Mike Bickle discusses God's discipline in the life of David, emphasizing the consequences of David's sins of adultery and murder, which led to turmoil within his family. Over eight chapters, David faces the fallout of his actions, including the violent conflicts among his children, particularly the tragic events involving Amnon and Absalom. Bickle highlights how David's response to God's discipline serves as a model for enduring hardship without offense towards God, showcasing the importance of obedience and humility. The sermon underscores that even the anointed must face the repercussions of their actions, and that God's correction is rooted in love and the desire for growth. Ultimately, Bickle encourages listeners to learn from David's journey through pain and restoration.

The next eight chapters in the life of David are all about God's discipline on his life because of his sin in adultery and murder that we looked at in our last session. For eight chapters, there's only 40 chapters in Samuel on the life of David. So 20% of the entire story is how David processed being under the discipline of the Lord and how he responded to the Lord. The reason I'm saying that is that I've taught the life of David over the years and people kind of skip these chapters. They go, well, you know, a couple of the... Well, there's actually eight cousins, first cousins, that are all involved in the court intrigue and drama. Eight first cousins, and several of them are brothers, but between one another, they have their moms, they have different moms, most of them, and they're all in the royal court, and a whole lot of complexity and intrigue and violence and betrayal takes place in the context of a family. And these eight chapters, the reason I'm wanting to highlight them, because if it's 20% of the entire life of David in 1 and 2 Samuel, the Holy Spirit's saying, pay attention, pay attention to these chapters, pay attention to these chapters. Paragraph A, in these next eight chapters, we see the consequences of David's great sin. Now, it takes about 12 to 15 years before the seeds of conflict come to fullness. And most of you know that the conflict about 12 to 15 years later, after he committed the sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, 15 years later about it comes to fullness. And so David is very aware of the prophetic word for those 15 years. And here's what the prophet Nathan told him. Right after the adultery of Bathsheba, the murder of her husband, chapter 12, verse 10, the Word of the Lord says this, the sword shall never depart from your house. Now, David lives for 25 more years after this adultery and murder about. The sword will never depart. You'll always have conflict and violence in your home. That's heavy. I mean, any godly man, his primary dream outside of his own heart with God is that he would have a godly family. I mean, the most natural thing that David cared most about was that his family would be godly, even more than, quote, his ministry would grow and be successful. And this touches, the sword touches David's heart because when he says the sword will not depart, violence will be in your home for the next 25 years. You'll never know when it's coming. I mean, I just can't imagine how weighty a word like that from God would be. Verse 11, I'll raise up an adversary from your own house, one of your own sons. And it's, of course, it's Absalom we know. I'll take your wives from before your eyes and give them to your neighbor. Of course, that neighbor is Absalom, his son, meaning you committed sin with Bathsheba privately, but this immorality is going to emerge in your house against your own wives, but it will be public. This is a heavy word. Paragraph B. Now, these eight chapters are about how David, the man after God's own heart, how he responds to difficulty. Now, we know in the first Samuel how he responded to difficulty when he was walking, when he was being persecuted for righteousness sake. Now, we're going to see how he responds to difficulty when he's partially responsible for the difficulty. Will he be offended at the Lord? Will he get tired of this? Will he say, I'm tired of this whole thing? Or will he be the man after God's own heart in this difficulty that he is part responsible for in a significant way? Proverbs chapter 3, whom the Lord loves, He corrects. And when God corrects His children, He corrects them because He delights in them. He corrects them because He delights in them. That's what Solomon would tell him there. Now, notice that with God, correction is not rejection. We're so accustomed to correction and being rejection just in natural family settings that when we get corrected by the Lord, it's easy to draw back in our confidence in God and just kind of try to stay out of God's way, like staying out of the way of the angry parent who's in a fit of rage in a time of discipline. But the Word says God delights in you. That's why He said, David, I'm going to touch your life because I want to train you. I delight in you. Hebrews 12 quotes this passage from Proverbs 3, verse 6, for whom the Lord loves, He chastens. That's a direct quote from Proverbs 3. Now, here it is, verse 7. Here's what David is the model of. If you endure the chastening or the discipline of the Lord, you endure the difficulty related to a divine discipline. Know this. God is treating you as sons, not as a hired servant. God is personally invested in you. He cares and delights in you is