Well, good morning. Just going to change that hymn, Roy. 151, O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see you lie above your deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by. It's Christmas season, so we'll start to sing a few of these songs. 151, we'll stand as we sing. To town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and greenest skin, the silent stars go by. ♪ May in thy hearts be shining ♪ ♪ The everlasting light ♪ ♪ The hopes and fears of all the years ♪ ♪ Are ne'er in need to hide ♪ ♪ For Christ is born of Mary ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home ♪ And peace in heaven above ♪ ♪ Hark, silently, hark, silently ♪ ♪ The wonderous gift is here ♪ ♪ Sing all ye parts to human hearts ♪ ♪ The blessings of this day ♪ ♪ Oh, hear ye, hear ye, it's coming ♪ in this world of sin. When we souls then receive grace in the gift Christ enters in, O Lord, We hear the Christmas angels purring the tidings of a new day You may be seated. I'm going to sing 61. He is exalted. The King is exalted on high. Let's have a go at it. All right, we'll sing number one then, Jason. All hail King Jesus, all hail Emmanuel. Just one verse chorus. King of kings, Lord of lords, Thine holy star. Every day you give me rest while I sing your praises, and I pray with you throughout eternity. Let me sing it one more time. Oh, dear King Jesus, Hail, Emmanuel! King of kings, Lord of lords, bright morning star. Every day you give me breath of salvation. All right, let us pray and ask the Lord's help. Father, we thank you that your hand has been upon us this week. We pray for those who cannot be with us because of illness, some still even lacking power in their homes. We pray, O God, that your hand will be upon them. Thank you for bringing us through the storm, bringing each one safely into your house this morning. Father, we pray that we would have a sense of God in everything we do and say. We pray for each one gathered here this morning. May they hear the voice of God. May they feel the touch of God. May they experience the presence of God in all of their lives. We pray for your church at this time. We think of all those who are suffering across the world in this Christmas season, particularly the people of God, that you would be their help, their comfort, their guide. Lord, as we open our newspapers and watch the news, we see nothing but wars and rumors of wars. And it's a reminder to us that time is running out, that the child that came into the world, the child who was born in the manger is coming back soon. And he's not coming to be a baby. He's not coming to have his feet kneeled to a cross, but he's coming in righteousness and in anger against sin. And the Bible says his feet that were kneeled the first time will come to crush all its enemies. Bless your word this morning. Bless your people here this morning. For we ask these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen. 2 Samuel chapter 2. We're going through this book of 2 Samuel now as we continue looking at the life of King David. David is 30 years of age. He has just penned the great eulogy after the passing of Saul and Jonathan in the previous chapter. And when we looked at this last time, we said how David was able to draw a line on the past and leave the past in the past. And now we're coming to chapter two. David's going to face another test. What will he do next? Will he rush and seize the throne? Will he seek to destroy all of Saul's family? or will he wait on God for the next step in his life? Verse one says, and it came to pass after this. What's the after this? After the death of Saul, after the destruction of his nation by the Philistines, after the armies of Israel were scattered, that David inquired of the Lord saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said unto him, Go up. David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron. So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, Nabal's wife, the Carmelite. And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household, They dwelt in the cities of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying that the men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul. David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the Lord, that ye have showed this kindness unto your Lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him. And now the Lord show kindness and truth unto you, and I also will requite you this kindness because ye have done this thing. Therefore now, let your hands be strengthened and be ye valiant, for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them. But Abner, the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, brought him over to Mahanaim, made him king over Gilead, and over the Asherites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was 40 years old when he began to reign over Israel. And he reigned two years, but the house of Judah followed David. The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. And Abner the son of Ner and the servants of Eshbosheth, the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met together by the pool of Gibeon. They sat down, the one on the one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. And