Sunday School | David - 2 Samuel 16

Introduction

Alright, alright. Second Samuel, we're gonna do it. Second Samuel chapter 16. So settle on down. It's good to see you all this morning. Thanks for coming for the endless study on the life of David. I think we have, what do we have? Like, eight or nine chapters left? Alright, then we'll have this whole guy in the bag. So, what's been happening, you guys? Give me a quick review. Second Samuel 16, what's the context here? Anybody remember anything at all? What is it, Tom? David on the run. Right? This is familiar to us, right? David spent, like, years on the run before he became king. So now, it's David on the Run part two, on the backside of the kingdom. Very good. Who's he on the run from? Absalom. Absalom. And who is Absalom? His son, right? Okay. Now, I think I've confessed to you guys before that I have a terrible tendency whenever I read that I skip all proper nouns. And so characters are really hard to follow. I just literally, like, it's some dude. It's some other dude. It's some other guy. And so this is we are filled with proper nouns, proper characters. So if you're at all like me and you don't remember who is Ziba or Ziba or who is Mephibosheth or who is Hushai or who is, I don't know, Shemi, then you're just super lost. Am I the only person who's terrible at this? I'm almost like this cast of characters. I don't know. Ahithophel, which one was he? So we're gonna have to do that. I have to slow the train down to look at these characters, or I don't remember which one is which at all. Okay? So, we're gonna look at these. But the thing you need to know as we go on, as David's on the run What's up, Blendy? Is it's a really discouraging day for David. Okay? There's these moments of victory, you know, where Saul gets turned around and David is saved or whatever. But this is gonna be a rough day for David. Okay? So we're gonna take it as it comes. You ready? Second Samuel, chapter 16.

The Characters and the Moment of Discouragement

First one is this guy Ziba. Ziba? Ziba, maybe. Verse one, When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth, waiting to meet him. He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with 200 loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, and a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine. And the king asked Ziba, why have you brought these? And Ziba answered, the donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and the fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who come exhausted in the desert. Okay? Now, said that this is a discouraging day. This doesn't seem very discouraging, does it? It seems like somebody has showed up with food and donkeys and wine. What's that, Chris? Parties. It's like things are going pretty well. So why is this so discouraging? Do you know why this is so discouraging? It comes. Check it out. The king asked, 'Where is your master's grandson?' Who is his master's grandson? Mephibosheth. Okay. And Ziba said to him, 'He is staying in Jerusalem because he thinks today the house of Israel will give me back my grandfather's kingdom.' And then the king said to Ziba, 'All that belong to Mephibosheth is now yours.' I humbly bow, Ziba said, may I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king. Okay? So let's just kind of review all this. Who is Ziba? Ziba is the servant of what did you say? The servant of? Saul. Of Saul. But really yeah, but give me in reference to another person. To Mephibosheth, right? Okay. Which only moves the ball a little bit. Who was Mephibosheth? Grandson. Grandson of Saul. So what was the Mephibosheth story? We've already seen this was Kelly, what chapter is that? 11? When was that? Nine? Okay. So, what's the Mephibosheth story? Zach? David was looking for somebody to be able to provide the goodwill towards Saul's lineage he promised to Jonathan. Yes. Very, very good. That's an excellent summary. David was looking for someone to whom he could show the goodwill that he had promised to Jonathan. So Saul had a kid named Jonathan. Even though Saul hated David, was trying to kill David, Jonathan was David's best friend. And then Jonathan has a kid, and he made a promise that he would always be good to Jonathan and to his line, to his people, to his family. And so he takes Mephibosheth, is the rival to the throne. He is the grandson of the king. And instead of killing him, which would be the typical play, let's get rid of all the rivals to the throne, what does David do from Mephibosheth? Takes him into his house. Takes him into his house. Quigg? This was spot on the table for him. Right. This is whole fantastic. It's kind of one of the most of picturesque moments in the Bible about what? What is it? What's the term? It's about adoption. What does it mean that you are outside of this family, you are drawn into this family, you are provided for, you have a spot at the table? Mephibosheth, And what was the other detail in Mephibosheth's life? He's lame. He's lame. He's super lame. The dude was lame. Okay? And so he's a cripple. He can't provide