to the book of 2 Samuel chapter 3. 2 Samuel chapter 3. As we continue our study on the life and times of David, this is message number 14. 2 Samuel chapter 3, beginning with verse number 1. The Bible says, Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker. And unto David were sons born in Hebron, and his firstborn was Amnon of of Hanuim, the Jezreelitess, and his second, Shulayim, of Abigail, the wife of Nabal, the Carmelite, and the third, Absalom, the son of Mekah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Gesher. I wish that I named these people Tom, Dick, and Harry, but they didn't, so I'm doing my best. Verse number four says, And the fourth, Adonijah, the son of Hagath, and the fifth, Shephthahiah, the son of Abital, and the sixth, Ithrium, by Eglah, David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron. Even though David was king over Judah at this time, his troubles were not over with. And while it is true that many of his troubles ended with the death of King Saul, David ended up with a new set of troubles. And many of these problems David brought upon himself because he failed to walk in accordance with the will and the word of God. Troubles cannot always be completely eliminated in our lives because the Bible teaches that the enemy will always oppose God's work and seek out ways to defeat it. Therefore, it is imperative that every child of God seek out the Lord's help. when facing such troubles in order that we would have His wisdom and His grace in dealing with them in a successful and victorious way. Psalm 37 verse 39 says that the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble. Tonight, we want to look at this passage of scripture and we were not able, just for the sake of time, we can't read this whole chapter. There's so much that's in this chapter. What we were going to do is look at various verses in this chapter and talk about what we can learn here from the life of David. First of all, we would consider the fighting of David. Second of all, the family of David. Third, the favoring of David. And then last of all, the frustration of David, the fighting of David. Well, we look at this and we see that the chapter begins in verse one. by informing us of the long continuous battle that existed between the house of Saul and the house of David. And as this war between these two dynasties raged on, the rule in the reign of David over the people steadily grew stronger while the influence of Saul's household and family grew weaker. And this is in accordance with what we see in other places of Scripture, but in 1 Chronicles chapter 11 and verse number 9, we're told that David waxed greater and greater, and it tells us why. It says, for the Lord of hosts was with him. David triumphed, and he would continue to triumph, for he was the chosen one of God to rule over Israel, and it's futile and it's useless to fight against the divine purpose and plan of God. Men will always struggle in vain when they attempt to fight the will of God. And it was inevitable for the house of Saul to be met with downfall and failure as they vigorously and as they persistently fought against God and God's man. The house of Saul, we're told, waxed weaker and weaker. And such will be the outcome of anyone who would dare to oppose God and His word. David waxed stronger and stronger, and such will be the case for those who seek to walk in obedience to the Lord and submit in humble submission to the authority of God's Word over their life. Somebody once said that those who submit to divine precepts may be outnumbered, unpopular, and viewed as losers in this world, but triumph is their future. And eternity will forever emphasize and reward their victory. Then the writer says, let us not play the fool and fight against God. It will always put us in the loser's bracket. And I believe that is exactly true. And so with that in mind, we see the fighting of David. Second of all, our attention is drawn here to the family of David. And this is where it gets a little hairy. In verses 2 through verse 5, these verses describe for us six sons. Six sons that were born to David from six different women while David reigned for seven and a half years in Hebron. The growth of David's family became not as a blessing for David, per se, but probably more of a burden for him throughout his reign as king. And the reason for that was very simple. It was a sin, I believe, for David to have multiple wives. David had no excuse for multiplying wives for himself. Scripture plainly forbid this practice, and especially for the kings of Israel. You say, what are you talking about? When you go to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 17, That passage of scripture gives the do's and the don'ts for those who would rule as king of Israel. And it says in Deuteronomy chapter 17 and verse 17, it says, neither shall he, that is the king, multiply wives to himself. Why? That his heart turn not away. Neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. In David's day, you see, the popular view was that the more wives a ruler had, the better it would be for strengthening and advancing his kingdom. Greatness was usually attributed to a king by the number of wives that he had. And even though this practice of polygamy was popular and accepted in that day, this did not make it right in the sight of God. When God created man, if you remember, he gave to Adam only one wife. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 22 says, Notice it says woman, not women. And that same chapter in Genesis 2.24 says, Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. There again, the scripture says wife, not wives. So David's moral failure, I think, in taking unto himself Multiple wives actually set the stage and prepared the foundation for his eventual downfall with his infamous sin with a woman by the name of Bathsheba. David began his sowing to the flesh, for which later on he would reap a sad and disappointing harvest. David's immoral conduct and lifestyle, it had a terrible impact upon his own sons. For an example, we have the case in 1 Kings 11. The Bible tells us that when Solomon was king, what did he do? The Bible says that he loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh. Women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites. If you didn't know this, you should know that every one of those were enemies of God's people. And then it says in verse 3 of 1 Kings 11 that he had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives, what did they do for him? It says they turned away his heart. For it came to pass when Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart after other gods. And his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. And it says in verse 6 of that chapter that Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and went not fully after the Lord as did David his father. Of the six sons that are