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If you have a copy of the Scriptures
this morning, let me invite you once again to turn to the book
of 2 Samuel. And we have been working our
way through this inspired book, inspired volume from the Old
Testament. chapter by chapter and verse
by verse, looking at the life of King David. And we're at that
point where David is caught up in a great civil war. His own
son, Absalom, is leading a rebellion against him. And we are continuing
to follow this, and we're in chapter 17. I'm going to read
verses 1-7. And then we're going to read
verse 14, and then the end of the chapter, verses 27-29. And
then in the message, we're going to be coming back and expositing
the whole of the chapter. But let me invite you now, as
you're able, to stand in honor of the reading and hearing of
God's Word. 2 Samuel 17 Moreover, Ahithophel said unto
Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand 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 returned, 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. And when Hushai was come to Absalom,
Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after
this manner. Shall we do after his saying? If not, speak thou. And Hushai said unto Absalom,
The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time. Let's go on then to verse 14. 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 hath appointed,
had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel to the
intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. And then from verse 27 to the
end of the chapter, And it came to pass, when David was come
to Mahanaim, that Shebe, the son of Nahash of Rabbah, the
children of Ammon, and Makir, the son of Amiel of Lodabar,
and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogalim brought beds and basins
and earthen vessels and wheat and barley and flour and parched
corn and beans and lentils and parched pulse and honey and butter
and sheep and cheese of kind for David and for the people
that were with him to eat. For they said, the people is
hungry. and weary and thirsty in the
wilderness. May God bless again the reading
and the hearing of his word in this place. And let's go to the
Lord together in prayer. Gracious and loving God, we come
to your word today as a people who are looking for the hidden
manna looking for the pearl of great price. And we know that
your word is the good deposit of the truth that speaks of Christ
and points us towards Christ. And so help us to be able to
understand your word today. Help us to be able to attend
to it. Give us eyes to see, give us ears to hear. We ask this
in Christ's name. Amen. And you may be seated. Well, once again, we are learning,
aren't we? We are learning in the school
of Scripture, and we are learning in particular from the life of
one man, the life of David. I enjoy reading and every year
I try to read a couple of biographies or memoirs and I find it's always
very interesting to read and to hear the story of another
person's life, to learn sometimes from their mistakes and then
also positively to learn from their good qualities and their
character and their habits and so forth. So today what we're
essentially doing is continuing this study and looking at this
inspired biography of the life of David. And we're at that point
where we're seeing David is reaping what he has sown in his life. We know that David committed
fornication with Bathsheba. That he then orchestrated the
murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. And so David had
done some heinous things really, some very wicked things. And
then we remember how Nathan the prophet had come. boldly had
spoken God's Word to David, had confronted David and said to
David, you are the man. And the mark of David's godliness
was that when confronted with his sin, David had repented. In fact, he wrote the 51st Psalm
as part of his act of repentance. And he said in that Psalm, Create
in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Against You and You only have
I sinned, O God. And so David repented, and yet
still, David had to bear the consequences for his sin. And
we've seen that unfold. And Nathan had prophesied to
David, remember, that part of the consequences, the repercussions
of his sin, is that God would allow evil to be raised up from
within his own house. If you go back and read 2 Samuel
12, 11, that had been prophesied. And now we're seeing it come
to pass in the rebellion of David's own son, his own flesh and blood
against him, trying to overthrow him. We've noted here recently
that David was living during this period of his life through
what we could call the worst of times. He had been forced
to flee the holy city of Jerusalem. And as he had fled from the city,
he had literally been weeping, tears flowing down from his face.
