[0:00] 2 Samuel chapter 3. One other thing I need to announce, Ms. Terry, because I will forget if I don't announce it now. Also, following, a lot of things happen after the horse show break, okay?
[0:12] So after the horse show breaks, when our Wednesday night meals will start back up from 5 to 6, and then we'll go back into Awanas will start up at that time, so our children's program, even though the children's program is going on right now, that would transition kind of more diversified again after the horse show break, and so our Wednesday night meals, our Awana program, and then we'll just continue to do Bible study up here, but also from 4.30 to 5.30, we'll begin to start offering tutoring and homework help.
[0:42] We have a lot of teachers slash retired teachers, and if you want to take part in that, you want to help, then by all means, if you want to come help do the tutoring, we want to invite you to help do that. So from 4.30 to 5.30, there'll be a sign-up sheet. We'll put it out there as well.
[0:56] So you can see that opportunity that's coming up. The Lord has really blessed us as a congregation with retired teachers, current teachers, educators, administrators, and it'll be a great help because I know homework is not very fun a lot of times around our house, so hopefully these things will help be an opportunity for those as well, okay?
[1:19] 2 Samuel chapter 3. If you remember, in the second chapter, David really prays and asks the Lord for guidance. God tells him he needs to move back to Judah. He asks him where to move in Judah, and God says move back to Hebron.
[1:33] So he moves back to Hebron. Wonderful picture because all David does is it says he moves back. He and his family and all of his men, so he moves everybody. He goes all in, and we don't ever need to lose sight of all this, right?
[1:44] So David goes all in, and he says they move back, and they live in the city. That's all they did. It's amazing to me, especially when we compare it with everything else that's going on. So David, his wives, his children, his children are born in the third chapter. We'll see that in just a minute.
[1:58] All of his men, his 600 men, their wives, their families, boom, they all go back, and they live. God told me to be here, so he goes there. And it's while he is there, the men of Judah come and make David king.
[2:10] Pretty great application there is if we seek the Lord and we follow the Lord, God's always going to put us in position to fulfill His purposes for us, right? Because God had ordained, He'd actually anointed and appointed that David would be king 10 years prior to this.
[2:25] David hadn't forced himself. David hasn't killed the Lord's anointed. That is, Saul hasn't done anything. When the opportunity presents itself, all God does is tell him to move back. He moves back and he waits. David doesn't have to go on this campaign trail.
[2:38] He doesn't have to tell everybody, hey, I'm here. He lives in the city. The men of Judah come, they make him king. He's anointed a second time because when we follow the Lord, He puts us in place we need to be. At that same time, Abner, the commander of Saul's army, takes Ish-bosheth, the only remaining son of Saul, who is 40 years old.
[2:57] We don't know why he wasn't fighting battle, even though he's probably a weak man. He's weak in character, he's weak in stature. His name implies so. He probably wasn't one that was a valiant warrior like Jonathan or either of the other of Saul's sons.
[3:13] So Ish-bosheth here is made king by Abner. Abner takes him to the other side, the eastern side of the Jordan River, and makes him king. So David's king over Judah.
[3:23] Ish-bosheth is king over the rest of the nation of Israel. David's king for seven years, seven and a half years in Hebron. Ish-bosheth is king for two years.
[3:34] Okay? The overlay there is because it took five years for Abner to make Ish-bosheth king. That is, when we put ourselves in place, God can make things happen in a moment when it takes us a long time to connive and to really manipulate and to imply things.
[3:49] So Ish-bosheth is reigning over here. David is reigning over there. And we kind of wrapped it up with what we find in the first verse there, and you'll see it in just a minute. David's kingdom is being strengthened.
[4:01] Ish-bosheth is being weakened. We see there's civil war that is kind of started there in the end of the second chapter. That carries over a little bit in the third chapter. But any time there's division, especially when there's a reigning party that God had called, and man kind of competes with God's plans and purposes, that is Abner, and we try to set up our own agenda, which is what is going on.