Abner said to Joab, let the young man now arise and play before us. And Joab said, let them arise. Then there arose and went over by number 12 of Benjamin, which pertained to Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and 12 of the servants of David. And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side. So they fell down together. Wherefore, that place was called Helkath Hazarim, which is in Gibeon. And there was a very sore battle that day, and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel before the servants of David. And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Azahel. And Azahel was as light of foot as a wild roe. And Azahel pursued after Abner, and in going, he turned not to the right hand nor to the left, from following Abner. Then Abner looked behind him and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am. And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left. Lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armor. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him. And Abner said again to Azahel, turn thee aside from following me, wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? How then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother? Howbeit he refused to turn aside, wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, and the spear came out behind him, and he fell down there, died in the same place. And it came to pass that as many as came to the place where Azahel fell down and died stood still. Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner. And the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah that lieth before Gaia by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner and became one troop and stood on the top of the hill. Then Abner called to Joab and said, Shall the sword devour forever? Knowest thou that it will be bitterness in the latter end? How long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren? And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother. So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more. And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim. And Joab returned from following Abner, and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's servants nineteen men, and Asahel. But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin and of Abner's men, so that 303 score men died. And they took up Asahel and buried him in the sepulcher of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day." Amen. God will bless the reading of his word. Would you come and give us the announcements? A couple of announcements I just want to add to what Colin has said. Just a couple of happier announcements. We want to congratulate Ian and Jana on their engagement and God willing they'll be married in 2025. So congratulate Ian, Jana and the two family circles. And also we want to congratulate Michael and Lois McGugan who've become grandparents. They've reached that old age where they now have to take care of a third generation. Just on the 22nd, I believe it is January, so Sunday fortnight we have a very special Sunday morning service when we have the visit of Grant Wetherall. Here Grant's a converted Jew and he lives up near Ballymena and he'll be here. He's married to a Cullybackee woman, so can you imagine? He was brought up a Jewish businessman, and he's married to a woman from Kalibagi, so that's a story and a half itself. And I wonder which one rules the roost there in that situation. So Grant's coming on the 22nd, Sunday, fortnight, in the morning, and he'll be here to tell us how God saved him and his dad, his mom, his sister, and his uncle, all brought up in the Jewish Faith. Grant grew up in London, but he's moved here some years ago. And then at that service on the 22nd, Eddie and Rachel will have little James Isaiah Hunter dedicated. So many of the family will be there to see that from both sides of the family. So it's going to be a very special Sunday morning. And then in the evening, Trevor has organized a special presentation of this, I don't know what to call it, a drama, a musical, a Christmas presentation on the promise. So a very special Sunday coming up just in two weeks' time. Put it in your diary. I'm going to lift our offering and remain seated while we sing this hymn, What Gift of Grace is Jesus My Redeemer? It's on the screen, it's not in your hymn books. And as the hymn is sung, the offering will be lifted. So just remain seated during that hymn. Thank you. This is Jesus, my Redeemer. There is no home for everyone to give. He is my joy, my righteousness supreme. My sinless love, my deep and boundless grief. Oh, I hope it's only Jesus, for my life is all we want to be. Oh, how strange and divine, I can see how His mind, in the eye of death, lies in me. All the night has been won, and I shall overcome, if not I, but with Christ in me. No thing I dread, I know I am forgiven. The future's sure, the price it has been paid. and suffered for my garden, and he was raised in a room full of grain. This is now, wherever is my plea. Golden chains, Tauris, I can see. I am free, and I have Christ in me. We stand for this final verse, and the children can leave at this point. With every breath, I long to follow Jesus. For He has said that He will bring me home And day by day I know He will renew me Until I stand with joy before the throne Till this I know that hope is only Jesus When their race is complete, still my lips shall repeat and I will feel Christ in me. To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus, all the glory and reward to Him. Turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 2. Once again, I'm going to give today's message when God is not in a hurry, when God is not in a hurry. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you that you're always on time. You're never a minute early, you're never a minute late. But when God wants to accomplish something, he does it in his way and in his time. Later in life, David would pen these words in Psalm 18, as for God, his way is perfect. Lord, we pray that all of us would grasp that today in our own lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now, King David is now 30 years of age. And 30 may not seem old to you or I, if you're well above 30. But in those 30 years, David has lived a very eventful life. He's gone from being a shepherd boy on the hills of Bethlehem to become a national hero as just a teenager when he defeated Goliath. He's been anointed by Samuel maybe 15 years before to become king. And then he's lived this eventful 12 or 13 years as a fugitive, leading this band of merry men This band of malcontents and ex-criminals, messed up individuals. And he's lived in the land of the Philistines as well as lived in caves and in forests. And now he saw his nation decimated by war. And Saul's dead and his friend Jonathan is dead. The army scattered what's left of it. And it seems that this is the perfect time for David to seize the throne, to run back to his country and claim the crown that God had said all those years before was to be his crown. And now David is almost ready to graduate from the school of adversity and suffering. God has put him through this school where there's been many ups and downs and many challenges over the past 14 or 15 years. And David has come through them, not perfectly, we've seen the mistakes that he made, but he has come through it well. And he's come through it with God on his side. And he's come through it with his faith intact and his desire to serve the Lord. And for the next 40 years, David is going to rule in the land of Israel. But for the first seven and a half years, and this may surprise some of you, of those 40 years, the first seven and a half, he will only rule over a small part of his nation. just the tribe of Judah in the city of Hebron. And then for the last 33 years or so, he will reign over the whole United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. So that's going to be the 40 years that will remain to David on earth. Seven and a half ruling over this small portion, a minority of his nation. And then 33 years or so, reigning over the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. And the key to David's life is going to be his obedience to the will of God. And there's going to be a marked contrast between David and Saul, all the way through these two books, 1 and 2 Samuel. And God wants you to see the contrast because God wants you to see, are you a Saul or are you a David? Or is there a lot of Saul in your life rather than a lot of David in your life? It's really a book or two books that cause you and I to reflect on our choices. and our attitudes. Now David's life was summed up in the book of Acts in chapter 13 and verse 22. If you go to Acts chapter 13 in the New Testament, the apostle Paul, when he was speaking about David, preached a sermon in a place called Antioch. Antioch is in modern day Turkey. I've been there some years ago, in fact more than 10 years ago I went to the city of Antioch with a group from Singapore. And we had a service on the Sunday and we had a Lord's table together in a little cave where the early Christians met in Antioch. It was a very special place. But Paul went to the synagogue in Antioch. And he spoke of Saul and he spoke of David. In verse 21 he says, And afterward they desired a king, and God gave unto them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. So Paul says Saul was king for forty years. He got us four decades. And he failed. But then verse 22, And when he had removed him, notice the pronoun, God removed Saul. Saul failed, God removed him. He, notice the pronoun again, God raised up unto them David to be their king. The rise of David to the throne of Israel was not because of politics or political games was because of one reason and one reason only, because God was behind it. God chose this boy. Now why did God choose him? Look at verse 22 again. To whom also God gave testimony and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will." So what was the difference between Saul and David? It wasn't a difference on military prowess, or talents, or gifts, or even their pedigree. It wasn't a difference on their physical strength. Saul, if anything, was bigger and stronger than David. Saul was from the tribe of the battle warriors, Benjamin, the toughest tribe. But what made the difference between Saul and David was this, was the heart