Look back in chapter 15 and verse 30, where we have a description
of David leaving the city of Jerusalem, going by the Mount
of Olives, and it says, and he wept as he went up, and had his
head covered, and he went barefoot. I mean, this is a picture of
a man at a low point a very low point in his life. And remember,
we saw previously as he went out of Jerusalem, even there
was a man named Shammai who stood there and cursed at him and said,
David, you're a man of Belial. You're a bloody man, a bloodthirsty
man, and God is punishing you. And you might remember that one
of David's soldiers was ready to walk over and just slice that
man's head off. But David had said to him in
chapter 16 and verse 11, he said, no, let him continue to curse
me because the Lord hath bidden him to do so. And then what is
more, David said back in chapter 16 and verse 11, listen, what
this man is saying to me and cursing me and calling down curses
upon me, that's nothing compared to how I feel emotionally with
what has happened to me with regard to my own son, Absalom. He says in chapter 16 verse 11,
Behold, my son which came forth of my bowels seeketh my life. How much more now may this Benjamite
do it, that is, curse me. My own son is rebelling against
me. What more painful things can
happen to me? And so David was walking through,
we could say, the valley of the shadow of death and despair at
this point in his life. And I think what we're gonna
see in this chapter that we're coming to today, chapter 17,
the lasting lesson that we're gonna see here is that although
the Lord may allow His children to walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, although the Lord may allow His children
to walk through despair, and it could be even a despair that
comes as a consequence of their own sin, He will not, however,
in the end, abandon them. His rod and His staff are with
them. And this chapter is going to
remind us that the Lord provides for His saints even in the worst
of times. He provides for His saints even
when they are in the wilderness. He provides for them. what I hope you're going to walk
away thinking by the time we go through the whole passage.
Let's turn to it now and walk through the passage, exposit
it together. The account begins with the conflicting or the dueling
counsels of two men. And again, we're really stretching
our Old Testament vocabulary bank of names, aren't we today?
These aren't your normal David, Isaiah, Adam, Moses type names. If you come away and you can
have it trill off your lips, Ahithophel, and Barzillai the
Gileadite, and so forth, then we've achieved something. But
these men really ought to be better known. Ahithophel is going
to have his council and that council is going to be frustrated
by a man named Hushai the Archite. Now remember, Ahithophel had
been David's counselor And he had gone over to Absalom when
Absalom had rebelled against David. And remember Ahithophel
was thought to be the wisest man in the land. And it was really
a dagger to David's heart when he found out that Ahithophel
had gone over to the enemy side. One commentator called Ahithophel
the Judas Iscariot of the Old Testament. He denied David in
the same way later on that Judas would deny the Son of David,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that Ahithophel said,
again, was thought to be as good as an oracle of God. Look at
chapter 16 and verse 23 where it says, And the counsel of Ahithophel
which he counseled in those days was as if a man had inquired
at the oracles of God. And so, his word was thought
to have special import and blessing. You might also remember, that
David, when he found out that Ahithophel had gone over to the
cause of his rebellious son, that David had a friend named
Hushai the Archite. And Hushai had wanted to accompany
David in fleeing from the city of Jerusalem, but instead David
had said, wait a second, Hushai, I want you to stay in Jerusalem
and I want you to stay for the very purpose of being there to
frustrate the council of Ahithophel. I want you to be there to defeat
the council of Ahithophel. And you remember David also left
some other confederates behind. He left behind the priests, Zadok
and Abiathar and their sons. so that he would have some spies
in Jerusalem to undermine the council of Ahithophel. We talked
about in previous messages about how in one sense David accepts
the sovereignty of God, he accepts the will of God in his circumstances,
but it also doesn't mean that he's passive. He also actively
works to attempt to better his circumstances in the light of
the rebellion that was going on against him. And so chapter
17, with that background, chapter 17 opens with Ahithophel bringing
what would have been good counsel to Absalom. And so it says in
chapter 17 in verse 1, that Ahithophel said to 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 returned, so all the people shall be in peace." Now,
this would have been good counsel, and Ahithophel's plan was essentially
that he himself would take a large group of men, and they would
strike quickly against David, and they would strike specifically
to take out just David alone. Notice the second half of verse
2, and I will smite the king only. brings a shiver down your
spine because we know that no one is supposed to strike out
against the Lord's anointing. Remember David, he would not
strike Saul, for example, when Saul was the king. And so Ahithophel
was willing to strike down David, the Lord's anointed. And then
though he thought if he did that, he would be able to bring all
the people over to Absalom's side because they would be left
leaderless if David were eliminated. And so this is Ahithophel's plan. And we're to think if Absalom
would have implemented this plan, that it might have worked. And
so, indeed, it appears to be a very favorable plan to Absalom,
initially, and to the elders of Israel, as we're told in verse
4. But then, Absalom, in his wisdom, if we could call it that,
asks to hear the counsel of Hushai the Archite. Now, usually it's
a general, in fact, one of the Proverbs says that in the multitude
of counselors, there is wisdom. Usually it makes sense to ask
the advice of many people and to hear from many sides and perspectives
when you're making decisions. But in this case, Absalom is
lacking discernment. He doesn't realize that Hushai
is not on his side. And so he's exercising a lack
of discernment. And so he calls in Hushai, the
archivist, David's confederate, David's spy within the palace
to give his viewpoint. And so we look at verses five
and six. Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai
the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.