for himself. And so he goes from being the enemy of the king, the lame man, to suddenly welcomed at the table, and it's this picture of extraordinary generosity, which is why this is such an incredibly discouraging moment, because what Ziba is telling him is that Mephibosheth, when he sees David on the run, instead of saying, Behold, what should he say? What would be the proper thing for Mephibosheth to say when he sees David getting ousted? He should be concerned? Yeah, there ought to be some measure of loyalty that, like, Oh, man, David's a good guy. David has been kind to me and gracious to me. He's been loving towards me. I will defend him or I will speak to him. But instead, apparently, and we'll come back to the apparently. There's an asterisk on this story. Apparently, he is like, Hey, now's my chance. Maybe if David's on the run, maybe things go crazy with Absalom, and maybe I will finally come into my own. So Ziba is totally selling Mephibosheth out for being disloyal to David. Ziba's gonna come in and try to curry favor with David. Right? Make sense? Okay. John? Of course, this is Ziba's story. That's right. Absolutely right. So there's some proverb that says How you guys doing? There's a proverb that says that one story sounds right until the other guy comes forward to tell his side of the story. Right? And so the Bible does not tell us ultimately what is true about this. Okay? In this moment, Ziba is saying that Mephibosheth is a rat and that he's to burn you, David. And so David's response what is David's response to Ziba when he hears this? He's like, Okay, everything that I had given to Mephibosheth is now yours. I had the same suspicion John did. Like, Oh, at the capital day they didn't get everything? Yeah. And I think we do well to be suspicious of Ziba. But, like I said, this doesn't get resolved. There's question about this. But from David's perspective, at this moment, what's interesting is he doesn't seem suspicious. He just says, Alright, fine. I hated that kid. It's all yours. And he gives it all, and he gives Ziba everything. And then Mephibosheth is left out. Maybe justly, maybe unjustly. But David seems like David is predisposed to be like, Well, what else is new? Right? My son is against me. It shouldn't shock me that my adopted son is also against me. Now, we'll skip ahead a little bit because there is a postscript. Do you know where the postscript to the story is in this? Kelly, do you know? Well, I know about the prescript, but I know about the prescript. Okay, go ahead. So in chapter nine, David does his great emphasis to them. Here it is. Here's two Samuel nine. Then the king summoned Zebes, Saul's servant, and said to him, I've given your grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table. Now, Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. Ziba said, Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servants to do. Right? So I think the point is it's a pretty good estate. Right? What Mephiboshan stands to lose and Ziba stands to gain is a whole bunch of stuff. Right? And Ziba swoops in and he gets it all, and it's his. Because David's like, Well, crud. You know, it's just bad. Okay. Where's the postscript? Anybody know? Did you find it, Michael? When David returns to the city, famous chef comes out to medium and clarifies what's going on. Yes. Or at least From his perspective. That's right. So, go ahead, flip up to 19. And we never get a divine verdict on this, okay? But when Mephibosheth hears, he's like, Woah, woah, woah, woah, None of that's true. Okay? Take a look at 1924. So you go up a couple of chapters, and then maybe I should even wait until we get to 19, but we'll just do it now. So 1924, Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely. That is a weird thing to say. The dude never cuts his toenails, I guess. It's weird. Okay. What are we meant to take from that? He's in mourning. He's in mourning. Okay. This is weird to us. We're like, What? Thank you, but that's what's that? It's a sign that he's in grief, which is evidence that it's true, right? It's evidence that he if he's looking all ratty, it's like for this whole time he's been kind of in a ratty state because he's grieving, which might mean that he was grieving David, not like celebrating his own victory, okay? So verse 25, When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, why didn't you go with me, Mephibosheth?' Which is to say, 'Is it true? Are you thinking you're going to become king? Is Ziba telling the truth?' And Mephibosheth's response is, my lord the king, since I, your servant, am lame, I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can go with the king. But Ziba, my servant, betrayed me, and he has slandered your servant, my lord, to the king to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God, so do whatever pleases you. All my grandfather's descendants deserve nothing but death from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who sat at your table. So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king? Okay? What do you think? Who do you think is telling the truth? Do you think it's Ziba? Do you think it's Mephibosheth? Are we on team Mephibosheth? What's so interesting, it seems to me like, okay, he's in mourning, he's grieving, there's evidence of that that goes back in time. I think he's telling the truth. And his orientation here is like, I'm not even asking for anything. I'm just telling you the truth, but I don't care. What do I care? You've already rescued me. I have no cause to complain. I'm not asking for my fields back. And so I think Mephibosheth is telling the truth. But what's that? Especially from 30. Right? From what are you what are you seeing in verse 30? 30 of just him saying, like, I don't kinda like similar to Solomon, dividing the child Yes. And the truth being shown by the love. This is like a Yeah. Yeah. It seems like he's in a humble posture. Chris just thinks that he's on team Mephibosheth. But here's the one reason that I pull my punches on this is look at David's response. He's standing right there. Right? Okay? Like, we're reading this three thousand years after the fact. We don't speak the native language. We can't see his face. David is standing three feet in front of him, and he says, verse 29, The king said to him, why say more? I order you and Ziba to divide the fields.' Which means that David doesn't know. He's saying, don't know. You take half, you take half. He just divides the estate fifty-fifty. Where if I think if he knew that Mephibosheth was telling the truth, he'd be like, Kill Zeba. It's all yours again. It's like he just assumes that Ziba was right. Instead, he's like, How am I supposed to know? I don't know this. I don't know this. Split it and let's go. So we're left with a very unsatisfying answer. Make sense?

Lessons from the Story

Here's just a couple of takeaways from that. First of all, David's having a bad day. Not in chapter 19, but back in chapter 16. And in chapter 16, when he gets bad information, when he gets discouraging information, he just believes it. Do you know this phenomena? Like, when you're having a bad day and you get bad information, then you're just like, well, that's the end of that. Right? Let me see. Do I want to get into this? I'm engaging with somebody right now in a life situation that's really genuinely difficult, and they come out of a situation that's really very difficult. And what's fascinating is to it's so interesting to watch when an obstacle arises this young man that I'm helping to coach, he was kicked out of his home, and I'm helping him figure out where he's gonna go. And you guys, when a small obstacle arises, he sees it as this looming, looming disaster. Right? And so it keeps being like, like, every three days, there's a new panic button. There's a new thing that's like, Oh, always lost. Always lost. And it's fascinating to be like, Actually, that's probably solvable. We probably just do this and then that, and then everything will be fine. And try this and then that. I bet this will work. This morning So here's an example. I might be wrong about this one. This is just fresh off the press, but I just got a text that he has COVID, and in order to be excused from work, has to go to a doctor and get a doctor's excuse, and that's going to be a huge mess because he doesn't have health insurance and he can't go to a doctor. And I'm thinking, since when do you need a doctor to tell you you have COVID? We're like, for the last two years, if you're within 30 feet of somebody that's had COVID, you're an excuse from work for the next two weeks. Right? You know what I mean? So in his world, it's like, Oh, this is bad news. Everything is lost. And I think, probably not. Maybe rules have changed, but probably not. You understand this phenomenon? Okay. So for David, he's just so beat that he gets news and he just believes the worst. Do you watch this in your own life? When things are going badly, it's so easy to believe the worst news. And maybe it's not quite as bad as you think. Right? So just watch that in David's life. Okay?

Lessons from David's Response and Biblical Authority

Robin? This goes on, the servant answers David and said, just give it all. Yes. And the one that was truly the mother was the one that's, you know, don't kill it. Don't cut it in half. Give it to the other mother just to preserve that child's life. Absolutely. And I kind of feel the same way about how he's reacting to what David said. Absolutely. I would say, and I think most people would read this account and say, Mephibosheth seems less duplicitous. He seems less likely to be the one that's being kind of shady. I think that that's true, but it's just striking to me that David seems unconfident in that. Even by chapter 19, and things are going start going better for David, by chapter 19, he simply says, Split it, and they can split it. So who knows? Sometimes it's hard to know what's true, what's not true. You've two different sides. If you've ever done this with your children, you don't know which one's telling you the truth. You ever do it with an employee, you don't know. Sometimes it's tough.

The Similarities and Lessons from Solomon and David

Becky? Yes. So what Becky is saying is that in 1 Samuel, David seemed to be a much more confident man. He would inquire from the Lord, What is the right answer? Then he'd go do it. And in 2 Samuel, ever since Bathsheba, he's off his game. He's like, Well, I don't know. Maybe this, maybe that, maybe this, maybe that. And we're going to have a bright moment in a second. We're going to see David get something right in a really peculiar, unusual, glorious way. But absolutely, Becky, he is not at his best, and he hasn't been for quite some time, for sure. Lily? This is a little skipping ahead, but we were just thinking about Solomon and someone else had mentioned a story about which baby belonged to which prostitute, you know, but how that actually kind of seems like an echo of what just happened with Ziba and Mephibosheth and like a redemptive echo of that story. Okay, so first of all, have we been saying Mephibosheth wrong all these years? Mephibosheth? You just said it different, and I never know how to say anything, so if I'm butchering this, just let me know. So, yeah, there is that similar thing. And of course, the brilliance of Solomon is a split and a baby doesn't work quite as well as a split in a field. Right? That's his whole brilliant thing, for sure. Charlie Toll? I just think it's so interesting that David grew up against Goliath and had all his bravery. Right. To confront anyone in his family. Totally. He's a train wreck. You see it all from the whole Bathsheba thing from that point on, like the Amnon thing is a mess, Tamar and Absalom, and and there's a lot more. He's going to get, you know, probably, he's going to get rebuked pretty hard for refusing to go after Absalom when all of his men are fighting against him. He absolutely fraught with uncertainty at every turn. No question about it. Okay? So Ziba, that's a rough moment. As far as David knows, we're not living in chapter 19, we're living in 16. As far as David knows, his son wants to kill him. This one that he has adopted and shown kindness to is just absolutely going to betray him, and it's just a discouraging moment. Okay? Let's keep going. Next one. So then I lost my place. Where are we at in the text? Verse five. Okay. So next one is this dude Shemi. Shemi. Okay. I don't think we've met him yet. He's a relative of Saul. Okay? Here's what he says. Here's what happens. Verse five. As King David approached Bahram, a man from the same clan as Saul's family came out from there. What's Saul's family? Where is he from, first of all? Benjamin. He's from Benjamin. He's probably a little bit more subdivided down in there, but he's a Saulite. His name was Shemi, son of Gerah, and he cursed as he came out. And he pelted David and all the king's officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David's right and left. And as he cursed, Shemi said, 'Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel. The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom, and you have come to ruin because you are a man of blood. Okay? So the way I picture this, I'm not sure if this is true, but I picture it like there's a road that's kind of like low near a hill, and Shemi's up on this hill, and he's just kicking all the dirt and gravel. He's like the king, and he's just throwing garbage at him and taunting him and making fun of him. And David's surrounded. He's on the run, but he's surrounded by armed guards. Right? And he's probably in a bit of a mood because of the whole mess with Ziba or Mephibosheth or whatever else is there. And this is David. Okay? This is David who, when Nabal comes out and starts talking smack about the sheep, he's like, Put on your swords. It's time to go to war. Watch what David does. Okay? He does not do what you might think he would do. Verse nine says this, Then Abishai, son of Zeriah, said to the king, why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head. Proper nouns. Do you recognize Abishai? Do you remember this guy? Because we've seen him before. One of his mighty is very Robin, well done. He's one of the mighty men. He's one of the three. David's got these little groups of, like, these are my three favorite, and ten favorite, these are the really good ones, right? And he's one of the three. He's one of the inner circle, the Republican guard. He's the, you know, I don't know what the inner circle of the Secret Service are, but he is like he's super badass, okay? And so in 2 Samuel, are we allowed to do that? Okay. Alright. 2 Samuel 23, Abishai is the brother of—I've heard Quig say some things, okay? Abishai, the brother of Joab, son of Zeriah, was chief of the three. He raised his spear against 300 men whom he had killed, and so he became as famous of the three. And he loves killing bad guys. Okay? Earlier, if you care, you don't have to, but if you go to 1 Samuel 26, Abishai has said to David, 'Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands.' That was Saul. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear. I won't strike him twice. Okay. So Abishai, he's a man of wrath. He's a man of rage. He's David's chief bodyguard. He's chief of the three, which makes him the one. He's like, Let me kill this guy. And you would think that David would say, That is a good idea. Right? If nothing else, I can take out my pent up frustration from Mephibosheth on this guy, and we'll just kill him. Alright? And this is where, right when you're like, David, you're so off your game and everything's a mess, he surprises me. He just keeps even though his life's falling apart, he surprises me and he gets stuff right. Look at verse 10. But the king this is back in 2 Samuel 16, verse 10. But the king this is back in 2 Samuel 16, verse 10. But the king said, what do you and I have in common, you sons of Zariah? Well, what do they have in common? It's your relatives. Yeah, I mean, they've got a lot in common. Like, you love killing people, for one thing, right? I mean, David is a man of blood, it's true. This accusation that he's a man is true. What's that? Abishai is Joe Abishai. Abishai is Joe Abishai. Yes, that's right. That's exactly right. But that's the question. David is saying, I'm not like you, you violent person. To which you could be accused of thinking, but you literally are like him. Right? I mean, actually. Okay? So, and then look at what David says. If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, Curse David, then who can ask, why do you do this?' David then said to Abishai and all his officials, my son, who is my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more than this Benjamite? Leave him alone. Let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the curse I am receiving today. That is an extraordinary response. He's saying, you know what? This pain in my life, first thing he says, you know, who knows? Maybe the God who is sovereign over all has decreed this for me, and I'm just going to drink it. And then he says in the next breath, you know what? That's what has happened. This is the Lord's action. I will surrender to it. Whatever cup he wants me to drink, I will drink it. And that is odd. Right? Think about the—when was the last time that you were suffering? Right? It could have been today. You could have gotten a paper cut, and you're like, Lord, why did you make the universe? You know? And he's suffering, and he's like, You know what, Lord? Like, this is your will. I'll take it all. That's amazing. Right? And you get this glimpse of David at his best. Jennifer? I think that's exactly right. So what Jennifer is saying is that David remembers that Nathan said, Hey, what? You blew it, and this is gonna matter for years. And I'm gonna bring pain into your life. And so when the pain comes into his life, instead of fighting it, he's like, Okay, Lord, I'll just drink it. I'll just take it. I think this is crazy. Kelly, did you want to say something? Exactly right. Okay, what Kelly's saying is, like, we saw in the very beginning go back like a book, go back 20 chapters, right? And David's like, I'm not going to raise my hand against Saul. God has anointed Saul. Saul is the king until the Lord determines otherwise, and I'm not going to be guilty of subverting the will of the Lord. And then, as he's getting kicked out of the kingdom, the guy takes the ark, and he goes, I'm not going to play any of these kind of games. The Lord is sovereign. I will follow his will. He is exceptionally submissive. Exceptionally subordinated. Okay? Now, I'm going to say this about Quig, and then I'm going to call on Quig. This is going to make it awkward for you, but one of the things that I so admire about Quig, because I get a front row seat, right? I get to watch his life. Quigg is this might be surprising to you, actually but Quigg is an uncommonly submissive man. Right? Quigg is an Episcopalian in his church government, and so are you, okay? And Episcopalians believe that our authority descends from above, and Quigg is subordinate to his bishop. Right? He's obedient, and he's got his own thoughts on what he wants to do, he leads. But anybody who leads, anybody who ever has men under their authority, women under their authority, it only works if they are also under the authority of another. And I've watched time after time where Quig is like, It has been decreed, and I will be obedient to this thing, and then we'll function within that. I think you do that exceptionally well. And then your expectation is that others would also be submissive to authority. And that's what David is doing. He's the king, and as someone who is a king, he gets like, people need to obey me because I'm the king. But the only way that that works is if he is obedient to the one above him, and the one above him is Yahweh. And so if Yahweh tells Shemi to throw rocks at him, he's like, Alright, that's the deal. Alright? So, watch in your life. Do you love authority that you exercise more than you love the authority that you are under? Right? It's a tricky thing. We tend to be like, I love authority as long as it starts right here and flows downward. But David is in a chain, and he's going to bend the knee to the one above him, whether it's Saul who's chucking spears at him, or it's Yahweh who is ordaining that gravel be tossed in his face. Alright? First quake, then