Thank you. All right, let's open up our Bibles together. We are in 2 Samuel chapter 20. That's 2 Samuel chapter 20. And we will read the chapter as we go, so we're at 2 Samuel chapter 20. Before we get started I want to pray, ask for God's blessing upon our time, so let's go before His throne. God, we come before You right now, we thank You for Your written Word, we thank You that You have revealed Yourself to us through the Holy Scriptures, and we pray indeed that You would do that, that You would reveal Yourself, that we would get a glimpse of who You are in our time today. And we pray that You would Bless the study that you would really give us ears to hear you, to understand. We pray if the conviction is needed, you'd bring conviction. If there's peace and comfort and encouragement, that you would bring just that. We just pray that we would have this time and not leave here unchanged. So we pray for your spirit to do just that, to change us, to conform us more and more into the image of your son. We pray this in Christ's name, amen. All right, I think in life sometimes we encounter problems that our solutions don't solve. Been there, done that, right? I mean, even think back in the day in school where you might have been sitting down going through that math problem over and over and over, and the problem, you just can't solve it. Let's go on beyond math though. This past week, my son, he has braces, my one son. We have been there at least four weeks in a row. It's broke every week. Every week that I'm bringing him back in to fix. He's got this added part of the brace that keeps breaking off. And every time the orthodontist... They're trying to figure out a different solution, a different way, so I'm not visiting them the following week. Vertica's still out, it's been three days now, it is working. But I mean, once again, one of those examples where we have a problem and the solutions don't seem to be fixing it. One of my great fears, we mentioned it several weeks back, was for my sump pump to stop working. Guess what happened Friday night? My sump pump stopped working. By God's grace, my backup was working. I did not know that my sump pump was not working. It was so hard to tell. It felt like it was working, and I kept convincing myself it was all the rain. We have so much water, so much rain, so maybe that's why it's just not able to keep up with it. So we started troubleshooting, doing different things, and it kept getting closer and closer. I think at the top, it was two inches from starting to flood my basement. And I was very in a great mood. I was nicely yelling at my children. We actually at one point got a bucket and cups and we kept pouring water in buckets and then people were walking up, dumping the buckets in the sink. It was very futile. It did not help hardly at all. Well, we finally figured out a little bit later something floated by that was not supposed to be floating in there. It was because it fell off of the main sump. We're able to hook it back up. It is working now. We're good to go. By God's grace, no flooding. But it was one of those ones where you have these problems and you're not able to fix it. You think you have the solution and you can't fix it and you're left frustrated with no solution that actually works. Well, that's kind of a snapshot of 1st and 2nd Samuel. You see, there was a problem. If you remember when we started way back in First Samuel, the context was the Book of Judges, and there was a very poignant statement in Judges. It says there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. So they were aware they had a problem. And as we get into 1 Samuel, they come up with a really good solution, so to speak. Said, what we need is you need to give us a king like the world. If you give us a king like the world, it will fix all of our problems. So God says, okay, I will give you a king like the world. Now they've had two kings. They had Saul, they've had David. And guess what happened? All of their problems were fixed, right? I mean, that's what we've seen in 1st and 2nd Samuel, like the utopia of Israel. Everything is peachy, sunny skies. No, that's not the problem. The problem is there's still a problem. As we get to this point, they need more than what this king can offer. They're confronted with the reality that man's ways will never fix man's problems. We need a God solution. Namely, we need Jesus. So that's really how 2 Samuel ends us leaving and longing for more. We see the instability of the kingdom as a result and the ongoing problems that arise. So in our chapter, we're gonna see four ongoing problems that we're gonna unpack. We're going to begin with ongoing problem number one. We're going to see apostasy. They're going to reject, yet again, God's choice. They're going to reject God's promises. And that's something that continues on to this day, both inside and outside of the church. Second problem we're going to address is anarchy. We're going to see one particular character who's the epitome of judges does what is right in his own eyes. We're going to see Joab, and just what happens when we leave our human heart unchecked. Third problem is affliction. We're going to see affliction, and we're going to see the truth is that our sin impacts other people. Our sin is not something that we can kind of separate and keep nice and clean like that plate that's got different compartments. No, our sin impacts people. And we're going to see the affliction that follows. And then lastly, we're going to look at the absence. We're going to see a void of leadership. namely by David, we're gonna see this absence. So let's begin, let's pick up at the beginning at verse one as we see the apostasy, the rejection of God's