And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying,
Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner." Another mark of
Absalom's foolishness is he doesn't just ask Hushai to give his opinion,
but he spills the beans and tells him what Ahithophel had planned
to do. Shall we do after his saying,
if not speak thou? So he's not very discreet or
wise in the way he approaches this. One commentator pointed
out that whereas Ahithophil's words were brief and to the point,
Only about 40 words are recorded from Ahithophel in verses one
through three in Hebrew. Hushai's counsel, which he commences
to bring in verses seven through 13, is long and verbose, about
three and a half times longer than Ahithophel's speech. Ahithophel's
speech is wise, but Hushai's speech is cunning. First, notice
in verse 7 that Hushai says Ahithophel's counsel is not good at this time. And Hushai said unto Absalom,
the counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time. Now, it would have drawn too
much attention if Hushai had immediately come out and attacked
Ahithophel's counsel because his counsel was so revered. Instead,
what he does is subtly undermine, saying, you know, normally Ahithophel's
counsel is very good. But I just question his timing.
This time, it just doesn't seem quite right. Secondly, then,
he appeals in this master speech to fear of David and fear of
David's men and their cunning. Look at beginning in verse eight. "'For,' said Hushai, "'thou knowest
thy father and his men, "'that they be mighty men "'and they
be chafed in their minds, As a bear robbed of her whelps in
the field. I was talking to somebody earlier
today about the video recently that showed up on the web of
the tourists out in Yosemite who got chased by the mother
bear and her cubs. He says, David is going to be
like a bear. If you try to attack him, he's
going to come after you and his mighty men are going to be with
him. And he says, second half of verse eight, and thy father
is a man of war and will not lodge with the people. Verse
nine, behold, he is hid now in some pit. or in some other place,
and it will come to pass when some of them be overthrown at
the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter
among the people that follow Absalom. Verse 10, And he also
that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall
utterly melt. For all Israel knoweth that thy
father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant
men. So you see, Hushai is very clever
and very cunning. He appeals to fear. You better
be careful, Absalom, because David and his men are clever
and they are mighty and they will outfox you. He's not with
the people. He's in some spider hole somewhere. You're never going to be able
to catch him. And if you try to attack him and some of your
men fall, you're going to create panic in your own ranks. You
better not go in there and try to attack. David, it's foolhardy. You better watch out for your
own net. His council here reminds me a
little bit of the council. Remember the story of earlier
in Israel's history when the spies were sent into the land
in the time of Moses and some of the spies came back and said,
there are giants in the land. We are like grasshoppers in their
eyes. And so Hushai likewise is appealing
to fear. He appealed to bad timing, he
appealed to fear, and then thirdly, he appeals to Absalom's own vanity,
which was great. And he does this by telling Absalom
that if he would only wait to strike David, then all Israel
would come to his side. Look at verse 11, Therefore I
counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan
even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude,
and that thou go to battle in thine own person. The second
part of that in verse 11, Hushai's plan is that he not allow Ahithophel
to lead an army against David, but that Absalom himself lead
into the battle. And if you know the rest of the
story, that's what Absalom is going to do. And it ends up being
personally disastrous for him. He ends up being killed on the
battlefield. This is Hushai's counsel to him.