the idea. Now, the way we endure a chastisement of the Lord is by not being offended by it, not being angry at God, raising our fist up. If that's how you're going to treat me, I'm out of here. But it's rather the opposite, and that's what David is the model of in eight chapters. He has godly sorrow related to the events that are happening in the lives of others that he is part responsible for. I mean, their own sin of these others are responsible as well. He's grateful to the Lord's mercy that's been shown to him. He has confidence in God's goodness, but he's enduring the difficulty without giving up and without yielding to offense towards the Lord. Verse 11, now the discipline of the Lord, it's never joyful in the present time, but it's painful. Some people have an idea of the grace of God that if you're in the grace of God, there is no pain in our hearts. It is painful. The discipline of the Lord is. But afterwards, if we respond to the Lord right in the way that David models, it brings righteousness in our lives, and we're trained by it. But if we get offended at the Lord, we don't submit to it. We don't walk in humility, but how dare you treat me this way. I'm finished with this thing called following your leadership. I'm going to pay the people back that are causing me trouble. That's the opposite of enduring and being trained by the discipline of the Lord. And the reason I spent so much time on that, because these eight chapters, David is a model over and over of responding the right way under discipline. I mean, it's remarkable. You don't want to skip these eight chapters. You want to be familiar with them. And what I want to do is help you get familiar with the storyline this week and next week, so that you can really read it with understanding and feeling, and then you can respond to the Lord with this as a model and a road map of how to go forward, because that's how the man after God's own heart went forward. Paragraph C. What we learn from these chapters is that even the Lord's anointed has to walk in a spirit of obedience. Meaning some people imagine David, the man after God's own heart, if you're anointed of the Lord and the power of God's on you, that the Lord has a different standard. There is no partiality with God. He looks at David and says, David, I can't condone that. I can't. I love you, but I can't change who I am. And I want to make you come into greater agreement with who I am and my commitment to you. I'm going to do that. Now David sinned. It affected his leadership in the nation, and it affected leadership in his family. Beloved, our sin affects our sphere of life. In the grace of God, we're totally forgiven, freely, fully, finally forgiven. But being forgiven in the grace of God, and the grace of God working in our lives, as we see in these eight chapters, doesn't automatically mean all the consequences of our sinful behavior are gone. Those consequences sometimes continue to help train us so that we say, I don't ever want to do that again. Living in disagreement with God's heart, there is no future. There is no life in it. That is a disaster. That's the message that David got clear. Paragraph E, there are few things more painful than to see, for David, for anybody, to see one's sins reappearing in their children. Because the immorality and the violence and murder that David was responsible for, that shows up in his children. And again, David, I believe as a godly man, his number one desire in terms of impacting people is that his family would be godly, even more than his ministry and his sphere of responsibility. I have here the name of the eight cousins. Again, some of them are brothers. Several of them have different mothers, but they're living in the same household. Here's the point. The family dynamics are painful. They are complicated. They're dramatic. I mean, it's so dramatic, this story is. And if you read through it quickly, you might not know that they're first cousins and brothers, one to another. That's what creates the pain and the difficulty and a whole other level of complexity for David. Well, Roman number two, we'll start. Remember, the last two chapters, chapter 11 and 12, was David's sin and the prophet Nathan says, you're going to be in trouble. There's going to be violence in your family. So the very next chapter, chapter 13, the crisis starts. It's probably a couple years later. I'm guessing three to five years later. Amnon, that's David's firstborn. That's the heir to the throne. That's the favorite. Amnon looks at his sister, his half-sister, Tamar, and he loves her and he's heart sick over her. It says here in verse one and two. Absalom, which is Amnon's half-brother, his sister Tamar was lovely and Amnon, he loved his half-sister. Verse two, he was so distressed over his infatuation with her, he was sick over it. Paragraph B, Amnon had a friend, Jonadab. Now that's actually, it's his first cousin. It is his friend, but it's more than a friend. It's a family member who lives in the court. Now Jonadab, he wants to be best friends with Amnon because he's the crown prince. I mean, he's going to be the next king if things go well. So he goes to his brother Amnon and says, hey, what's going on? You look sad. He says, well, verse four, I love my half-sister Tamar. Verse five, so Jonadab, he says, I'll tell you. I'll give you a plan. He gives him a deceptive plan. He goes, go lie to your father David, which was Jonadab's uncle. Go lie to my uncle