[4:29] You'll see that in just a moment. There's always going to be chaos. So when we left at Sunday evening, we looked at a nation in chaos. Right? There's a nation in chaos. Because God's man is over here, but man's man, again, is over here.
[4:44] So there's a nation in chaos and turmoil. People are dying. Abner had ulterior motives, and yet multitudes of people die. Because no sin is an isolated event.
[4:55] It always has a corporate ripple effect. So we saw the nation in chaos. As we get into the third chapter, stay with me. It's a long chapter, but you need to see, and hopefully we'll see not only the truth that it contains, but the application.
[5:07] But I want you to see a time of strengthening and great need. A time of strengthening and great need. And you'll see why we have it that way in just a moment.
[5:18] The Word of God says, in the third chapter, starting in verse 1. Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. About two years. Doesn't mean it's continuous. It means just for those two years, the whole time Ish-bosheth is reigning, there's war.
[5:30] Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew steadily stronger, but the house of Saul grew weaker continually. Sons were born to David at Hebron.
[5:41] His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinnom, the Jezreelites. And his second, Chiliab by Abigail, the widow of Nabal, the Carmelite. And the third, Absalom, the son of Micah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur.
[5:57] The fourth, Adnezai, the son of Haggith. And the fifth, Shephtai, the son of Abital. And the sixth, Ethrim, by David's wife, Eglah. These were born to David at Hebron.
[6:07] It came about while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David that Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Ahiah.
[6:18] And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, why have you gone into my father's concubine? Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul, your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hands of David.
[6:36] And yet today you charge me with guilt concerning the woman. May God do so to Abner and more also, if as the Lord has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him.
[6:47] By the way, side note, this shows us Abner knew what God had declared concerning David, right? To transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Bathsheba.
[7:01] And he could no longer answer Abner a word because he was afraid of him. Then Abner sent messengers to David in his place saying, whose is the land? Make your covenant with me and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you.
[7:16] He said, good, I will make a covenant with you, but I demand one thing of you, namely you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michael, Saul's daughter, when you come to see me.
[7:26] So David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son saying, give me my wife Michael, to whom I was betrothed for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Paltil, the son of Leish.
[7:43] But her husband went with her weeping as he went and followed her as far as Bahurim. When Abner said to him, go return, so he returned. Now Abner had consultation with the elders of Israel saying, in times past you were seeking for David to be king over you, now then do it.
[8:01] For the Lord has spoken of David saying, by the hand of my servant David, I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, from the hand of all their enemies. Abner also spoke in the hearing of Benjamin.
[8:12] In addition, Abner went to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron, all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole council of Benjamin. Then Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron.
[8:26] And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. Abner said to David, let me arise and go and gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you and that you may be king over all your soul desires.
[8:39] So David sent Abner away and he went in peace. And behold, the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them.
[8:51] But Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away. And he had gone in peace. And when Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he sent him away, and he has gone in peace.
[9:05] Then Joab came to the king and said, What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you. Why then have you sent him away? And he is already gone. I know I'm walking off the mic, guys.
[9:19] I'll be right back. Stay with me. Here we go. You know, Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive you and to learn of your going out and coming in and to find out all of your doing, all you are doing.
[9:33] When Joab came out from the king, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sarah. But David did not know it. You guys are being very patient with me, so I appreciate that.
[9:55] So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asseho, his brother. After a woman, David heard it.
[10:08] He said, I and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord forever for the blood of Abner, the son of Ner. May it fall on the head of Joab and on all his father's house.
[10:19] May there not fail from the house of Joab one who has a discharge or who is a leper or who takes hold of a distaff or who falls by the sword or who lacks bread.
[10:32] So Joab and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle of Gibeon. Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, tear your clothes and gird on sackcloth and lament before Abner.
[10:50] And King David walked behind the bier. Thus they buried Abner in Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner. And all the people wept.