He also counsels the cruel wiping out, not only of David, but also
of all those allied to him. Look at verse 12. So shall we
come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we shall
light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground. And of him and
of all the men that are with him, there shall not be left
so much as one. Do you see the contrast with
Ahithophel's plan? Ahithophel's plan was just, let's
just take David out. Let's spare the people. But Hushai
appeals again to Absalom's vanity and to his cruelty, and he says,
let's not just wipe out David. Let's wipe out everybody who's
on David's side. And then finally, and another
appeal to Absalom's vanity. Hushai spends a scenario of both
the people's unrealistic loyalty to Absalom and their unrealistic
disloyalty to David in verse 13. Moreover, if he be gotten
into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city and
we will draw it into the river and there shall be not one small
stone found there. And Absalom, is just apparently
drinking in all this appeal to his vanity. Now, Absalom has
two competing councils. He has the council of Ai Thophel,
and he has the council of Husha the Archive, who's really working
for David. And we know that one of the councils,
again, the council given by Husha the Archite, is simply meant
to confound Absalom and to frustrate the council of Ahithophel that
he has given. Well, what will happen? Which
one will Absalom choose? The issue is not really going
to be whether or not Hushai has been adequately cunning, whether
he's been wise enough, whether his rhetoric has been good enough.
Because as we read on, we find out in verse 14, that indeed
Absalom and all the men of Israel said, the council of Hushai the
archite is better than the council of Ahithophel. When Absalom and
those men made that choice, they essentially were signing their
death warrants, though they didn't know it. And then to seal everything
off, we have the second half of verse 14. Pay close attention
to what the inspired writer of scripture says here. For the
Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel
to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. The issue again was not how cunning
Hushai was, or even how dull and what a lack of discerning
that Absalom had. The real issue here was the invisible,
guiding hand of the Lord who was directing and orchestrating
all the circumstances in conformity to his own plans and purposes. The reason or the source for
Absalom taking Hushai's counsel was not that David had constructed
a good plan to send Hushai, not that Hushai was cunning and gave
a counsel that frustrated Ahithophel's superior counsel, but the deciding
factor was the Lord who secretly directs the lives of men. And that's something that sometimes
even we who are believers can forget. We think I'm going through
my life and I'm making my decisions or everything about my life is
being affected by the decisions of others perhaps. And this little
half verse here in verse 14 is just a reminder, friends, there
is a sovereign God in this world. and He is directing the affairs
of men, and He is bending everything toward His own glory and to the
good of His people. Now, we might note also in verse
14 that God's decree doesn't work out in the end merely for
the blessing and protecting of David, although that's certainly
the focus of it. But it also has as its focus
the bringing of evil upon Absalom. Look at the second half of verse
14. To the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. God's decree of salvation for
David means little if we do not also come to terms with his decree
of reprobation upon Absalom. And so He's a sovereign God.