of David. David's heart was united to God's heart. And David's desire was to do God's will in his life. Whereas Saul lived for Saul and to do Saul's will. And you know, I could almost end my sermon there. You probably wish I would. and say, well, that's the key to life. You either do God's will, God's way, with your heart united to God, or you live your way, and you'll die and feel like Saul did. You have to make your choice. We go back to 2 Samuel chapter two. The first thing David does just reveals who he really was. Because it says in verse one of chapter two of 2 Samuel, notice this very carefully. And it came to pass after this, after what? After his great enemy Saul was dead. After all the men who went along with Saul to try and destroy him, they're dead. After Jonathan, the heir to the throne, he's dead. Came to pass after all those things when the door is now wide open for David to become king. Humanly speaking, this is David's golden opportunity for an ambitious young man to seize the throne. Particularly one who has a great record against the Philistines. One who has been undefeated in battle against the Philistines. One who's never even been injured in battle This is his golden moment. And what will David do? Will he say, well, it's time for me to go? I've waited the age of 30. I've waited all these years. Hasn't God told me I'm going to be king? Shouldn't I just run ahead and get the throne? No, what does David do? It says that David inquired of the Lord. Saul never asked God's opinion. Wasn't interested in God's opinion. Wasn't interested in doing things God's way. But the first thing David does is he pauses to ask the Lord for guidance. Is this the moment that you want me to go forward and become king? And God says to him, you go up into the land of Judah. And then David comes to the Lord a second time and he says, where should I go? And God says to Hebron, and David goes, and he goes up into the city of Hebron in the tribe of Judah, and there his own fellow countrymen from his fellow tribe, the men of Judah, they say, we want this man to be our king. And we're told in verse four, they anointed David as king of the house of Judah. So far, so good. One of the 12 tribes has now acknowledged David as king, but what about the other 11? Should he go and seize the throne there? Should he go and threaten them? Should he go and try to persuade them that he's the best choice? What will David do next? Look at verse five. The next thing David does, which proves his character, shows what a wise man he is, is that he sends messengers to the tribes or the people of Jabesh-Gilead. Now, why does he send messengers to them? He sends messengers to them to honor them, to show his thanks to them. to show that there's nothing between him and them because of what they've done for Saul and the death of Saul and the remains of Saul. And what he's doing here, he's acting in a noble, magnanimous, and a diplomatic manner in trying to bring peace to his nation, in trying to build bridges among his people. And you know, let me say this. in passing. Christians should never go out of our way to try and create enemies. Enemies will come in the work of God. Challenges will come from difficult people if you just live long enough. But don't go out of your way to go looking for them, to create them. Always try to live as peaceably among your fellow men as you can. Paul said that in the book of Romans. As much as it lies within you, live peaceably with all men. And David here is living that out, even though he's a man of war, even though he must be stung in one sense that the rest of Israel haven't accepted him as king. Only his own tribe. David is still willing to reach out the hand of friendship. Told you a story recently of this old man. He went to a meeting and people were saying all things against him and his friends asked him afterwards, why didn't you take offense when these people were making all these snide and sarcastic remarks about you? And he said this, I never took offense, he says, because I was never looking for it. Never looking for it. You know, there's a lot of people running around looking for offense, looking for enemies, looking for trouble. Don't join them. Don't be part of them. The Bible says the Lord Jesus Christ is building his church. The devil is trying to destroy his church. Make sure you're building rather than destroying. David here is a man, he reaches out, and he says to them in verse six, the Lord show kindness. He prayed a blessing upon them. David's a prophet. And when he prays a prayer like that, there's power behind it. There's significance behind it. And he says, may the Lord reward you. But do you know what happened? These men of Jabesh Gilad never turned to David after this. They turned away, went, followed after. Abner and Ish-bosheth. And sometimes when you do a good deed, you try to reach out to people, they don't respond. But that doesn't mean it was the wrong thing to do. It was the right thing to do. And having acted nobly and magnanimously here, We would have thought that things would now go smoothly for David, and God would just open the path to the throne of Israel, and everything would be hunky-dory. But notice in verse 8 what