[11:03] The king chanted a lament for Abner and said, Should Abner die as a fool dies, your hands were not bound nor your feet put in fetters.
[11:14] As one falls before the wicked, you have fallen. And all the people wept again over him. Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was still day.
[11:24] But David vowed saying, May God do so to me and more also if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down. Now all the people took note of it and it pleased them just as everything the king did pleased all the people.
[11:38] So all the people and all Israel understood that day that had not been the will of the king to put Abner, the son of Ner, to death. Then the king said to his servants, Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?
[11:52] I am weak today, though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zariah, are too difficult for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil.
[12:04] 2 Samuel chapter 3. So sorry for that, guys. I appreciate your patience. And I wanted to make my way through this text because I've labored over this text for two days, just to be honest with you.
[12:14] I have one in my mouth, thank you. Yours take my breath away, Miss Sarah. So I will not be able to preach with that one in my mouth. I don't know. Everyone you give me sucks the wind out of my mouth.
[12:24] I can't cough because there's no oxygen left in my lungs. So I have a nice honey Ricola one right now, and I'm okay. I try not to do it because I leave raw spots in my cheek because I leave them there so long, but it's okay.
[12:38] I've labored over this text, and I so wanted to preach. I was so excited about it. Because you're like, why in the world would you be excited about that text? Because, as I told you a couple times ago, I have yet to preach through the book of 2 Samuel.
[12:51] Keep those file folders in my cabinet, and I'm always looking at where I've preached before. This is the first time I've ever preached through 2 Samuel. So a lot of this stuff is new preaching material. I've read it and read it and read it and read it and read it and read it.
[13:01] But when you get to study it and you get to prepare for it, those things excite me, okay? That's my passion. You know that. I love studying the Word, and I love having to get to it. But sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it's difficult.
[13:12] I spend a lot of time on my face trying to let the Lord speak to me. I really believe, as A.W. Tozer says, you meditate twice as long as you read on Scripture because the Lord has to just speak to your heart.
[13:23] And it takes a lot of time. And so when you put that work in, you just want to preach it, and the enemy tends to just kind of try to squelch you every now and then. But we see here a time of strengthening and great need. And it's because the book ends, right?
[13:34] So in the first chapter, in the first verse, not the first chapter, in the third chapter, the first verse, it says, and the house of David was strengthened, right? But yet when we read it at the end, David declares, I am weak, though I am anointed king.
[13:50] The house of David was strengthened. But by the time we get to the end of the chapter, he says, I am weak. He makes that declaration. I am weak today, though I am anointed king.
[14:06] In this chapter, you have the first mentioning of the throne of David. Now, that's important. Throne of David is important because we look for a king who sits up on the throne of David.
[14:23] I turned the air on real early today so that it wouldn't be hot in here. It's still hot in here. And the moment I get sweating, I knew this was going to happen. So my greatest apologies to you, especially to those that are recording.
[14:36] I'm sorry, I'm right in your ear. So sorry about that. That's why I don't like wearing mics. But anyway, throne of David is important in biblical history. It's important because of the covenant that's connected to it.
[14:47] It's important because of the promises that God has in line with it. And it's important because we're waiting on a king that was set upon the throne of David forever. So we're going to see what the text says. And I approach the text.
[15:00] And my wife, you've got a great pastor's wife. She tends to kind of caution me a little bit. So I'll tell you how I approach the text. I approach the text. I read the text. And I see what it says. And then I say, so what?
[15:11] She says, that sounds rude. I say, okay, well, I don't mean it rude. I mean, like, so what now? But that's just how I answer it. She said, you need to say, now what? Okay, so we'll see what the text says.
[15:22] And then we'll see the now what? Because I really don't mean so what in a rude way. I just mean it like, okay, so why is it there? Because I believe, as Spurgeon says, and so many others say that every text, we can make a beeline to the cross, right?
[15:33] We can find Christ in that. Jim Henry would also say, don't leave people without hope. But you read this chapter and you get to the end of it, where's your hope? Where's your hope? Because we see some things.