choice. Now if you... We need to understand something. Chapter 20 is the end of 2 Samuel proper. But Joe, there's four more chapters after chapter 20. You are correct. But those are epilogue. Those are not necessarily chronological. They're from different times in David's past. So right now, kind of the rise, fall and restoration of David is ending in today's chapter. Now, last week we saw Pastor Andy. The return of the king, we saw some good stuff. We saw David extending grace and mercy. So there was some timely things that we were encouraged by. But if you remember, right at the end of chapter 19, there's this tension, this conflict brewing. between Israel and Judah. And it says, but the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. So that's the context that we find ourselves in as we pick up. At chapter 20, I want us to see the truth of God's promises. Read verse one with me. So now, now there happened to be there a worthless man whose name was Sheba, the son of Bitri, a Benjaminite, and he blew the trumpet and said, we have no portion in David and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tent, O Israel. So he claims that there's nothing left for the Israelites when it comes to David. I don't know if you've ever encountered this, but have you ever been in a situation, maybe you went to the dinner table late, you're in a big family, maybe you were doing something, you got home late, and you went over to the pizza box, you guys were having pizza at dinner, you open up the box, and there is no pizza. Anybody, has that ever happened? Very frustrating, very discouraging. Or you go over to that pan of cake that you were so excited about having an extra piece of the cake and you move the aluminum foil or whatever you use to keep it covered and there is no cake left. That's kind of what's... Sheba is saying when it comes to God's promises here, there is no room for us as Israelites with Judah. There's no room that David's promises and everything, all the blessing, it's just going to Judah and we're kind of left with an empty pizza box. And it's not fair, but that is not the truth. We got to remember the promises of God are finding fulfillment through the line of who? of David, right? I mean, remember back in Genesis, when we went through Genesis, Genesis 12, God promised Abraham that all the nations of the world will be a blessing through you. All of them. And I'm going to give you a people and I'm going to give you a place. So we start seeing that continue to progress on. Deuteronomy, when they're entering into the promised land, Deuteronomy 4.20, he says, out of Egypt, you're going to be a people of my own inheritance as you are this day. He goes on to say there was a good land that the Lord God is giving you for an inheritance. So yet again, it's that idea of this promise continuing on. And then if you recall in 2 Samuel 7, verse 16, in your house and your kingdom shall be made forever before me. Your throne shall be established before me. So God's promises to God's people are going to go through David. So what Sheba is saying that somehow there is no room for them is categorically wrong. It's false. It's not true. The truth of God's promises is that they are coming through David and there's plenty of room for all of Israel, all of God's people when it comes to that. So we have to ask ourselves, are you and I discerning of truth? Are you and I discerning of lies? Because it seems like a lot of people amongst God's people were not discerning, did not have wisdom because he did end up getting at least a bandwagon of people that followed suit, that rejected David and followed Sheba. Do you rest in the promises of God? but we see not only the truth of God's promises, I want us to see the treachery against God's promises. Read verse two. So it says, so all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bitri. And the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem. So Sheba calls God's people to do what to God's promises? To reject them, to reject God's choices. He's called a worthless man. Is that something that you would want somebody to say about you? No, but it carries on even an added weight of meaning from our time in 1st and 2nd Samuel. You can look at later, 1st Samuel 2.12, Eli's sons, guess what they were called? They were worthless men. Nabal, 1st Samuel chapter 25, verse 25, he was called a worthless man. It's that idea of being despicable. If you know anything about American history, is it good to be called a Benedict Arnold? you don't want to be called a Benedict Arnold. Benedict Arnold, he ended up betraying the US Army and going on the other side in the Revolutionary War. And now it's notorious, it's what you say when somebody is a traitor, they are Benedict Arnold. It's kind of like that when it comes to Sheba. He's worthless, he's a no good person. He is what we've already seen when we've looked at Absalom, 1 John 2.18. Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, so many Antichrists have come, therefore we know it's the last hour. You see, that's the problem that's going on here. They are rejecting God's choice. We've seen this time and again, right? Saul, what did he do? Rejected God's choice. Saul's son, Ishmael, rejected God's choice. David's son, Absalom, rejected God's choice. In this world today, I mean, we looked at the country of India, over a billion people and only 2% our affiliate or claim the name of Christ, that means 98% of a billion people are rejecting God's choice. Maybe because they haven't heard it, maybe because they haven't, regardless of the reason, that is the reality that we're seeing of rejecting God's choice. But I don't think we are limited to the rejection of God's choice outside of the church. I think even now in our country and in our culture and in our society, the church is slowly being lulled to sleep to reject God's choices, to reject God's word, to reject the truth. I mean, we're hearing from pulpits even today in our city. I guarantee we have people who are supporting things that are very contrary to the word of God, obvious sins. I guarantee there's pastors that are saying that there are other ways to heaven besides Jesus. And yet again, they are rejecting God's commands. Well, does this resistance surprise you? Do you oppose God's choice? Do you oppose his command? So that's the ongoing problem number one, the apostasy, the truth and treachery against God's promises. Let's go on to the anarchy, to the do our own thing mentality. And I want us to look at a wicked man. We're gonna come back to verse three, so I'm not skipping it. We'll come back to it. Let's pick up at verse four. Then the king said to Amasa, call the men of Judah together with me within three days and be here yourself. So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him. And David said to Abishai, now Sheba the son of Bittre will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your Lord's servants and pursue him lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us. And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, the son of Bitri. When they were at the great stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came up to meet him. Now Joab was wearing a soldier's garment, and over it was a belt with a sword, and it sheathed fastened on his thigh. And as he went forward, it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, it is well with you, my brother. Is it well with you, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him, and Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab's hand. So Joab struck him with it in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai, his brother, pursued Sheba, the son of Bitri. And one of Joab's young men took a stand by Amasa and said, whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab. And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway. and anyone who came by, seeing him stopped. And when the men saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him. When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bitri." Notice the wickedness of Joab. Now, if you remember, we need to understand a little bit of the dynamics between Joab and Amasa. Amasa had taken Joab's job, first of all, with Absalom. When Absalom had taken over and David had fled, Amasa became the ruler of the army. And then at some point in that time, Joab ended up going with David and was back with David. And then if you remember last week, one of the ways that David was trying to appease things between Israel and Judah was, I'm gonna make Amasa the ruler again of my people, 2 Samuel 19, 13, and say to Amasa, are you not my bone and my flesh? God, do so to me and more also if you are not commander of the army from now on in place of David. Joab. So he gives the master the job, but he's told to do something and he delays. We don't know why. We don't know what happened. We don't know if he was having a problem getting all the people together, but for whatever reason, he takes too long. David gets impatient. And what David ends up doing is he sends Abishai to go kind of deal with Sheba in the interim, in the meantime. And he sends Abishai, but he sends somebody with Abishai Indirectly, he sends Joab most wanted posters. Most of the time are a little scary, right? Because if you're on a most wanted poster, you probably have done something at least allegedly pretty bad. And there's probably a reason that there's a demand to come get you, to find you. I can only fathom the most wanted poster for Joab. I was talking last night at our life group, the scariest person in 1 and 2 Samuel, I would even say probably scarier than Goliath, besides God, because God is a consuming fire, it's Joab. Joab has historically been ruthless so far in this book. If you remember 2 Samuel 3.27, Abner, he's struck in the stomach, he died. He sees Absalom hanging there. He stabs him with a javelin three times. Now, maybe he didn't kill him directly. After that, other people came along and finished the deal. But for all intended purposes, he killed Absalom in 2 Samuel 18, 14. And then right here, He comes up to the guy, and you saw the language. He drops the sword somehow. He goes up. He's probably a right-handed person. He goes, he grabs the beard as he's going to go kiss him as a greeting, and out of nowhere Amas is not expecting that his stomach would be sliced wide open, his entrails would come out. I mean, that is Joab. He's a wicked man. He has no regard for human life, for the sanctity of life, image bearer. And friends, that is the human heart. Do you understand that? Look at our culture. Look at our society. I didn't follow the court case, but there was that Murdoch court case, the father, the attorney, he killed his wife and son. Like people kill people all the time in our country. Abortion is not out of business in our country. Babies are killed every day in our country. We kill, we don't think twice, because that's the human heart apart from Jesus. Not just wicked man, we see wicked ways. Go to the second half of verse 10 that he does. There's this tension going on and there's blood and they're not sure what to do with the mass's body. They pick it up, they put it off to the side because it's becoming this stumbling block literally and figuratively. And what ends up happening in all this? Did you see it? Who does the one man say, now you get to follow? If you're for David, you follow who? Who's the name? Joab. Joab