If you have your Bibles, please open to 2 Samuel chapter 17. We'll be looking at verses 24 through chapter 18, verse 18. So kind of taking a different chunk of text than what's, you know, divided in the scriptures and your Bibles. But actually, this is the really the focus of this passage are these verses in verse 24 of chapter 17 up through 18, 18. Let me read this passage first, and we will dive into the text again. Second Samuel. as we are nearing our conclusion to this book. Here now the words of the one and only living and true God. Then David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan and all the men of Israel. Now Absalom had set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite, who had married Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother, and Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead. When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi, the son of Nahash from Rabah of the Ammonites, and Mehir, the son of Amiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai, the Gileadite from Rogalim, brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils, honey, and curds, and sheep, and cheese from the herd. for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, the people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness. Then David mustered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. And David sent out the army one-third under the command of Joab, one-third under the command of Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and one-third under the commander of Ittai, the Gittite. And the king said to the men, I myself will go out with you. But the men said, you shall not go out, for if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth 10,000 of us. Therefore, it is better that you send us help from the city. The king said to them, whatever seems best to you, I will do. So the king stood at the side of the gate while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands. And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom. So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David. And the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. The battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword. And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth while the mule that was under him went on. And a certain man saw it and told Joab, Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak. Joab said to the man who told him, What, you saw him? Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have been glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt. But the man said to Joab, Even if I fell in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not reach out my hand against the king's son. For in our hearing, the king commanded you, and Abishai and Ittai, for my sake, protect the young man Absalom. On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously against his life, and there is nothing hidden from the king, then you yourself would have stood aloof. Joab said, I will not waste time like this with you. And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom. while he was still alive in the oak. And 10 young men, Joab's armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him. Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained them. And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him a very great heap of stones. And all Israel fled, everyone to his home. Now Absalom, in his lifetime, had taken and set up for himself the pillar that is in the king's valley. For he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom's monument to this day. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our Lord stands forever. Let us pray. Lord God, again, we come to you in humble submission of your Word. We pray, O Lord, that you would give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to obey it. This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Everyone leaves behind a legacy of sorts. We see Absalom's legacy definitely was not the type of legacy that you would want to have summed up in your own life. It was a legacy built upon pride, built upon himself, not built upon the Lord and the Lord's kingdom. As we just read in verse 18, this is really the summary of all that Absalom had done, from killing his own brother, to overthrowing David, to now his life ending. Verse 18 of 18, it says, Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself a pillar in the king's valley. And he called the pillar after his own name. And to this day, to the day in which the author is writing 2 Samuel, it was still called Absalom's moment. Clearly, Absalom was not anointed as God's king over Israel, stark contrast to David. Absalom was also not part of this promise of God, this covenant promise of having an eternal dynasty, an eternal house that God would build upon David. Absalom's life represents a life of privilege without a life that's actually dedicated to the Lord. He was a member of the covenant community. He communed with his own father. In the end, we have to realize just how much pride can take a prominent effect in our own lives, our attitudes between God's own covenant people. Pride always seeks the interests of self, the interests of the world, rather than the interests of the Lord. And this is why we have Paul writing to the church in Philippi, telling us to submit ourselves, be humble, just as Christ himself demonstrated true humility in Philippians 2 verses 5 