WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:05.200 2 Samuel 15 7 through 17. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:16.320 And at the end of the four years Absalom said to the king, Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord in Hebron. 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:26.640 For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Gesher in Aram, saying, If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the Lord. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:29.280 The king said to him, Go in peace. 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:31.679 So he arose and went to Hebron. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:42.399 But Absalon sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say Absalon is a king at Hebron. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:47.280 With Absalon went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:50.079 And they went in their innocence and knew nothing. 00:00:50.880 --> 00:01:02.560 And while Absalon was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel, the Gilanite, David's counselor from the city of Gillow, and the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalon kept increasing. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:09.200 And a messenger came to David saying, The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalon. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:18.480 Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalon. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:26.079 Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:33.439 And the king's servant said to the king, Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:37.359 So the king went out and all his household after him. 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:47.359 And the king left ten concubines to keep the house, and the king went out, and all the people after him, and they halted at the last house. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:49.120 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:50.400 Please be seated. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:52.400 Good afternoon. 00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:55.280 Oh, welcome everyone. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:57.040 Welcome to Redemption Church Denver. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:01:57.840 My name is James. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:01:58.879 I'm the pastor here. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:01.040 Thanks for joining us this evening. 00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:09.919 That uh the scripture that we're going over today is about ten verses, none of which you will ever find on a coffee mug. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:14.479 So that's the story, that's where we are in the story that we're at uh today. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:18.719 So we are at the end almost of our Heart of Kings series. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:31.599 We as a church have spent the past six months moving through the stories in 1st and 2nd Samuel, which cover three different kings or rulers, Samuel and then Saul, and then David. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:37.919 And you probably forgot that we covered Samuel and Saul because we've been in David for a long time. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:40.719 And it ends next week. 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:49.599 So this is our penultimate sermon, which I just recently learned means second to last, not very ultimate. 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:56.719 Uh so that is the uh sermon we're in, and we're covering some pretty hard times in David's life. 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:03.919 Perhaps the most challenging, most awful times in David's life will take place during today's sermon. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.199 So brace yourselves. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:10.560 But before that, we're uh one we have one announcement to make, uh, which is exciting. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:17.599 Uh two weeks from today, which is July 14th, we're having a, we're calling it a summer bash. 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:19.680 Our marketing department came up with that. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:27.439 We are going to be meeting here a normal service time at 4:30, and we're gonna have a service that's just about 45 minutes long. 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:37.039 It's gonna be joyful music, singing, day of jubilee, and all deaths will be canceled, and then we uh are gonna go downstairs and we're gonna celebrate together. 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:40.639 So we're gonna just kind of have a summer celebration as a church. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:53.360 Uh so uh if you go to the app or the calendar on the website, redemptiondenver.com, then you can see that you are instructed to bring things by the letter of your last name. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:57.599 So your last name, like all last names, begins with a letter. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:59.280 Uh check that. 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:12.240 And uh for insurance purposes, um we can neither request uh you to bring your own beer, uh, but uh if you do, hey, I didn't tell you to. 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:15.039 Do you see what I'm saying here? 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:16.879 Is this clear? 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:19.199 Clear is it being recorded? 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:21.120 Is it yeah, exactly? 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:23.199 And our audio cut out. 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:29.600 All right, for the podcast, uh we were all just having a moment in here. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:34.319 Okay, so uh let's go ahead and pray together and then we'll jump into today's text. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:39.040 Father, we pray that you would guide us through a complicated story today. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:42.480 Lord, would you attend this time as we look into the life of David? 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:49.600 And would you please give us what you have for us as a church this evening? 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:52.480 And would you apply this scripture to our hearts in that way? 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:57.360 Lord, we stand before you and sit before you with open hearts before your word. 00:04:57.680 --> 00:04:59.839 We ask that your spirit would move as you have promised. 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:00.879 In Jesus' name. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:01.839 Amen. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:15.279 So we have seen David's kingdom established, and then almost immediately sin enters David's kingdom, and it corrupts the whole kingdom. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:20.319 And what happens is David sees a woman, he lusts after her, he takes her for himself. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:24.959 This woman is married, she becomes pregnant, and he tries to cover up the pregnancy. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:30.079 And he does that by murdering the woman's husband, who also happened to work for him. 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:41.040 David is discovered, he's found out in his cover-up, and this attempted cover-up becomes one of the most famous sins in all of human history. 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:51.759 After this, we looked at Nathan, who came in, and he was a prophet and friend of David's, and Nathan rebukes David directly for the sin that David had committed. 00:05:51.920 --> 00:06:07.759 And while Nathan is rebuking David for this sin, David repents, he is offered forgiveness, the Lord removes his sin from him, and yet the consequences of that sin still ripple through David's kingdom. 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:13.040 And those consequences are described to David by the prophet Nathan. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:17.839 And he says, just as you killed by the sword, the sword will never leave your house. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:23.680 And just as you tore apart that family, there will be turmoil in your own family. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:26.079 And that's the story that we see today. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:36.319 What we read in our scripture was the story of David's son, Absalom, who overthrows David's kingdom. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:45.439 He gathers together a group of men and he makes himself king in the city of Hebron, overthrowing his own father's kingdom. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:50.560 What we're gonna see today is how that story unfolds and then what that means for us. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:07:03.040 You know, we oftentimes conceive of Christian of Christian maturity as being the type of person who in any situation is able to say, I know what God is doing here. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:06.240 I can discern the way that God is moving through this. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:15.120 I'm able to tell that God is piecing this sort of story together, and the more mature of a Christian you are, the more complex of circumstances you're able to do that in. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:25.120 Well, in this story, what we're seeing is a bunch of people, even the wisest among them, who are baffled by their circumstances. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:32.240 And God is forcing them into situations where they say, I can't reason my way out of this. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:37.680 The story has become so complicated, I can barely understand where we are. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:48.399 And that complexity looks like broken family relationships that have so much history now, we wouldn't even know where to start to try and piece them back together. 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:59.360 And yet, our hope that we see at the end of this story is a phrase that I've learned recently, which is that God is able to draw straight with crooked lines. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:12.240 God is able to move through this terrible complexity and say, while it seemed out of control to you the whole time, he was no less in control, guiding things towards his good purposes. 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:27.839 So if you find yourself at a place now, or if you remember a time in your life where you felt like this, where your narrative had become too complicated to even discern where you are, and you couldn't tell what a good move was. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:38.960 Today's sermon is about those moments and about how it is in those moments that we must trust in Christ the most. 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:44.720 So let's go ahead and jump into this story a bit in the middle. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:48.399 2 Samuel 15, verse 30. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:09:04.399 It says, But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered, and all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up weeping as they went. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.879 How did David end up in this position again? 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:20.000 David is once again cast out of his kingdom, and he's cast into the wilderness, ascending the Mount of Olives, while his soul is descending. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:33.919 And he's heartbroken because the kingdom that he had worked so hard to establish, the kingdom that had been a testament to God's love and faithfulness to him, was now gone. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:48.960 And it was taken by his very own son, one who might have been the heir, one who might have been a confirmation of the promise that God had given to David, which said, Your kingdom will last forever. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:52.159 Well, now he's walking away from it and he's weeping. 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:53.840 So where did the story begin? 00:09:54.080 --> 00:10:09.440 Well, it starts quite a bit earlier with David's uh two of David's sons and one of David's daughters, three characters, one named Amnon, the other named Tamar, and the other named Absalom. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:16.480 So what happens uh is right here, we'll pick up in 2 Samuel 13, verses 1 through 2, it's flashback time. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:22.000 Now Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:26.879 And after a time, Amnon, David's son, loved her. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:40.639 And Amnon, Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:44.480 So Amnon and Tamar are half siblings. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:48.080 They both have David as their father, they have different mothers. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:52.320 Amnon, excuse me, Tamar and Absalom are full siblings. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:11:00.240 They both have David as their mother and the same, excuse me, have David as their father and the same mother. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:09.600 And Amnon falls in love with his half-sister Tamar, and he becomes ill with love for her. 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:20.799 He becomes obsessed with her, and he consults one of his cousins, who seems to be one of these just conniving individuals, and he says, I'm I'm made myself sick because I want her so badly. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:30.480 And he says, Well, why don't you uh pretend to be physically ill and then have David send Tamar into your room to take care of you? 