happens. It says, but. And anytime you see the word but in the Bible, you should always pause. That little conjunctive disjunctive. Because often what comes after it, is a serious consequence and serious contrast. And after David had done this good deed, after he had followed God's will in going into the land of Israel and going to the tribe of Judah and establishing his throne in Hebron, it says, but, but what? But Abner, oh no. Abner was no friend of David. Abner who was a cousin of King Saul. Abner who was the head of Saul's army. Abner who David had humiliated in a previous interaction with him when he cut the bottom of Saul's robe and he held it up and he said to Abner, why didn't you take care of your master Saul? Abner who had a grudge against David. He decided to get involved. in politics. And it says, but Abner, the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, and the Holy Spirit's just underlining, here's a man who has everything to lose from the rise of David to the throne. He's a relative of Saul's. He's head of Saul's army, an army that pursued after David for the last 10 or 12 years. a position that in David's army is held by a man called Joab. So there's no vacancy. So here's this man, Abner, with all the self-interest in the world, in ensuring that David doesn't become king over the rest of Israel. He took Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim, over to the east side of the Jordan. And there he makes him king, a rival throne. Now Ish-bosheth, we're told, is 40 years of age. He's 10 years older than David. He's the son of Saul. So he has age on his side. He has lineage. Saul's son. He has the men of Benjamin with him. In fact, he has the majority of Israel behind him. And he is Abner, the captain of Saul's army, is now his captain as well. So humanly speaking, this looks like a tremendous challenge to David. Maybe David is thinking, what's God doing? He promised me to become king. He's made me wait all these years, and now there's a rival king? He's older. He has a direct claim to the throne. He's led by Abner. Why is God doing this to me? But you know, there's something very curious. about this incident. If you read carefully between the lines, there's something very curious about Ish-bosheth and about Abner. Number one, Ish-bosheth, we have to ask the question, where was he when his father was being killed? Saul's other sons were with him. Saul's other sons let their lives die, laid their lives on behalf of Saul, including Jonathan and all the rest of them. They fought to their dying breath to save the life of their father and the lives of his nation. So where was Ish-bosheth? Why did he survive? And straight away you get a question about the character of this man. You get the impression he's not loyal. You get the impression he's weak. He's cowardly. So there's a big question mark against Ish-bosheth. And as we go through this book, we'll discover he was a very weak character. He was just a puppet for Abner. But then there's a great question mark against Abner, isn't there? After all, he was supposed to be the head of Saul's army. And where was he when Saul was dying? Where was he when Saul's sons were being killed by the Philistines? Where was he when Saul's body was being desecrated by the Philistines? Where was he? And again, you get the impression that Abner was a coward. that Abner only cared about Abner. And these two weak men, men with no character, now take control of a rival kingdom against David. Now, it's not that Abner didn't know that God had chosen David to become king. Saul himself had testified of it. And in chapter 3 and verse 18, Abner himself makes this confession. Look at the words very carefully. 2 Samuel 3, 18. He says, now then, do it. For the Lord hath spoken of David's sign. So he says, Jehovah has made this declaration about this man David. I know it. By the hand of my servant David, I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines and out of the hand of all their enemies. Abner confesses David is God's choice. He's not just God's choice. Abner confesses he knows David's the best choice. David's the one who has defeated the Philistines always in battle. He has a 100% record against them. He's never even been injured in battle. He's the one who defeated Goliath. He's the one that the Philistines feared more than any other soldier. And Abner knows it. And he knows that God has put his stamp of approval on David and God has chosen David. And yet despite all that knowledge, Abner chooses Ish-bosheth. Why does he choose Ish-bosheth? Because like his cousin Saul, Abner lived for himself. The greatest God in Abner's life was Abner. He didn't care how many people suffered. He didn't care what it cost in terms of lives and blood and humiliation for others, as long as Abner got an advantage. And let me say this very bluntly. There are an awful lot of Abners floating around, not just in politics, but you find them in wider society. It's sad to say you'll find them in the church. The spirit of Abner. The people that know what they should do but choose not to because it doesn't suit their pocket. It doesn't suit their social standing. And they don't care who suffers, whether it's their own family