2 Samuel 14 | Absalom Returns

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Transcript

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You're listening to the Dope Daily Audio Bible, and I'm your guy, pastor Charlie Mitchell, and today we're looking at Second Samuel, chapter 14. Let's roll. Joab and Zawa realized that the King's mind was on Absalom. so Joab sent someone to Tekoa to bring a wise woman. From there, he told her, pretend to be in mourning, dress in mourning clothes, and don't put on any oil. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time. Go to the king and speak these words to him. Then Joab told her exactly what to say. When the woman from Akah came to the king, she fell face down to the ground, paid homage, and said, help me your majesty. What's the matter of the king? Asked her, sadly, I'm a widow. My husband died. She said, your servant had two sons. They were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant and said, hand over the one who has killed his brother. So we may put him to death for the life of the brother He murdered. We will eliminate the heir. They would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband's name or posterity on earth. The king told the woman, go home. I will issue a command on your behalf. Then the woman of Koa said to the king, my Lord the king. May any blame be on me and my father's family, and may the king and his throne be innocent. Whoever speaks to you, the king said, bring him to me. He will not trouble you again. She replied, please May the king invoke the Lord your God, so that the avenger of blood will not increase the loss and they will not eliminate my son as the Lord lives, he vowed Not a hair of your son will fall to the ground. Then the woman said, please, May your servant speak a word to my Lord, the king speak. He replied, the woman asked, why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke, as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished. One. We will certainly die and be like water poured out on the ground, which can't be recovered. But God would not take away a life. He would devise plans so that the one banished from him does not remain banished. Now, therefore, I've come to present this matter to my Lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant's request. The king will surely listen in order to keep his servant from the grasp of this man who would eliminate both me and my son from God's inheritance. Your servant thought, may the word of my Lord the king, bring relief for my Lord. The king is able to discern the good and the bad, like the angel of God. May the Lord your God be with you. Then the king answered the woman, I'm going to ask you something. Don't conceal it from me. Let my Lord the king speak. The woman replied the king asked, did Joab put you up to this? The woman answered, as you live, my Lord the king. No one can turn to the right or left from all my Lord. The king says, yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave orders to me. he told your servant exactly what to say. Joab, your servant has done this to address the issue indirectly. But my Lord has wisdom. Like the wisdom of the angel of God, knowing everything on earth. Ding, the king, said to Joab, I hereby grant this request. Go bring the young man Absalom. Joab fell with his face to the ground and homage And bless the king today, Joab said, your servant knows I have found favor with you, my Lord the king. Because the king has granted the request of your servant. So Joab got up, went to Gesher, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. However, the king added, he may return to his house, but he may not see my face. So Absalom returned to his house but did not see the king. No man in all Israel was as handsome and his highly praises, Absalom from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. He did not have a single flaw. When he shaved his head, he shaved it at the end of every year because his hair got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off. He would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds According to the royal standard, three sons were born, the Absalom and the daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman. Absalom resided in Jerusalem two years, but never saw the king. Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab was unwilling to come to him. so he sent again a second time, but he still would not come. Then Absalom said to his servants, see, Joab has a field right next to mine and he is barley there. Go and set fire to it. So Absalom's servants set the field on fire. Then Joab came to Absalom's house and demanded. Why did you serve and set my field on fire? Look, Absalom explained to Joab. I sent for you and said, come here. I want to send you to the king to ask Why have I come back from Gesher? I'd be better off if I were still there. So now let me see the king. If I'm guilty, let him kill me. Joab went to the king and told him, so David summoned Absalom who came to the king And paid homage with his face to the ground before him, then the king kissed Absalom. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, You are the king who sees beneath the surface, not just the actions we live out, but you actually see our hearts This chapter teaches us that there's a story that's being crafted of restoration, but also there are hearts that are still distant, relationships only partially healed, These people were close together, but they were still far apart relationally. And if we were honest, we live like that too, going through the motions, appearing like we're close together, but we still carry distance within that relationship. I pray that you forgive us for settling, for surface level restoration, for avoiding the deeper work of truth, repentance, and real genuine healing. Give us courage to face what's broken, not just to manage it or to mask it and cover it up so everybody else feels more comfortable. Teach us to pursue genuine reconciliation the right way, and that might mean honesty, humility, and a willingness to be changed. Jesus, I pray that you don't just bring us back in proximity, but you bring back true restoration. In Jesus name we pray, amen.