through 11. So with regard to Christ's own humility in the model of Christians, we need to recognize that we need to be a people that obey the Lord with humility. And we'll see three ways in which we are to do that this evening. First, the provision for God's people in chapter 17, verses 24 through 29. Second, protection for God's people in chapter 18, verses 1 through 8. And finally, punishment for God's enemy in verses 9 through 18 of chapter 18. So first, we'll look at provision for God's people as we look at the rest of chapter 17. Now, we're really just given a litany of people, places, and things, right? Here's some places that this all occurred. Here's some important people. Here's the things that the people were giving to David. But nonetheless, we have first David coming to Mahanaim. Now, if you remember all the way back, all the way back to 2 Samuel 2.8, this was the very place where we are told that Abner, the son of Ner, the commander of Saul's armies, took Saul's son, Ishmael, and set him over as the king of Israel in Mahanaim. So already David's kind of going back to that initial site where Saul was prominently raising up his army against David, as David is now in the place of having an army raised up against him. And we have a various amount of people who are just kind of presented that were already alluded to earlier in the narrative. First is that of Amasa. Now, Amasa was David's nephew. We're told that in 1 Chronicles 2, verses 13 through 17. And eventually, as we jump into the next chapter, Amasa will actually take the place of Joab amongst the armies, 2 Samuel 19.13. David says, and say to Amasa, are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me and more also if you are not the commander of the army from now on in place of Joab. So Amasa will eventually be the commander over David's own army, as really David does this amazing, gracious thing and begins to pardon all of his enemies who rose up against him with Absalom. Nonetheless, and it really shouldn't be much of a shock knowing Joab's behavior, but Amasa would end up being killed by Joab himself. Joab's really a loose cannon all throughout 2 Samuel. He's kind of just taking matters into his own hand, doing justice as he sees fit. And we're told in 2 Samuel 20, verses 9 through 10, that Joab goes, strikes him in the stomach, and deals a second blow to finally kill and finish off Amasa. So after Amasa is lord, or excuse me, commander over the Israel armies, it takes another chapter of narrative for us to see that Joab, in fact, kills him and defeats him. The second person we're introduced to is Shobai. Now, he's from the town of Raba, and that goes all the way back to 2 Samuel 12, 26 through 31, the place that Joab himself had actually captured. And really, Shobai is the one who gets an extension or receives David's actual pardon in 2 Samuel 10, verses 1 through 2. David says, I will deal loyally with Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father had dealt loyally with me. So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father, and David's servants came into the land of the Ammonites." So again, we see this characteristic of David pardoning his enemies throughout as he's giving them a place of prominence in his armies and alongside of him, as we see the son of Nahash, whose own father was given this pardon from David himself. Likewise, we're introduced to Mechir. He's mentioned in 2 Samuel 9 verse 4 when we see David extending that kindness to Mephibosheth. You remember Mephibosheth was a son of Jonathan. He was crippled, unable to walk, and Mechir was one of the servants with him. And McKeer, likewise, was a very wealthy man, very tuned into the system of economics during this time. And we're wondering as to why he would actually come into the army of Israel. He's more than likely impressed with the graciousness of the king in showing favor to, really, a son of Saul, if you look at the lineage, with Mephibosheth. And so Mehir, likewise, joins this rabble gang of unknowns, insignificant figures, who join the army of Israel. And then fourthly, we're given another character, Barzilay. Now we see in 1 Kings 2, 7, him introduced again. David says, but deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table. For with such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom, your brother. Again, David is kind of showing this graciousness to these individuals. And if we look at a summary of all these men who David now has lined up with him, they really shouldn't have been on his team from the get-go. Shobai was a pagan, yet Shobai is extended grace by David. Mechir was a loyalist of Saul. Yet he joins David's side as well. And Barzillai was a much older man, a man not really fit for combat and military conquest. Yet, nonetheless, these three men come to aid David and aid his war effort. And we see the prominence of these men as those who not only serve Yahweh himself, but also serve Yahweh's king, King David. And really, they stood by David with all that had been going on around them. Again, Absalom had taken over Jerusalem. He was in the well-fortified city. Anybody in their right mind would have joined sides with somebody who is in a well-fortified fortress, rather out in the wilderness. But all three of these men joined forces with David. Dale Ralph Davis, a great commentator on the Old Testament, this is what he writes of the significance of this passage. He says, Israel had a covenant king, and they had no right