The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon the earth, and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing, and thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. I said, Lord, be merciful unto me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish? And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity. His heart gathereth iniquity to itself. When he goeth abroad, he telleth it. All that hate me whisper together against me. Against me do they devise my hurt. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him. And now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them. By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. as for me thou upholdest me in mine integrity and set us me before thy face forever blessed be the lord god of israel from everlasting to everlasting amen and amen shall we pray father we and close our reading with a benediction, with a verse of blessing. And we come before thee tonight, and we indeed bless your holy name at the outset of our gathering. And Lord, we ask that you would bless us tonight, that we would know your presence, that we would sense your help, that God, you would open up our eyes, that we, by your spirit, might behold wondrous things from thy law. Father we pray tonight that you would fill us with thy Holy Ghost and thrill us with the truth of your word and may we leave this place a little different than the people that we came in. Lord let us leave with a sense of awe, a sense of wonder, at your word and its power to predict and to prophesy and to foretell the future. Father, we thank you tonight for your blessings upon us and for the privilege that is ours to be part of this study. In Jesus' name, Amen. So far in our series we have considered Psalm 2 which is the Psalm of the Eternal Son. Then we went to Psalm 40 which brought us to the Incarnation with that great phrase, Lo I Come. And then last week we looked at Psalm 91 which was referenced in Matthew chapter 4 the Psalm of Temptation and in that particular instance Satan cites the Psalm and misquotes the passage. But tonight we go back in the book of Psalms to Psalm 41 which marks the Psalm of Betrayal. Now this Psalm, at least one verse of it, is quoted by the Lord Jesus himself with reference to Judas Iscariot. Look in John chapter 13 for a moment and we'll read quite a lengthy passage. John chapter 13. John chapter 13 and we will begin reading in verse 1 of this chapter. Verse 1 says now before the feast of the Passover When Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil, having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God and went to God, he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments, and took a towel, and girded himself. After this he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter. Peter saith unto him, Lord dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter said unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said unto him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit, and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him. Therefore said he, ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet, and he had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say, Well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither is he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. I speak not of you all, I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled. He that eateth bread with me, he hath lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it come, that when it is come to pass ye may believe that I am he. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. And when Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he speak. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom he speak. He then, lying on Jesus' breast, said unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him, for some of them thought because Judas had the bag that Jesus had said unto him, buy those things that we have need of against the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. he then having received the sup went immediately out and it was night. Now for our purposes tonight the 18th verse is the verse that arrests our attention. It's a quotation from Psalm 41 and verse 9 that falls directly from the lips of the Savior himself pointing us to that Psalm and therefore we include it in the songs about Jesus, the Messianic Psalms. Now in its primary interpretation, this psalm relates, as so many of these psalms do, to that time, a very dark period in David's life, when he was subject to the rebellion of his son Absalom. And Absalom is and was a traitor. But strikingly, it's not Absalom who is presented in the psalm as the type of Judas, but another man whom David refers to in verse 9 of the psalm as my own familiar friend. Now you may recall we studied Psalm 40 together that we discussed the rebellion of Absalom to a fair extent. We thought about how he by lies sought to undermine the rule of his father. You remember people would come to the city gate to do business and to seek the king's business and Absalom would say in effect, look you know the king's not here, you know he's neglecting his duties. But I'm here, and if I were king, things would be different. There would be somebody that would listen and would agree with your matter and take care of your needs. He's rather like a politician who's promising all kinds of things before he comes into power. And so Absalom is really canvassing for votes, he's really desirous to win the loyalty of the people, but of course he's really exalted on his own self, he's given to pride, he's consumed with his own conceit. Now let's go back to that account and let's read it in 2 Samuel chapter 15 and we'll read the first six verses, we'll not read all of it, but we'll read the first six verses, we'll