just got a promotion. How did that happen? Because he is the judge's guy. Judges 17, six. In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That was Joab. Joab had the shirt. I do what is right in my own eyes. We see it time and again with him. He promoted himself. Think of that. Think of a self-promotion like that. Imagine at your work, somebody just comes into the boss's office, sits down at his desk and say, hey, FYI, I'm in charge now. Says who? Me. Says me. Think about it in sports. Think a star quarterback. All of a sudden he goes out to go with the first team offense and the backup comes and says, I got this. Well, I'm the starter now. That is Joab. He just doesn't have any regard because a wicked heart leads to wicked ways. You understand that? He allows David to be king. But what we're going to see is who is really the king with all functionality right now in Israel? It's Joab. It is Joab. He is the one who is really ruling. And I think the warning that we see with Joab is found in James chapter one, verse 14. Each person is tempted when he is lured, enticed by his own desire. And when his desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is fully grown, it brings forth death. One of the things we see with Joab is he never seems to say no to sin. If he has an itch, he scratches it. If he has a desire, he fulfills it. If he wants something, he takes something. And that is what the human heart is apart from Christ. Do you check your sin? I mean, think about it. When is the last time that you said no to sin in your life? Temptation was there. Opportunity presented itself. And rather than indulge, you said no. Do you see God's grace? That if it wasn't for His grace, you and I would be Joab in our story. So we see the apostasy, truth and treachery against God's promises. We see the anarchy. We got this wicked man with his wicked ways. Third ongoing problem is affliction. Read verse three with me. First of all, we see collateral damage. It says, and David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the 10 concubines whom he had left to care for the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them, but did not go into them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood. We got to remember what happened with David and Bathsheba. So David commits adultery, ends up getting Bathsheba pregnant. ends up having Uriah murdered. She ends up going through the full pregnancy of that baby before she ends up having that baby die. And then Nathan comes along and confronts David. And remember what part of God's judgment was on David. Second Samuel 12, verse 11, I'm gonna take your wives and what you did in secret, I'm going to have done in public. So he leaves Jerusalem. Fleeing from Absalom, he leaves these ten concubines back to take care of the house. 2 Samuel 15, 16. And then when Absalom comes back, if you recall, his counsel The one that ended up killing himself later says, hey, here's what you need to do. So he goes in and he lies with these 10 concubines, which really is claiming his place on the throne in regards. But in the midst of all of this, Absalom is dead, David returns, these poor women are here and they suffer. I mean, as I mentioned, it's collateral damage. In military, one of the things, especially with the US government, we try to minimize is we don't want collateral damage. So if we're battling in a war-torn area, the last thing we wanna do is blow up a hospital of the other side and kill a bunch of innocent women and children. And yet, that's what happens with these women. Did they choose to be David's concubines? No. And yet they end up getting, they're basically in prison. Now, it does say that David provides for them, but they're treated as a widow. These are probably younger women and they can't have a future. They can't have a family. They can't have their own spouse or nothing. They're now stuck in there because of David's sin. Was David's sin part of it being having concubines in the first place? That was never God's design for David. And yet we see that. And friends, that's unfortunate reality of our fallen, broken world. Our sin impacts other people's lives. We saw it earlier in the story of Amnon and Tamar. He rapes his sister and her life is permanently altered as a result of her brother's sin. And I know there's many a people, there's some of you even here this day, who have been the victim of other people's sins. Maybe abuse, whatever the case is, and you're haunted by those things, and it wasn't something that you had any control, any say over. But the good news, friends, is Isaiah 61.1, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, and that's what Jesus does. That even if your heart has been broken, God can and does bind up the brokenhearted. One of my favorite chapters I just constantly go back to is in the book of Revelation, where it looks at heaven and it says, He will wipe away every tear. Do you long for that? When I look at this broken world that we live in and there's so much hurt and despair and abuse and human trafficking and all of this stuff, it's God, when is this gonna be over? But there will be a day when it's over and He's gonna wipe away the tears. But in the meantime, don't be surprised when affliction, just wreaks havoc on our world. But not only do we see the collateral damage, we do see compassion demonstrated. So we get to verse 14. It says, and Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, Abeth, Maacah. And all the Bittrites assembled and followed him in. And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in Abel, Abeth, Maacah. They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down. Then a wise woman called from the city, listen, listen, tell