2 Samuel 16. Troubles in the family. That's what David's having. That's the result of David's sin with Bathsheba. I know you say, you know, we're months away from that now. Yeah, but the rest of this book is going to be the result of God's promised judgment because of that sin. It's going to affect David the rest of his life. The Lord told David through Nathan the prophet, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. We know now that that actually referred to Absalom. And as Brian pointed out last week, that's God's providence. That's God's sovereignty at work. He brought this about, but Absalom remains guilty for what he's doing. Another point, like I said this morning, you say, well, I struggle to see how God sovereignly brings things like that out, that He promised He would, and yet man remains responsible. Look, God is 100% sovereign, man is 100% responsible, and because our minds are so finite that we can't understand an infinite God, we just have to believe those things. And they're twin truths. They're taught throughout Scripture. We sort of like to pit them against one another, but they're not. They're not enemies. They don't quarrel. So David's been run out of Jerusalem as Absalom has garnered quite a bit of following. David has ascended the Mount of Olives and gone beyond toward the east, and that's where we catch up with him today. 2 Samuel chapter 16 verse 1, When David had passed a little beyond the summit, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him, and a couple of donkeys saddled, bearing two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. And the king said to Ziba, Why have you brought these? Ziba answered, The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who faint in the wilderness to drink. And the king said, And where is your master's son? Ziba said to the king, Behold, he remains in Jerusalem. For he said, Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father. Then the king said to Ziba, Behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours. And Ziba said, I pay homage. Let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord the king. Now if you've been with us through this study in 2 Samuel, you know who these characters are, but let me just remind you a little bit. David had promised Jonathan that he would be good to his children. and his posterity. And in 2 Samuel chapter 9, David finally decides to fulfill his promise to Jonathan by showing kindness to one of his sons. That son happened to be Mephibosheth, as he's mentioned here. Mephibosheth is crippled in his feet. That actually occurred when the maid was fleeing, having heard of the death of Saul and Jonathan, and she dropped him and it crippled his feet. They didn't have the surgical procedures that we have today. Probably that could be fixed today, but it could not have been fixed at that time. Saul's servant, Ziba, this guy, is the one that brought Mephibosheth to David initially. He's the one that said, yeah, there's a descendant of Saul. Mephibosheth. He's crippling his feet, but I can bring him to you." And David brought him in, and he put Ziba in charge of all of Saul's property. Not Saul now, Saul's dead, but ultimately that property fell to Mephibosheth, and whatever had been the property of Saul, Ziba is to take care of. But Mephibosheth was brought into the king's house and daily sat at the king's table just like one of the king's own children. And Mephibosheth was greatly thankful to David for such an extraordinary kindness. Years have gone by and this happens. The tide has shifted, so to speak. David is being run out of town and this same Ziba who brought Mephibosheth to David several chapters ago shows up with a bunch of gifts. Seemingly a great show of support for David. David's first question. Where's Mephibosheth? That's what he means in verse 3 when the king said, Where is your master? Saul, ultimately, but certainly they used the word son, could refer to a grandchild, which Mephibosheth was. Where is your master's son? Where's Mephibosheth at? Ziba says, Mephibosheth has remained in Jerusalem thinking he's going to get the kingdom back. He's about to reign as king. Now that doesn't make a lot of sense to us because Absalom is actually going to be reigning as king and he is still a descendant of David. He's not God's choice. But he's still a descendant of David. You know the words of Jesus come to mind here. where Jesus said every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And it's as though Ziba is putting those words in the mouth of Mephibosheth. In other words, Mephibosheth sees that David and Absalom are opposed to one another and he's just assuming that that kingdom is going to fall and crumble and he can ascend back to the throne and have the house of Saul back in power. At least that's what Ziba wants us to think and what he wants David to think. I hate to be that guy that gives away the end of the book. But we need to realize that Ziba is lying here. He is making this up. He is not out for David. He is out for Ziba. Mephibosheth is not David's enemy. He supports David. We'll actually find that out in an abundantly clear fashion just a few chapters down the road in chapter 19. In fact, this whole gift that Ziba brings is probably the property of Mephibosheth. It's probably not even Ziba's property. As far as we know, he didn't even have the means to supply. This is not a