certainly come back to this episode as we go through the life of David on Sunday mornings. But in 2 Samuel chapter 15 It says in verse 1, it came to pass after this that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses and fifty men to run before him. So he's acting with tremendous regality, you know, acting like he is the king. And Absalom rose up early and stood beside the way of the gate and it was so that when any man had a controversy. They came to the king for judgment and then Absalom called on to him and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel, whatever city he was from. And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right, but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said, Moreover, O that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice. And it was so that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand and took him and kissed him. In this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. What an interesting record this is. And you know, something I learned a long, long time ago about people who deceive. And this is especially true in matters of religion, but I think it's equally true in a general sense. And it's this, every falsehood has to ride on the back of truth. Every falsehood has to ride on the back of truth. In other words, you have to have enough truth in a lie to make the lie float, right? Otherwise, if it's a painfully obvious lie, if I came in to you and said, I'm sorry I'm late, I've just been to the moon, you'd say, Ridiculous. It's a patently obvious lie. You haven't been to the moon, okay? But if I make some plausible excuse, you know, I'm sorry I'm late, I had a puncture or something like that, or I had car problems or something, you know, and I throw in a measure of truth and then I throw in a lie, you know, Add to that, I had a puncture, but I also had to stop on the way to help somebody who got knocked down. The second part might be a lie, or it might be a truth. The first part might be a lie, it might be a truth. But you see, there's enough plausibility in it to make it a possibility. And so that's the way lies work. You have to have a certain degree of credibility in the lie to make it really swim. And Absalom came and he pointed out to people as they arrived there to meet the king that, yeah, your matters are good, your matters are right. And of course he's just agreeing with them, saying what they want him to say and what they want to hear. And he says this, but there's no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Now, that had to be the case. You know, because obviously if there was somebody at the gate representing David, they would have spoke up and said, what are you talking about? I'm here representing the King. So there had to be a measure of truth in the fact that there was nobody there to hear the cause of the people as they came to the gate with their complaints. So the question arises, why was there no one there? Had David indeed neglected his duties as King of Israel, had he become so high and mighty, you know, rather like Marie Antoinette, he couldn't care less about the ordinary person, and his rather cavalier attitude, well, you know, let them do whatever they want, it's no business of mine, I don't care, let them get on with their problems, whatever they may be. And then Absalom, having followed this path, then incites his rebellion, he makes his play upon the kingdom. And you've got to bear in mind, David is a warrior king. And if there's one thing King David is known for, it's his personal courage as a fighter. This is the man who fights Goliath. This is the man who, as we've learned so many mornings, goes and saves the town of Caila. This is a man who's not a withering, shrinking weed of a man. He's a tough guy. And so the question I raise is, well, why does he then go into exile? Why does he run away when Absalom's rebellion takes place? Why is there nobody at the gate meeting those who are coming with complaints? And why does David flee the city as soon as he knows the rebellion has begun? Well, the answer to those questions is given to us, or at least implied, in Psalm 41. If you want to go back to Psalm 41, notice in verse 3, it speaks about the Lord strengthening upon those who are upon the bed of languishing. He says, thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. Look at verse 5, my enemy speak evil of me. When shall he die? His name perish. In verse 8, an evil disease say they cleaveth fast unto him. The implication is, and though that is not in the narrative of 2 Samuel, but the implication from the psalmist is that David was very poorly when Absalom struck, that he was very, very ill. indeed almost to the brink of death if the words of his enemies carry any stock and therefore we believe that the courtiers were attending to him and his illness, that indeed the ministry at the gate where he would have received complaints was not being conducted and that when Absalom struck he was in no fit state to launch a defense militarily. And so he was simply ushered out of the city and away from the situation because he couldn't defend himself. And it would make sense, you know, if you're going to strike someone, if you're going to attack somebody, you know, the best time to do it is when they're at their weakest. Isn't that right? Whenever, if you're going to make a military strike, you don't wait for your enemy to be all armed up and ready to fight you. You wait for him to be at his lowest ebb and then you strike in the hope that you can secure a quick victory, which it seems is exactly what Absalom did. So this psalm was written as David lay upon his sickbed after that Absalom had begun his rebellion and his efforts to become king of Israel. Now let's go back to the psalm and we're going to look at three things tonight. We're going to