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:32.960 And then you can just have your way with her. 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:36.159 That's exact that's exactly what Amnon does. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:49.519 Amnon takes his sister after having her sent to him by David, and when she is in the room, he says, Now that we are alone, why don't you come lie with me? 00:11:50.080 --> 00:12:02.480 And she knows the shame that this would bring on her and her brother and their family, and she resists and she says, No, and so Amnon takes her by force and rapes her. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:19.200 And then one of the strangest verses in scripture says that Amnon then hated her more than he had previously loved her. 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:35.360 And Amnon turns on Tamar, he hates her after having raped her, and she he pushes her out of the room into uh just in her virginal robe, and she tears the arms off of it in her shame, and she she runs away. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:44.320 And who does she run to but to the arms of her brother Absalom, her full brother, who takes her in, who tends to her, who cares for her. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:46.320 And here is the result. 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:54.480 Uh in 2 Samuel 13, 20 through 22, it says, And her brother Absalom said to her, Has Amnon your brother been with you? 00:12:55.120 --> 00:13:04.240 And then he offers this horrible, obviously doesn't know what to say type of condolence, where he says, Now hold your peace, my sister. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:05.279 He is your brother. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:07.200 Do not take this to heart. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:16.240 Now the commentaries that I read said that this is actually a kind of sweetness where he's trying to downplay the event so that she wouldn't be so crushed. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:18.639 But it was a crushing event. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:24.159 And so Tamar lived as a desolate woman in her brother Absalom's house. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.559 And then here's a key verse, verse 21. 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:30.639 When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:40.000 But Absalom spoke to Amnon, neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:52.480 Now, the scripture says that David hears about what happens, and David is very angry about what has taken place, not only in his kingdom, but in his own household. 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:55.360 And then do you notice what David does? 00:13:57.679 --> 00:13:58.639 Nothing. 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:00.559 He doesn't do anything. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:13.200 It would have been David's responsibility to have seen a terrible injustice like this, and then to move into it, to go to Amnon and punish him to whatever the law required, likely death. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:16.799 And instead, David does nothing. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:21.600 Tamar lives with David, excuse me, Tamar lives with her brother Absalom. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:27.440 Absalom sees what has happened to Tamar and hates his brother Amnon. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.200 And David does nothing. 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:33.360 So why does David do nothing? 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:41.120 Why does this king, who we've come to know as this man of action, instead leave this terrible injustice in his own home? 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:43.440 Well, I think that there's a couple of reasons. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:51.120 One, we can imagine that this particular sin, being sexual in nature, was probably very close to home for David. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:56.399 Remember, he had just repented just a chapter earlier, before having found this out. 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:58.320 They lived in chapters back then. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:04.000 Having just found this out, he had just repented of his own sexual sin. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:07.600 There wasn't a person in the kingdom who didn't know about this now. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:11.840 And so David might have thought to himself, well, who am I to step in? 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.399 Of course, my sons are operating like this. 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:15.759 They just learned from me. 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:18.399 Who am I to step in on a sin like this? 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:27.200 Also, Amnon is David's eldest son, which means that Amnon is the rightful heir to the throne. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:34.799 So for David to move against Amnon is to basically be saying, I'm going to cut off my own line. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:41.600 He might have even thought to himself, what has God promised me, but that my line will continue? 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:45.440 So I need to take his promise into my own hands. 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:51.840 I need to make sure that I cultivate this and I get this the way that I think would be most reasonable. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:57.200 And to do that, he ignores the injustice that has taken place. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:06.639 Lastly, I think it's reasonable, and we see this throughout the story, that David, David loves his sons to a point where he's blinded by it. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:12.080 He's unable to move in in any sort of effective way in their relationships. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:19.679 So what happens is two years pass. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:23.759 Tamar is still living with Absalom. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:30.879 And Absalom goes to David and he says, I've got some sheep to shear in another town. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:38.159 And he requests that David would send Amnon to shear the sheep with Absalom. 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:40.000 And David resists at first. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:50.960 It's like he sees something weird is going on, but Absalom pushes and he pushes until eventually David relents and he sends Amnon to visit with Absalom. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:57.519 And Absalom had this plan, which was that he would get Amnon drunk, and when he was drunk, he would murder him. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:03.039 He would finally take the revenge that David never did for the rape of his sister. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:04.480 And that's exactly what he does. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:12.559 Amnon goes, Amnon gets drunk, Absalom sends the signal, and his friends murder Amnon. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:16.799 So now Absalom is on the run. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:22.480 He's a murderer for having killed his own brother for the rape of his sister. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:26.640 And here's the way that the chapter is concluded. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:29.359 In 2 Samuel 13, verses 37 to 39. 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:36.240 It says, But Absalom fled and went to Talmai, the son of Amihud, king of Gesher. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:40.880 And David mourned for his son day after day. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.160 The text is intentionally ambiguous there. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:45.920 Who is he mourning for? 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:49.039 Is he mourning for Amnon, the son that just died? 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:57.119 Or is he mourning for Absalom, the son that he can no longer be in contact with because he's fled to another kingdom? 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:03.279 So Absalom fled and went to Gesher and was there three years. 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:14.720 And during these three years, it says the spirit of the king longed to go out to Absalom, because he was comforted about Amnon since he was dead. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:18.000 Gosh, these are complicated emotions. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:22.559 In these three verses, there's a lot of complicated emotion going on. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:32.079 David is torn between feeling sad for his one son who is dead and feeling sad for his other son who murdered him and he can't get in contact with. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:41.519 And then it says that the spirit of the king was comforted about Amnon, the dead son, because at least he has some closure there. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:57.119 At least he can bring himself to a point where he can say, you know, I know that story's done, but it's been three years since my other son, the now oldest son, the now heir to the throne, is living in his grandfather's house, the king of Gesher. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:18:59.279 And I can't even get to him. 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:01.599 And it gets even more ambiguous than that. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:14.480 David becomes an even more emotionally torn person than we can see at the word level here, because when he says the king longed to go out to Absalom, that word out could be translated in two ways. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:16.559 Excuse me, the word two, actually. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:30.160 It would be David longed to go against Absalom because he murdered his other son, but David also longed to go to Absalom because he was his son. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:35.599 This is a horrible, horrible situation. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:38.640 It's a terrible stalemate. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:42.480 Absalom can't go back to Jerusalem because he's a murderer. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:47.519 David can't enact justice for the murderer because Absalom is in Gesher. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:49.599 The family is torn. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:58.559 And we're at one of those moments, one of those moments in our story, one of those moments in scripture, where you might go to David and say, Well, what should you do next? 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:00.720 What's the next right move? 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:05.359 And he had to say for three years, I don't know. 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:08.480 I don't know. 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:22.400 I don't know whether it's to go to Gesher, this kingdom that we have good relations with, and by the way, protects us from Syria, and start a conflict there, and then have hundreds of our people in our nation die. 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:31.759 Or do do I just leave this alone and I and I this relationship spoils and spoils and I just lose my other son? 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:37.440 And so for three years, he's torn and he does nothing. 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:47.440 Finally, David's general Joab, he sees that David's heart is longing for Absalom. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:58.799 And he gets a wise woman to go tell David a story, and the story that she tells is she says, I have two sons. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:01.440 They're the only heirs. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:07.920 One of them killed the other son, and now the whole village wants to kill the murderer. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:10.880 And if they do, I'll have no son left. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:14.240 But it seems like they'd be enacting justice. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:16.240 So what should I do? 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:20.720 And David says, I'll protect your only son, the only living heir. 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:23.119 I'll make sure you're protected as well. 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:25.839 And then she says, Gotcha. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:29.279 This is your situation, David. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:32.559 And David's thinking, why does everybody approach me like this? 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:35.599 Because that's the same way that Nathan approached David. 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:39.759 And he literally says, it's actually kind of a funny moment. 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:43.440 He literally says, Did Joab put you up to this? 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:46.799 And she says, Alright, you know everything. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:48.720 Joab did put me up to this. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:50.640 And David isn't mad. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:53.599 He's not mad at Joab. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:56.160 He knows this needed to be exposed. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.599 And so David actually goes to Joab after realizing the decisions. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:05.920 That he needed to make, which was, I'm gonna be merciful to Absalom, and he brings him back. 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:10.720 So Joab goes and retrieves Absalom. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:17.119 And Absalom lives in Jerusalem for another two years. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:21.279 And David and Absalom never speak. 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:23.680 For two years. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:29.839 Absalom eventually becomes incredibly frustrated. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:32.960 He says, Why am I living like a fugitive? 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:34.960 Absalom thinks he's innocent. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:40.720 And so he tries to get in touch with Joab, Joab being his only connection to King David, his father. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:45.920 Joab ignores him, basically saying, Look, I've kind of had enough of this family drama. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:49.680 And so Absalom lights Joab's field on fire. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:55.440 If you're not getting, it's what's the yeah, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:03.599 And so Joab comes to Absalom and he finally reconnects him with David, and here's an account of that. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:05.440 Absalom answers Joab. 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:08.319 This is 2 Samuel 14, 32 to 33. 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:16.240 Says, Behold, I sent word to you, come here that I may send you to the king to ask, why have I come from Gesher? 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:19.359 It would be better for me to be there still. 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:25.920 Now therefore, let me go into the presence of the king, and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:27.519 Do you see what Absalom is saying? 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:30.160 Saying, Send me to the king, send me to David. 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:35.119 And then if he thinks I'm guilty for killing Amnon, then he can put me to death. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:39.599 And you know what Absalom probably would have said to David, or was thinking he would have said? 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:51.759 If David says he's guilty, he'd say, Well, if you had acted, if you had taken responsibility for Tamar's rape, which you should have, then I wouldn't have had to step up and kill him. 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:54.880 But you didn't. 00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:56.160 So I did. 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:00.160 So the next verse is where they meet. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:04.799 Then Joab went to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:12.720 So he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom. 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:13.440 That's it. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:15.119 That's their reunion. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:20.240 Reunited again after five years on the other side of a rape and a murder. 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:28.160 Absalom bows, David kisses him, and there is no dialogue recorded. 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:32.319 Isn't this just like family drama? 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:35.759 They just don't say anything. 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:39.279 Because what does David, what would David have to say? 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:41.519 You're right, I was wrong. 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:43.519 I should have stepped in. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:52.319 I should have stepped in when I first heard about what Amnon did to Tamar, and I should have killed Amnon then, and then I would have only lost one son. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:56.640 And what should Absalom have said? 00:24:57.119 --> 00:24:59.920 I shouldn't have tried to take justice into my own hands. 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:01.279 It was wrong. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:08.960 I'm not in the position to enact the justice that needs to be enacted, but you are as a king, and I shouldn't have done it. 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:13.759 And they both should have repented to each other right there, but they don't. 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:21.200 One bows, the other kisses, they're at a stalemate, and they never speak again. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:24.079 The story is dense. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:33.200 The story leaves us in the weeds of how complicated our human relationships can become. 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:42.960 If you ever think that the Bible offers pat answers for things, or if you think that the Bible shows us fairy tales, you're not reading the same book. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:45.599 Or it's a very bad translation. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:51.440 So they reunite, they say nothing. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:53.920 And Absalom gets proactive. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:26:00.559 Absalom gathers himself 50 men to run before him in a chariot. 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:03.680 Now you'll notice that David never likes to use chariots. 00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:06.160 That's because chariots are very bad in Jerusalem. 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:07.119 It's too rocky. 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:08.880 But you know what a chariot makes you look like? 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:10.400 Makes you look like a king. 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:18.319 And so Absalom gets 50 men to run before him in a chariot, and he moves around, and then he goes and waits at the gate. 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:24.000 And while he waits at the gate, people come to hear judgment on their cases. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:28.400 And this is what Absalom would say to each person who came to hear judgment from David. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:29.599 He would say this. 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:38.799 Absalom would say to him, 2 Samuel 15, 3 through 4, see, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you. 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:42.559 Then Absalom would say, Oh, that I were judged in the land. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:48.480 Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me and I would give him justice. 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:55.599 Absalom would basically say to everyone in Israel, whoever had a case, he would say, You're right. 00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:58.240 That is a terrible thing that happened. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:26:59.440 You're exactly right. 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:04.240 It's an easy thing to tell everyone when you don't actually have to judge. 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:06.880 I'll cancel, all you're dead. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:09.920 I'm gonna get an email for that joke. 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:13.759 I'm not to this is not a political conversation. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:16.480 Until now, apparently. 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:21.440 It's an easy thing to say when you're not actually the judge. 00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:27.440 And so he wins the hearts of all of Israel. 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:32.720 And he says, if only I were king, then there would be somebody here to do this for you. 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:50.000 And then after he's won the hearts of all the people, he goes to his old hometown, Hebron, the same place that David was anointed king, where he grew up, and he says, All right, on the count of three, I'm gonna blow some trumpets, and then everybody's going to declare that I am the king at Hebron. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:51.200 Now everybody say it together. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:52.880 Absalom is the king at Hebron. 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:54.400 That's exactly what he does. 00:27:54.559 --> 00:28:09.119 And then as we read in the very first text that we look at, David gets word that the people's hearts had turned to Absalom, and that war is coming once again, and he flees Jerusalem. 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:12.000 And that's where we started. 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:22.880 David walking up a mountain, weeping, walking away from his kingdom, on the other side of a terribly corrupted family. 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:31.599 So they meet and they go to war. 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:36.000 And they go to war in a deeply forested area called Ephraim. 00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:44.319 And the way that they end up in battle together is like chapters more, and it's incredibly convoluted and incredibly complicated. 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:50.240 But the main theme is that there's some very wise people in Israel. 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:53.759 And the wisest counselor says, you know what? 00:28:53.839 --> 00:28:55.279 I'm not gonna go with David. 00:28:55.440 --> 00:28:57.519 I'm gonna go with Absalom. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:06.160 And he goes to Absalom and he gives Absalom the right advice, the best, most strategic advice. 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:09.680 And then Absalom doesn't follow it. 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:29.759 And God shows us throughout this whole story of culminating in this war that even the best wisdom, the best wisdom of man to try and discern a situation that is as complicated as we see them in, it's just useless. 00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:31.759 It can't be done. 00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:43.839 And everything that Absalom chooses is pointing towards this one moment where Absalom would seemingly by accident die in the battle. 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:49.440 In 2 Samuel 18, 9, it says, And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. 00:29:49.680 --> 00:30:05.839 Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:08.880 This is a pro tip when you're reading Scripture. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:15.279 Whenever it says something like it that Absalon happened to meet the servants of David. 00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:25.920 What the writer of Scripture is saying to you there is this was a very unlikely thing, and somehow in the providence of God, it was completely unavoidable. 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:28.880 This is exactly what God was doing. 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:46.720 God would never, even though Absalom had the wisdom, even though he was the best looking in the kingdom, even though he had won the hearts of the people, there was never a chance that he would overthrow the kingdom that was promised to David. 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:51.440 This was all, always in God's hands. 00:30:52.319 --> 00:31:00.880 And so the news of Absalom's death makes its way to David, and David's emotions become no less complicated. 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:20.559 Just in the same way that when he first found out that he would be made king of Israel, at the same time that he learned his best friend was murdered in Jonathan, so too now when the kingdom is finally restored to him, he learns that his son is dead. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:25.039 This life is incredibly complicated. 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:38.319 The emotions that David is called to process here, the category, this transcends any Freudian, any Jungian, any whatever category you want to try and plug this into. 00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:42.240 There's not an emotional space that can handle this. 00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:44.400 The kingdom's restored to you. 00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:46.319 And here's David's response. 00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:47.839 The king was deeply moved. 00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:50.720 He goes up into the chamber, over the gate, and wept. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:53.599 And as he went, he said, Listen to this. 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:55.759 The Bible is very spare. 00:31:56.319 --> 00:31:58.000 It doesn't waste many words. 00:31:58.079 --> 00:32:03.599 Sometimes it gives you descriptions where you're like, come on, can you give me a little bit more? 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:08.079 Like, what did Lazarus look like when he walked out of the tomb after he was raised from the dead? 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:09.759 He's not going to say anything. 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:13.440 There's not a part where it asks Lazarus, what was it like? 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:16.400 It's just silent. 00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:23.200 And here, look at the ink that is spilled on these same words over and over again. 00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:31.119 Oh my son, Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom, would I have died instead of you? 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:34.160 Oh Absalom, my son, my son. 00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:42.240 He must have thought of their last meeting, where Absalom bowed. 