He's sovereign over everything. The inspired author has given
us here in the second half of verse 14 something that we so
very rarely, dare I say ever, receive in this life. That is,
we are given here a divine perspective on things. Wouldn't sometimes
in your life, wouldn't you like to say, oh God, please just open
the heavens up and let me see what is the right thing to do,
or let me see why you have allowed this to happen. Let me see what
the repercussions are gonna be in my life, or the lives of my
children, or the lives of others. Let me see the end, let me see
the divine perspective. We rarely, I would say probably
never get to see that. in this life. But here, through
this miracle of the Scriptures, we're given something that even
David and Ahithophel and Hushai, they couldn't see. But the inspired
writer of Scripture is telling us what God was doing during
those times. We next hear of the aftermath
of these dueling councils, and we hear how things began to play
out. Hushai immediately leaves, we're
told, and he goes to his fellow confederates, his other spies
within the house of Absalom. He goes to, in verse 15, Zadok
and Abiathar, the priests, And he shares with them what the
counsel of Ahithophel had been and the counsel that he counseled. And then he tells them in verse
16, Now therefore send quickly and tell David, saying, Lodge
not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily
pass over, lest the king be swallowed up and all the people that are
with him. So he sends counsel through. Abiathar and Zadok tell David
to flee as quickly as he can so that if he takes the council
of Ahithophel, they're not swallowed up and crushed. And so the priests
in turn pass the message on to their sons who will serve as
the couriers. Look at verse 17. Now Jonathan
and Ahimaz stayed by Enrogel, for they might not be seen to
come into the city. And a wench or a maidservant
went and told them, and they went and told King David. Now,
that's sort of the overview of what happened, and then we hear
that this, though, didn't come easily, because in verse 18 it
says, a lad, a young boy, saw the men and reported it to Absalom.
And so the priest's sons, Jonathan and Ahimaz, had to go down into
the bottom of a well quickly, and to hide there in a well that
was within a court, in verse 18. And then while they were
there, in verse 19, it says, a woman took and spread a covering
over the well's mouth and spread ground corn or grain thereon,
and the thing was not known. When the lad tells Absalom's
men about these messengers who are slipping out of the city
to David's side, they come to this woman's house, but all they
see is the covering over the well and the grain, and they
don't know that the spies are hidden down at the bottom of
the well. And when they asked the woman, where is Himaz and
Jonathan, the woman said unto them, verse 20, that they have
gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and
could not find them, it says, they returned to Jerusalem. So the spies were able again
in the providence of God to escape from Absalom's men. And it says
in verse 21, and it came to pass after they were departed, that
they came out of the well and went and told King David, and
said unto David, arise and pass quickly over the water, for thus
hath Ahithophel counseled against you." We are reminded once again
that it is the Lord who is the great conductor, who is leading
and directing the symphony of peoples and circumstances and
actions and choices. And now in verse 23, we have
the reaction of Ahithophel. What is Ahithophel going to do
when he finds out that Absalom is not going to accept what he
knows is good counsel? Look at verse 23. And when Ahithophel
saw, that his counsel was not followed. He saddled his donkey
and arose, and got him home to his house, to his city, and put
his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried
in the sepulcher of his father." I called him earlier the Judas
Iscariot of the Old Testament. And what did Judas do after he
betrayed Jesus? He went and hung himself. And
what does Ahithophel do after he betrays David and his plans
are foiled? He goes back to his home and
he hangs himself. Ahithophel knew that his goose
was cooked and he despaired so much that he took his life. He
could read the writing on the wall. They knew the end was not
going to be pretty. So he goes home very carefully,
very meticulously, in a very orderly way. He takes his own
life. He was a man who was efficient
in life and apparently efficient in death. And this becomes the
beginning of the complete unraveling or undoing of Absalom's ill-conceived
and short-lived rebellion against his father, David. When I read
verse 23, I might initially think that I have some pity for Ahithophel. But when we look at it more closely,
we think about it, we consider that Ahithophel was not just
siding with Absalom. He was rebelling against David,
against God's own anointed. And in doing so, he was rebelling