Joab, come here, that I may speak to you. And he came near, and the woman said, Are you Joab? He answered, I am. Then she said, Listen to the words of your servant. And he answered, I am listening. Then she said, They used to say in former times, Let them but ask counsel at Abel. And so they settled a matter. I am one of those who are peaceful, peaceful and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the heritage of the Lord? Joab answered, far be it from me, far be it from I, that I should swallow up or destroy. That is not true, but a man of the hill country of Ephraim called Sheba, the son of Bitri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone and I will withdraw from the city. And the woman said to Joab, behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the head. Then the woman went to the people in her wisdom and they cut off the head of Sheba, the son of Bitri, and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet. They dispersed from the city, every man to his home, and Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king." So we see Joab ready to wage war on this city. We're not appreciating that. The fact is he is going to wreak havoc. He is going to wage war on God's people. This is constantly civil war going on. This isn't like a random stranger enemy nation. No, it's its own people. I think we could equate Joab as like a bull in a china shop, and what that means is somebody being around something where everything is very delicate, easily broken, like you wouldn't want to put a bull in literally a china shop, and that was Joab, he was, whatever it took, whatever it was gonna happen, it didn't matter, I'm not leaving here, I don't care if I burn the whole city down, Sheba will be dead before we go home. But if you notice, the only mention of God in the whole chapter, the heritage of Yahweh, is by this woman. And God uses her wisdom to spare the city. And that's where wisdom is always tied, isn't it? Not necessarily with a woman, but with a woman of the Lord. It's tied with Yahweh. Proverbs 1-7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. So where we saw collateral damage with the concubines in this particular instance, we see compassion demonstrated through the Lord. And rather than the whole city gets killed, Sheba ends up with his head off and everybody is spared any more crisis. Also notice this God's use of the anonymous person. I mean, that's the one glorious truth in 1 and 2 Samuel is that God uses a bunch of nobodies. I mean, obviously we have these big characters and names, but God uses people that don't even have names listed in the Bible to save his people. But we see that man's ways endanger mankind. Well, do you desire wisdom? Do you desire God's ways over man's ways? Well, lastly, we see ongoing problem number four, an absence. So we've seen apostasy, we've seen anarchy, we've seen affliction. Lastly, let's look at absence. First question we're going to ask is where is David? Let's read verses 23 to 26. Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was in command of the Cherithites and the Pelethites, and Adoram was in charge of forced labor, and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was the recorder, and Sheva was secretary, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests, and Erah the Jarite was also David's priest. Where is David? It's important. We need to be asking that question because, like I said, so we are officially done with 2 Samuel proper. The rest of it's going to be an epilogue. And it's important because earlier on in 2 Samuel is a comparison paragraph. And we're supposed to see that. It's intentional in the writing of 2 Samuel. You can look at it later, 2 Samuel 8, verses 15 to 18, okay? I'm gonna read that. I want you to look at the paragraph I just read, and I want you to compare and contrast, okay? So I'm gonna read the other one that was earlier, and I want you to see what is missing in the current passage. 2 Samuel 8, verse 15. It says, so David reigned over all Israel, and David administered justice and equity to all his people. Joab, the son of Zeruah, was over the army, and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was recorder, and Zadok, the son of Atub, and Ahimelech, the son of Abathar, were priests, and Zerah was secretary, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Cherithites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests. You see the big difference. The first, the main difference between here, which was during a good time in the reign of David, and the end. Very little mention of David. Because like I said, I've alluded to it throughout. David has been arguably a paper champion. What a paper champion is, is somebody that's in a position, maybe like literally a champion in sports or whatever, but they're there because of circumstances. They didn't earn it. They didn't beat anybody. They didn't win the position. They just have been handed it to them. Well, David is not really appearing to be much of a king in this point. He might be the head, but Joab is the neck. What's the neck do to a head? it can direct everywhere that the head goes. And that's what's going on here. And it's a reoccurring pattern of David not leading. I think one of the greatest tragedies of David in 2 Samuel is his absence. is his failure to lead, his lack of leadership. When his daughter was raped by his son, he did nothing about it. And that has been kind of the summary of David now. Joab is ruling and reigning, and David is just kind of the stamp of approval. So that's where is David, but then the second question we need to ask is what is David doing? It's not that he's just absent. There's an absence. Do you remember what I said David