look first of all at God's favor upon the weak. verses 1 through 3 of this psalm says, Blessed is he that considereth the poor. The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive. He shall be blessed upon the earth and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. We come to verse 1 and I want you to notice the word poor or the poor, the phrase the poor. If you have a marginal reading in your Bible you might see that there's a little notation there that gives you an alternate reading where it says the poor or the weak or the sick. Something like that might be in the margin of your Bible. And so verse 1, when it's speaking about the poor, it's not speaking merely of material poverty, though it can include material poverty, but it is in the words of Spurgeon that the poor intended are such as are poor in substance, weak in bodily strength, despised in repute, and desponding in spirit. So David's circumstances certainly equates with three of the four possible definitions of that word poor. It wouldn't be right to say that he was poor in substance, he was king, he was very wealthy. But it certainly was right to say he was weak in bodily strength, he was despised in repute, and he was despondent in spirit. And so David invokes a blessing. He says, happy is that man that considers the poor. And happy, blessed is the man that thinks upon me and my condition, who is kindly toward me in this hour. And he basically says that God will bless that person. Why? Because he's the anointed of the Lord. He's the one whom God has appointed as king. And those who give loyalty to him are really consenting to the will of God for the land. And so, in that respect, he invokes this blessing upon people and he says, you know, if you're showing kindness toward me at this time, the Lord will deliver you in a time of trouble. In other words, you reap what you sow. Or, if you like, we go back to the Beatitudes, Matthew 5, verse 7, Jesus said, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain what? mercy. And that's basically what David is saying. He's saying those in the kingdom who are showing mercy toward me, you also shall be the recipients of mercy in the time of your trouble. And he says the Lord will preserve him and keep him alive and he shall be blessed upon the earth and I will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. Now in verse 3 He says the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. That's the sick bed. You know, languishing means to be so weak as you're incapacitated. You're bedridden. You can't go about your normal business. That's where my wife is tonight. She's been in her bed of languishing all day, unfortunately. She took sick last night and is up. throwing up and all that business and so she's up she's been all right thank you she's fine she's got a wonderful nurse who's been very good to her well relatively good to her and she's doing fine but we've all been there haven't we a bed of languishing And that's where David was. And he likens the nursing care that he's receiving there with the nursing care of the Lord. You know, David knows that as surely as any royal nurse will come along to prop up his pillows in his time of illness, so the Lord also will prop him up. He's going to maintain his kingdom. Absalom is not going to succeed in his efforts to overthrow the king. He's the anointed of the Lord. God's will always prevails. God's will always comes out on top. No matter what men do, no matter what they do, God will always be the victor. He's always going to be the triumphant one. And so His Word and His Spirit nurse the soul much as any human nurse may indeed minister to the body. Then we read in verse 4 of God's forgiveness for our wickedness. He said, I said, Lord, be merciful unto me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. Now think about this. In the fourth verse, David alludes to a sin. for which he is seeking forgiveness, he's seeking the mercy of God, but it's evidently a sin so serious that it has incurred the judgment of God upon his life. It's a sin so serious that really it has wound up in him being in his present state of circumstances. Now, there are those who teach today that every sickness of ours is related to personal sin. There's people who teach a gospel of so-called health and wealth. God wants you rich and God wants you to be healthy all the time. You know what I've noticed about health and wealth preachers? A hundred percent of them die. Have you noticed that? And funnily enough, they all die of illness. They're on the platform, they're telling people God will heal them, and nobody observes that the guy in the front is wearing glasses. Well what about his eyesight? Or there's even one guy who wears a wig. God will heal you, he's wearing a wig, well why doesn't God heal your baldness? It's clear that this is nonsense. Not every time that we're sick is it because of personal sin. We can look through scripture. There were good men, godly men, who were sick at times, whom God chose not to heal. who had to apply conventional medical means to help them. We think of the Apostle Paul, he spoke about his thorn in the flesh. I believe that was his eyesight, that he had short-sightedness and a very serious problem with his eyes. You read in Galatians at the end of the letter he says, The proof that he's actually written this letter is how large his handwriting is. You see how large a letter I've written you. He doesn't mean the length of Galatians, which is one of the shorter epistles. He's talking about the size of the characters of the writing, pointing out that this was indicative that this was the hand of Paul. He wrote in a very large script So that he could see what he was writing. And so Paul had this. Nobody is going to come along and say, you know Paul had that because he was the worst of sinners. He