mentioned here in 2 Samuel chapter 3, it's interesting to think about this. Of the six sons, three of them became a source of great sorrow and grief to David. The firstborn son by the name of Amnon, What was he famous for? He was famous for the one who raped his half-sister by the name of Tamar. And he was eventually murdered by Absalom for his vile deed. Absalom. Absalom was the third son of David. He was not only guilty of murdering his own brother, but he also staged a great rebellion against David and tried to overthrow his reign and his government. He was, however, killed in that revolt. David's fourth son, Adonijah, he was the one who tried to seize the throne before Solomon was crowned as king. And the Bible says that he was met with death. when he requested to take one of David's concubines for his wife. Beloved, in all of this, we can see that David left a horrible, horrible example for his sons to follow. David's life was filled with sorrow and with heartache because he refused to follow the plain teaching of scripture when it came to morality and the marriage relationship. The Bible is still true, beloved. I don't care what you see in our society today. Hebrews chapter 13 in verse 4 is still there. You can mark it out in your Bible, you can tear it out of your Bible, but it's still there. Hebrews 13 verse 4 says that marriage is honorable in all, in the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers, it says, God will judge. You mark it down. God will judge. A marriage is honored and blessed by God when it's founded upon the biblical precepts and principles of His Holy Word. God will surely judge those who choose to live a lifestyle that is designed only to be lived within the holy boundaries of the marriage relationship. And contrary to what modern mankind may think today, any physical relationship outside the bounds of marriage is sin in the eyes of God. Adultery and fornication are not a sickness, beloved. They are a sin. And they are sins in which a holy God will eventually and inevitably judge. This moves us on to the third part of this, and we see the favoring of David. Again, we didn't take time to read all of these verses. But in verses 6 through verse 21, we see a man by the name of Adner. We've seen him before. He was the chief opponent. to David's rule as king. He eventually turns from fighting against David's rule to favoring David's rule. And this basically was the major turning point in bringing, we might say, all of Israel under David's rule and reign as king. God used, I believe, Abner's actions, even though they may have been self-serving at that point, but he used these things to help bring about the uniting of Israel under the rule of David. Back in chapter 2 of 2 Samuel, In verses 8 through verse 10, we learned where Abner, and we studied about this, where Abner, who was the captain of King Saul's army, he decided to make a man by the name of Ish-bosheth, Saul's only remaining son, to be the next king of Israel. Ish-bosheth was basically a puppet king. whom Abner could manipulate as he pleased. Here in chapter 3 and verse 7, we see that Abner is accused by Ish-bosheth of taking one of Saul's concubines unto himself. Now, as you understand, again, the practice of having concubines was widely accepted in David's day, but it only revealed, again, the corrupt moral practices of that day and time. And while it was true that the exclusive right of living with the concubines of the deceased king belonged to the successor to the throne, as a part of his inheritance, the taking of a concubine by force of a deceased monarch was oftentimes looked upon as one that was seeking or at least threatening to take the throne. So the accusation which Ish-bosheth made about Abner's conduct was not about accusing him of committing an immoral deed. That was not the problem. It was about accusing Abner of committing an overt act of trying to overthrow Ish-bosheth as king. That's all that Ish-bosheth was concerned about. He didn't care about the immorality of it. Abner reacted, though, to Ish-bosheth's accusation, the Bible says, with great anger. And as far as the text is concerned, Abner never really denies Ish-bosheth's accusation, but he does remind Ish-bosheth that he had been the one responsible for giving him protection and security throughout his reign as king. So Abner does not say that Ish-bosheth's accusation was an unjust charge, but that it was an ungrateful charge. Abner wanted complete immunity from the charge because of his work in putting Ish-bosheth into office as king. Abner even threatened to hand over Ish-bosheth's kingdom to David and to make him king over Israel and Judah. But in this we can see the arrogance and the pride of Abner, assuming that he actually had the power and the authority to do such a silly thing. Being the weakling that he was, and knowing that Abner was in control of the military, Isbosheth did not dare say a word in response to Abner's threat. As a matter of fact, verse number 11 says, concerning Ish-bosheth, that he, Ish-bosheth, feared him, that is Abner. If Ish-bosheth had truly been a man of character, he would have told Abner that his position and his place in life did not excuse his immorality. I say to you that the fear of man is a dangerous trap to fall into. Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 25 says, The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be saved. The fear of man will never promote a holy stand for God and His Word. Most people in our day live in the fear of man... ...instead of in the fear of God. Which helps to explain the ungodly condition of our society... ...and even of many churches of today. Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 13 says... ...that let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, it says. And keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Well, knowing that David was growing stronger and stronger, and knowing that the house of Saul was growing weaker and weaker, and no doubt wanting to carry out revenge on Ish-bosheth for what he had done with the accusation, Mr. Abner then decides to make peace with David. In verse number 12, the Bible says that Abner says that he wanted to make a league, it says, with David. That word league means a peace treaty. And David agrees to Abner's proposal upon one condition. David's first wife, Michael, would have to be returned to him. And this goes back to the time of 1 Samuel chapter 19 when David became separated from his wife when he had to flee Saul's murderous threat upon his life. And in 1 Samuel chapter 25 we're told that King Saul eventually gave his daughter, David's wife, to another man to be his wife. Now, some may wonder, why was it important for David to have his marriage restored with Saul's daughter? Well, I believe it would give David an alliance, as it were, with the house of Saul. It would help to encourage the followers of Saul