was doing in that first passage? He reigned over all Israel, but then there was a second thing. He administered justice and equity to all his people. Is David doing that right now? Did he administer justice and equity to those poor concubines? And there was one other thing where he's not administering justice and equity in our passage. There was something different. There was an added section in this new section. Does anybody know what it was? It's a name of adorem. He's doing something that wasn't around the first time. What is it? Forced labor. You see, the recipe of a good king, think of a recipe. Because we've had a food, we've even made something where you bake something or cook something and you forgot to put a main ingredient and you tasted it. And they're like, it just doesn't taste right. There's something wrong. It's too bitter. It's too sweet. Like, what are we missing? You know what's missing in David right now is justice. and equity, that he is now somebody who is in charge of slavery amongst God's people. We're not talking about forced labor of enemies. It's forced labor in the house of God amongst God's people. David has somebody in authority of that. What in the world has happened? You know what has happened? They got what they wished for. What did they want? What did they ask? Here's what's gonna fix everything. We want a king like the world. Well, here he is. You got him. And it's not fixing anything. It's getting progressively worse amongst God's people, and it's gonna get way worse. David dies, Solomon, he has wisdom, but he has a whole lot of other problems. And it's just gonna get, and there's gonna be a tension between Judah and Israel pretty much indefinitely. There's gonna be a few good kings here and there. Do you see the disappointment that happens when we trust in man's ways? That's the big lesson for us to glean. Because we look at this world, we look at life, and we think we can fix problems with our own ingenuity, our own ways, our own hope. And friends, you are never going to fix the problems of this world that are real major problems unless God steps in and fixes the problem. Because what we see with man's ways is instability. You get that? It's unstable. Since the tragic earthquake in Turkey and the Syrian border, one of the news stories that's really caught me off guard over the last several weeks has been there's been over almost 200 people and 600 suspects being pursued for, hear this, poor building. that what had happened prior to that over the last several years is there's been shoddy building contracts. People have built not using the parts and stuff they were supposed to so they could save money and end up profiting more as a result. It's all fine and dandy when everything was good, but when you have tremors shaking the ground, one of the things that they were able to notice why there were so many building codes that were not followed is the number of pancake collapses. Like a well-structured building should not completely just pancake. It might fall or break due to the earthquake, but there should be bits and pieces still apart and things like that. It was done poorly and it was unstable. That is building on man's foundation in a nutshell, in the real world. We saw it. Israel saw a problem. No king. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Here's how we're gonna solve it. We're gonna get a king and he's gonna fix our problem. And guess what? It left to the pancake collapse. God allowed them to travel down that path. Two kings in, problems not fixed. Even worse, man's ways will never fix man's problems. What we need is a God solution. And that's the beauty of this book. That in man's solution, God still has a plan. Because there's a partial truth to that. We need a king, you do need a king. But you need the king of kings. You don't need a king like the man, you need a king who's the God man, a king that will fix the problems. And that's really what we are left at the end of 2 Samuel, we're longing for a better king, we're longing for a stable kingdom. Hebrews 12, 28 says, let us be grateful we're receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And I think we need to hear that this morning. You and I need to be reminded of that, that God's kingdom cannot be shaken. So regardless of what we see in our culture, our society, in your personal life, whatever crisis you're going on, whether it's health, whether it's financial, whether it's relational, whatever problem you are currently going through in life, our God's kingdom cannot be shaken. And that's our hope. That's our longing. Because David, we're looking in this book with hoping that this king's going to come through the line. Well, that king has come, and his name is Jesus, and he's coming back. And he still rules and reigns right now, and nothing is catching him off guard in this world. So we can have hope, we can have comfort. And in the meantime, how Hebrews ends on that verse, let us then offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. Let us worship God as we await the return of our glorious King. Let's pray. Father, we come before you right now and we acknowledge, Lord, our own foolishness, how often we want to build a kingdom of our own design, we wanna do things by our own way. And time and time again, we are left discouraged, defeated, and frustrated. So God, we confess our sins before you. We thank you for Jesus. We pray that you would help us to be people who long for his return, people who are committed to Christ. We pray that we would be a people, Lord, who, tell others about this great King that has saved and redeemed us. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Would you please stand as we respond with worship?