big gift now. It's not as though it's a hundred donkeys that are loaded down. It's only a couple of donkeys saddled. But nonetheless, as far as we know, he's just watching over property. He didn't own any. Mephibosheth had plenty. He had the means to send this. I'm not going to exposit chapter 19 at this point, but I will just say that Ziba tricked David and he tricked Mephibosheth. That ought to be enough to at least water your palate for a few weeks from now when we're in chapter 19. Look, Ziba's little more than a politician. He's not worried about David being king. He's worried about Ziba getting his. And in fact, we're going to learn in chapter 19, Ziba doesn't follow the king. Ziba turns right around and goes back to Jerusalem. Why don't he follow David if he's really interested in being on David's side? Well, just in case David doesn't make it and Absalom actually does end up being king, you better go back to Jerusalem and handle that land there too. He is playing both sides. He's just a politician. Unfortunately, David falls for it. He believes him. You would think David would have known better. You would think that he would have sought God's advice here. But in David's defense, he's in a very difficult place. They have quickly fled out of Jerusalem. They probably did not have a lot of means at their disposal. And this probably was a good thing to receive this gift. And so he believes Ziba and he gives him all of Mephibosheth's property. Now Mephibosheth is going to get some of his property back, but he's not going to get it all. Zeb is actually somewhat successful in this whole deal. Verse 5, When King David came to Bahram, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shammai, the son of Gerah. And as he came, he cursed continually. And he threw stones at David and all the servants of King David. And all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And Shammai said as he cursed, Get out, get out you man of blood, you worthless man. The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. And the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood." Sort of an interesting development. Now, Bahurim is just a little to the northeast of Jerusalem. It's right on the border of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. You know, David was of the tribe of Judah, but Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin. So this guy is going to be right there around that border between these two tribes at this time. And he points out, the writer here, points out with perfect clarity that this man is biased. This is not a guy with a level head looking at the situation. This guy is a descendant of Saul. There came out a man of the family of the house of Saul. He is biased. He is looking at things through a slanted vision. He is looking at things from his own family's point of view. And he sees Saul and his family as the rightful king. But Scripture says otherwise. Saul was a wicked king. Saul did not follow the Lord. Saul actually is said to be the Lord's enemy. at one point. And Saul dies in unbelief. David was God's clear choice for king. Saul was the people's choice. David is God's choice. Now, the Scripture is clear about that. But Shammai's family ties wouldn't allow him to see that. He actually finds himself here not opposing David, but opposing God. He's on the wrong side of God at this point because David is God's anointed king. It is interesting that David would not destroy Saul, whom David referred to as God's anointed, but this man is ready to destroy David who is truly God's anointed. And this man, there must have been either he was up above David and his group where he had some safety, or he was across a little ravine where he had some safety. I would be tempted to think he was probably above them because you can't really throw dust very far, and he's throwing dust at them. I would think he's probably up above them. But he's up above enough that he feels safe enough to do this. And it tells us that He's throwing stones at them and He's throwing dust at them. Not just David, though David's the primary target. He's throwing dust and stones at all of these people. But the people and David's mighty men surround him. They keep him safe. It says in verse 6 that the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And Shimei said as he cursed, get out, get out, that is out of Jerusalem, out of our country, get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man. Had he been talking about David killing Uriah, he would have had a case. David did murder Uriah. God said so. God was not pleased in that whole affair. But that doesn't seem to be the point. He's making here. The point He is making is that the blood of the house of Saul is about to be avenged. Look, verse 8 is very clear. By the way, I'm beginning to get at that age when I can't wait for these new progressive lenses I got last week to come in so I can see these numbers on this page. Verse 8. You know you're getting old when that's the number one thing on your mind. When are those progressives coming in? Verse 8. The Lord has avenged on you the blood of the house of Uriah? No. Well, the house of Saul. David didn't kill Saul. David could have killed Saul twice. But he didn't. He didn't lay a hand on God's anointed. David's not guilty for Saul's murder. Philistines did that. He's guilty of Uriah, but not Saul. In fact, who was constantly trying to kill who? Saul was constantly trying to kill David. Is this guy's whole idea slanted? Of course it is. In fact, David even publicly mourns when Saul is killed. That was the first chapter of this book, isn't it? He does seem to understand that this was the work of God. I mean, he says, the Lord has avenged on you. He seems to understand that this is the work of God. And it is God's work. This is God's. I mean, God had said way back in chapter 12, one man will arise of your own family who is going to try to take the throne. I'm paraphrasing, but that's what it says back at this time. But he had the whole understanding wrong. This had nothing to do with Saul's blood. This had to do with the case of Bathsheba and Uriah. That's all this was about. He goes on, verse 9, Then Abishai, the son of Zariah, said to the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head. But David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zariah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, Curse David, who then shall say, Why have you done so? And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, Behold, my own son seeks my life. How much more now, may this benjamin? Leave him alone and let him curse. For the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today. So David and his men went on the road while Shammai went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. And the king and all the people who were with him arrived weary of the Jordan and there he refreshed himself. So in a sense, this is somewhat confusing what David says here. But at least we can see there is humility in David. David had the ability to get this man killed right on spot. That would have been no problem. He had the power to do so. And many leaders would have, especially back in this day. If you look at the way that the Middle East even is today, this happens to a leader today, he's going to lose his head within five minutes. That's just the way life is over there. That's the culture. That's the norm. And David had the power to kill this man and he says, no, we're not going to kill him. Abishai is the son of Zariah. Just a few facts we've already covered. Zariah is David's sister. That makes Abishai David's nephew. But he's also one of David's greatest mighty men. In fact, David had three great mighty men and he is said to have been beside the three. So he was not one of the three, but he was beside the three. He was right there in their way. He was about as mighty as they were. And he speaks up. He says, look, I'm going to decapitate this man for you because ain't no man without his head going to curse anybody, right? David says, no. What about you? Don't go take off his head. If he's cursing because the Lord has said to him, curse David, who then shall say, why have you done so? Now David seems to entertain the idea that God may have sent Shammai to say these things. It seems more likely though that David thinks though Shammai has his facts wrong, God is allowing it because of David's sin. That makes more sense, especially considering what he says here in just a moment. And David's focus is not derailed by this little minor infraction by this nobody guy. Shema is nobody. He's just an average poor guy that has no real ability to do anything. And David makes the point that there are bigger things going on. Look at verse 11. David said to Abishai and to all his servants, Behold, my own son seeks my life. Who cares about this Benjamite? He's not taking the throne. He's not trying to be king. He's a nobody. The bigger issue here is that Absalom is running us out of town and that needs to be corrected. So David has his priorities right. The bigger deal is that Absalom's taking over the throne and that's a bad thing for God's And that's what David is thinking about. And then David seems to at least say that Shammai is wrong. I feel like I've pronounced that name about five different ways today. Verse 12, David says, It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me. He means by this man. So he is at least saying that the man has his facts wrong. Nonetheless, God is allowing it because of David's sin. That seems to be how David is viewing it. It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me and that the Lord will repay me with the good for His cursing today. The whole caravan heads on down the road. Shimei is continually cursing them, throwing stones, flinging dust. And ultimately they arrive at the Jordan and they're able to have some refreshment. And then we head back to Jerusalem in verse 15. Now Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem and Ahithophel with him. And when Hushai the archite, David's friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, Long live the king! Long live the king! And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend? And Hushai said to Absalom, No, for whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, His I will be, and with Him I will remain. And again, whom shall I serve? Should it not be His Son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you. So David's gone and Absalom is given the right to just stroll into Jerusalem and take over. It couldn't be any easier, really, at this point. And Ahithophel, who, remember, is Bathsheba's grandfather. Brian brought that out last time we were here. Ahithophel, who is Bathsheba's grandfather, is with Absalom. Maybe he