to abandon him, nor did they. It should require no imagination to see that covenantally, the Christian disciple stands in the same relation to the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of David, and Yahweh's appointed king. No matter how heavy the assault upon His authority and rule, no matter how much He is demeaned or despised, we are under orders to go on confessing Him and supporting His subjects. You see the parallels between us as Christians, as the Lord, Jesus Christ, as our King, as our covenant keeper, in the same way in which this band of men who really had no prominence, real business being with David, just as we had real no business being with God as his children. are standing there with them, despite the overwhelming odds, despite really what was probably on their conscience and mind, we're all going to die in this. Absalom has amassed this massive army. There's no way we're going to survive in the wilderness. Nonetheless, the people of God who serve the Lord stood by their king. And we too, as Christians, ought to be willing, with love and care, to serve alongside of our king as well. A king who does not lose battles, whose victory has been won and accomplished. Likewise, we see God providing. We see God's provision, His providence, in giving David and his men just what they needed at just the right time. Again, we see in verse 29, David and the people with him were hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness, but they give them all this great provision. I mean, this is really a kingly feast, a great banquet for them to feast upon before they go out into battle. We even see the psalmist proclaim this in Psalm 37, 25. He says, I have been young and now am old. Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. Again, we think about the Lord's providence, his care that he has for his own people. The men were starving. The Lord comes in with just what they need at just the right time. And overarching this providence, this sustenance, really goes back to 2 Samuel 7 in the Davidic covenant. The fact that God himself declared that David would always have an heir on the throne. And really this is an extension of the covenant of grace, that David himself would be the great-great-great-grandfather of Christ himself, who would come as the true king of Israel, the one to redeem his own people. And the Lord is sovereignly working throughout this entire narrative, David's security, because he is the God of the covenants. He keeps his covenant. He swore by no one greater than himself. And he's ensuring that the promise of the covenant would come to pass. And this concept looks to God's provision to the faithful remnant as well. You think back to the prophets. You think of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and even the minor prophets. They're always talking about this faithful remnant within the people of God. You remember back to Elijah and the 7,000 men who hadn't bowed their knee to Baal. All of these are recognizing that God is faithful to his people. It doesn't matter what the outside looks like, what the culture looks like, if you will. It doesn't matter if we're on the receiving end of a massive army ready to destroy us. We know that God is providential in all things. I mean, think back to Matthew 6. that great passage on anxiety. Jesus tells us the birds go out. I mean, observe the birds for like 10 minutes out of your day. The Lord has ordained which branch for them to fall upon, which grain on the ground for them to eat, where they're going to go find water for that day, where they're going to go and nest up for the evening. The Lord has foreordained all of that with birds, small, tiny, frail birds. How much more? Does He do for you His own people and providing for you and sustaining you? So we are loyal to the Lord despite the insurmountable odds. Remember what Jesus says, if you deny me before the Father, I will deny you. I mean, the cards, even today, are really stacked against us as we move closer and closer away from a Christian-centered worldview, an increasingly more secular, post-modern understanding where truth is subjective, gender is subjective, everything is subjective. Again, the odds seem completely stacked against us as Christians who hold to these truths, but we have to be faithful to the Lord, just as Shobai Mehir and Barzillai were. As servants of the Lord and servants of their King, so also are we servants of the Lord and servants of Jesus Christ, our King. And second to that is we're loyal to the Lord because of what Christ has done for us. Again, go back and look through what we've been covering in Romans. We are faithful to God because He was first faithful toward us. We love God because He first loved us. It's reciprocal. It's reflective of what He Himself has accomplished and done. And thirdly, we're loyal to the Lord because that's what He commanded us to do. He commands you to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. He commands you to obey the precepts of His moral law. We won't do it perfectly. We won't do it flawlessly in this life. Nonetheless, we are commanded to obey, to submit to His sovereignty and His authority. And really, we can cast away those layers of anxiety over our lives throughout the years that God has given us as we focus more on what God has done rather than what our circumstances are preventing us from doing by communing with our Lord. So that brings us, as we looked first at a provision for God's