned into bitterness. That's exactly what happened to Ahithophel. And by the end of the story, Ahithophel becomes a suicide. Ahithophel, this great counselor of David, the grandfather of Bathsheba, stews in his bitterness, his anger, his disappointment, until he comes alongside Absalom and whispers in Absalom's ear that a coup against King David is in order. Ahithophel's heart had been polluted with malice. David, the king that he had helped, had done him wrong. David, the king that he had loved, had defiled his granddaughter. David, the man so respected that he was the sweet singer of Israel, had so disappointed Ahithophel, this very wise counselor, that his soul was infected with bitterness. And for years the malice of his heart grows until finally we see the end of his life and he's counseling Absalom, the son of the king, to perform a coup against his own father and to rebel against his dad. Ahithophel lost his battle with bitterness. I have a question this evening. Will you win or will you lose your battle with the giant of bitterness? If you're wrestling this evening because of an unresolved anger, a discontent well-developed, a disappointment that you've never seen resolved, you're in danger. Bitterness is a very real malady in the spiritual life. Like cancer to the physical life, bitterness eats at the soul. It comes out in ways that are desperately difficult to consider. Ahithophel in this passage provides for us a case study for all those who would defeat the giant of bitterness. And the heart knoweth his own bitterness. So self-diagnosis is ever so important this evening. Let's self-diagnose by asking first, when does bitterness take us? When does bitterness take us? Well, bitterness struck Ahithophel when he was strong. Ahithophel was accomplished. Ahithophel was wise. He was well-respected in his community, but he was also vulnerable. He has an interesting name. Ahithophel's name actually means my brother is foolish. I'd see that in T-shirts or sweatshirts in our generation, but this was the name that he advertised every day of his life, my brother is foolish. Before he succumbed to bitterness, it may have well been that his brother was foolish. But in succumbing to bitterness, Ahithophel became the greater fool. Ahithophel was one of the most highly respected men in his generation. But 1 Corinthians 10 warns us, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Bitterness can affect us anywhere. In 2 Samuel chapter 15, we read in verse 12, that Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilanite. Gilo, the place from which Ahithophel hailed, the name of the town means exile. Interesting name for a community. He's a Judean. He lives in the Judean mountains. Of the tribe of Judah, which means praise, this is the favored tribe. This was David's tribe. This was the tribe that was prophesied to be the one from whom the Messiah would be born. He lives in a very secure place in the mountains of Judea. Ahithophel was from a secure community, and yet he fell prey to bitterness. Often people assume that they've arrived at a place of spiritual security. Don't make such an assumption. By the time you've arrived at a place that you assume to be spiritual security, you're going to find yourself most vulnerable. We are all the time, always in our spiritual walk to be dependent upon the Spirit of God and the Word of God for not only our comfort and instruction, but for our strengthening. Take your Bibles and come with me for a moment to the book of Hebrews, the book of Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews chapter 12. Bitterness can affect us anywhere. It can affect us in our own private guilos, places of exile where we think we're most strong and most impregnable. When we come to Hebrews chapter 12, we find this warning. Verse 14 says, follow peace with all men. Don't allow a relationship to become a seedbed where sin destroys and anger and disappointment go to seed. Verse 14, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Verse 15, looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled. Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Isn't it interesting that the Spirit of God zeroes in on Esau and says, Esau for a morsel of bread sold his birthright. He succumbed to bitterness. lest there be a fornicator or profane person. You better look diligently lest this root of bitterness spring up. Esau was the firstborn. Esau was the most beloved by his father. Esau was the outdoorsman well respected in his community. But Esau lost it all because of a relationship that was broken with his brother. because his values weren't carefully considered. He was in a place where you would say he was strong, almost impregnable, but he came down and what brought him down was a root of bitterness. You see, bitterness can affect us at any time. It affects us anywhere. It affects us anytime. It seems that bitterness attacked Ahithophel where he was strong. His granddaughter married Uriah. What a wedding day that must have been. How proud Counselor Ahithophel must have been when he watched his great son, Eliam, walk Bathsheba down the aisle, if you will, and present this mighty man's daughter to another mighty man of Israel, to Uriah. With puffed out chest, with joy filling his heart of the blessings that God had given, Ahithophel saunters out into life to be struck in the place of great vulnerability in his family. The root of bitterness begins to spring up. I was in a conversation about bitterness many years ago with a musician friend of mine named Glenn Christensen. We were talking about the effects of bitterness on people in ministry, and Glenn Christensen said something to me that I've never forgotten. It was ever so right. He said, the worst kind of bitterness is bitterness that's defensible. The type of bitterness where it's justifiable. We can justify and defend why we have a right to be bitter. I was hurt after all. Do you know what I've been through? Do you know what he said to me? Do you know what she did to me? Anyone hearing the story of Ahithophel in a private place would have agreed that he has a right to be angry at David. No more than that. He has a right to downright despise David. His bitterness was justifiable bitterness. I spoke to a youth pastor in a camp setting years ago. It was obvious that his heart was in a rage while his words seemed kind and once in a while he