David, your father. Tell him you're sick and you want Tamar to leave her quarters because she lived in separate quarters. Amnon, as the crown prince, he's probably 18 to 20 years old. He has his own house, his own residence within the city of David. It would have been inappropriate for Tamar to go there by herself. He says, but ask your dad. Just tell him you're sick and Tamar to make you some special food and your dad loves you. You're his favorite. See what happens. So paragraph C, all that happens and the father David, he goes, yeah, now David's watching. David's a smart guy. He knows trouble is coming sooner or later that the word of the Lord is true. So verse eight, David, the father, he says to his daughter Tamar, why don't you go on over to your brother's house, Amnon, the crown prince, and go help him, you know, make some food for him. She goes, oh, okay, wow, that's cool. I mean, he's going to be the king one day. And I mean, because brothers and sisters, even in the royal court, they all want the favor of the one that's going to be the king because all kinds of privileges and benefits. She goes, okay. Verse 10, Amnon says to her, hey, I'm really sick. He's lying. He's not sick at all. Sick at heart, but not his body. He goes, oh, he goes, I can't quite get out of bed. Could you bring it into the other room and tell everybody to leave? I just, oh, I just feel so miserable. So verse 11, she brought into the private room in his royal residence, his own house, and then he took hold of her. He rises up. He's not sick after all. He grabs her, embraces her in some way. He says, lie with me. She goes, what? She, this is not on her mind at all. Verse 12, she goes, no, no, this is disgraceful. If this happens, my life would have shame on it because she is, again, there's royal weddings and arrangements and all kinds of things related to the royal house that are related to this issue. And she goes, no, this would disqualify me. This will shame me in other ways. No, no, no, this will wreck my life. And he's pushing her, she's pushing him away. She said, you'll be like one of the fools in Israel. You're destined to be king. Your reputation will be destroyed the rest of your life if you do this foolish thing. Of course, there's a lot of wisdom here. I tell you, some foolish momentary acts of lust can mark people's lives for the rest of their life. Not all of them do, but some of them do. And even in the grace of God, the reputation and different dynamics stay there. I tell you, it's not worth playing with. And of course, we all know that. She urges him, think of the long-term consequences of doing this. Verse 14, he wouldn't listen. So he forced her. He raped her. Verse 15, a surprising turn of events, surprising turn of events takes place, is that his emotions change dramatically. Amnon hates her. He has this guilt, shame, he despises what he did because there's something that happens emotionally when the sin that is fantasized about is actually walked out. It doesn't feel the way he thought it would feel. He thought it would feel different. He had this tremendous negative emotion. And the feeling of guilt and shame mixed together with his lust, it turned into hatred. And he goes, get rid of her. Have her be gone. Drives her out of the house. She goes walking down the street. You can read the longer story just in your Bible in chapter 13. And she's weeping and wailing. And her brother Absalom goes, what has happened? You've just come from your brother's house, our half-brother Amnon, the crown prince. What happened? She tells him. Verse 21, we go up a few verses. And King David heard of all these things. He was very angry, very angry. But here's the problem. David, because of his own sin, and because of all the, I mean, not just that he sinned and has negative emotions. He's got complexities in his own emotions related to his kids because of his sin. Now he's going to be heavy-handed against the crown prince. And the crown prince says, well dad, isn't that kind of what you did with Bathsheba? So David has a, you know, he's got a little hesitation there. I mean all through these eight chapters, we see David's, the complexities created emotionally in him because of what happened. And because of his, you know, his position as the king. Many political dynamics. A lot of people are watching everything. I mean, what a horrible, horrible place that David's in for these many years to follow. Though the grace of God and God's powers working in his life. And God loves him and enjoys the Lord. But he has this other dimension now that he has to deal with. This emotional complexity and difficulty that appears over and over. How is he going to relate to his children when they do what he did? So he gets angry. But the Word of God required a different response than just David being angry. There's no penalty at all. There's no setting him aside. Well David, maybe he's thinking, well God gave me mercy. Mercy. But Tamar's going, yeah but what about me? David's thinking, well what if the people call me a hypocrite if I get heavy-handed? David's thinking, well if I make this known, the court prints, he is, it's going to bring shame to the whole family. So that's going to cause more problems. And David has deep affection for his son. He has all these things connect, you know, crashing in emotionally in his heart. So he does nothing but get mad. That's an inadequate response. Verse 22, so Absalom, he is enraged by his