to follow David as their king. You see, in those days, a marriage to the daughter of another dynasty was done in order to form an alliance. And so it was, we would say, politically important to David to have Michael restored to him as his wife because she was Saul's daughter. Well, after the deal is done, the Bible says that Abner makes peace with David and promises to deliver the rest of Israel to David's rule. But it's interesting to know that Abner never admits or confesses his wrongdoing to David. for making Ish-bosheth to be king over Israel. In fact, he indicts himself, actually, in verse number 17, by telling the elders of Israel that they had initially wanted David to be their king, but they had been prevented from this happening, and the chief reason was that it was Adner who had kept Israel from uniting together under David by making Ish-bosheth their king. Verse number 20 says that David made a feast, made a feast for Adner and his men. And to me, I think that was an unwise thing for David to do. He should have rebuked Adner for his ungodly action and attitude. Somebody once said that we need to be careful whom we honor and feast with, lest our actions aggravate our work in service for God. and merit the same rebuke which was given to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. Remember back in the days when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, we were going forward here, but in 2 Chronicles chapter 19 and verse number 2, king Jehoshaphat was rebuked. He was rebuked by men that God had sent because Jehoshaphat, of all people, decided to make an alliance with King Ahab of Israel. Now, I think you know who King Ahab was. He was one of the most wicked kings that Israel ever had. His wife was Jezebel. And Mr. Jehoshaphat thought it would be a good thing to be made friends and to join together with King Ahab. And the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 19, in verse 2, it says, Jehu, the son of Hanai, the seer, went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, now listen to what he said to him. Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? He says, "...therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." Listen, the Bible is clear in warning God's people about having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, Ephesians 5.11. But instead, they are to be reproved, they are to be exposed, they are to be avoided. And David's compromise with Abner, I think, cost him in the end. It brought him untold heartache and sorrow. This leads me to the fourth and final part of this story, and that's the frustration. The frustration of David. The Bible says when Joab, Israel's military general of the army, found out about the meeting between David and Abner, guess what? Mr. Joab becomes upset. He becomes upset and he rebukes David for not taking Abner prisoner. Now, Joab may have been fearful that Abner would try to take his place of position as captain of the army after being reconciled with David. But in reality, according to verse number 30, Joab was wanting to get revenge for Abner doing what? Abner murdered his brother, a man by the name of Asael back in chapter two and verse 23. Without David knowing about it, Joab sent messengers after Abner to have him brought back to Hebron. And when he did, Joab, the Bible says, took him aside privately and killed him out of envy and bitter hatred. Joab slew Abner the same way that Abner had slain his brother. Sounds like a soap opera, doesn't it? It's hard to keep up with. When David found out what had happened, the Bible says that he declared his innocence of the whole thing and he proclaimed a period of nationwide mourning to be held in Abner's honor. And David's action and his attitude throughout this whole ordeal revealed to the people that he had nothing to do with Abner's murder. David's take on all of this was that God would properly deal with those who were guilty of this wrongdoing. As a matter of fact, if you notice in verse number 39, notice what he says. He says, And I am this day weak, though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zerui, be too hard for me. The Lord shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness. Throughout all of this, David gained the people's favor, their respect, their honor as being their leader and king. David wanted to be careful to conduct himself in a right and appropriate way before the people. David's reaction regarding Abner's murder showed that he was not pleased in the cruel acts of murderous men. His compassion and his forgiving spirit were qualities that separated him from ordinary men. Just as David's conduct and testimony had a profound impact on the lives of his people, I would say to you in closing tonight that even so will our testimony and our walk of life affect other people we know and associate with. And as people of God, we must realize, beloved, and understand that there are always other people that are watching us, and our manner of life and behavior will either have a positive effect or it will have a negative effect on other people. And when it comes to those who profess to know the Lord, the Bible warns us, does it not, in Romans chapter 14 and verse 13, to not become a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. We are to always set the right example before others. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 7, the apostle Paul was able to write these words, and he was doing so not out of a sense of pride, but he was doing it to make a point. And he said in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 7, for yourselves, and he's writing to the believers, In the church at Thessalonica, he said, for yourselves know how ye ought to follow us, for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you. Paul lived his life a careful way, a careful way where he always knew that there were people that were watching, watching his every step, listening to his every word, watching his every reaction. And Paul was careful to live his life in such a way that God would be honored and glorified and therefore he could say, listen folks, you ought to follow us in the example that we have left for you. When it comes to our testimony before lost people, Jesus himself said it best. He said to let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. I think there's a lot that can be learned from the life of David just in this chapter alone. Like I said, we didn't have time to read all of these verses, but beloved, I hope that we'll take it to heart, that we would do those things that are pleasing in the sight of the Lord, that we would seek to follow God's commandments and God's word, and that we would seek to do God's will for our life, and that we would seek to live our life to have a testimony before others that Christ would indeed be exalted and glorified. Let us pray. Father, we bow before You this evening, and Lord, we ask