2 Samuel
13:1-39 - Lust is very different from love. What appeared to be
‘love’ turned into ‘very great hatred’ - ‘The heart is deceitful… and
desperately wicked’ (14-15; Jeremiah 17:9). Things went from bad to
worse. The ‘one-off’ event became a consistent and continuing rejection
(16). Things continued to get worse. ‘Absalom hated Amnon’. He refused
to speak to him (22). Could things get any worse? - Yes. Absalom and
Amnon were murdered (28-29). Where is God in all this? His Name does not
appear in this whole chapter. Is He absent? - No. He is there. He is
warning us. This is what can happen if you forget about God! He is the
God of holiness: ‘the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and wickedness of men…’ (Romans 1:18). He is the God of
love. He call us to confess our sins and be forgiven (1 John 1:9).
14:1-33
- David loved Absalom - ‘the king’s heart went out to Absalom’ (1).
David could not bring himself to forgive Absalom: ‘Let him dwell apart
in his own house; he is not to come into my presence’ (24). God loves
us. God forgives us. We dare not come to Him in pride - ‘I’m really not
that bad. I’m really quite good’. We must come to Him with a real
confession of sin: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;
I am no longer worthy to be called your son’. In ourselves, we are
‘lost’. In Christ, we are ‘found’. In ourselves, we are ‘dead’. In
Christ, we are ‘made alive’ (Luke 15:21,24; Ephesians 2:1,5). In Christ,
we see God’s love. Through Christ, we receive God’s forgiveness. Christ
does not leave us ‘out on a limb’. He is preparing a place for us - in
His Father’s House (John 14:1-3). This is love - without limits!
15:1-37 - There is a great difference between human popularity and
divine approval. Here, we have human popularity - ‘The conspiracy grew
strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing’ (12). In Acts 5:14,
we have divine approval - ‘More than ever believers were added to the
Lord, multitudes both of men and women’. Conspiracy involves man seeking
to get his own way. Revival comes when we ‘let go and let God have His
wonderful way’. ‘Carry the ark of God back into the city’ (25). In the
ark of God, we have the Word of God among the people of God. If the
people of God are to enjoy the blessing of God, they must live according
to the Word of God. We organize things to suit ourselves. This is
conspiracy. God is not in it. Look to God. Listen for His Word. Live in
the light of His Word. This is God’s way to revival.
16:1-23 -
What is more important to you - your own reputation or the glory of God?
‘Curse David’ - This was the last thing David wanted to hear. It may,
however, have been what he needed to hear. Here, we see David’s true
spiritual stature. This was not a ‘feel good’ message. David recognized
that this might be what the Lord was saying to him (10). He speaks
against us so that we might learn to stop speaking against Him. He
speaks of His righteousness that we might see our own unrighteousness.
He speaks of His judgment that we might see how hopeless our situation
is without Christ. He speaks of our sin that we might be brought to
Christ for salvation (John 16:8-11; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:23; 1 John
1:8-2:2). Let there be no more talk of your righteousness. Confess your
sins and trust the Saviour.
17:1-29 - Here, we have a tragic train of events. Ahithophel’s advice
was ‘not good’. His advice ‘was not followed’. He ‘hanged’ himself
(7,23). Without going into detail about this particular suicide, we may
make some general comments about coping with life’s difficulties. Things
don’t go according to plan. Our hopes are dashed. Nothing seems to work
out. Everything seems to go wrong. We allow things to get on top of us.
Very quickly and very easily, things can get completely out of control.
Everything is out of proportion. It seems like there is nothing worth
living for. Suicide becomes a strangely attractive way out. What are we
to do when such thoughts fill our minds? - Remember God’s promise: “The
peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
18:1-33 - Some die
young. Others live to a ripe old age. None of us can predict what lies
ahead of us. There are some things that are beyond our control. We look
at what is happening and we say, ‘I wish things could be different’.
Absalom had been killed. David wished he could have died instead of him.
It was not to be. Each of us must die our own death: ‘No man can redeem
the life of another or give to God a ransom for him - the ransom for a
life is costly, no payment is ever enough - that he should live on for
ever and not see decay’ (Psalm 49:7-9). There is, however, a ‘Man’ who
has died for us - Jesus Christ, ‘our Lord and our God’. He ‘gave Himself
as a ransom for all’. ‘Christ died for sins, once for all, the
righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God’ (John 20 28; 1
Timothy 2:5-6; 1 Peter 3:18).
19:1-39 - ‘My lord the king is like an angel of God in discerning
good and evil’ (27;14:17). Setting God’s servants on a pedestal is a
dangerous thing. Don’t imagine that they will always get it right. They
won’t. They have their faults and failings as well as everyone else.
They need forgiveness just as much as anyone else. They look great -
from a distance. The closer you get to them, the more you see that
they’re not all they’re cracked up to be. From a distance, they seem
like spiritual giants. Close up, they’re not so impressive. Build up
God’s servants with unrealistically high expectations, and you’re
setting them up for a very great fall. The closer you get to them, the
smaller they become. There’s one Man who’s different: our Lord Jesus
Christ - The closer you get to Him, the bigger He becomes!
19:40-20:26
- ‘The words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men
of Israel’ (43). At the heart of all this conflict was Sheba. He was a
real trouble-maker. ‘A worthless fellow’, he was up to no good. A
complainer, he wreaked havoc among God’s people. He was out to make an
impression - and he succeeded. Sadly, it was all negative. He did a
great deal of ‘harm’ (1-2,6). How sad it is when there is strife among
God’s people! God’s Word speaks out strongly against this kind of thing:
‘While there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the
flesh…?’. Strife can arise when we attach too much importance to certain
individuals and pay too little attention to the Lord: ‘“I belong to
Paul”… “I belong to Apollos”’. Remember - ‘Paul planted, Apollos
watered, but God gave the growth’ (1 Corinthians 3:3-7).
21:1-22:7 - There’s no two ways about it. God’s people were getting
it rough. There seemed to be so many problems. Were they to give up
hope? - Not a bit of it! Read verse 14 - ‘After that God heeded
supplications for the land’. What happened when God heard and answered
the prayers of His people? - ‘the plague was averted from Israel’
(24:25). Things would have been an awful lot worse, if it was not for
the Lord hearing and answering prayer! Keep on praying. Keep on
believing that God hears and answers prayer. He is not a tragic victim
of circumstances - ‘Poor God. He can do nothing about it all’. Don’t
believe that. That’s the lie of the devil. He is still the living God.
Things are not out of His control. He is still on the throne. God can,
if we will - ‘If my people…’ (2 Corinthians 7:14). Pray ‘for the land’!
22:8-51
- David’s ‘song’ of praise is also found in Psalm 18. Some things are
worth repeating! David is praising the Lord. He is giving glory to Him.
We must never tire of praising God. We can never praise Him enough. He
is always greater than our inadequate worship. He is ‘worthy to be
praised’ (4). Again and again, we must lift our hearts and voices to Him
in praise. Think of the Lord. Think of how great He is. Think of how
much He loves you. Think of how much He has done for you. Let your song
of praise rise to Him: ‘The Lord lives; and blessed be my Rock, and
exalted be my God, the Rock of my salvation’ (47; Mission Praise, 306).
Some things are worth repeating - when we’re giving all the praise and
glory to the Lord! Praising the Lord - We were created for this. We have
been redeemed for this.
23:1-39 - By birth, David was ‘the son of Jesse’. By grace, he was
‘the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the
sweet psalmist of Israel’ (1). What we are in ourselves is nothing
compared with what we can become through the grace of God! Look at
David. Listen to what he says, ‘The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me, His
Word is upon my tongue’ (2). What had David done to deserve this? What
was so special about him? Nothing - This was the work of God, the work
of divine grace. In ourselves, we are ‘godless’, good for nothing, ‘like
thorns that are thrown away’ (6). In ourselves, we are not ‘mighty men’
(8-9). How can we be changed? - ‘The Lord wrought a great victory’
(10,12). Which of us can be described as ‘a valiant man… a doer of great
deeds’ (20) - apart from the grace of God? ‘By grace you have been
saved…’(Ephesians 2:8-10).
24:1-25 - Here, we see the spirit of
pride. David wanted to ‘know the number of the people’ (2). Why? He
wanted to feel important - ‘the big man’. He was not giving the glory to
the Lord. He was taking it for himself. Did God give up on David - ‘a
hopeless case, too full of himself and his own importance’? Of course
not! The Lord, whose ‘mercy is great’, drew David back to Himself. David
confessed his sin - ‘I have sinned greatly… I have done very foolishly…
I have sinned and I have done wickedly’ (10,17). David was accepted by
the Lord - ‘The Lord your God accepts you’. He was brought from pride to
praise (23,25). This is what God has done for us. We are ‘accepted in
the Beloved’ - ‘to the praise of His glorious grace’ (Ephesians 1:6).
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