is still frustrated by the whole issue that went on with his granddaughter Bathsheba and his grandson-in-law Uriah. His actions, it seems at least to suggest that. But here's Hushai. Who is he? We met him at the end of the last chapter, at the end of chapter If you look back at chapter 15 verse 32, while David was coming to the summit where God was worshipped, behold, Hushai the archite came out to meet him with his coat torn and dirt on his head. David said to him, if you go with me, you will be a burden to me. But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king, as I have been to your father's servant in time past, so now will I be your servant, then you will defeat for me the council of Ahithophel. David sends this man back. And the writer of 2 Samuel, who ultimately, of course, is the Holy Spirit, but he inspires this earthly man to write these words, he says in verse 16, that Hushai the Archite, David's friend, he came. He came to Absalom. And here's what he says, Long live the King. Long live the King. Who's he talking about? Is he talking about Absalom? Absalom thinks he is. But he doesn't say that. He just says, long live the king. Long live the king. It may very well be that Hushai is at this point at least referring to the real king, David. Though Absalom doesn't take it that way. He wants to know why in the world he didn't go with David. If he's so loyal to David, why is he going to follow Absalom at this point? Absalom's very suspicious, understandably so. If you're David's friend, why aren't you with him? Hushai seems to satisfy him. He satisfies him by saying, for whom the Lord and all this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, His I will be and with Him I will remain. We know that the man that the Lord has chosen and the man that the people have chosen is not always the same man. The people chose Saul. God chose David. They're not always the same man. The Lord chose David. The Lord did not choose Absalom. Nonetheless, Hushai does finally relay those words that David told him to say. He relays those words here to Absalom. And he says, whom should I serve? In verse 19, should it not be his son, David's son, as I've served your father David, so I will serve He deceives him. But there's a reason that he does this. He does this because he is David's friend, and Ahithophel is going to give advice against David, and Hushai is going to give advice that messes up and turns over the whole advice from Ahithophel. This is David's tool inside Absalom's regime, if you will. And so in verse 23, Excuse me, verse 20, it says, Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, Give your counsel, what shall we do? Okay, we've walked into the city. We've taken over. But we need to win the city. Jerusalem may not be for me yet. I've got some bit of a following. but Jerusalem may still be for David. How are we going to make sure that we have the capital? That's what he's asking this man. Absalom said to Ahithophel, give your counsel, what shall we do? Ahithophel said to Absalom, go into your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father. And the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened. So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. And Absalom went into his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. Now in those days, the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God, so was all the counsel of Ahithophel, esteemed by both David and Absalom. So Absalom's wanting a way to establish his kingdom. He is wanting a way to distance himself from David. He doesn't want anybody to mistake this. He's not thinking dynasty so much as he's thinking takeover. He is taking over David's kingdom and he plans to reign. Ahithophel, how do we do this? Ahithophel says simple, sleep with your father's concubines. Do it in the public sight of all Israel and they'll know that you're opposed to David. David has left these second class wives, if you want to call it that. They were legal wives, but they weren't like real wives in some senses. They weren't part of the wheel. They didn't inherit anything. They were slaves in a sense, but legal wives nonetheless. And he had them as part of his harem. And it tells us here in verse 21 that He has left them to keep the house, to keep the palace. And Ahithophel says, if you'll go sleep with them on the roof in the sight of all Israel, everyone will know that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and the people will then know you're in charge, you're the king, and they will latch on to you and they'll reject David. This was a normal practice back in these days. This was not supposed to be a normal practice in Israel. It was a normal practice in the pagan lands that were around Israel, but a man that came up to power, he would acquire the harem of the previous king, and it would show that he had acquired the kingdom of the previous king. Now, in those pagan lands, they didn't necessarily sleep with them. They just took them. So Ahithophel is actually going a little bit further than was required at this time. Now this was meant to strengthen Absalom. It was not meant to do God's work. Nobody would suggest that Ahithophel was trying to be godly here. You agree? Look back at chapter 12. Verse 10, we've quoted this several times. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me. This was, by the way, God speaking through Nathan to David. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me, David has despised God, and has taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. Absalom. That's who that's talking about. Absalom is doing what he wants to do. He is sinful. He will be punished for that. But God's still sovereign over him. I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. Next sentence. I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun. For you did this thing secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. We all agree. Ahithophel, in no sense of the word, is a godly man who is trying to do God's work. He is a sinful man who is doing sinful, corrupt, unthinkable things. But God's still running the show. God's still sovereign. This is God's punishment for David's sin, like it or not. By the way, David did respond at this point to God in verse 12 and say, I have sinned against the Lord. David had a positive response to that. He repented. So all this does happen just like God said it will. Just like God said He was going to raise this up, He was going to bring it to pass. It did. Look, when God says He's going to do something, He does. We don't serve a God who's trying to do things. That ought to help you when you go to prayer, by the way. Our God isn't trying to run the world, He's running the world. He's doing it. So, this happened and it was made clear to all Israel that Absalom had taken over the throne of his father David. This last sentence tells us that Ahithophel gave advice in such a way that it was as if one consulted the Word of God. The problem was, it wasn't the word cut. You say, wait, wait, you just said God told him, David, that he was going to do it. Absolutely. But Ahithophel is not saying, you know, back in chapter 12 of 2 Samuel, somebody's supposed to do this and so you ought to... That's not Ahithophel's idea at all. Ahithophel is giving wicked advice. He's not giving godly advice. You may have respect for me, you may have respect for Sunday school teachers, but if we aren't saying it according to God's Word, it is not God's Word. Ahithophel's advice was not the Word of God. And it even says that David entertained it as such. But from what we see from Ahithophel, there's no reason that he should have been. Fortunately for David, he was an absolute. David was a man after God's own heart. None the way. I assume this man was wise. but by worldly standards, not by the wisdom from above. He was wise by the wisdom that was from below. In fact, he was quite a degenerate human being to suggest this. What are you going to learn from chapter 16? What is it? Are you going to go home and dwell on this for a while? Sure you are. God's sovereign here. That's a good point to get out of this chapter. God said all this was coming about back in chapter 12. He's sovereign. There's a purpose in what He's doing. Even when it doesn't look like there's a purpose, there is a purpose. You know, the apostles didn't understand exactly what was going on when Jesus was on trial. I mean, Peter fled for his life because he didn't understand it. John is the only apostle with Jesus at the cross from all indication. And he's looking up at a battered, beaten, bloody Messiah. And he doesn't quite understand it. But God had a purpose in it, didn't He? You know what, we're going to go through things in this life that we don't always understand. God's got a purpose in those things. That's why we can understand Romans 8.28 which says, we know that all things work together for good to those who Love God to those who are called according to His purpose. We get that. Even when we're having a bad day, God is using it for our benefit. He is growing us up. He is sovereign. Even when things come our way that we don't like, God is running that show. And God's running this. Look, these wicked men in this chapter, Zeba, Shimei, Absalom, Ahithophel, they're making earthly progress in this chapter. Aren't they? I mean, they're getting ahead. Ziba's inherited all this land from Saul. Shammai's done everything he wanted to do relative to David. I mean, Ahithophel has ascended up to where he seems to be God's Word and he's the next thing to the king almost. He's giving this. Absalom has risen to the throne. Wicked men are rising to the top in this chapter. Guess what's going to happen sometimes in our world? Wicked men sometimes are going to have it good. But like the psalmist in Psalm 73, what we need to do is come to the house of God and realize that this is their heaven here on earth. They will meet God one day. And they will stand before judgment of God one day in the future. Don't be these men. Don't think just because things are going your way and wickedness that all is okay. That's not the measure. They're going to meet their end. Here's the greatest thing. This is just one step closer in this book to a king who's going to reign completely in righteousness. and He is going to reign in such a way that His enemies will become a stool for His feet. Not David. Jesus. Jesus is coming. And as we work our way through all these problems that David is having at this time, we look forward to the King of Kings coming when He will reign and everybody will bow and they will confess that Jesus is Lord. That's what we're moving towards as we work through 2 Samuel. Keep that in mind. Stand with me if you will. Brother Burrell, will you please dismiss us, sir?