smiled. His story was this. He was serving in a local church youth ministry and it seemed to be going well and the pastor called him in one day and told him he was done. He packed up his belongings. There was no congregational decision being made. Within months after his termination, the pastor hired his own family member to become the youth pastor. The youth pastor with whom I was speaking was talking to me about something that would seem justifiable. Doesn't it seem justifiable for that man who was so wronged to be angry at God and angry especially at that pastor? Be careful. When other people agree with you that you've been wronged and you're still irritated by the wrong that was done to you, you'll fall prey to bitterness. Bitterness spreads where anger and hurt are unresolved. Where the heart is broken and no one has mended that heart. We've seen when bitterness takes us. Let's move further in this case study of bitterness and discover where bitterness brings us. Ahithophel. He left his loyalty to David to side with David's rebellious son Absalom. And we find him here in 2 Samuel 16. And verse 15, and Absalom and all the people of the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. Ahithophel's counsel was once considered to be, according to verse 23, like the counsel of God himself. But now what kind of counsel is he going to give to Absalom? How corrupted is the heart of this man whose words were once filled with the wisdom of God. What has bitterness done to this man? Well, we discover in the passage before us, Absalom speaks to Ahithophel in verse 20, give counsel among you what we will do. Verse 21, and Ahithophel in chapter 16 said to Absalom, go into thy father's concubines which he hath left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that thou art abhorred of thy father. Literally, you will stink in the nostrils of the people of Israel. He's condoning immorality. Not only a rebellious son, but a son who's now entering into immoral relationships with the concubines of his father. Why would Ahithophel give such wretched counsel? How was Ahithophel hurt? David had been with Ahithophel's granddaughter. Now David can experience a little bit of his own. Ahithophel's counsel is directly attacking the morality of the palace and directly impacting the emotions of the king. He's condoning immorality. He's willingly harming those who are innocent. These concubines know nothing of Ahithophel's bitterness. These concubines who are so going to be defiled and their families by the counsel that this man has given? Sin, remember, it spreads like shards of glass, looking diligently lest any root of bitterness springing up and trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. He's willingly harming the innocent. He's acting ever so selfishly. Look at the first words of chapter 17 once again. Ahithophel said unto Absalom, let me now choose out 12,000 men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night. And I will come upon him while he's weary and weak, and weak-handed, and will make him afraid. And all the people that be with him shall flee, and I will smite the king only, and I will bring back all the people unto thee. The man whom thou seekest is as if all returned, so all the people shall be at peace. Ahithophel is acting selfishly, seeking vengeance. He literally wants to be the one who picks up the sword and exacts vengeance against David. Where did that come from? His unresolved anger in a relationship toward the king that he respected, has brought him so low that he's counseling immorality, he's hurting the innocents, he's acting selfishly, he wants vengeance, and he's never remembered that God says, vengeance is mine, I will repay. He's become blinded in his bitterness. He's grasping for power, and he's opposing the very counsel of God. In chapter 17 and verse 14, The Bible says, and Absalom and all the men of Israel said, the counsel of Hushai, the Archite, is better than the counsel of Ahithophel, for the Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. Years ago, I counseled with a couple. It was evident that their marriage was not doing well. No doubt, both had their reasons, but eventually, the wife would file for divorce against her husband. Because of her bitter spirit and because of her activity toward her husband, she would be disciplined from the church. Along the way, she made a phone call to me to let me know that she was now engaged to another man. And I said to her, wouldn't it be better if you would exercise forgiveness and get back together with the husband that you've left? No, pastor, this is the way I need to go. After all, my husband hurt me. It's about time for me to hurt him. Several weeks or months went by. My wife and I were in bed. It was sometime after midnight, maybe one or two o'clock in the morning, and the phone rang. That doesn't happen very often. So being startled out of bed, I picked up the phone, and the wife who had called me just those months ago was calling me from her honeymoon to tell me she'd made a dreadful mistake. Bitterness will take you to places that you never want to go. It will bring to you heartaches that you never want to experience. It starts as a little thing, a disappointment, a hurt. A justifiable hurt. Where everybody in the community would agree that you're right to say that you were wronged. It will bring you to places where hurt seems to be the appropriate thing to celebrate. It will cause you to be self-centered. It will cause you to strike out toward others. It will mess up your mind to the point that you'll think that right is wrong and wrong is right. Ahithophel, in all of his glory, his counsel was like the counsel of God, like the oracles of God, but Ahithophel succumbed to the awful heart disease of bitterness. And it becomes a case study. This man whose lineage is still filled with valiant people becomes a case study in the end of how not to live your life and die as a tragic suicide. How does bitterness then leave us? Bitterness is a deadly malady. It leaves us vulnerable. It leaves us vulnerable. Ahithophel's strength is gone. Job would say in Job chapter 5, God taketh the wise in his own craftiness. Proverbs chapter 11 says in verse 21, though hand be joined in hand, he will not go unpunished. He's irrational. Ahithophel, by the time you come to verse 23, he saw that his counsel was not followed and so what does he do? He sets his house in order. And he weaves his own rope for his hanging. It leaves him fearful. Ephesians chapter 4 says, listen, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor be put away from you. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor be put away from you. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor be put away from you. Be kind one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. By the time Ahithophel dies, it's very likely that David has already penned the 32nd and the 51st Psalm. It's likely that Ahithophel has heard the priests of the people of Israel singing the songs of repentance that caused the tears of King David that had brought encouragement to generations. But Ahithophel did not hear David's cry for repentance and forgiveness. Ahithophel harbored in his own heart the personal wrong that David had done. Believers are to let all bitterness and wrath and anger, Ephesians 4 and verse 31 says, and clamor be put away from you with all malice. So let me ask a question tonight. By now has the spirit of God perhaps opened your heart so much that you're realizing, I have a problem with bitterness. I was hurt, maybe by a parent, maybe by a spouse, maybe in a work relationship, maybe by a friend, maybe in church. And bitterness that arises from church can be a desperately difficult thing to conquer. I've been hurt. I haven't gotten over it. The Bible says, and be content with such things as you have. The antidote to bitterness is contentment. Be content with such things as you have, for he has said, I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you. Are you content with such things as you have? Friend, if you really want to know how to drive away bitterness and be cured of it, take your Bibles with me and come back to the book of Exodus, the 15th chapter. Exodus chapter 15. In Exodus chapter 15, we discover the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings Coming to a very difficult day. The 22nd verse says, Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea and they went out into the wilderness ashore and they went three days into the wilderness and they found no water. And they came to Marah. The Hebrew word Marah means bitter. And it's explained here in verse 23, they could not drink the waters of Marah for they were bitter, therefore the name of it was called Marah. The people murmured against Moses saying, what will we drink? He cried unto the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree. Which one he had casted into the waters, the waters were made sweet. And there he made an ordinance for a statute, an ordinance, and there he proved them. And he said, if thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments and keep his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee. What did the Lord show Moses when he cried out from the waters of Marah? The Bible tells us the Lord, verse 25, showed him a tree and the tree sweetened the waters. Is there a picture here? I think there is. There is a tree on a place called Calvary. That tree on the place called Calvary is the tree that heals our hearts from bitterness. He was despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Jesus died on the cross of Calvary. He died to pay the penalty of your sin. And He died bearing all the full force of the bitterness of every heart, the disappointment of every relationship, the staggering insult of every shame. How do I find relief from my bitterness? I come to the one who on the cross of Calvary died for me and I find he sweetens every relationship. And we forgive even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. You can't ponder the sacrifice of Christ and the meaning of it in our lives as believers. The love of God so displayed. The goodness of God so poured out for us. And continue on in bitterness unresolved. Come to the cross. and reflect on the fact that Jesus died to give us the ability to let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor be put away from us with all malice, so that we could be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Friend, if you're here tonight and you're harboring bitterness in your heart, don't be a Hithefeld. Don't let it grow. Looking diligently, lest any root of bitterness spring up and trouble you and thereby many be defiled. It's time to excise the root this evening. Will you stand with me please as we pray. Our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and no one looking around. Father, you've said in your word that the heart knows its own bitterness. And so Lord, I pray that you'd work in somebody's heart tonight. Some person who's living with that unresolved disappointment. that aggravating insult that has never yet been corrected. Lord, this evening, I pray that you'd work in that heart tonight, and I pray that the Spirit of God would allow that balm that the Lord only can give, as we see in the mirror of your word, our lives in technicolor. May your word tonight make a difference in some Christian's life and keep someone from going the way of Ahithophel. Bitterness is a more pervasive problem than we care to talk about often. It's a more powerful problem than often we ever consider. It is indeed, as cancer is to the physical body, a cancer to our spiritual well-being. So with a very sober heart this evening, I wonder if someone would say, Pastor Phelps, the Spirit of God has worked in my heart this evening. I've been harboring a bitterness, and tonight I want to harbor it no more. If that's your situation this evening, would you take a moment? Confess that to the Lord right where you are. Lord, I've been bitter. Lord, I've been hurt. I know that others round about me would justify the hurt that I'm carrying. But Lord, I can't justify it in your eyes when I consider the healing that you've provided. Lord, forgive me. And Lord, help me. Help me to live a life that's content with all the circumstances you bring, even when they're trials. Even when we're out on the sea being tossed about, Lord, you're the God of goodness who provides for me the things that are necessary so that the image of Christ can be chiseled upon me. Folks, when you're chiseled, it hurts. But the Lord always wants to build that image of Christ in you, so take a moment, if God's convicting your heart of bitterness, and confess it right now. And thank him for the work of Calvary.