against God himself. And as one commentator points
out, in the death of Ahithophel, we are reminded that all those
who oppose Christ, the Son of David, with the same vigor and
skill that Ahithophel opposed David, that one day they also
will face defeat. One commentator, Ralph Davis
says of Ahithophel, his end is a sign of what will happen to
all the enemies of Christ and His kingdom. You cannot attack
the kingdom of God without sooner or later being crushed by the
power of God. Sometimes we need to stop and
remember who is going to fail. and who is going to triumph in
this life. If ever we think because of the
circumstances of the times or our lives, if we are prone to
despair, perhaps we need to remember who is going to win in the end
and who is going to fail. The final scene of chapter 17
has David coming to a city called Mahanaim. Look at verse 24. Then
David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all
the men of Israel with him. And they are now preparing for
this climactic battle. Again, Absalom full-heartedly
following the council of Hushai the Archite. Absalom, we are
told in verse 25, made a man named Amasa the captain of the
host instead of Joab. Although Amasa comes from Joab's
household, he is going to appoint this man to be head over his
army. And so it says in verse 26, so
Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. Now we know
how the story is going to end. We know that David is going to
triumph. We know that Absalom is going to fail. But at this
point, no one knew how things were going to work out. David
might have despaired. He might have thought, I may
be defeated by my own son. Absalom certainly thought he
was going to triumph. At this point, certainly, David
was in that valley of despair, that valley of the shadow of
death. And then we're told right at this point, as David is lining
up to fight against his own son, probably outnumbered, thinking
it unlikely he's going to be able to win, on the run, he has
support and refreshment that comes from an unlikely corner. Look at verse 27, And it came
to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi, the
son of Nahash of Rabah, the children of Ammon, and Makir, the son
of Amiel of Lodabar, and Barzilai, the Gilead of Rogelim, brought
beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley,
and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched
pulse, and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kind
for David, and for the people that were with him to eat. Now
what's unusual about this? It's unusual because three men
from unexpected corners, from unexpected sources come to help
David. The first one who's mentioned
is Shelbi, who is described as an Ammonite. Who are the Ammonites?
The Ammonites were the enemies of the Israelites. But in this
time of need, Shelbi the Ammonite comes to bring these provisions
to David and his people. The second man mentioned is a
man named Machir. And this man was from the house
of Saul. If you go back and read in 2
Samuel 9, he was the one who was keeping Mephibosheth in his
house when David became the king. And so here is a man from the
house of Saul who should have hated David because of David's
undoing of Saul's kingdom, but instead he brings to David provisions. And the third man is this man
known as Barzillai the Gileadite. He's later described in chapter
19.32 as a very aged man. And so the Lord marshals for
David support from at least three unlikely sources, and they bring
to him a huge store of provisions. Now, reading through that list,
some of you may be thinking, hmm, lentils, parched pulse? But think about it. If you've
been in the wilderness, you've been on the run, look at the other things
that are on the list. Honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese
from cows. These are people who are hungry,
who are thirsty. And these provisions are brought
to them on the eve of the battle, just when they needed them. Look
at the description that is given to the people in verse 29. For
they said, the people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the
wilderness. Have you ever really been hungry
and had something provided? Well, that was given to David
from unlikely sources and unlikely corners while he was in a point
of despair on the eve of battle against his own son. Well, we've
worked through the passage. And as we look back on it, I
want us to consider some of the spiritual wisdom and nourishment
that this chapter might hold for us. And I know as we've been
going through this series, we've said before, you know, if we
only read this book and we only read through 2 Samuel, and the
only thing we get from it is a history lesson, you might be
really interested in history. You might gain something from
knowing something about the history of Israel. But if that's all
we get, we have really missed the point. of 2 Samuel, because
this is not here just to tell us about the history of Israel.