members. Just as long as they get ahead. or think they get ahead for a period of time. And that's the type of man Abner was. But you know, David had also appointed a head of his army, a relative called Joab. Now we can argue whether this was a wise decision or not by David, but David had chosen this man Joab. He had risen to the top And he was a nephew of David's family, had knit them together. And David had a man who was just as ruthless, just as bloodthirsty as Abner. And by the end of this story, we're going to discover God is going to allow Joab to deal with Abner. Now, how did they get there? Well, we're told in verse 12 that David does nothing. He doesn't go to war with Abner because David has learned this lesson over these many years that if God wants you to be king, God will make you king over all Israel in his time and in his way. And David had taken an oath to Saul that he would never lay a finger on a son or a daughter of Saul. David kept his word. He refused to go to war. But Abner and Joab, they had no time for such promises. They had no fear of God's way and God's will. And Abner, he went out with his little gang of Benjamites. Now the tribe of Benjamin were the tribe that were the most warlike of all the other 12 tribes. They were famous for their ruthlessness, for their skill in battle. In fact, one time in the book of Judges when there was a war broke out between the tribe of Benjamin and all the other tribes, the tribe of Benjamin almost defeated the other 11. So vicious and so brutal and so warlike were the tribe of Benjamin. And Abner, he had his little gang. And Joab, he went out with his little gang from David's 600 men. And inevitably, as they went around the land of Israel seeking influence, they came to clash. And the Bible tells us they met at this pool in verse 12 and 13. And this is almost like, it's almost amusing if it wasn't so tragic. It's like two paramilitary gangs, you know, rivals, like one of these loyalist feuds or Republican feuds. Joab, he has his gang, and Abner has his gang. And they meet at this pool, one on one side and one on the other side. And Abner says to Joab, let the young men play. That's a euphemistic way of saying, let them fight. Let's see who's the biggest, who's the strongest. And Joab says, OK, let them go. Joab didn't care if someone died. And Abner didn't care if someone died. It was just a game to them. And the Bible says these men fought and, verse 16, 12 of Benjamin fought with 12 from David's mighty men. And David's mighty men prevailed. And they took their swords, verse 16, and they thrust into each other. And there was such a blood bath. that the place was now called Helkathazarim. It's a word, a Hebrew word that has to deal with bloodshed. It was just like, as I say, these are two mobs, two paramilitary gangs fighting, feuding because of the two big egos of Abner and Joab. And now we have Israelite fighting Israelite. Jew fighting Jew and bloodshed at a time when the nation could ill do, ill afford to have its fighters put to death and now they're killing one another. All because of the ego of a man called Abner and a man called Joab who wouldn't walk away. And we're told Verse 17, there was a very sore battle. The 12 fought the 12, and then the rest began to engage, and you could almost see the 50 cuffs, and the stabbings, and the knife wounds, and the men of Abner begin to lose. And then they run away. And as a metaphor for what's happening in this nation, Because David is going to rise and rise and rise. And Abner and Ish-bosheth are going to go down, down, down. And Abner, Abner's men begin to win. And what does, sorry, Abner's men begin to lose. And what does Abner do? He turns and he runs away. But in running away, it becomes very personal. Because Joab had two other brothers, Abishai and Asahel. Asahel was the youngest. He was the fastest. He was the one trying to make a name for himself like his big brother Joab. And he decided he would choose the biggest target to attack, Abner. And he began to run after him. And two times Abner says to him, turn back. You're just a boy. In fact, he said to him the second time, you need to turn back because if you don't, I'm going to kill you. And if I kill you, your brother Joab will come after me. He'll never forgive me. He was wise about that. He was right about that. But as a hell, no doubt, being young and foolish, Not realizing the experience and the power of a man like Abner. Abner didn't get to the top of the tree of Saul's army by being a weak person. He didn't get to such a position by not being ruthless, by not being able to fight. And here, Azahel, he keeps coming and coming. And in the end, Abner says, you've come too close. And he takes his spear and he drives it right through him. And suddenly, Azahel lies dying on the ground. It's not a game anymore. A boy fighting a man. He's lost his life. And all the army of David or Joab, they stop and refuse to go any further. And Abner shouts out to Joab. He says, enough. If this continues, we're all going to be destroyed. And for the first time, there's some sanity comes into this feud. Because Joab, verse 27, says, as God liveth, unless you had said this, he said we would keep fighting to the