was the most wicked. If he had only had more faith. Please, the Apostle Paul needed more faith in order to be healed. I mean this is a man who was bitten by a snake and didn't die. This is a man who saw miraculous things happening even in his ministry and through his ministry. God chose not to heal him. Timothy, whom Paul writes to, he invites him to take a little wine for his stomach's sake. He invites him and suggests that he should take some wine for medicinal purposes, that Timothy is suffering with a stomach ailment. No, Timothy's a godly man. And there's Epaphroditus, who I believe is the pastor of Philippi, and he comes to Paul with a gift from that church, and Paul is commanding him, and he speaks about him as being sick even unto death. He's at that store. But there's not the slightest whiff of sin in Epaphroditus' life. He is fulfilling the will of God for his life and for his church. So we must never assume that on every occasion of illness there is some correlated sin in our lives. I joked with my wife today and said she chose a bad day to be sick because I was going to talk about the sin and sickness and that would make her look very bad. But anyway, but I don't make her look very bad. So, we mustn't make that assumption. But that said, sometimes sickness is related to sin. Sometimes. For example, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, we read it every time we come to the Lord's table. You know, Paul talks about how those who abuse the table, some of them are dead, some of them sleep, you know, and some of them are sick, some of them are poorly, you know, God is judging them. James chapter 5, that passage which speaks about calling the elders of the church and having them anoint your head with oil. And it's speaking about someone who is sick. And if you look at the Greek word there, it's talking about someone who's actually bedridden, who's laid low, and who's very, very ill. But what's more important in that passage is that the sick one has committed some sin, that the sickness is related to sin, because he's told, if he's committed a sin, that he should confess it to the elders. and that the prayer of faith will raise up the sick. So in that context there's no question that sickness is connected with sin. But we mustn't make that a blanket rule. It's not a blanket rule. But certainly in David's life it does seem to hold true. You know, here he talks about a sin and he asks God to heal him. Heal my soul for I've sinned against thee. So what sin in David's life could possibly have led to such suffering that it would require him to cry out for the mercy of God? Well, by far the greatest sin that David ever committed was when he engaged in an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, Uriah the Hittite, in order to cover the fact that he had been unfaithful and Bathsheba had been unfaithful while her husband was fighting on David's behalf. at the battlefront. It's quite an episode. We'll not take time to read it tonight. But it's really a shocking account because Uriah, who's a Hittite, is a man, you know, that is more noble even when he's drunk than David is when he's sober. And that's really a great shame on King David. But what happens at the end of that episode is interesting. Turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 12. 2 Samuel chapter 12. David's sin is confronted by, or with, or by Nathan. Nathan comes along and he challenges David. He tells him a parable. In verse 1 onward he comes, he starts telling him about a poor man who had nothing except one little hue lamb. And he really plays on it, you know. He basically says, you know, it's his pet lamb. He has this lovely, fluffy, you know, lovely, adorable little lamb. That's all he has in the whole world. And this rich man, you know, has some people who are coming and he needs to get some food. He needs to have some provision for his rich guests. And so he takes the poor man's lamb and he kills it and dresses it and feeds it to his rich friends. And David in verse 5 is enraged. His anger was greatly kindled against the man and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die. and he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity. Now notice that David pronounces a fourfold judgment upon the fictional criminal of Nathan's parable and his words become Not really a sentence on his own life. He condemns his own self. Because the whole point, and Nathan really says to him, you know, you are the man. He says, you know, you are the rich man. You are the one who took somebody's new lamb. You took Uriah's wife. She was his pet. She was the one that he loved. And he had nothing else. He lived for her. And you took that. And you could have had any woman in the kingdom. He did. He was a very brave man. And so David, he acknowledges his sin and God spares him his life, but he suffers by his own condemnation a fourfold consequence for his actions. Four times he suffers. First of all, his son, his baby by Bathsheba dies. There's number one. Number two, his son Amnon rapes his daughter Tamar. That's number two. And then number three, Absalom, who was a full-blood brother of Tamar, murders Amnon in revenge. There's three. And then finally Absalom rebels against him and Absalom is killed by Joab. There's four. So David says four times this guy is going to pay who stole this little lamb. And Nathan says you're the man and four times David has to pay for the sin against Uriah. So he has three sons dead and one daughter violated. You know, there's the principle, you reap what you sow. Here's the law of the harvest. You don't only reap what you sow, but you always reap more than you sow. David killed one man and violated a woman. In return, he lost three sons and had his own daughter violated. So he feels the pain that he caused Uriah's loved ones as he buries children one after another. He knows only too well of the great tragedy to the home of Uriah the Hittite and indeed to the family of Bathsheba. Now we come back to the psalm, Psalm 41. God's faithfulness along the way. So we've thought about God's favor upon the weak, God's forgiveness in our wickedness, and now God's faithfulness along the way. Says my enemy speak evil of me in verse 5. When shall he die and his name perish? If ye come to see me, he speaketh vanity. His heart gathereth iniquity to itself, and when he goeth abroad he telleth it. All that hate me whisper together against me, against me do they devise my hurt. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him, and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more. Now we'll stop there for a moment. David is speaking about those right now who are relishing his problems, who are joying. in his apparent and evident demise. You know there are those who are observing his weakness and health, who have seen Absalom now depose him effectively, he's out of the city, he's living in exile away from the palace, and they are enjoying every moment of it. You know there are people who actually relish it when things go wrong in other people's lives. You know we ought not to do that. We ought not even to joy over the things that go wrong in our enemy's lives. But that's how human nature is. And these people, you know, they are gleefully hoping that David is going to die. Verse 5, they ask this question, when shall he die? And his name perish. And in verse 6, it talks about those people who see him, people coming to see David, to visit with him. And he says they speak vanities, you know, they come with diplomatic niceties. Do you ever notice how politicians can say the most horrid things about each other until one of them dies and suddenly he's a great statesman? And you know it's duplicitous. You know that there are people who hated each other in life and when one dies, the other one is probably saying, you know, I'm glad he's gone. He was a problem. And these guys would come in, and this was the way it was in the ancient world, even up in the medieval times. You know, kings would, when they were ill, would be visited by other kings who would come to see how this sick man was doing. And of course they would speak vanities. They'd, you know, wish him well and tell him what a great king he was and, you know, acknowledge his power and his reign and his kingdom. But all along they're secretly hoping he's going to die. Why? Because that's their chance, sort of opportunity, to perhaps pinch a piece of land or take the kingdom themselves. If you ever get the chance, do take the time and visit Hampton Court Palace in London. And there you'll see the state rooms of King William III. And King William III was a sickly king, or at least that was the rumor, just as David was a sickly king at this time. And to see King William, you had to go through various stages. I'll not go through it all. But you had to go through various rooms in which they started to eliminate people until they finally got down to the last few who could speak to the king in person. But one of the rooms that you would enter into had a huge banqueting table, the length of this room probably. And King William would come out, and he would sit behind that table, which would be laden with food. And he would eat in front of all of these people who wanted to see him. They would stand and watch him. And he would just sit down at that table and he would eat for a full four hours. And his purpose was to say to all those people, see, I'm not sick. Sick man can't eat for four hours. And he would go into the next room. And you know, those people were coming, hoping to see a sick king. They were coming, hoping he was going to die. They were coming, hoping to bring a report back to other kings and say, listen, the Protestant king of England is on his last legs. Let's get a guy up and ready to take over the kingdom. And it was the same thing in David's day. They were sending these diplomatic representatives and kings themselves coming and saying all kinds of nice things about him. But when they left, well, they said, when shall he die and his name perish? Long now, he's on his last legs. As David's health deteriorates, the rumour mill has become more and more rife. Now we come to that 9th verse. in whom I trusted, which to eat of my bread hath lifted up his heel against me." Now this is the thing that exercises David's mind more than anything else during his time of illness. He has a friend, you know, he can live with the fact that his enemies are secretly hoping he's going to die. He can even handle the fact that Absalom has engaged in this rebellion against him, you know, he can live with that to some degree. But the thing that really hurts him, the thing that really is eating away at his heart is the fact that he is being betrayed by one whom he calls my own familiar friend. One whom he has trusted, even one who ate bread at his table. Who could this be? Well, look in Psalm 55. Psalm 55 and verse 12. This psalm also was written during the time of Absalom's rebellion. In verse 12 he says this, For it was not an enemy that reproached me, then could I have borne it. Neither was it he that hid me, that did magnify himself against me, then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal. my guide, my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together and walked into the house of God in company. Now notice two little clues there as to who it was. Verse 13 he describes this person as my guide. And in verse 14 he talks about taking sweet counsel together. There's the clues the Bible is giving us as to the identity of this individual. Now go to 2 Samuel chapter 15. 