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:44.480 David kissed him. 00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:49.839 And he must have thought, why didn't I just say then that I should have stepped in? 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:53.359 I could have prevented all of this. 00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:59.279 He might have thought of being alone, walking on the rooftop and glancing over and seeing Bathsheba. 00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:02.400 And he might have thought, if only I just averted my gaze. 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:09.200 If only I had to walk downstairs, then my sons would be with me. 00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:16.960 What happens when we hit a point of this depth of confusion? 00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:20.720 The story doesn't resolve. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:25.759 The story leaves us deeply in the weeds. 00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:30.079 David is in a terrible place. 00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:34.160 He's won, but he's lost. 00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:46.559 You know, I think that this story is here, and the writer presents it to us this way to cultivate a sort of craving. 00:33:47.279 --> 00:34:03.119 Because as you read the story, you want, for when David and Absalom to meet, you want there to have been someone from the outside who saw what was happening and could have said, look, just say that, just say that you blew it when you didn't intervene on the rape of Tamar. 00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:08.960 And just say that you blew it when you took justice into your own hands and you killed your brother. 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:23.920 You wish there was someone with this outside perspective, this perspective of real justice, who wasn't caught down here in the weeds of just our hundred-yard petty little human vision that only looks out our own two eyes for our whole life. 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:28.159 Is there someone who could come and bring a real justice? 00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:31.360 Who could actually bring a resolution? 00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:38.000 The story forces that type of craving for someone like that. 00:34:38.239 --> 00:34:39.360 Could we hope? 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:58.960 Could we hope for a kingdom with real justice, for a king that didn't sin and draw us into his sin, but for a king that actually brought peace and grace and ruled justly and never abdicated his responsibility and never made a wrong judgment, and always judged towards peace and grace for his people. 00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:01.360 Could there be such a king? 00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:16.800 But as we zoom out on the story, what we learn is that the kingdom that is being upheld by God amidst all of these terrible people, making terrible choices, is moving towards bringing that king. 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:25.760 It is Jesus who will come from the line of David, the line of David that looks more twisted even than we give it credit for. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:32.480 That David here, after he's learned some really big lessons, is still doing terrible things. 00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:40.960 And yet God uses those terrible things to bring about the actual kingdom of peace that we're craving. 00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:43.199 And we see it in Christ. 00:35:43.360 --> 00:35:53.679 But that means facing moments where our Christian maturity is not marked by saying, I know exactly what God is doing here. 00:35:55.440 --> 00:35:58.159 But just by saying, I don't. 00:35:58.880 --> 00:36:00.800 But I know he's doing it. 00:36:02.159 --> 00:36:08.800 At the end of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is resurrected and he does a lot of strange things. 00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:17.119 And one of those is he's walking with a couple of disciples of his on a road to a small town called Emmaus. 00:36:17.760 --> 00:36:21.039 And when he's walking on the road with him, he disguises himself. 00:36:21.199 --> 00:36:27.679 The resurrected Jesus disguises himself, and he's like, I'm just gonna sneak in and see if they're talking about me. 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:28.880 They were. 00:36:29.840 --> 00:36:32.320 And he says, So what are you guys talking about? 00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:34.239 What type of things are you guys talking about? 00:36:34.400 --> 00:36:36.480 And this is this is what they say. 00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:39.679 Uh Luke 24, verses 19 through 20. 00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:44.960 And he said to them, What things, what things have taken place in Jerusalem over the past couple of days? 00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:46.079 Fill me in. 00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:55.199 And they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. 00:36:55.760 --> 00:37:05.440 Those things concerning how our chief priests and rulers, they delivered him up to be contem to be condemned to death and crucified him. 00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:09.840 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. 00:37:10.239 --> 00:37:16.000 Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things had happened. 00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:17.840 Jesus is like, oh. 00:37:18.960 --> 00:37:20.239 Those things. 00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:29.280 There's this guy, Jesus of Nazareth. 00:37:29.360 --> 00:37:31.039 Oh, he was mighty indeed. 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:33.840 Oh, he was godlike in his power. 00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:36.960 We'd never seen anything like Jesus of Nazareth. 00:37:37.119 --> 00:37:37.519 You know what? 00:37:37.679 --> 00:37:42.239 We thought, we thought that he was actually the one that was going to redeem Israel. 00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:43.199 We really thought it. 00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:45.360 He was going to redeem Israel. 00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:48.400 But we're so corrupted. 00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:55.440 Our chief priests, our rulers, the people that we think of as the best of us, they killed him. 00:37:56.559 --> 00:37:59.519 So he must not have been. 00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:03.519 But don't you see how they missed it? 00:38:05.599 --> 00:38:09.440 That's exactly how Jesus redeemed Israel. 00:38:10.960 --> 00:38:20.880 Through the corruption of the chief priests and the rulers, those things did not get in the way of God bringing about his redemptive plan. 00:38:21.760 --> 00:38:27.920 Jesus is saying, You thought the dying was getting in the way of me redeeming my people? 00:38:28.079 --> 00:38:29.840 That's how I did it. 00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:32.559