This is part of the inspired Word of God, and it has been
provided to God's people in order to feed us and encourage us in
our spiritual lives. In Romans 15 4, Paul wrote, For
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning. that we through patience and
comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Second Samuel 17 is
written so that through the patience and comfort of the scriptures,
we might have hope. In this series, looking at the
life of David, we've sometimes seen David as a negative example,
haven't we? We've seen David doing things
that we want to avoid, whether it's entering into an illicit
relationship with Bathsheba, whether it's plotting the murder
of Uriah the Hittite, whether it's being a passive father,
an indulgent father to his sons. We've seen things there where
we've said, you know, I don't want to be like that. David is showing me what
I don't want to be like. But on the other hand, sometimes
we have seen in David's experience a positive example, like when
he brought the ark up into Jerusalem. And he worshiped the Lord and
he was so happy and so glad to have the presence of the Lord
and to be in the presence of the Lord. And then sometimes
we just have in David's life a model that we can relate to
because all of us as believers, we're like David. We're saved
and yet sometimes we're still struggling with sin. We know
that which is right to do, that which would honor God, but then
sometimes we fall short even of our aspirations to please
and to serve the Lord. And yet somehow walking through
that experience, somehow we feel like He's still with us. He's
not forsaken us. He's alongside of us, and sometimes
He's gently correcting us. Sometimes He's cheering us on,
encouraging us when we're going in the right directions. And
so sometimes when we look at David's story, we find encouragement
and hope for us as we make our own pilgrimage. In this passage,
we have continued to see how the Lord allowed David to suffer
the consequences of his sin. But we also see how the Lord
continued to make provisions for David in His providential
care for him. Because you see, the Lord does
not have as His purpose to crush the saints. He doesn't have as
His purpose to crush you in guilt. Every one of us here, we could
stand up here and we could tell stories of things that we did
before we were converted. And that we could talk about
things that we're ashamed of now, ways we acted. And some
of us, truth be told, we can tell stories of things we've
done after we became converted. Can we not? And ways in which
we feel that we have failed the Lord, and we haven't lived as
we should, and done the things that we should. And we walk around
with guilt about this, remorse about this. But the Lord's purpose
in giving that to us is not to crush us. is to care for us,
to spur us on toward that which is better and more godly. And
we see that at work here in the description of David. Because
David, at this point of despair, the Lord is still communicating
to him comfort and encouragement. I like the Puritans, the old
Reformed men of generations past. And one of their favorite verses
A kind of obscure verse you don't hear really memorized or recited
very much, but one of their favorite verses was Matthew 12, 20. And
it reads like this, it's Jesus speaking. He says, it says of
the Lord, a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax
shall he not quench. And the Puritans loved that passage.
One of them named Richard Sibbes wrote a whole book just on that
verse. They were prone to do things
like that, wrote a whole book on just one verse. A bruised
reed he shall not break, and a smoking flax he shall not quench. And what they got out of that
was the Lord will not break a bruised reed. And if you're a bruised
reed, If you've had things happen to you that have bruised you,
and your conscience is wounded, oh, the Lord's purpose is not
to break a bruised reed. And if you feel like your faith
is just a smoking flax, it's barely something that's burning,
maybe one time it burned brightly, but it's gone down, and there's
not even a fire there, there's just some smoke coming out. You
see, the Lord's purpose is not to quench the smoking flax, but
to revive it and to kindle it. And you see, the Lord was not
crushing David, but the Lord was providing for David, even
in these desperate circumstances. I want to look at, just briefly
in application, at two verses. two verses that speak to this.
The first one, as you might imagine, is the second half of verse 14,
we already spent some time on. For the Lord had appointed to
defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel to the intent that the Lord might
bring evil upon Absalom. This verse reminds us that there
is comfort to be found in the sovereignty of God. Again, note
that this is not a passage where someone is saying this to David,
or someone is saying this about David. It's just the inspired
writer of Scripture simply addressing those of us who are reading this
book as Scripture. He is reminding us that behind
the scenes, there is always the invisible hand of God who is
guiding and shaping all circumstances. The New Testament equivalent
to 2 Samuel 17, 14 would be Romans 8, 28. And we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to His purpose. I don't know your circumstances.