[15:44] So I'm going to give you, essentially it will be two messages running parallel to each other, but I'm going to give them both to you at one time. Okay, you're good women. You can stay with that on that. Okay, so I'll give us the truth of what the scripture says, but I'll show you the, okay, so now what?
[15:59] Where's the application and where's the hope in that? Okay, the first thing that we see is a disregard for the covenantal law. And we see it in the most unlikely of places. A disregard for the covenantal law.
[16:12] It says, so sons were born to David at Hebron. While he's king, he has six sons by six different wives. Now the reason that's a disregard for the covenantal law is because the king was required to read a particular book and to memorize that particular book and to reread that particular book and to read it to the congregation of God's people, and that is the book of Deuteronomy.
[16:35] And in the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy is very clear of how kings should behave themselves among the people of God.
[16:49] We see David's son Solomon breaking a lot of these. They should not multiply horses. They should not go back to Egypt to get horses. They should not build cities of horses. Solomon does every bit of that. It also says, Deuteronomy 17, 17, that they should not have multiple wives.
[17:06] Now, we've talked about this just a little bit. Polygamy, or multiple marriages, started, marriage started in the beginning with God.
[17:18] God created man in his own image, and he formed a fashion of women and put the two together. He said, for this reason, a man should leave his father and mother and be joined together. His wife and the two shall become one. Right? Marriage is God's idea. Okay. Multiple marriages.
[17:29] You want to know whose idea this was? It started with the descendants of Cain. Okay? You know Cain, right? Cain killed his brother Abel. And then in Genesis, we have this split, right? So you have the descendants of Adam and Eve, the godly.
[17:42] And then you have Seth. And then you have the descendants of Cain. And you have all his descendants. Well, multiple marriages started with the descendants of Cain. Not really a good pattern. If you're going to follow anything in Bible, by the way, don't follow the descendants of Cain.
[17:55] There's a common theme when we're reading through the book of Genesis. The descendants of Seth, it says that they all slept. They slept. They slept. They slept. They were not. They slept. They slept. They slept. They slept. And it's kind of a picture of rest in God.
[18:07] The descendants of Cain, it says, and they died. And they died. And they died. And they died. And they died. Why? Because evil leads to death. Righteousness leads to life. It's really clear. Multiple marriages started with the descendants of Cain.
[18:20] It was permitted. Why? Because sin stained the world and therefore has distorted everything that God created, including marriage. But in the covenantal law, God was very clear that kings, the kings of his people, should not have multiple wives.
[18:36] David's king. It's in the book of Deuteronomy. The one book they're told to memorize. The one book they're told to reread. The one book they're told that they should have. It's there, right?
[18:47] That's why the book of Deuteronomy is so amazing. Jewish boys, even in the time of Christ, as young as age 12, would have the book of Deuteronomy memorized. Right?
[19:00] Deuteronomy 17, 17. A king should not multiply wives. Very clear. David does it anyway. Disregard for the law. I don't know about you, but to me that's a little bit disheartening because here's David, a man after God's own heart, and here's the throne of David.
[19:16] We know what the promises are going to be there. If there's any hope for the people of God, it's here. It's in this man. Right? What does this show us?
[19:28] Where's the hope? Not only do we see that this is a disregard for the command. Here's the second part of that. We realize the failure of all men. The failure of all men.
[19:41] Even David. That falls woefully short of righteousness according to his works. See, we can't even put David up on a pedestal, even though now he has the throne.
[19:56] Now that he's in the place, he is the anointed. He is the appointed. We understand it. He's killed his Goliath. He's had respect for the Lord's anointed in Saul. He has not taken his own vengeance. There's been some times where God has spared him.
[20:08] He's done all these good things. But we are reminded from the very beginning. When he gets up on the throne, this isn't the man we're looking for because all have fallen short of the glory of God. None are righteous.