people, secondly, a protection for God's King, in chapter 18, verses 1 through 8. Now that David has been well fed, and his army has been well fed, they gather together in preparation for mustering this great counter battle against Absalom. And this time, David has divided his army into thirds. Obviously, Joab, the great military commander who's been with David from day one in his kingship, is commander over one third. Abishai, likewise, is commander over the second third. But then we're given a little bit more about Ittai the Gittite, who is in command over the other third. Again, a man who's not a prominent military commander. but a man who was absolutely faithful in this insurmountable odds dilemma that David was in. I just want to go back in chapter 15, verses 19-22. This is what we're told by Ittai the Gittite. The king said, why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also in exile from your home. You came only yesterday. And shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. I mean, even the king saw the common sense for Ittai. You got here yesterday. You don't really have any fealty towards me. You don't have any loyalty. He's even praying that the Lord would bless him. Go ahead, stay with Absalom and his army, right? David's like, I get it. Just go stay with him. Don't come out and suffer with us. But what does Ittai say? As the Lord lives, And as my Lord the King lives, wherever my Lord the King shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be. And David said to Ittai, go then, pass on. So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men and all the little ones who were with them. Again, David's got these mighty men, David's got these military soldiers, this strong military conquest behind his belt, yet he finds these types of people who we would not even consider to be worthy of fighting with David's army as raising them up. A man who came to the party yesterday and is now raised up as one of David's top commanders in this great military expedition. And we see this battle with David really kind of going back to his roots, if you will. You remember, where did all this start? When David did not go out to battle with his troops, when he stayed behind. I mean, that's really what we're seeing the fruit of in 2 Samuel 11. Yet now David is using his own military knowledge and dividing up the armies and picking the battle place and picking the terrain to go and defeat Absalom. And so David is organizing his forces in ways that he can maneuver them around the battlefield to effectively fight Absalom's armies. Rather than throwing them all out at once, he divides them into thirds. Even he himself chooses the place of battle. This heavily wooded area that was certainly unfamiliar terrain with Absalom. They had been conquesting all throughout desertous terrain, hills, valleys, so on and so forth, but now it's a heavily wooded place. And David is drawing upon his vast military knowledge and experience. And even he knew what it was like to fight with the odds against him. I mean, David's first major military conquest was with Goliath, this small shepherd boy, this massive behemoth of a man. And all throughout David's ministry and life as king in exile and king and then king in exile, again, he's drawing upon his experience as a shepherd and as a military commander. And he asks this humble request to his own people. Again, we've seen David in this wonderful light up until the sin against Uriah and Bathsheba. And we've seen David down this bad trajectory for a really long time. And up until last Sunday in the past chapter or so, we've seen David kind of make that subtle turn again back to repentance, back to serving and honoring the Lord. And this time, he is saying, I want to go out and battle with my troops. I know what it's like when I stayed behind and I sinned against the Lord. I want to go back out and fight as a king ought to. And this time, the men are the ones who refrain from him actually going and doing that. We see David proclaiming this in the Psalms as well. Psalm 3, 6, we looked at it last week. But he says, David says, I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Later in Psalm 27, verses 1 through 3, this is the confidence and assurance, the recognition of the Lord's protection. David says, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. Even Psalm 118, verses 6 through 8, the Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper. I shall look and triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. Do you see David's willingness to go to the Lord? And there's really this escalation that we have in these psalms, not that he wrote them in this format, but first David is proclaiming, I'm not afraid of my enemies. And then secondly, he recognizes that though his enemies may take him, may assail him, he knows that the Lord will keep him. And that he has no reason, he has no prerogative to fear what is going on around him. And granted, we don't have massive armies, typically, surrounding our house, our encampment, but we do indeed fight a spiritual battle. Our war is not these physical things that we see. It's principalities, it's darkness, it's a spiritual warfare. And we have to take confidence in the Lord that He is fighting for us. We don't fear man. But what can man do for you? What can man do to you? A man can't snatch you out of the hand of God. There's no fear in man. And so we see David actually, you know, hearing from his own advisors and