father's lack of action. Absalom spoke to his brother, neither good nor bad. This goes on for the next two years. And we find out in a minute, Absalom says, I'm going, he starts planning to kill, to murder the heir apparent to the throne of Israel. Now there's extra dimensions to this because Absalom becomes the next heir apparent to the throne if Amnon's dead. But Amnon, Absalom's also angry at his brother because of the rape of his sister. So he won't talk to him. He, he conceals his hatred. Romans 3, verse 23, well two years go by, two full years. Absalom, he's not talking to his brother, but he's plotting and the bitterness in him is growing. And he's also getting more angry at his father that his father did nothing. Now I have written here that Amnon's rape of Tamar reflects David's adultery with Bathsheba. And Absalom's murder, which is going to come in a few moments, reflects David's murder of Uriah. There's a reaping and sowing dimension all through these eight chapters. And it keeps showing up. But again, that's a terrifying principle, the reaping and sowing of negative. But the redemptive principle is, again I want to remind you of is, how we're going to see David respond over and over to the difficulty caused in part by his own sin. And the reason I keep saying in part, because his sons really did choose sin themselves as well. But it was a divine discipline, but they did act in their own free will, but it all came together. So verse 24, Absalom after two years, he decides to have a feast in his property. It's about 15 miles away from Jerusalem. All the king's sons, they had royal properties and estates, you know, just like any royal families of, you know, of a prosperous nation. So Absalom, he goes, verse 24, to his father. It's two years later, and Absalom's been planning for two years this murder. He goes to his father, he goes, father, can I have all the sons come? David goes, wow, really? That's pretty expensive, because you're going to have a feast, and you're going to pay for all this? He goes, I really want Amnon the crown prince to come. And David, I think he's duped, because of his love for his children. He's thinking, wow, maybe, maybe he wants to restore the relationship. That's, that's, that's good. Maybe he has in his heart, it's time to let bygones be bygones. So David goes, okay, okay. And so the sons of David, they come to the feast, the celebration, at Amnon's, one of his royal properties, verse 28. And Absalom, he told his servants, he goes, when the prince, my older brother, the heir apparent to the throne, when Amnon gets, drinks too much wine, when I give the word, kill him, murder him. These servants go, no, no, no, no, no, we're not touching the crown prince, that's not going to happen. He goes, no, I'm fully responsible. And so they did, they murdered him. Verse 37, again, we're skipping a few of the story, just for the sake of time. Absalom knows he's in big trouble. Killing the crown prince, killing David's son, his heir to the throne, but his beloved son, David is very upset by this. So Absalom, he flees, and he went to the king of Geshur. Now the king of Geshur is Absalom's grandfather. His mother grew up there. It's his mother's father. Tell me. So he goes to his grandfather, says, well, things back home are bad. I mean, David's crazy son raped your granddaughter. And I wouldn't, he wouldn't do nothing, and I wouldn't stand for it. And I can picture the grandfather saying, well, son, you know, I warned your mom about marrying somebody from another nation, and on and on. And Absalom stays there for three years. He's in exile. And the reason he's there three years, if he comes back, he's guilty of the death penalty, number one. But the problem is, he's the heir apparent to the throne. He's now the number one person in line to be king. And Absalom's thinking, hmm, he's still a young man in his 20s. He's thinking, I, I don't want to stay in Geshur forever, but if I come back too soon, I mean, there could be bad blood, because I, you know, I've committed a serious crime. And everybody knows about it, because he killed the heir apparent, his older brother. He killed him in front of everybody at the feast. But here's one of the key verses, verse 39. This is key to the next chapter, to chapter 14, to understand chapter 14. David longed for him. David loved Amnon. He loved his sons. He has this deep feeling. I mean, David's suffering as much as Absalom is, more so because he lost his son, Amnon. Now his, Absalom's in exile. His daughter has been raped. And David knows the story of what Nathan prophesied over him. David's just in an emotional, got a lot of emotions to sort through, through this whole issue. Top of page three. So chapter 14, first, second Samuel 14. Just so you know what's going on in the chapter, because you might miss it if you read it, just kind of quickly read it through it. The real theme of chapter 14 is how David manages his emotions and sorts out how the son that he loves, Absalom, can be permitted back to Jerusalem. But he's got to honor God, because the son he loves murdered somebody, his other son. He goes, I just can't let the murder go. And people in David's court are not happy if David just winks his eye and lets this murderer son back in. But David loves this son. So David's trying to honor God. He wants unity in his court. I mean, he's got several wives. He has seven wives named in the scripture. He's got the wives all in the court, and they have children. They're all talking. I intense. But David wants his son back, but he doesn't quite know how to go forward. That's what this chapter is really about. There's two parts of chapter 14. So the first part is Joab. Now incidentally, Joab's uncle is David. Joab's one of the cousins. So we know that Joab is the commander and chief of David's army, but he is one of the cousins of the royal sons. I mean, they're all in this thing together. So Joab, he's got to figure out a way where his uncle David can bring his cousin Absalom back. Because Joab says, you know, I mean, there's a lot of tension in the family. David, I mean, God forgave you. I mean, is there a way to make this work? You're in pain night and day, Uncle David. And I want to see this thing settled. So Joab comes up with a devious plan or a deceptive plan. Verse 1, he perceived the king's heart was concerned, was in pain over his son. And he says, I want my uncle David. I want this thing settled. So he, you can read the story on your own. He found a wise woman, a woman that had a reputation for very, for a lot of discernment and very good communicator. And she had a strong reputation, didn't live far away from Jerusalem. And he got this woman. He said, hey, I want you to kind of play act. I want you to pretend a story. I want you to give a story, make it up, and I'll reward you if you do it. And this lady, I can imagine her eyes get big. You want me to lie to the king? I mean, you're getting big trouble for that kind of thing. He goes, yeah, here's what I want you to do. Again, we're going to skip reading through, just kind of give you the feel of it. The backdrop of the story that Joab gives this lady is the Cain and Abel story. The Cain and Abel story, two sons. They're the only two sons of their parents. One son, Cain kills Abel. But God doesn't exact the death penalty on Cain. He actually allows Cain to live. But then he banished Cain from certain privileges. But so he creates a storyline that reflects this story. And Joab knows that his uncle David knows the Cain and Abel story. Because David committed murder against Uriah, and God did the Cain thing with him, did not require the death penalty on David. And so David's very familiar with the story, because it was one of the precedents in the Bible that saved David's life. I mean, that was like David thinking, yeah, that's good that God has that in his heart. Because the law says, if you murder somebody, you have to be put to death. So this woman goes and tells David a story. She goes, there's these two sons. No, no, she says, I'm the widow. She puts on these clothes and mourning widow. She's making it all up. She's only got two sons. They got in a fight, the Cain and Abel story. The one son kills the other. I only got one left. My whole family wants him executed to obey the word of God, the law of Moses. But she goes, King David, if he gets executed, I have no support. I'm a widow. I have nobody left. I have no inheritance. My husband's name is extinguished. I need mercy. And David rises up in indignation and says, he will live. Now the word of God says he should die. But David has this precedent that Cain, God didn't kill Cain. And God's the head of the Bible. And David wasn't executed. And so he rises up in verse 11, paragraph B. He goes, your son's not going to be executed. Then paragraph D, verse 13. She goes, King, can I be straightforward with you? Yes. She goes, I'm not really a widow. And my son didn't really die. I'm really talking about you and your son, Absalom. You've already in an unbiased way understood the emotion of why your son could come back. I mean, why the son, your son doesn't have to be executed. So why not do to Absalom what happened to Cain? And by the way, what happened to you when you killed Uriah? God did not require the death penalty. Then in verse 14, she gives a very, very important truth. She goes, David, you are God's representative for justice in Israel, the covenant nation. And here's the heart of God. God doesn't take away a life, but God devises a way where the banished ones are not driven away from God. He goes, think of it, David. You know the God of Israel. He doesn't delight in taking a life. God thinks of ways to save lives. And you're the representative of God's justice in the land. Now see, all this is true. But it isn't the whole counsel of God. God does plan ways to save lives. The very core of His personality is mercy that seeks redemptively for people to recover. But there still are consequences in various situations. And so she tells a very important truth, one of the primary truths of the Bible. But it isn't the whole truth. And so David, verse 21, paragraph 8, says to Joab, okay. Okay, you tricked me. You got me into the full emotion of the logic that it is biblical to make an exception. Hmm. Okay. Bring him back. Verse 24, but he could come back to Jerusalem. But David says, he can't see my face. And what that means is he's not permitted access to the royal court, to the king's court. He comes back to Jerusalem, but he can't just be in line to be king as though nothing happened. I'm not ready to go there. I do want to obey the Lord. And I do have all the dynamics in the court in David's family. I mean, they're outraged by what he did. And so are David's leaders outraged by what he did, by what Absalom did. But it has been three years, and so things are settling down. So David said, he can come. But I do want to please the Lord in this because I'm the one that's under discipline from the Lord. And I don't want to, in my own discipline, confuse my leadership as king and as head of my family. I mean, David's trying to weigh all this out, and there's not a, it's not a really a perfect science. There's all kinds of gray areas in this situation. Paragraph F, verse 28. So Absalom is two full years in Jerusalem. Here he is, Jerusalem, but he's not permitted access to the king's court. He doesn't eat with the king. He doesn't sit with the king's cabinet like the other sons of David do, many of the other sons, not all of them, but a number of them. Verse 28, he doesn't see the king's face for two full years. So he really is, because what Absalom really wants is to be the heir to the throne and to be the next king. That's what's really on his heart. He's not really pining away for David. David's pining away for him, but it's not reciprocal. He is angry at his father, but his father is longing for him, but wanting to be pleasing to the Lord, wanting it to work in the family dynamics, and wanting his court, his leaders in his court who love the Bible and the law of Moses, he wants them to know that he is honored the Word of God, and he wants God to be honored in it. I mean, it's a difficult decision. That's what chapter 14 is all about. David's navigating these internal things in his love for God, but his love for his son, the political dynamics, the family dynamics, etc. Well, verse 32, Absalom is getting angry, because it's been two years he's been in Jerusalem. He's never been to the court once. No chance he's going to be in secession to take over the kingdom to be the next king. So, verse 32, he calls his cousin, his first cousin, Joab. Again, we're talking eight first cousins all in the mix of this, and he said, would you go to the king for me? Like you got that wise woman to tell that story two years ago, go to the king and do it again. Joab's going, well, my uncle David, he wants to obey the Lord, and he has a lot of other dynamics, and I know you want to be the king, but this thing is intense. He goes, well, I'll give it one more try, and look what Absalom says. This is the opposite of godly sorrow. At the end of verse, the middle of verse 32, at the end of verse 32, let the king see my face. In other words, let me come back to the court, and if there is sin in me, let him execute me. If I'm really guilty, like if you're guilty, you murdered your brother, the heir to the throne in front of everybody. If you're guilty, it's yes, but I'm justified because my father did not execute justice, and things are going crazy under his leadership, so really what I did was important. So, I don't really think of it as me sinning. He means this. He has figured out a way where it was David's sin of negligence, and he was actually carrying out God's justice and fulfilling the law of Moses by killing the guy who raped his sister. So, Joab goes and tells his uncle David, he says, hey, my cousin Absalom, I mean, he's been two years. He's been three years in Gesher up north, two years, just five years since the death. He wants to see you, David, because I love that kid. So, he comes in, and David grabs him and kisses him, and I love you, but Absalom, the kiss came a little bit too late for Absalom. Absalom's bitterness has been awakened. Absalom's sense of David's ineptness, his lack of action, he's got a whole narrative in his mind as to why David is not good for Israel. A whole lot has happened in Absalom's heart. Top of page four. So, now he's restored to the court, and Absalom, you'll find out in a few moments, goes into a, it's a four-year plan. For four years, he's restored to the court. He's got the privileges of the court. You know, he's got the access, he's got the budget, he dines with the king, access to all the counselors, the cabinet. He has all the prestige of going in and out of the leadership meetings of the heads of state, all those kinds of access he has now, all that privilege. But he's already determined that Israel, David's not good for Israel, and he's going to overthrow his father. Now, to overthrow a king means, unequivocally, you have to kill the king. There's, you don't overthrow a king, and then the king just gets a new job. Never happens. If you overthrow a king, you have to kill the king and the king's heirs, or there will be reprisals coming back to you. That's just all throughout the history of any court of nations. So, to overthrow David is synonymous with, I'm going to kill my father, because it's good for Israel. So, David, so notice, I have six things here that Absalom did, and I'll just mention them ever so briefly. They're pretty straightforward. But what David, what Absalom does, look at verse six, just look at verse six, then we'll go back and read the whole passage. Chapter 15, verse six. He stole the hearts of Israel from David. So, if somebody wants to steal the hearts of the people from the leader, whatever sphere of leadership it is, whether it's a business, a ministry, a government, a state, whatever, this is the model of how to go about a conspiracy to overthrow a leader, and to steal the heart, to discredit the leader, and steal the loyalty of the people to yourself away from that leader. Absalom is the model. He's the picture of it. I've heard a number of sermons over the years. I've never given one on it, but about how Absalom, the model of a betrayer, somebody who's after stealing the hearts of the people. And it happens all over the kingdom of God. I mean, in business, ministries, all spheres. These residues or elements of this are in place. First thing happens, verse one, Absalom establishes a new image of himself, of his importance. Verse one, Absalom provided for himself chariots and horses. Fifty men to run before him. He's the first leader in Israel to ever do that. He's not even a leader, actually. He's just a young man that's been on probation, that's been restored back to the court. He takes the royal budget, gets chariots and horses after Absalom. This is commonplace for the kings of Israel to do that, but he's the first. David never did it. Saul never did it. Chariots and horses. He's going through the street. Fifty men running in front of him. Move out of the way, Absalom's coming. Absalom didn't even have a job. But they said he was the most handsome man in Israel. Charming, charismatic personality. And Israel loved him because they said there was no one more handsome in Israel than him. He was the kind of the beloved of the nation who didn't have discernment about what is what. So, the first thing, he creates this new image of himself, of being a man of great importance. I mean, running through the streets, everybody running out of the way. Fifty men, full-time job, just to create the sensation that Absalom is coming. Again, he didn't even have a role, didn't have a job. Next, verse 2, since he doesn't have a job, he began to position himself. He would rise up early every day, go to the gate. Now, the gate is where the lawsuits take place. And people would come to the gate of the city where the elders would sit, and here's the, a royal son at the gate. I mean, that's, you don't actually meet a royal son, part of the royal family, at the gate. You got to get a few steps further. If they're going to weigh in, it's not the initial appointment is with the royal, someone in the royal family. But there's Absalom, the most handsome man in Israel, charismatic, charming, at the gate. Not, you know, passed on three levels later, finally you get to Absalom. I mean, if you want to talk to the president, you go to the White House at the gate. You don't say, hey, I would like to talk to the president. They say, oh, well, come on in. There's a couple steps before you get to the president's office. Same kind of situation. Well, anybody that had a decision, so he's positioned himself in that right place. The visibility, he's put himself in a leadership position because the elders at the gate go, well, we're not going to tell the royal son, no, but you don't really have a role here, but hey, who are we? Because you get a son of the king mad at you, you could be in trouble. So the elders kind of backed away and you can do what you want. Verse three, then he flatters. He would tell the different people, they come from all over Israel to come to Jerusalem for their legal cases. He would look them in the eye and say, your case is good. You're right. Just total flattery. Everyone can't be right on their own. He goes, oh, you totally. You're right. Absolutely. You're right. I mean, you're, you're good. Your logic is sound. You've, you're a victim. You've been mistreated. You are right. You are a victim. I see it. And they're like, wow, you know, they're at the gate and the guy presenting his case would look over to the elder and say, you didn't think I was right. You blew me off here. I have a one-on-one meeting with some of the royal family. He already thinks I'm right. I like this guy. He's so charming and charismatic, but he's completely flattering. Absalom had no concern for who was right and wrong. He wanted to win their hearts. The next thing he did, he would remind them of David's inept leadership. He goes, you know, my father, he's a good guy, but there's no deputies. He doesn't have a good infrastructure in place. You're not really being cared for. I'll care for you, but my dad doesn't really care. There's nowhere for you to go. You have no, nobody who's attending to what's important to you. No one paying attention. So he criticizes David. David's infrastructure is not good. David really cared. David really cared. He'd have a guy here for you. The guy goes, yeah, now that you mentioned it, if he really did care, there would be a deputy here for me. And here you are the royal part of the royal family. You're right here. Wow. Verse four, then he gave exaggerated promises, total exaggerated. He goes, if I was the judge, I'd give everyone justice. People would all get justice. If I was the leader, the cry justice will happen under my leadership because injustice is happening all through the land under my father. And the guy who gets the hearing, he likes it. And if you read the whole passage, men from all over Israel are coming and Solomon's, I mean, Absalom's winning their heart. So they're going back home saying, man, that guy, young, articulate, intelligent, handsome. He's got this whole, you know, presentation of royalty with chariots and horses. He's at the gate. He's available. He cares. He thinks I'm right. Wow. No one ever thought I was right. He thinks I'm right. Then verse five, insincere affection. They would come and bow down to him. He'd pick him up. He goes, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't buy down to me. That's, I don't want that. Total false. Of course he wanted that. No, no, stand up, stand up. I'm just the guy like you. And he would hug them and he'd give them a kiss on the hand or the cheek. He had this insincere affection, this feigned rejection, I mean, resistance that they would bow down and honor him. He goes, no, you don't understand. That's not, I'm just in it for you. I don't want anyone to bow down. And in this manner, he stole the hearts of Israel. Verse six, paragraph B, verse seven. Let's bring this to an end here. It's the moment here. It says the new King James, the King James version says it's 40 years, verse seven. Absalom did this for 40 years, but that can't be the right number because Absalom didn't even live to be 40 years old. But most of the translations, the majority say four years of using the manuscripts. And so there's a whole lots of written about that. So, but I believe the four is obviously what it's talking about. Then he goes to his father after four years of undermining David, flattering the people, feigning this genuine affection and this humility. Don't bow down to me. I don't want anything, but you're good. He goes to David. Here's a total lie. Let me go to Hebron. It's about 20 miles away. I want to pay a vow I made to the Lord when I was in exile up in Gesher. Now David, here he gets hooked again. Because when he wanted, when Absalom wanted Amnon, the brother he murdered to come to the feast, he goes, let Amnon come. David goes, maybe you want reconciliation with your older brother. That's fantastic. And now he goes, I want to pay a vow to the Lord. And David's going, you know, you're the one I was concerned about spiritually. And now you want to connect with God? He goes, yeah. David, pay attention. So he goes, yeah, you can go to Hebron. And he goes, I promised the Lord I would do that. Verse 10, paragraph C. Now he goes to Hebron. Now Hebron's the city he was born in. So he's got a lot of friends there, a lot of relationships, because he was born and lived there for several years in his youth. Hebron was the city David was crowned king in. Hebron was one of the major spiritual religious cities in Israel. A lot of significance. I won't go into all of that. But Hebron's really key. And it's 20 miles away. So when Absalom hatches his plot, his conspiracy is completely made known, David's 20 miles away and he can't get to Absalom right away to stop it. So it's a safe distance. Verse 10, Absalom had sent spies throughout all the land. Now the spies he's sending out are talking to all of these men that he's been flattering for four years. And the spy says, when you hear the trumpet, then everybody shouts unanimously across the nation. I mean, the cry has all been planned, carefully plotted and planned. The network is in place. Everyone shouts, Absalom reigns in Hebron. And it's reminiscent of years ago when David reigned in Hebron. I mean, this is amazing. And Absalom loves us. He loves just us. He's available to us. He knows our name. He cares about our cause. Verse 11, now with Absalom went 200 men invited from Jerusalem. They went along innocently. They didn't know anything. This is really key. Absalom is having this big feast in Hebron. David's given him sanction permission and he's gone. Now they know that the men in the court know that Absalom's gaining favor with David again. So these 200 men, these are leaders in David's government. He handpicks them. Would you come to the feast? I want to honor you. And they think, well, you're probably the next king. This is pretty cool. I mean, the next president wants to invite me to his feast. Yeah, and be my friend. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll come. But what happens, these are 200 men in critical positions taken out of Jerusalem so David cannot act. His government is detained now in Hebron 20 miles away. Remember, they didn't have cars back in those days. That's a big distance. And so now David's government is out of session. They're all in Hebron, so many of the key guys. That was all strategic. Now they blow the trumpet in verse 12. The number one guy, you got to get this name because you'll have it before this, even the next couple sessions. He's highlighted a number of times Ahithophel. Say Ahithophel. Ahithophel is the number one counselor to David. He's the wisest man with the greatest counsel and David's very intimate friend. Ahithophel is in Hebron with Absalom. And Ahithophel says, I'm with you. And all these 200 leaders from David's court, they're going, Ahithophel is with Absalom? What is this? And the noise is going throughout the land. Absalom is king, but Ahithophel, I mean, the wisest man in the nation in terms of politics and military and strategy is with Absalom. And with that, it created tremendous momentum for Absalom and the revolution is on. Of course, I mentioned this before. You probably need to connect the dots again. Ahithophel's granddaughter was Bathsheba. And Ahithophel, the wisest man, he has still got a seed of bitterness towards David because of what David did to his granddaughter Bathsheba some years earlier. Anyway, we're going to take a break. We're going to come back and continue with the story. Lord, we just thank you for your word. God, I ask you to let us see and feel the things that are on your heart for us in this passage that we would respond in the way David responds in the chapters ahead. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. Take a 10-minute break. Come back for about 10 minutes of worship, and then we'll come and look at the revolution, the conspiracy.