[20:19] No, not one. We are reminded in this six sons and six wives and then also wanting his other wife, Michael, who never has any kids, by the way.
[20:30] The failure of all men. He couldn't keep the law either. Now that shouldn't make us mad at David. That should just remind us that we're not looking for David.
[20:42] We're looking for someone who's going to sit upon the throne of David. And if David couldn't do it, though he has now been anointed twice, if David couldn't do it being a man after God's own heart, if he couldn't obey the law perfect, who do we think we are that we can't?
[21:00] We are reminded here that all have fallen. And then we go through the text. And we get to the second part of each of those sermons.
[21:14] And we see a disdain for individuals. Disdain would be to count as one as belittled and not have respect for or not have any, you know, acknowledge of their self-worth.
[21:25] We have Abner. Abner, the son of Ner, we're told in 1 Samuel chapter 14, I believe it's verses 50 and 51, that Abner and Saul are cousins.
[21:38] All right, so they're family. Close cousins. Their dads were brothers. Abner has served as the commander of Saul's army. Saul dies and he does the best thing he can do for his family.
[21:51] Now, he's selfish in this. We see this now. But he takes Ish-bosheth, who is the only remaining son of Saul and makes him king. So this would be his second cousin, right?
[22:02] So there's family ties. Now, on surface level, it looks pretty good because he's looking out for his family. He's looking out for Saul's family because this is his family.
[22:14] But yet, somewhere in the rain, as Abner is strengthening himself, Ish-bosheth makes an accusation. We don't know if this accusation is right. We don't know. Abner says, why are you coming against me?
[22:26] Some people think that it probably was right. Now, the accusation is that Abner had taken one of Saul's concubines and went into her. Now, that is essentially saying, I'm taking over the throne. That's what that is.
[22:37] If you were to do that, it's a treasonous act. You would die for that because if you were to take a king's concubine, you were saying, I'm going to raise up offspring for myself so that my family can take over. We don't know if he did it or not.
[22:47] We just know that, hey, all is not good and well in the family, right? So Ish-bosheth makes this accusation. Abner gets mad and Abner looks at him and family ties no longer matter. Because he says, am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah?
[23:02] It's interesting, you know, am I just some little old man over here in Judah? Am I not your kin and yet you make this accusation against me? See if I don't take the kingdom now. I mean, think about this.
[23:13] The very man who made him king now says, I'm going to take the king away from you. Can't even trust his family. Can't trust his family.
[23:23] Because the reality is, is there's always a day where man lets us down. Always.
[23:36] And this reminds us of the second part of that portion. We're looking for a friend that sticks closer than a brother. See, Abner, though being family, would not stay true to Ish-bosheth.
[23:54] Because the reality is, it doesn't matter how close individuals are, friendships are limited by our humanity. Abner was in it for himself.
[24:07] Scripture tells us that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. And we know that that friend who sticks closer than a brother is also, by the way, in the back tonight, Carrie was so excited, looking at her favorite Bible.
[24:22] Book of the Bible. The book of Ruth. That kinsman redeemer, right? That kinsman redeemer. Why?
[24:32] Because we know there's a kinsman redeemer. One like us, that loves us, and cares for us, and protects us, and redeems us. A friend that sticks closer than a brother.
[24:42] Boaz. Was that to Ruth? But ultimately, it's Jesus that's that for us. Abner would not stick close to Ish-bosheth, though he had made him king, because he's willing to take it out of his grasp.
[24:57] We're reminded that family ties are not the hope that we have. Friendships are not the hope that we have. Individuals are not what we count on. What we count on is a friend that will stick closer than a brother. We're looking for the Savior.
[25:10] The kingdom may be strengthened, but we're still in great need. With David, we see a disregard for the covenant law, which reminds us of the failure of all men. With Abner, we see the disdain for individuals, which reminds us we're looking for a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
[25:25] Now we move down to Joab. With Joab, we see deception and wickedness. Abner does everything David tells him to do.