taking this wisdom from them. And we see David as well. I think this really demonstrates a picture of his own character. He still has a hope for Absalom. I mean, that is, regardless of how we know that the text ends, how wicked Absalom was, look at the love and hope that David has for his son. He even says, treat him well, deal gently with my son, Absalom, in hopes that he can bring him back and in hopes that Absalom would perhaps finally repent from his wickedness. David knew what it meant to deal gently, knowing that the punishment due in God's law required Absalom to be killed. In Deuteronomy 21, 18 through 21, we have this passage talking about what to do when a man has a stubborn and rebellious son. And you keep disciplining them and keep working with them. And listen, but if they do not listen, if they continue in this life of depravity and sin against God, they were to purge this evil. They were to actually take him out and stone him for his disobedience. And again, David had all the right reasons to do this for Absalom, but even he, in a demonstration of his kingly authority and his Christ-likeness, extending mercy and grace even still to the last hour to Absalom. It's really, it's a beautiful thing, and often overlooked. Nonetheless, we have this very fierce battle, which occurs in Ephraim. which is just west of the Jordan River, so still in the territory of Israel, and Absalom's Israel is defeated. Really, they're unfamiliar with the terrain, right? The forest is really what kind of kills them. The author is demonstrating this by showing that it wasn't really the forest was killing them, but their unfamiliarity with the terrain and David's men being split up into these various divisions were able to pick apart this false army supporting Absalom. And with that, we even get a taste from David how we ought to act in our own lives. That extending grace to our enemies is a befitting behavior for Christians. I don't want to beat the dead horse, but we've looked over and over and over in Romans 12, right? Repay no one evil for evil. Leave it to the wrath of God. Leave it to the Lord's vengeance. We should be extending this type of grace to our enemies, right? Live peaceably with all as long as it depends on you. There's a time where we can cut that off and sever that, just as Jesus instructed his own disciples to do so as they were proclaiming the gospel. If the gospel was continuously rejected, they were to shake off the dust from their feet and to leave and go on to another city. Nonetheless, Our factory reset setting should be love and extending grace to our enemies, just as grace was extended to you. Likewise, confiding in the Lord's provision gives us ease in challenging situations. The Lord is always providing for His people. It doesn't look like how we think he should be providing for us, but God is always in the business for providing for his people. He does it by saving us. I mean, that's really where he's demonstrated his great provision for his people in saving us. He does it by giving us Christ rather than us being handed over to our sins and to God's own wrath. He doesn't only do it by saving us, but he also does it by providing us with a way of escape in challenging situations. Many of you are familiar with 1 Corinthians 10, 13. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, what will he do? He will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. God provides for us in salvation, and God even still provides for us now in those hours of temptation by giving us escape route, giving us a place to escape, to turn to Him. And thirdly, confiding in the Lord's providence provides assurance when wickedness is around us. Again, we just saw how David had every single card stacked against him. He was about to be deposed from his kingship by his own son. His son whom he showed grace to over and over and over again. Yet he knew that God's ever-present providence was still at play. You could imagine him reflecting back on this great covenant that was expressed to him and thinking to himself, how, oh Lord, are you going to bring this to pass with all that's going wrong? I'm out of Jerusalem. I don't have the ark with me. My commanders are pagans and former affiliates of Saul. Yet how, Lord, are you going to bring me out of this? But he knew God's providence. He knew that the Lord was the one who would provide for him. He could pray the Lord's vindication as the psalmist did in Psalm 94, verses 1 through 3. O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth. Rise up, O judge of the earth. Repay to the proud what they deserve. Oh Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? That even David had this confidence and assurance in God's own provision and his great providence. God who is abounding in steadfast love. Likewise, recognizing the payment for wicked men reminds us of the wrath that it was owed to us, that the wrath that Christ himself averted on our behalf. I mean, this temporal judgment, whether it be from Absalom or on David with the chastisement that he's receiving for this sin, this pales in comparison to the eternal punishment if we are found outside of Christ. It reminds us of what is owed back to the Lord lest we repent and believe, that Christ's atonement paid for the very wrath that we deserved. The wages that were required of us when we had empty pockets to give back to God and to actually pay off that debt, Christ Himself paid it on our behalf. Even though there's a