last. In verse 28, Job blows a trumpet and he calls a truce. And Abner and his men, they go back over the Jordan River that night to the east side. today where we call the Golan Heights area. And Joab takes his brother's body and the men who were with him, who died with him, 19 of them, and they limp back to Hebron to where David is. Thus ends this first civil war skirmish between the forces of David and the forces of Esbosheth, led by Abner. And what will David do at such a time of tension, bloodshed, desire for revenge and feuding that's now broke out and the bitterness and the division How will David maintain his dignity and his walk with God? And then when he becomes king over, how will he mend the broken pieces and bring the divisions to a close? You know, it's always a sign of spiritual weakness when God's people are fighting one another, always is. It's always a sign that there's sin in a home, in a church, in a nation, when God's people are at war. David knows that. David's going to be very careful, very prayerful, very wise. And this may be his greatest challenge. Because David's a warrior, and naturally, as a man of war, and he's a young man, he's 30 years of age, he wants to hit out. He wants to run ahead of God. He wants to be king, and no doubt he has lots of plans and ambitions for his nation. As a patriot, he loves his nation. He wants to see them united. He wants to see them strong again. He wants to repel the Philistines. But David has to learn in these seven years how to master himself before he can master his people. And that's going to be a challenge, particularly when everybody else is losing their heads, particularly when you have men like Abner and men like Joab who want to stir things up. It's going to take a lot of wisdom. It's going to take a lot of patience. It's going to take a lot of meekness. It's going to take a lot of forgiveness for David not to get drawn into this. And he knows with men like Abner, you can't show weakness. But you also can't be as ruthless. You can't be like them. Someone once said, never get into a fight with a skunk because you both come out smelling terrible. Isn't that right? And when it comes to the Abner's and the Joab's of this world, you have to learn how to handle them. And sometimes you have to be able to work around them. David's going to learn that over these things. God's man, let me say this as I close, will always prosper when he waits on his God to guide him. And if you be patient like David is patient here, when everybody else is losing their heads, you'll discover God will make a way in his purpose and in his time. And in just a few chapters, we'll discover these seven years of waiting, God will vindicate the meekness and the self-control of this man, David. You know the hardest thing to control in life? You know what it is? It's yourself. The hardest thing to master is yourself and your passions and your ambitions and your desires and your temper, and your words, and your choices, and your heart. Those are the hardest things in life to control. And until you learn to control those things, God can't use you and use you successfully. And David is learning the hard way. through all of these trials and tests that God is weaving through his life, that God's way is the best way. Do you remember what he said in Psalm 18? As for God, his way is perfect. Abner's way is not perfect. Joab's way is not perfect. In fact, they're imperfect. But David is learning a lesson that you and I need to learn. That Joab never learned, that Abner never learned, that Ish-bosheth never learned, that Saul never learned, that God's way is always the best way. And I can promise you that this morning. Just wait on God in His time and in His way. He'll lift you up at the right time. He'll bring you to the right place. And he'll put you in the right position in his time and in his way. May God help us to have patience. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for this story of David, a story that teaches us the difference between waiting on God and refusing to wait on God. And we see all these people running around losing their heads because they're governed by their passions and their ambitions and their will. They're governed by the flesh. We thank you that this man David remained above it all because the Bible says his heart was fixed, anchored to the heart of God. When we anchor our soul to the haven of rest, God will take us through the storm in peace and in serenity. Bless your word to our hearts this morning. Teach us these lessons in our own family life, in our own personal life, in the workplace, in the church. For these things we ask in Jesus' precious name. Amen. We're going to sing another carol to close. 1-3-6. Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head. 1-3-6. We'll sing the first and the last verse, please. The stars in the bright sky, Lift up, Lord Jesus, us beyond the hay. Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you that David was willing to wait on God. May we be willing to wait. in hope, in patience, and in meekness. Part us with your love and with your blessing. Take us to our homes in safety. For we ask these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen.