after Absalom's rebellion there and that was dealt with pretty quickly. Absalom's dead. David comes back. Several different people meet him as he's coming back trying to make amends or help him in some cases. When he gets back to the palace, he finds there's a fuss going on in the country. There's a division. The 11 tribes of the northern part of Israel They are offended by the one southern tribe of Judah because Judah was there to meet David first when he crossed the Jordan River back to go up to Jerusalem. And it's funny how a little thing can get some people out of sorts. You ever notice that? Sometimes people come and talk to me. They've got an issue going on maybe in their marriage or with interpersonal type stuff. And a lot of times, you know, it's just little petty stuff that we let get under our skin and get worked up. And that's what happened in Israel. And so David's coming back to a divided country. And they're fussing with each other. And of course, any time there's any sort of division, Satan jumps right in that. That's right up Satan's alley. Whenever God's people aren't getting along, whenever God's people have a fuss or there's some division there, whether it's in a home or a church or a ministry, man, Satan's all over that and he just happens. Notice here verse 1, I know we already looked at this, but I just want to kind of set the stage for where we're picking up. Notice in chapter 20 verse 1 it says, and there happened to be there. And that little phrase caught my attention, and I guarantee you, we'll get to heaven, I guarantee you, we'll find out. That just happened to be there was by design on Satan's part. He had his fellow right in place. And this guy named Sheba, this man of Belial, a worthless man, morally worthless, spiritually bankrupt. He steps up and he says, we have no part. He represents the northern 11 tribes there and he says, we have no part in David, we're done with this. And they're going to separate, they're going to secede and be their own kingdom. Well, eventually they do after Solomon passed away, but at this point, This is insurrection on this guy Sheba's part. We looked at the fussing going on between the two nations. We looked at that. And then last week, last time we were here, we looked at Sheba's defiant actions in verse 1-3. Tonight, I want to pick up in verse 4. So that's where we're at. We're in the midst of this uprising with Sheba and this division in the country. And I'll begin reading in verse 4. Then said the king, that's King David, to Amasa, assemble me the men of Judah within three days and be thou here present. So he's giving him clear instructions. Amasa, we'll talk about this here in a little bit, David replaced Joab with Amasa. We'll talk about that. So he says, get the men together of Judah within three days and be thou here present. We've got to deal with this. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah, but notice this, he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. And David said to Abishai, now Abishaiah is Joab's brother. We'll try and keep these connections straight because they're a factor. David said to Abishaiah, Now shall Sheba the son of Bitri do us more harm than did Absalom. Take thou thy lord's servants and pursue after him lest he get him fenced cities and escape us. And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Sharites, and the Peleothites, and the mighty men. And they went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba the son of Betri. And they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon. Amasa went before them. And Joab's garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins, and the sheath thereof. And as he went forth, it fell out. And Joab said unto Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him, and Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand. And so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again, and he died. So Joab and Abishai, his brother, pursued after Sheba, the son of Bitrite. And one of Joab's men stood by him and said, He that favoreth Joab, and he that is for David, let him go after Joab. And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. When the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that everyone that came by him stood still. When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue after Sheba, the son of Bitri." Wow, you talk about drama. And this is quite an event here. So let's pray. We're talking about the rebellion of Sheba. Let's pray. I'm going to look at at least part of this here tonight, try and learn some lessons. Father in heaven, we come to you tonight and we thank you for the Word of God. Lord, some of what You've preserved for us is a little shocking, the violence and the treachery here and a lot of this, but there's lessons for us, and so we pray that You would teach us tonight. Father, I'm not the author of this book, I'm just a preacher, so I ask that Your Holy Spirit, who is the author, would fill me tonight and speak through me, and be our teacher, help us to glean some lessons from this horrific event, and help us be better Christians, be stronger in our faith, and wiser in our actions. And so again, Lord, I ask for the filling of Your Spirit, that You would have Your way in our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen. As I said, we noted the fractured nation David comes back to, and then Sheba's defiant actions, he steps up and says, we have no part, and he leads this insurrection. Tonight, in verse number 4, I want us to pick up our third point in this whole chapter here, is Israel's feeble leadership. We're going to look at the first few verses. I'm going to try and get through a good section tonight, but we'll see how it goes. But Israel's feeble leadership. I think overall, David was a pretty good leader. In fact, let me reword that. I think overall, David was an exceptional leader. I think there are tremendous leadership principles and examples that we could study David's life just from his leadership characteristic, his leadership example that he gives us would be tremendous lessons. In fact, as I was studying this for tonight, I got thinking that would be a great book, leadership principles from the life of David. I have a book called Leadership Principles from the Life of Robert E. Lee and some other great historians, Patton, different ones like that. Wouldn't that be something, have a Leadership Principles from the Life of David? I think overall, as I said, David was an exceptional leader. A lot of lessons on leadership could be taken from David's reign as King of Israel. However, In this situation here, I think the rebellion of his son Absalom and the brutal murder, the violent murder of his son Absalom, I think that rattled David. I really do. And God's recorded it for us here. If you'll remember, when David got word that Absalom was killed, that Absalom died. Do you remember? We studied this, how emotion just took over David. and he almost couldn't function and he just wept uncontrollably, Absalom, my son, my son. And he neglected, he began to neglect his responsibilities and he just made some decisions where Joab finally steps in and says, listen, you're going to do more damage to the nation of Israel by your irrational grief than what Absalom would have done, what Absalom was doing. And David got himself together, collected himself together, and was able to start doing some things. So he made some decisions. We're going to look at this here in a bit, but he made some decisions during that emotional meltdown that he had, leadership decisions that now are beginning to bear fruit. There's consequences of those decisions are starting to show themselves. He made some leadership decisions. He made some rearrangements there with Joab. I believe David was so angry at Joab for killing his son Absalom, that he just removed him from being head of the military. And of all things, and I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but of all things, he replaced Joab. Now, question, if you can recall some of our previous studies, was Joab a good military leader? Yes or no? Yes, he was exceptional. And we're going to talk about that here in a little bit. But David demolded Joab, removed him from his position during this emotional time. And of all people, he puts Amasa in, in David's, in Joab's position that he had. He puts Amasa over his whole military. Now who is Amasa? Amasa was David's cousin, but Amasa was loyal to Absalom. If you'll remember, Absalom had Amasa be head of his military. Question, how did Amasa do as head of Absalom's military? Terrible! They were slaughtered, basically, overnight. His strategy was total failure, his military was undisciplined, and he was a terrible military leader. No, that wasn't Amasai. This was Absalom's guy. I mean, he was loyal. He was right in there. Abishai, they pretended they were counselors and stuff and redirected it. But nevertheless, Amasai was a failure as a military leader. And David, in his emotions and in his anger, no doubt, at Joab, now I'm speculating here a little bit, but to me it's pretty obvious He dismisses Joab and he puts Amasa in, of all people. Now, the thing about Amasa is he was a total failure under Absalom. So why would you put somebody in such a crucial position that had just failed horrifically? And the second thing is he was unfaithful to David. When the chips were down, Amasa went with Absalom. David had quite an entourage that were loyal to him. They packed up right on a spur of the moment, left their homes, left their jobs, said, we're loyal to David. Amasa didn't do that. He said, I'm staying with Absalom. There's a little bit of treachery there, there's unfaithfulness, and there's failure. And David, the tremendous leader as he is, was, and the wisdom that he displayed generally, his emotions clouded his thinking, and he made what I believe a foolish decision. Joab, on the other hand, I want to talk about these two guys and then we'll see, try and get to my point here. Joab, on the other hand, was intensely loyal to David. You cannot question Joab's loyalty to David. However, his loyalty was always on his terms. There is no doubt Joab is going to stand up for David. There is no doubt Job is going to defend David. There is no doubt he is going to be loyal to David, but it's going to be according to his version of loyalty. He was intensely independent, and if David had a certain way as the leader and the king, if he had a certain way he wanted something to be done, Joab was going to make sure it was done, but it wasn't necessarily going to be the way David said it should be done. He was going to do what needed to be done, but he's going to do it his way. You follow what I'm saying? And so he was intensely loyal to David, but again, always on his terms. He was a gifted military leader. No doubt about that. However, he was intolerant of any opposition. If there was any opposition at all, man, off with their heads. He killed all suspected opposition. He was brutal, he was cold-blooded, he was self-willed, but he was very good at what he did and he was very loyal to David. So can you see where maybe that might be a distraction for David? A thorn in his flesh, maybe this guy that loves me, he's loyal to me, he's good at what he does, but he always does it his way. And that's Joab in a nutshell. He's a lot like some Christians. There are Christians who are very gifted in various ways. God gifts them in various ways and you can name it, you know, teaching or music or whatever, administration, very, very gifted, but they're not submissive. You understand what I mean? To be gifted, but not submissive. They're two very different things. Some Christians are very committed to the Lord, but they're not very compassionate. They have a hard time working with people. They have a hard time dealing with people. It's like, man, we're going to win the loss, and if you get in my way, I'm chopping your head off. Anybody see chopping people's head off might be a problem in the ministry? So Joab, sometimes we come across people like that. They're very focused, but they're very self-willed. I've said this a number of times over the years. Some people want to serve God, but they want to serve God their way. Follow what I'm saying? I want to be a sunny school teacher, but I'm going to do it my way. If you would, take your Bibles and turn with me to Romans chapter number 1. I think Romans chapter 1 and verse 1 addresses this idea a little bit. Not directly, but by way of observation. Some Christians are very gifted, but they're not submissive. They're very committed, but they're not compassionate about it. They're very focused, but in a self-willed way, much like Joab was. Joab was an asset in many ways, but he was also a distraction and a grief in many ways. Look at Romans chapter 1 and verse number 1. Paul's introducing the letter. He's opening the letter up and he makes a few statements about himself. And I think the order of these statements, there's a lot of insight here. in the attitudes we can have in serving the Lord. Notice how he starts off. Paul, he gives his name. And by the way, in ancient times when they would write letters, we always put our name at the end of the letter, right? Then they would start off with their name. This is Paul writing to you. So that's why his name is number one there. Paul. Now notice what he says. Look at the order. First thing he says about himself is that he's a what? A servant of Jesus Christ. That's the first thing he says about himself. That's the starting point. What's the second thing he says about himself? A servant of Jesus Christ, what? Called to be an apostle. That's the second thing he says about himself. And the third thing he says about himself is what? He's separated under the gospel. Now I think, I think, my opinion, he is stating these in that order deliberately. I think God has given to us that order. Paul says this, I'm Paul, and he says this, first and foremost, before anything else, I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. Would you agree with me being a servant involves being submissive? Do you agree with me? Sure. A servant that's not submissive isn't much of a servant. So Paul was saying this, I'm putting my own words here, I'm trying to use this for application to our message tonight. Paul was saying this, before I'm called to be an apostle, for I'm separated under the gospel, for my life is committed to all of that, first and foremost, I am a servant of Jesus Christ, I am submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's what I'm suggesting, that Christian service, whatever the area is, must begin with a submissive attitude towards the Lord Jesus Christ. People can get in their head, I want to serve God, but if they're not submissive to the Lord, they're going to be a problem. Well, I want to serve God, I want to be an apostle, I'm called to the ministry, but if they don't begin with a submissive spirit, a submissive attitude towards the Lord, a submissive heart to the Lord, they're going to serve the Lord, but they're going to serve the Lord their way, in their time, and according to their understanding. And the Lord says, all that needs to be put off the table first, and you just submit to me and let me call those shots. Let me establish how this ministry is going to be carried out. Would you agree with me? I would be out of place in deciding how this church should run. Jesus should be the one deciding how the church is run. How many people agree the preacher ought to be submissive to the Word of God and to the Lord? Yes. And what we have in a lot of churches, and I certainly don't live up to that flawlessly, I try to, but I'm afraid what we have in a lot of churches, people say, oh, I'm called to be a pastor, and then they're going to run it their way. And the Bible and God's instructions, the principles, the instructions given in the Word of God is pushed aside because they're not a servant of the Lord, they are consenting self, oh, well, I'm serving the Lord, but I'm not a servant of the Lord. Am I making sense? Everybody follow what I'm saying? And so that's a problem. Then he says, I'm a servant of the Lord. My heart, my mind, my understanding, my reasoning is all submitted to the Lord. He's the one that established all of that. Then he's called me to be an apostle and I'm separated under the Gospel. That's my ministry. So this is what it has to begin for all of us. And I'm talking a lot of people who are faithfully serving the Lord in various capacities. Many of them, not most of us. Here's where we have to begin with, our service to the Lord must begin with submission to the Lord. Not my will, Lord. Not my way. Not how I think. but the way you say. I had back early on, had some folks were talking about the church and we were just getting started and it was suggested that the church go back into the Southern, not go back in, we never were in, but go and appeal to the Southern Baptist Convention to take us in under the Southern Baptist Convention. That is not, as far as I understand that book, that is not the way to go. I believe the church is to be independent That's why we are and what we are. And so that is not being a submissive attitude, that's using reasoning. And so anyway, so first the servant, humble, humility, submission, and then I can serve the Lord. And that's where I think Joab had it mixed up. He loved David. There's no doubt in my mind. He was loyal to David. He was committed to David and the kingdom of Israel. But he never got that submissive part of it down. And it caused problems. And David in his emotional meltdown, make some foolish decisions and he replaces Joab who he was frustrated with and now he's very angry with. And he puts this other guy in who's a total failure in so many ways. Dr. Lee Roberson, my pastor down in Tennessee years ago, and I've quoted him off and you're familiar with him a little bit I'm sure. He had this famous statement, everything rises and falls on leadership. And David was a tremendous leader, but during this time of emotional turmoil, he made some unwise decisions, and now we see here how they're coming back and causing problems. They're causing problems. I want us, first of all, and this is the first thing I want us to notice tonight in verse number four, I notice concerning this, my overall point is this, Israel's feeble leadership, feeble leadership, The first thing I notice here is there's a delegation of responsibility. Look at verse 4. Then said the king unto Amasa, now this is his chief of staff, so to speak. His new one, just brought in from Absalom's administration. Assemble me the men of Judah within three days and be thou here present. Do you think there's any question as to what David was instructing him to do? No. It's pretty clear, right? Get the men of Judah together, assemble them here in three days, and you be here also. You get them, you bring them, and you be here in three days. What David was doing was delegating this responsibility of getting the military together so that they could deal with Sheba and his rebellion. Now that's not a bad idea in and of itself for David to delegate that responsibility to somebody else. What does it mean? Now in group participation, I'm trying to keep you all with me here. What does it mean to delegate something to somebody else? What are we talking about? give the responsibility to them. Right, I'm giving you the responsibility of assembling this military, these army guys, assemble them together so we can deal with this. So it's delegating or giving responsibility. I think also included in that is delegating or giving authority to somebody else. Delegate authority. He had the authority to call up the men, whether through draft or however they did it, And Amasai was given that authority by the king to assemble this group together, and he's given the responsibility. Delegation isn't a bad thing. To entrust someone else with responsibility or with authority to accomplish a job or fulfill a role. A lot of pastors struggle, and maybe I'm preaching to myself a little bit tonight, but a lot of pastors struggle with this matter of delegating authority. And I thought about myself, and I thought about other pastors I know, and other people in our church that have responsibilities. And I thought, why would somebody have a hard time delegating responsibility to others? I put a few reasons down I came up with. I think sometimes, I know for me, if I ask somebody to take a position or take a job or take a responsibility, sometimes I feel like I'm imposing on them. You follow what I'm saying? They're busy. I know they're busy. Really, I can't do this very well myself. I could if I have to. Man, if I could just delegate this to somebody and sometimes I hesitate to ask someone to do it because I feel like I'm asking too much or I'm imposing on them. Everybody understand that? Everybody understand where you're coming from? I think sometimes people, I hope not true for me, but sometimes there's a little insecurity on the part of the leader and they're afraid they might do a better job than I do and everybody will like them and not like me. You know? And there's a bit of insecurity on the part of leaders sometimes. And boy, you know, if I give that to them and they do a really great job, that's kind of a threat to my job. They might take my job. And I heard a preacher say one time that his assistant drove in, he got all brand new tires on his car. He drove in, he said, oh, you got new tires? He said, yeah, brother so-and-so in church got them for me. And he said he went in his office and thought they never got me brand new tires. And that old insecurity kicked in a little bit there. I think sometimes you feel like you're imposing. I know that's something I deal with sometimes. Sometimes there's insecurity there. Sometimes you feel like you're not certain about the results. Well, you know, if I have them do it, but, you know, I don't know if it's going to be done well or it's going to be done right. So sometimes we hesitate with delegating authority or delegating responsibilities for others, but it's important. Why would David, why is it important for David to delegate this to somebody? In this case, Amasa. Well, number one, it's more efficient. There is no way in the world David could reestablish his administration. He's been gone, run out of town. He's just getting back. He's got Sheba now rising up in insurrection. He could not efficiently get his house in order and then also assemble a military together. It's a whole lot more efficient. I'm going to have Amasa do that focused on what I need to do. So there's efficiency there. It's more effective. You have two people working on the job than one. And also, I think this might have been part of David's thinking. Amasa was not a very good leader, military leader. As far as we know, he had no experience. So maybe David is saying, hey, this is something you can do. Get some experience. And he can learn how this thing works and develop him as a leader. That may have been behind David's thinking. I don't know. But delegating leadership is important. It's very helpful. How do you delegate leadership? I don't know if this is of interest to anybody. It interests me as I saw what David was doing here. I think first of all, and some of us would apply to some of us. First of all, if you're gonna delegate responsibility and leadership, you have to have the right person, right? I think David got the wrong guy here. But you have to have the right person. You need someone that has character. If you're going to give responsibility to someone, you have to be able to trust that person, right or wrong. In fact, I want to suggest to you, character is more important than talent. Character is more important than ability. I would far rather have somebody, and this is not addressing pessimism, he's doing tremendous, I thank God for it, but I would far rather have somebody that can't preach their way out of a paper bag, but has character and does what's right and works hard. I'll take that over ability any day. In fact, if a person has character, they will develop their ability. They'll figure out a way. Years ago, we had someone helping here a little bit. We've had a bunch of people over the years. I had one fellow, and I needed some stuff out of the barn. And we had our little meeting Monday morning. I said to him, I said, I need you to go down to the barn and get this stuff. It was for missions conference or something. I don't remember what. I said, just get this stuff, bring it up, and we need to sort through it. So they stood there and looked at me, and I said, you can go ahead and do it right now. And they said, but I don't know where it is. I said, how about you go down and look for it and find it? Oh yeah, okay. You all aren't laughing at that. I thought, you know, a little character there and say, all right, I've been given this responsibility. It's my job to make sure it gets done. You follow what I'm saying? And so a character is far... When you want the right person, character trumps talents every single time. Tom Landry, anybody recognize the name Tom Landry? The great coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Christian man, man of tremendous testimony, he made this statement. He said, in my opinion, character is the most important determinant of a person's success, of their achievement and their ability to handle adversity. Character is the most important trait. And so if we're going to delegate responsibility somewhere, we have to have somebody of character. The second one I put down was this. You need someone with integrity. I'll take a dummy that has integrity over a genius that I can't trust. Somebody that's going to be honest, and is going to do right, and is going to tell the truth. The last thing in the world you want in the ministry is somebody who is dishonest. Right or wrong? We're trusting people with the souls, the eternal destiny of the souls of people. I don't want a liar. That's somebody in a position like that. Right or wrong? So character, integrity is vitally important. And then reliability. that they're going to be there, and where they're supposed to be, and they're going to do what they're supposed to do, and humility. So number one, when I'm delegating responsibility to somebody, there must be the right person. We got to do that. And I'm going somewhere with this, so bear with me. There has to be clear instructions. You have to communicate to that person. If I'm going to delegate responsibility, I have to communicate to them clearly what's expected of them, what their authority is and is not. That's what David did. Look here in verse 4, he said, "...assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present." He told him what he was to do, he told him the time frame he had to do it, and he told him the place they needed to be. As clear instructions as you're going to get. And so there must be clear instructions. And then last of all, I put this down, to delegate the right person, there must be accountability. There must be accountability. Verse number 5, so Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah, but he tarried longer than the appointed time which he had appointed him. And David said to Abishai, he says, all right, I'm going to someone else. There must be accountability. Now, you say, what does this have to do with me? Well, if you're in a leadership position, it's helpful. But our Lord does that same thing to the church. I believe the pastor has authority in the church. I think the Bible clearly teaches that. But, the authority that the pastor has is delegated authority by the head of the church, Jesus Christ. The pastor doesn't have his own authorities, not the authority in and of himself. It's delegated to him. Let me ask you a question. Has God, the Lord, put any qualifications together for who can be pastor so that the right person is there? Yes, in Timothy. In fact, I'm wanting to preach on this here before the year's out. In Timothy. And then again in Titus, he gives very clearly what that person is to be his pastor, what they're to be. They're not sinless, they're not perfect, they're human, but... They have to be the right person. You follow what I'm saying? And we won't take time to go and look at that, but he gives very clear qualifications, very clear instructions on who that person is to be. How about deacons? Deacons are delegated responsibilities in the church. But that responsibility is delegated by the Lord in the Word of God. We're going to have elections here in January. We're going to elect deacons. Question, does God give any qualifications for who the person is that holds the title deacon, fills that role, yes or no? Yes! Very clearly in Timothy, very clearly in Titus. He goes down almost like a bullet list, has to be this, this, this, this, this, this. And so God does the same thing that leadership here does in delegating responsibility. He puts together the right person. Question, does God give instructions in his word as to what the pastor is to do? Yes, very clear. Preach the word, oversee the church, protect the church. Does he give instructions on the deacons? Now it's not as clear for the pastor, but we see examples in Acts and different terms used as to what the deacons are to do. So number one, he chooses the right person. Number two, he gives clear instructions. And question, does God hold the pastor responsible for his actions in the church? Yes. Hebrews 13 says he must give an account for your souls. There's a day of judgment coming. And all Christians, including pastors, must answer to God. We're held accountable. Deacons, yes. And so the Lord delegates responsibility to us. We, in different roles we have, delegate responsibilities. That's what David did here. Now the problem with David was he didn't have the right guy, I don't think. And we're gonna see the consequences of that. By the way, we do that same thing in the ministry. Sunday school teachers, bus workers, various positions, we have every year, we'll do it in January, we have policies we have in place, and every Sunday school teacher, every trustee, fills out, signs a thing, we have a list of just basics of the Christian life, just this, ought to do these basic things in your Christian life. How many people agree, somebody serves in the church, you ought to be faithful to the church? Yeah, they ought to support the church. I want to be loyal to the church, just basic stuff. So we want the right people in place. You follow what I'm saying? And then we try to give instructions. We have training, teacher training on all those type of things so people know what I need to do, what my responsibilities are. And then again, there's a day coming where accountability will be in place. So delegation is a biblical thing. That's what David did here. Now let me end quickly with this, the last thought, and we're going to get verse 5 through 13, I'm just going to give it to you. We notice the dereliction of that responsibility. David gave to Amasa a very serious responsibility. Get this military together, we're going to have to deal with Sheba. Look at verse number 5. Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah. That's what he was instructed to do. But, he what? He tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. Now we're not told why that was, we're not told what it was, but that was failure on a massive part. I don't know what he was doing tarrying. The word tarry has the idea of just dilly-dallying around, horsing around. I don't know the reason. Was it incompetence? Did he not know what to do? I was wondering maybe the men that he's trying to assemble together didn't respect him because just a few days earlier they were fighting him out in the woods when he was with Amasa. I can hear him saying, I ain't following this guy. Are you kidding me? He's trying to kill us. He was trying to kill our king just a week or two ago. So whatever the reason was, he failed in doing what his responsibility was. Then verse 6-7, you have David's fear, look what David says, David said to Abishai, his cousin here, now Sheba the son of Bitre is going to do us more harm than Absalom. Take thou thy Lord's servants and pursue after him lest he get him fenced cities and escape us. So I don't know what David, I can see David thinking this, I don't know what in the world Amas is doing, I don't know. Abishai, listen, get these guys together and get out after that fella. And so David's fearful that things are going to get out of hand. So he brings in Joab's brother, Abishai, and he gives him the responsibility and he runs with it. Come down to verse number 8. So they're chasing, they're out pursuing, end of verse 7, they're pursuing Sheba, this rebel. And verse 8, when they were at the great stone, which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before him. So Amasa shows up now. Where'd he come from? What's he doing? I don't know. He just shows up. And Joab's there hanging around in the mix here. And Joab's garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins and the sheath thereof. And as he went forth, it fell out. So Joab approaches Amasa. Question, you think there's some bad blood between Joab and Amasa? Yeah. And Joab, in his subtle, kind, compassionate way, Aren't they all in health, my brother? Job took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. Now in our day, you'd think they're funny. They're not funny. This was a custom. So he grabs him by the beard, and he pulls him up. And I'd like to see somebody portray this. But he grabs him. Joab, you know, he's like a man's man. He's rough. And I'm telling you, there is no doubt in my mind, his countenance is hard. He says, you all right, Amasa? Yeah, I'm good. He grabs him by the beard and says, here, let me give you a greeting. He pulls him over just, poor Amasa. He's being yanked over there. Look what happens. But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand. So he smote him therewith in the fifth rib and shed out his bowels to the ground. And struck him not again, he died. And then he goes on, you have this gruesome scene where he stabs him in the fifth rib, he brings the knife across, his bowels are hanging out. He's wallowing around in the highway there, verse 12, and everybody's stopping and looking at him. Finally, one of the fellows pulls him off the road and throws a blanket over him. Then they went after Sheba. Joab's fury. Here's Joab. He injects himself in it again. He takes charge. And he does what he does best. He eliminates his competition. Brutally, violently, and cold-bloodedly, he gets rid of Amasa. Now, Joab's back in the saddle. I'll just end tonight with this. The effects of poor leadership. David stumbled in his leadership here, and his delegation was bad. Who he put there was bad. How he handled it. He let this thing fall apart. Poor leadership will produce low morale. or leadership will give lack of direction. They didn't know whether they were coming or going. They knew who was in charge. And it'll bring a loss of fellowship. Everybody just kind of goes their own way. Leadership is vitally important in government. Leadership is vitally important in the church. Leadership is vitally important in the home. And everything, like Dr. Roberts said, everything rises and falls on leadership. And fellas, Whether we like it or not, whether it's recognized or not, we are the head of our homes. We're delegated responsibility in the home to provide leadership in the home. It's not that we're better than anyone else or more important than anyone else. That's the role we have as the husband, as the father. We can make foolish decisions or we can make good decisions. If we make foolish decisions, we're gonna have trouble. We need wisdom. David needed some wisdom here. David, for the most part, was a good leader, tremendous leader. But this case, he made some foolish decisions, and it had a profound effect. This is what I end with. Number one, leadership is important in the home, in the church, in the society. Leaders are not flawless. Leaders make mistakes sometimes. Leaders make bad decisions sometimes, even the best. We got to cut them some break. You need to give them some breathing room. Followers are vitally important to follow the leadership God gives us. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, I pray. I don't know if it's helpful or not. I trust it is. But I pray you'd help us to take the responsibilities you've given us. Lord, help us to apply ourselves diligently, submissively, to fulfill our roles as you intend for us to do. I wonder with our heads bowed, eyes closed, I wonder if there's some say, Preacher, I need to take my responsibilities as a Christian more serious. I need to be more serious about my responsibilities as a Christian. Whatever that is, whatever role I have, I need to take it more seriously. Anybody like that? Anybody? Preacher, I need that, I need that. Maybe some of us in leadership positions as husbands or fathers or ministry in the church, whatever it may be, we need to be diligent about that and not be feeble in there like Amasa was. So, Father in heaven, please help us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.