protection for David here, there's a protection for us if you are in Christ. He is constantly with you, protecting you, keeping you, maintaining you by the power of His will. So again, we've looked at the ways in which we show and demonstrate humility toward God by recognizing that God protected David as king, and thirdly, that God is the one who incurs punishment for his enemies, or punishment for God's enemy in chapter 18, verses 9 through 18. Now, the focus on this passage is completely on Absalom's own death. And there's a lot Oddly enough, a lot to unpack regarding the circumstances behind his own death. The first, little over our head at the time, but that his head is caught on the branches. That just seems like a benign little nugget of the text. That just is what happened. But if you remember, what was Absalom known for? He was known for his appearance and his hair, his luscious locks, if you will. He had a great set of hair. He was beautiful in appearance, just as Saul was beautiful in appearance. And so more than likely, Absalom was probably caught by his hair in this tree. And we're also given a little symbolism with the mule as well. Now again, we think of kings conquesting on horseback, but in fact the mule during this time symbolized royalty. That was a royal steed by which the king would ride into battle on. And even here, this royal steed representing kingship abandons him. Just as here in the text we see Absalom's own kingship abandoning him, as the mule does as well. We also see Absalom as one who's being cursed by hanging. You remember from Deuteronomy 21-23, which was quoted by Paul as well, in Deuteronomy it says, for a hanged man is cursed by God. Or cursed is anyone who hangs from a tree, from Galatians. That in and of itself, the fact that he's hanging there, demonstrates again that this is a curse, this is judgment upon Absalom by God. And not only that, but we see a whole list of Absalom violating God's own commandments. We see a violation of the fifth commandment in his own rebellion against his father. Exodus 20, 12, honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that I, the Lord thy God, am giving to you. We see him violating the sixth commandment in the murder of Amnon. Remember, Amnon had done this atrocious thing with Tamar. David should have executed justice upon Amnon, but then Absalom takes it into his own hands. And in 2 Samuel 13, 28-29, Absalom says, mark when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and then strike him down, kill him, finish him off. And so likewise, Absalom is paying for the murder that he had done against Amnon. Absalom also violates God's seventh commandment, adultery, and sleeping with David's concubines. You remember this atrocious story, this atrocious portion of the narrative that was actually prophesied by Nathan, telling David exactly what was going to happen. And Absalom making a mockery of the one-flesh union by performing these deeds upon the very rooftop that David had looked down and sinned against Bathsheba. This likewise was prohibited in the law, Leviticus 2011. If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness. That phrase is allusion to sexual immorality. And both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them. So again, the prideful aspect of Absalom and his hair and his appearance is what is caught up in the tree. This man who is declaring himself as king over Israel, his own royal steed leaves him, and Absalom is hanging, cursed on the tree, and demonstrating that all these violations of the law, God has now finally inflicted his justice against him. And we see the brutality of his death as well. We see three spears being thrown into him. Again, the Old Testament is wrought with numbers such as three and seven marking a form of completion. Again, highlighting the fact that Absalom's royal reign of wickedness is finally and completely over. And his burial as well marks that his wickedness would not have any case in Israel. This form of burial was actually similar to that of an enemy being buried with stones thrown atop you. We see this in Joshua 7, verses 25 through 26. You remember the sin that had been committed in Israel as they're conquesting the land. And we see all of Israel stoning this wicked man, burning him with fire. They raised over this great heap of stones that remained to that day. This heap of stones demonstrated that Absalom was not a friend of Israel. He was actually an enemy, not being given the burial that he would have been granted as a prince of Israel. Yet, with Joab, we see him once again taking matters into his own hands. He killed Absalom. when David asked and pleaded not to kill him, to deal gently with him. Now, could it have been a mercy kill? He was hanging there in the tree. We don't know all the details of exactly what was going on. Yes, perhaps it could have been a merciful killing of Absalom, but it really doesn't fit with Joab's behavior thus far. Again, Joab, loose cannon, complete rogue, just going off, doing what he wants to do despite the king's justice and judgment. And this is really kind of continues in Joab's own continued demeanor, right? He kills Absalom here. He then later in chapter 18, verses 19 through 23, kind of directs messengers to deliver to David this message. He squelches a rebellion in chapter 20. Joab is really not the best ideal commander for David. Nonetheless, the Lord is the one who is using him to execute this justice and judgment. And as with most of what we've seen in this text, it seems as though the Lord has just been hands-off thus far. Nathan's not around directing and dictating divine revelation, but we really see that the Lord has been undergirding this all along. He's actually been orchestrating this. And there's an element in our own lives where we do see injustice around us and in the world, and we say, how long, oh Lord? When are you going to intervene and interact, engage with what is going on? The Lord does it at His own time. The Lord does it according to His own will. And not only is this instance with Absalom really, you know, poetic, if you will, and demonstrating a lot of these themes, being the kingship being taken away from him, severed from him, him being cursed. But it's also really symbolic of our due reward and Christ's own atonement for us. Our eternal destiny, apart from Christ, is being cursed by God, is being accursed. is enduring the wrath and judgment of God through all eternity. We're even told that Christ himself became a curse for us. Galatians 3.13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanging on a tree. We're the ones who should have been hanging there with Absalom in our sins and our trespasses. The ones who are truly accursed, yet Christ himself hung upon the cross for our own sins to redeem a people for himself. What was the purpose of his atonement? 1 John 2.2, he is the propitiation for our sins, not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. So we see that the Lord is the one here who is conquering our enemies on our behalf. We don't need to be the ones doing it, but He is doing it for us. He is aiding us in this spiritual war that we are in. Again, an irreconcilable war that continues to wage. A war that if Christ does not come back in our lifetime, will continue to our children and our children's children. This spiritual war. Yet despite that, despite all the opposition that we're faced, we have a king who conquers, who has conquered sin in death. Not a king like David, who perished, who died, but a king who is seated at God's right hand. A king, as Paul says in Ephesians 1.22, who puts all things under his feet. A king as declared in Revelation 12, 11, that those who have conquered by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony are the ones who endured until the end. A king who does not condemn us, but is seated at the right hand, always offering intercession on our behalf. This king who has conquered all things for us. Likewise, the Lord sets a precedent for us on our own relations that we have with our brothers and sisters. You remember Absalom's own demeanor in trying to circumvent his father. He went to the gates of Israel as everybody had an appointment with the king. Absalom took them under his wing, lamented that he should have been the one who was king over Israel, and he would have exercised all this great judgment and great justice on behalf of the king. And we need to recognize that we are called to be humble. We are called to submit to our leaders. We're to recognize that though they may not have the interests we want in mind, they have more facts and more insight into the situation they're dealing with than we understand. Again, it flows from our study in Romans of letting love be that principle theme, that principle resounding wave in your mind at all times. And also, though we don't often see it, we are reminded that the Lord is faithful in his judgment against the wicked. God promises to judge, and he does it. It wasn't in the expected timeline of David, more than likely. I'm sure David would have wished that the Lord would have expedited this judgment against Absalom before he had to leave Jerusalem. But nonetheless, the Lord is the one who judges the enemies. God is the one who is faithful to his own covenant, who's steadfast in love. That's why David calls God a high tower, a stronghold, somebody you can go into and confide and take shelter in. And so God ultimately judges. God judged us in Christ. We are freed from the curse of the law. And God will judge in His sovereignty and holiness those wicked who do not turn from their ways and continue to persecute Christ and His church. And so again, we see just how David, as a type of Christ in his kingship, in developing and seeing and setting forth this foundation, as a fallible man, sinned against the Lord, yet was reconciled, returned back to Him. And we have Christ as the major King, the ultimate King, who did not travail as David did, down these wicked, sinful tendencies, yet did and performed all the works of obedience that we could never perform in a lifetime that God could give us. And with that, let us go to our Lord, our King of Kings, in prayer this evening. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord God, again, we thank you for your word and the truthfulness found in it. We thank you likewise, O Lord, that we can see Christ as a king who conquers all things. Where the conquest of your kings whom you've raised up fell short, Christ accomplished and finished it all. And Lord, help us to go to him and careful consideration of the love that he has for his own sheep and laying down his own life for us. Father, let us reflect the glories of Christ as you renew your mercies daily, as we go out into the world that you've called us to live in, to operate in, to be salt and light, to wear the gospel as a badge of honor upon our hearts. This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.