2 Samuel chapter 15 the story and the account of Absalom's conspiracy and ultimate rebellion and we come to verse 12 of 2 Samuel chapter 15 and notice what it says in verse 12 chapter 15 and Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gileadite David's what? Counselor from his city, even from Gilo, while he offered sacrifices, and the conspiracy was strong, for the people increased continually with Absalom. So he sends for David's counsellor. Verse 31. And one told David, saying, Ahithophel, that's David's counsellor, is among the conspirators with Absalom. I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. It came to pass that when David was come to the top of the mount where he worshipped God, behold, Hushai, the archite, came to meet him with his coat rent and earth upon his head, unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me. But if thou return to the city and say unto Absalom, be thy servant, O king, as I have been thy father's servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant. Then mayst thou for me defeat the council of Ahithophel. So, we now know who this councillor is, this guy, this one who was David's friend. It is this man, Ahithophel the Gaelinite. Now what was the counsel that Ahithophel gave to Absalom? Well let's go to the next chapter. Chapter 16 and verse 20. Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, give counsel among you what we shall do. And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house. And all Israel shall hear that thou art a board of thy father. Then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house, and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those days, was if a man had inquired at the oracle of God, so was all the counsel of Ahithophel, both with David and with Absalom." In other words, Ahithophel spoke with authority. He sounded like a man who really had the wisdom of the Spirit of God upon him. And so he gives this counsel. He says to Absalom, now here's what you want to do. Here's what you should do. You know, David's left all of his concubines at the palace there. You should set a tent up on top of the palace where everybody could see. And you should make it clear that you and I are going to have relations with all of these women who previously were in David's harem. Now why would David's friend, his guide, the one he took sweet counsel with, why would he give advice such as that? That's a very curious piece of counsel. Go with me now to 2 Samuel chapter 11 and I want you to notice a little bit of detail. 2 Samuel chapter 11 And let's look at verse 3. Now remember all of this begins with the adulterous affair between David and Bathsheba. verse 3 David having seen Bathsheba washing upon the roof of her house seeing her naked and lusting after her verse 3 he sent and inquired after the woman and one said is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite now notice who Bathsheba's father is she's the daughter of Eliam now go with me to chapter 23 Chapter 23 and verse 34. Here we have a catalogue of all of David's mighty men. So what does that make Bathsheba to Ahithophel? granddaughter. She's his granddaughter. So just as David had shamed Bathsheba, his granddaughter, so Ahithophel determined to put to shame David by having all of his concubines put on public view so that Absalom might openly violate them. What a sordid affair all of this is and was. Now it's interesting, the Lord Jesus comes along, you know a thousand years later he comes along and he takes us his reference point Psalm 41 and verse 9 and he uses Ahithophel in a prophetic way as a type of Judas Iscariot. Now of course the Lord had done nothing that would bring shame to Judas in any way. But Judas too had his reasons for betraying Jesus. You see, everybody has a reason for everything we do. Anything you do, there's a reason for doing it. No matter how illogical it may seem to other people, there's always a reason. And Judas has a reason. Now you say, what is Judas' reason for betraying Jesus? I don't want to spend a whole lot of time on Judas, but let me say this. Judas was an unbeliever. The Bible says he went to his own place in the end. He went to hell. And not only that, but John, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, tells us in John 12, verse 6, that Judas was a thief. That he held the bag for the disciples and that he was a thief. And in that particular passage, he is complaining about the waste of ointment that is being spent upon Jesus. by Mary in John chapter 12 and John says he complained because he was a thief and the word is kleptos in the Greek from which we get the word kleptomaniac, one who is a habitual thief, one who steals by impulse. In other words, Judas was a deeply dishonest man who was driven entirely by the thought of personal gain. So why would a man like that, an unbeliever and an impulsive thief, align himself with the apostles of the Lord? Well remember this, Judas had come, or Jesus had come, and he had come on the promise or on the claim that he was bringing the kingdom. Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Alright? That was John's message, that was the first sermon Jesus ever preached. The kingdom is coming. And so that kingdom idea began to build a fair degree of momentum until it finally culminates in the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the people are receiving Jesus as a king. They're thinking he's now going to overthrow the Roman authorities and he's going to establish the kingdom that they had been hoping for and which they thought the prophets had predicted. And so in that respect, Judas, who's a very shrewd thinker, he gets in early on the bandwagon. He thinks to himself, if this guy's going to overthrow the Romans, if this guy's going to establish a kingdom, I need to get in on that. Because at some point, if he comes to government, there's going to be a lot of money coming through our hands. And who holds the bag? Judas does. Who's going to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer in this kingdom, in Judas's mind? Judas is. I'm going to be the one, I'm going to have a position of power. Actually, you know, Judas was probably the most educated of all the disciples. Do you realize that? Because he's from the south, he's from Keriothos in the south, which all of the people who were considered quite sophisticated and well educated came from the southern part of Israel, whereas the bumpkins came from the north. Do you remember what they said of the disciples? They were ignorant and unlearned men. They were just farmers. They were, as we would say in Ireland, bog hoppers. They didn't have much of an education. So Judas, you know, he reasoned this thing out. He thought about it and he thought to himself, you know, if this kingdom comes, I'm in there. I'm at the start. I've got a foothold. I'm in a position now where I could have real power and real money and really make a name for myself and make a success of things. But you get to John chapter 13 and what does Jesus do? He starts to prepare the disciples for what? His death. He starts to tell him, you know, listen guys, I'm going to be crucified. This is what's going to happen. And Judas is listening to this message and he's thinking to himself, uh oh, this wasn't supposed to happen. You know, I've backed the loser here. And so Satan, taking the occasion of Judas' disillusionment, enters into this disciple and provokes him to the betrayal. Now, there are parallels between Ahithophel and Judas. You see, Ahithophel was in a place of trust. He was the king's counsellor. Judas was in a place of trust. He was the apostle's treasurer. You know, the treasurer is always in a place of trust. Isn't that right, Mick? We trust our treasurer. If Mick suddenly goes on numerous holidays to the Bahamas, and he sends us back pictures of himself on cruise ships around the world, we start to wonder. We say, well, maybe he's filtering off the funds here. Thankfully, he's not that kind of man we trust. And we've put our trust in him, to a certain degree, as any church does, any treasurer. But, Jesus, or the disciples, they trusted Judas. David trusted Ahithophel. Then, like Ahithophel, Judas was considered a friend. You see, David called Ahithophel my own familiar friend. Someone that I knew really well. You remember the last thing that Jesus called Judas? Friend. He called him friend. Isn't that interesting? Look at Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26. Here we are in the Garden of Gethsemane. And Judas arrives. And he is going to pinpoint the Lord Jesus out for the Roman soldiers and the temple guards to make their arrest. And deal with him. Verse 48 it says, Now he that betrayeth him giveth him a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same as he hold him fast. By the way, let me stop there. For one man to kiss another in the Near East is not an unusual thing. It's equivalent to our handshake. You see Arabs doing that all the time, hugging each other, kissing each other, either cheek. That's just a cultural thing, all right? So basically, in our society, we would say, the guy I shake hands with is the guy you want to pick up, all right? So he says, the one I kiss, that's the sign, that's the signal, you want to get him. And forthwith, he came to Jesus, said, heal, hello, master, and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, friend. Wherefore art thy come? You know Judas was a fool really because Jesus was the greatest friend he ever had and yet he would betray him. And so we know Ahithophel betrayed David and Judas betrayed Jesus. But interestingly, when Absalom's rebellion finally had run its course and it became evident that things were not going to go his way and that David would retain the throne, Ahithophel hanged himself. That's how he ended his days. He hanged himself. Look in 2 Samuel chapter 17. 2 Samuel chapter 17 verse 23 it says, And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, He saddled his ass in a rose and got him home to his house, to his city, put his household in order and hanged himself and died and was buried in the sepulcher of his father. And of course we know that Judas also hanged himself, didn't he? That having betrayed the innocent blood, having realized the gravity perhaps of what he had done. He said, I have sinned and that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And the Pharisee said, what is that to us? He's appealing for them to take the 30 pieces of silver back, the blood money that he had received. And they said, what is that to us? You've got the money. Be happy. See thou to that. And he cast down the piece of silver from the temple and departed and went and killed himself. When Jesus quotes Psalm 41, this might surprise you, He did something that we saw the devil do last week. What did the devil do? He doesn't misquote it. Jesus doesn't misquote the verse. He omits part of the verse. He leaves a part out. Alright? You go to John chapter 13 and verse 18. And I'll go to Psalm 41 and verse 9. And I want you to notice the obvious omission. Psalm 41 and verse 9. Here's what the verse says. You're all there in John 13 and verse 8. You have a look and see what's missing. Verse 9 he says of Psalm 41. Do you see the bit that's missing? What is it? Whom I have trusted. He left out the line whom I have trusted. He calls him friend. He quotes the latter part of the verse. Now of course, Satan, when he omits scripture, he does it to twist it and to deceive. But Jesus did it because he was quoting only that portion which applies to himself. You see, all along, he knew who Judas was. All along he knew what Judas was. All along he knew what Judas would do. Okay? And even though he permitted him to handle the money, even though he