[25:38] David actually writes to Ish-bosheth and sends me my wife back. Now, part of David's disregard for the law is it was real convenient for him to marry some wives because it made political ties.
[25:50] Did you notice the one wife that was the daughter of the king? Well, the reason he married that wife that was the daughter of the king was because he wanted to compete with Ish-bosheth's kingdom and was uniting people.
[26:01] The reason he wants Michael back is because now that makes him the son-in-law, and he was a rightful son-in-law to Saul, which makes him an heir to the throne. Right? Maybe he did love her. I don't know.
[26:11] It says he loved her at the beginning. Maybe there's genuine love there, but we kind of tend to wonder a little bit. And he had already worked it out kind of behind the scenes with Abner that I'm going to ask for her.
[26:22] I'm going to send this letter to Ish-bosheth, and then you bring her back, and then that's when we'll have our meeting. And so Abner does. We get this sad, sad picture, by the way, of Michael's husband following, crying, and Abner's like, just go home.
[26:34] He sends him home, and we don't know what happens to him from there on. And so he goes back, and then Abner and David have this meeting, and they make this pact, and they make this covenant, and yes, it's going to be good. I have a problem with this because when Abner wrote to David, and he made this declaration, whose are the people?
[26:52] My answer to that is, well, God. These are the people of God. These are not the people of Abner. But yet David says, okay, well, Abner can bring me the people. No, the reality is that God can bring you the people because, see, the Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 17, 17, the reason a king should not multiply wives is because they would distort his vision.
[27:13] And he would not see clearly. By the way, I know this is kind of backtracking a little bit, but all those sons, one takes his half-sister, the other one kills him, one does open rebellion and is killed in the rebellion, and the other one, right after David dies, thinks the throne is his rather than Solomon, and Solomon has him killed, too.
[27:35] See, sin is not without consequences. Two, we don't really know what happened to them. Some believe that they probably died young.
[27:49] So with Joab, we see deception and wickedness because Joab comes back. Abner has been to see the king, and he leaves, and Joab has been on a rattle party, and he comes back with his men. They tell him Abner was here, and he gets mad at David, and he says, why did you let Abner leave?
[28:04] And this is amazing. David's king, King David, right? He's on the throne. Joab asks a question. He said, why did you let him leave? This is not old David, by the way.
[28:16] This is still young warrior David. This is still fighting battles David. Joab comes in and says, you shouldn't have let him leave. He just came, and he's not really sold on the thought that Abner is making a covenant.
[28:28] He just came to spy out to see what's doing. And Abner says, you shouldn't have let him leave. And it says, David said nothing. David said nothing. Why?
[28:39] Because though his house was strengthened, he was still weak because that's not the real king on the throne. That's King David. I mean, it's the real king of that time, but it's not the king of kings, lord of lords on the throne. He's just the beginning. He's the one that we're looking for.
[28:51] So he's pointing to another. And we're not here putting David down. We're bringing him to our field because I think we have at times a tendency to exalt David, a man after God's own heart.
[29:01] And I do. I love his psalms. I love his penitence. And we see that. And that's what I think is the man after God's own heart. But we also need to remember this first phrase. He's a man. He's not the hope of all mankind.
[29:15] He's a representative of mankind. And David says nothing. And then we have this verse. When Joab came out from David. Now, when Joab left the presence of David, nothing changed in Joab's heart.
[29:32] Because it says then he sent message to Abner and brought Abner back. When you go to the presence of the one who sits on the true throne, the heart's changed. So Joab left the presence of David.
[29:46] David had said nothing. He sends message to Abner, says, you need to come back. Abner didn't know who was sending the message because Joab wasn't there before. There's deception.
[29:57] Abner comes back. Joab catches him as soon as he gets in and says, come here, I want to tell you something. Brings him to the inner door and kills him. Now, Joab had killed Asahel.