You may not now be in the valley of shadow of death. You may be
riding on the high hills. But at some point in your life,
you're gonna go through the valley of the shadow of death and the
valley of despair. And when you do, if it's any
comfort to you, know that there is a sovereign God. There is
an invisible hand and he is shaping all things for his own glory
and for the good of his people. There is a sovereign God. Saints
find comfort in that. The second verse I want to call
our attention to finally is that second half of verse 29. For
they said, the people is hungry and weary and thirsty in the
wilderness. The Lord knew the condition of
David and his people. Sometimes when you're in a difficult
spot, you may begin to ask yourself in despair, does the Lord even
know what's happening to me? Does the Lord even care what's
happening to me? Does my life even appear as a
blip on His radar screen? If He knows, why isn't He doing
something? Why isn't He helping me in some
way? But see, this verse reminds us
that the Lord knew David's condition and he knew the condition of
his people. And he acted in such a way as to supply them their
need. Go back and read through that
list of all the things that he brought them from unexpected
sources, from Ammonites and from the house of Saul and from an
agent man from unlikely sources. He brought all this rich provision.
to them. Let me ask you this, what father
or mother in this room today would see their child hungry
and weary and thirsty and not provide for that child food and
rest and drink? Then friends, ask yourself this,
how much more will our loving Heavenly Father provide for His
children when they are in need? When they are hungry and tired
and weary and thirsty, will he not hear their cries and provide
for them? Charles Spurgeon, in his book,
Lectures to My Students, tells the story about a godly minister,
probably one of the Scottish, what are called the Scottish
Covenanters, Scottish ministers who were persecuted for their
faith. And he tells of one of these
men who was being chased by a group of soldiers who wanted to arrest
him. And he was in the countryside,
and he ran into a farm, into a barn where there was a hayloft.
and he hit himself in the hay. And while he was lying there
in the hay, let me pick up the way Spurgeon says it. He says,
the soldiers went into the place, picking and thrusting with their
swords and bayonets. And the good man even felt the
cold steel touch the sole of his foot. And the scratch which
was made remained for years. Yet his enemies did not discover
him. Afterwards, Spurgeon says, a
hen came and laid an egg every day, hard by the place where
the man was hidden. And so he was sustained as well
as preserved until it was safe for him to leave his hiding place.
He's lying in the hay, trying not to be found. And the Lord
sends a chicken who lays an egg right by him every day. And he
didn't give him a steak dinner every day. He didn't give him
lobster every day. But he did send that hen to lay
him an egg every day. And so every day he had one egg
to eat. And he made it through and made
it to safety. Some of you in this room may be able to look
back on your experience of Christ and see how the Lord has been
able to provide for you in the wilderness. Some of you may even
have the scratch on the heel to remind you of the time when
you've been jabbed at. Or you may have the memory of
the daily egg or some other way that God provided. Consider what
the author of Hebrews said in Hebrews 13, five and six. He
said, let your conversation be without covetousness, and be
content with such things as you have. For he hath said, I will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say,
the author of Hebrews says, the Lord is my helper, and I will
not fear what man shall do unto me. See, that's what David was
learning. And that's what we all have to
learn. You know, the Lord provides for His people in the wilderness.
And do you know what His greatest provision for us has been? Do
you know what He did for us when we were in the wilderness of
sin? He gave us the best provision
of all. Even the Lord Jesus Christ who
came and died on a cross for sinners. and said, whoever would
repent of his sin and believe on me, he will have life in me. That's the greatest provision
that he has ever given us. Has he given you that provision?
If he gives you that, you will want and lack nothing else. Amen? Amen. Let me invite you
to stand together. Let's pray. Lord, we're thankful for the
reminder today that whatever happens in this life, whatever
the decisions that are made by great statesmen and leaders and
whatever the many things that happen in our own lives, that
you are there, you are the invisible presence, you are guiding the
course of history, you're guiding the course of our own lives and
gracious God, you are providing for your people and you are preserving
us, you're picking us up when we fall and you are feeding us
when we are hungry and giving us to rest when we are weary
and Father, I pray that we would just learn from the life of David
today And we will be able to take these truths and apply them
into our own lives and know the comfort of the gospel and to
have confidence in Christ, who is Lord of all. We ask this in
Jesus' name. Amen.
God's Provision in the Wilderness
Series 2 Samuel Series
| Sermon ID | 517151442112 |
| Duration | 53:09 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | 2 Samuel 17 |
| Language | English |
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