went as far as calling him even his friend, not for one moment from the first day that Jesus set eyes upon him did he trust him. He didn't trust him. Not for a second. You ever meet somebody like that? Huh? Sometimes you misjudge people, don't we? Sometimes you meet someone and you think, well, I wouldn't trust him. He's squinty-eyed, or whatever it is. He's got ginger hair, or whatever your problem is. But people have these issues. Okay. But that's not what we're talking about. Jesus knew this guy. He wasn't just making a judgment based upon superficial appearances. He knew his heart and the Lord always assesses the heart. Look in John chapter two. John chapter two. Verse 23, notice this little passage, and then we're going to go to John chapter 6. But I want you to notice John chapter 2. It says, Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, notice, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them. Why? Because he knew all. He knew all. He's omniscient. And he needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. Isn't that interesting? Here are these people, and they were following Jesus. In that sense, they were disciples. They were following him, but they were seeking a circus. They wanted him to perform tricks. They wanted him to do miracles. They wanted him to impress them with his power. And Jesus said, you know what? I am not committing myself unto those people because they are not really believers. I know what's in them. And what's in them is not what I respond to. Look in chapter 6, verse 64. Chapter 6, verse 64. Here Jesus says, but there are some of you that notice, believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him. So he identifies Judas from the off and he places him in with those who believe not. And he said, therefore, my father. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him." Now the word disciples is loosely used. Disciples in the sense that to that point they were followers of Jesus. They were following the entourage that was going behind him everywhere he went and observing the miracles that he did. But when he makes this rebuke Some of them say, that's it, I'm out of here. I'm not following this guy anymore. He's requiring too much of us. And they turn back and they walk away. And I love what the Lord does then. He says to the 12, will you also go away? He says, you guys going to leave too? And Peter gives a tremendous response. Lord, to whom shall we go? So where would we go anyway? He says, thou hast the words of eternal life. You see the Lord always assesses the heart. Now Ahithophel means brother of folly. That's what the name means. He's the brother of folly. And certainly anybody who gives nominal allegiance to Christ, who thinks they can just follow Jesus in a half-hearted nominal kind of way, is someone who's a brother to folly. The Lord doesn't trust them. Nor does he commit himself unto them, and they will almost certainly die in their sins. Psalm 41 closes out, David praises the Lord, that no matter how ill he is, no matter how much his enemies may conspire against him, or even wish him dead, ultimately God's grace upon him will triumph. He says in verse 10, But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me and raise me up that I may requite them. By this I know that thou fearest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. And as for me, thy upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face forever. And then the psalm closes with that benediction. Blessed be the Lord, not blessed in the sense of verse 1, but blessed in the sense of praise be to the Lord God. Adored is the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. You know, in church we talk a lot about commitment to Christ, don't we? We talk a lot about trusting the Lord. But here's something that we rarely ask ourselves. Who does the Lord trust? Who does the Lord commit himself to? You see, in his dealings with Judas, we discover this, that it's very possible to be someone in very close proximity to the Savior and yet not possess salvation. And many a person there is, I believe, who dies and goes to hell having fallen off a church pew on the way. What do I mean by that? I mean they came to church, they sang the hymns, they prayed the prayers, they witnessed all that was going on, they were part of the body, nobody suspected that they were anything other than a Christian, but God knows the heart. And if the heart is not right, if the heart is not honest before Him, if the heart is not trusting of Him, and Him alone as Savior, Well then it's just a shallow profession, isn't it? Here's the other thing that you discover in Judas. Even in Ahithophel, you can never judge a person's spiritual state by his associationships. Like I just said, you would never have guessed. If you had been hanging out with Matthew and Mark, you would have never suspected Judas. John, of course, said he was a thief, but John said that years after, and that was revealed by the Holy Ghost. But at the time, nobody thought he was a thief. If they'd have thought he was a thief, they wouldn't have let him keep the bag, would they? Huh? At the time, he was one of their number. At the time, he was going to the meetings, and he was praying with the rest of them, and preaching with the rest of them, and maybe even performing miracles. Who knows? But this we do know. that you can never judge a person's spiritual state by virtue of the fact that they're rubbing shoulders with other Christians. Jesus knows his sheep, and his sheep, and only his sheep, truly hear his voice. What comes after betrayal in our Bibles? What happens next in Jesus' story? It's not a hard question. What happens next? He's crucified. And that's where we're going next in our study. Psalm 22. We'll look at the psalm of crucifixion. Let's leave it there for this evening.