[30:10] No, Abner had killed Asahel, Joab's brother, in battle. And he had told him three times, Asahel, quit following me. Quit following me.
[30:21] Quit following me. And the third time he had said, why will you follow me? Because when I kill you, I will not be able to look at your brother in the eye. Asahel would not stop.
[30:33] He was a casualty of war. Joab murdered Abner. Big difference. Actually, it was Joab and Abishai.
[30:47] Murdered him. Brought him in. And they struck him through deception. Killed him. There was no battle going on. There was no war.
[30:59] There was no warning. There was no caution. Deception. What does this remind us? Here's the second part to that one. There is a foe that is always on the prowl.
[31:10] There is a foe that is always on the prowl. Just as if we see the failures of all men, we are looking for a friend that sits closer than a brother.
[31:23] There is also a foe that is always on the prowl. Abner assuredly thought all was secure. The nation of Israel was going to be united.
[31:34] Abner was going to have a place. Now we know Joab is avenging the death of his brother, but Joab was probably a little jealous because he didn't want to lose his position either. He was the commander. Abner didn't need to be the commander.
[31:46] Understand this, my friend, that our foe, which is Satan, the Bible tells us, is roaring and prowling around like a lion seeking whom he may devour. Never forget, never forget, there is a foe that is always on the prowl.
[32:02] We have an enemy who seeks to deceive, to connive, to manipulate, who seeks to find us in our moments of weakness. And the king on the throne in this day could not stop it, but the king that is on the throne today can.
[32:19] But we need to remember, there's always an enemy present. The battle is always right before us.
[32:32] Number four. Abner is killed. David hears the battle, hears about it. David mourns. He weeps. He cries.
[32:43] He makes Joab and Abishia tear their clothes, which is a sign of mourning. He makes them do a public, because they had done a private deed. Now he makes them do public mourning. So David very clearly reveals that his throne and his kingdom were not a part of this conspiracy.
[33:00] He wanted nothing to do with this. By the way, side note here, probably one of the most uniting and unifying things that David could have done, because civil war could have really broke out. Really bad right there.
[33:14] Abner had been talking to the people of Benjamin and the people of Israel, civil war could have really broke out. But he didn't. He mourned. He weeped. Some say this is the most detailed description of a funeral in all of the Old Testament, if not all of Scripture, apart from the death and burial of Christ.
[33:34] Because we are told that they mourn. They mourn. David rins his clothes. He tells everybody, all of Joab's men, all of Abishia's men, they all mourn. David walks behind the funeral processional.
[33:48] He gives him a royal burial in Hebron, which is the capital city of David's rulership at that time. There's a lament, just like he wrote a lament for the death of Saul and Jonathan.
[33:58] He writes a lament, much shorter, but he writes one for the death of Abner. And he does nothing. What we see here is discipline reserved.
[34:11] Number four is discipline reserved. And he makes this declaration. He says, Then the king said to his servants, that is when they got to the inner recesses, Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?
[34:25] Verse 39, kind of the bookend. I am weak today, though anointed king. And these men, the sons of Zariah, are too difficult for me.
[34:36] Think about that just for a moment. These men, Joab and Abishia, are too difficult for me. This is King David.
[34:47] This is the one who slew multiple Philistines. He paid double the dowry price, not a hundred foreskins. He came with two hundred foreskins. He ran at Goliath with a sling and five smooth stones.
[35:03] But he says, I am weak today, though anointed king, because these men are too great for me. Are too difficult for me. And he does this. May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil.
[35:16] So he reserves discipline. He does nothing. Again, probably a unifying factor, because if he had punished them, then he would have set probably the sons of Judah against him.
[35:30] God is using him as a peacemaker here, but yet we scratch our heads at all this, and we wonder why. It's because the second part of that, that discipline reserve, the second part of that is, there is coming a final judgment for all.
[35:48] The final judgment is to come. There will be a day when he who sits on the throne will bring evil upon all the evildoers.
[35:59] There will be a day when he who sits upon the throne will have the ability and the power and the authority to bring to reckoning all that has been done wrong.
[36:14] There will be a day when he who sits upon the throne will not be weak. Nothing will be too difficult. We do not find it in David, but we find it in the line from the tribe of Judah who is Jesus.
[36:31] Because, see, the first part of that, if you look at the two tiers, is a disregard for the law, a disdain for individuals, deception and wickedness, and discipline reserved. The other side of that is, there's the failure of all men, there's a friend who sticks closer than a brother, there's a foe that's always on the prowl, and there is a future final judgment to come.
[36:54] There will be a day when the king on the throne has the authority and the power and the righteousness and the holiness to bring all justice to be.
[37:05] That day, we will stand before our king of kings and lord of lords. We will be divided to the right or to the left. There will be a day when the king on the throne has all authority.
[37:20] When he's not counting on any man to help him unite the nations. There will be a day when he who is on the throne will see every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
[37:31] There will be a day when the king upon the throne of David will call all things to account. The wonderful news and the hope is, is the one who will be on the throne on that day is already on the throne today.
[37:44] And the beauty of it is, is our allegiance can already be professed. We may be stuck in a nation full of chaos, much like the people here were. Nation could be chaotic as all ever.
[37:58] They were relying upon a man named David to bring the nation together and God used him in a mighty way, used as a tool to be a peacemaker. They were in a nation in chaos and God used him and he united the nation.
[38:12] David failed miserably, cost multiple lives because of his sins and failures because he is a man after God's own heart. But in his humanity he is limited.
[38:23] In his humanity he is weak. In his humanity he fails and falls just like we do. But there's hope there because if the man on the throne that would be of the lineage of Jesus fails and yet God can use him, then what about us?
[38:38] And the hope is that that throne is really just a shadow of what is to come. Shadows are imperfect but the light is glorious. And it points to a throne that will be inhabited for all of eternity.
[38:52] It points to a king who will hold the throne who was set upon the throne of David that will have in his hand the keys to heaven and the keys to hell who will have in his hand the rod of iron and the scepter shall never depart from his hand the book of Isaiah says.
[39:07] It points to a throne that the king would rule the nations. And it points to a throne that the king was set upon and says that if we're faithful now we will reign with him. There'll be no competing.
[39:18] There'll be no Abner and Joab going back and forth of who's going to hold the position. No, Jesus says that if we're faithful to the end we will reign with him. The book of Revelation says in those seven letters to the seven churches it's a beautiful picture that if you overcome I will let you set upon my throne.
[39:34] He says he who overcomes I will let him set upon my throne. And the beauty of that is what we find is that the throne that Jesus is setting upon is the very throne of God. You say you're going to take his place?
[39:45] No, you're going to sit beside him. And it says that he who overcomes. It doesn't say we're going to have to jostle and wrestle for position. We're not going to have to be jealous over one another.
[39:58] I mean, I watched that just a moment ago. Two granddaughters back there. My wife's holding Collins. And I'm trying to talk to Mellie. And Mellie realizes Granny's holding Collins.
[40:10] So Mellie wants Granny. And then there's this jostling for position, right? She's got to hold both of them. There's room enough right now because there's only two. Later we'll have to see how it works out.
[40:22] But we understand we don't have to have this bickering and fighting that Abner and Joab have. Why? Because the king on the throne has room for all. There's hope in the passage not in David but in the throne of David and in Jesus who sits upon the throne.
[40:42] Friend, when we read the passage we can be so dismayed. But when we see the Savior we are so encouraged. 2 Samuel chapter 3 a time of strengthening but a time of great need.
[40:57] There'll be a day where there's no more strengthening because there'll be a time of strength and a time where needs are met and that is in the day of Christ.
[41:08] 2 Samuel chapter 3 Thank you my brothers. Thank you.
[41:31] Thank you. Thank you.
[42:30] Thank you.
[43:00] Thank you.
[43:30] Thank you.