we'll come back here. Did you still want to say something? The thing of Jesus in the Garden Of Gethsemane. Yeah. He didn't want the cup, but he submitted to the will of the Father. Yes. It's not a perfect foreshadowing, but it is a foreshadowing. It's absolutely a foreshadowing. This is well, if it's not a foreshadowing, it shows us what is so great about David. Right? Why is, like, you know, like, David blows this, he blows this, he blows this. He just screws so many things up. Right? But what's great about David is this. He really did. He actually loved God and wanted to obey him, genuinely. And so when you see Jesus show up and he comes in this he is the true and greater David, he is this fuller revelation of what David was approximating but couldn't really fulfill, there ain't nobody. There's no one with greater authority than Jesus. He says, All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. He is the king of all things, and there is no one more submissive and subordinate than Jesus. He will drink this bitter cup because the Father wants him to do so. Right? And that's the way it's supposed to work. The more you bend the knee, the lower down you go, the more authority that God gives you. Right? And that's really what I think we're supposed to see here out of David. Alright, hold on your hands. First, to John. Where'd go? There you are. John? David, however, ultimately got back at him. Wait. David, however, what? Got back at him. Oh, yeah. Yeah. The end of the story. Yeah. In 1 Kings, when David is giving Solomon his final— So what John is reading at the end and we'll get to this when we get here too, but at the end of the story, David is going to bring retribution to some of his enemies, including this guy. So there is going to be an ultimate just ending to the ark, and in his jurisprudence, he has the authority to do that, but it's amazing that he delays judgment until the very end of the story. We'll maybe unpack that in about eight weeks. We'll get there. Okay? Catherine? Back to the authority, the chain of authority. Yeah. The church, Quig and, you know, churches over us. And we just have all this protection because, you know, depending on submission, of course. That's right. But it can keep us in line if we remember that, you know, and we pray for our leaders here to have wisdom. We pray all the time. They're our leaders. And so then when they make decisions, maybe we're not that happy or or we hear others aren't happy, then we go to the Lord and say, okay. We pray for you to give them wisdom. So. That's, I don't know. That whole thing, if you recognize that you are under authority or you are in authority, almost everyone is under authority and in authority over someone, and just recognize, do you like it up top as much as you like it down below? Tommy? I think it's interesting that David so clearly hears God's voice through Shemi's words because Shemi's charge against me or a man of blood is actually God's own charge. Mhmm. The one who wants to build the house of God. In so I think it's interesting also that he sees God as the one that determines kings. He was the one that took over kingship from Saul's family, you know, which is his heart. Similar to Absalom's coming in to take over the king, the kingship over the kingdom. And so David says, let God determine this. You know, I said, let's take vengeance. Said, let's take action when God determines it. Okay. So the way that you set that up, Tommy, it was so so brilliant. Could could you hear the voice of God in the mouth of your enemy? Like, this is so hard because my enemy, they just dismiss them. They're fools. They're wrong. They're evil. But David has this guy kicking dirt at him, and he's like, You know what? I bet the Lord probably has you doing. It's incredible that he's able to do that, and he does. Here's what happens. Verse 13, because the clock keeps ticking. Verse 13, So David and his men continued along the road while Shemi was going along the hillside opposite him. Okay, didn't imagine the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering with dirt. And the king and all the people with him arrived at their destination exhausted. And there he refreshed himself. Bet he was. Like, you know, how long can you put up with that? And you just gotta like, don't look, take it, oh, that one hurt, and just do it. And he shows tremendous restraint. Right? And a little bit stole my thunder on this, but that is that should remind us of Jesus. Right? That he just takes the hit, and he takes the hit, and he takes the hit. And it is exhausting, but he just is willing, he's able to restrain himself from showing wrath. He just drinks it and he takes it. Only when I say that, it's probably the case that you're imagining Gethsemane, right, that you're imagining the road to the cross. And that was all true right there. But one of the crazy things about Christianity I don't know if you've ever appreciated how Christianity is unique and different in the history of the world as different people have stepped forward to offer suggestions about what the world is really like and what the creator of the world is really like. Have you ever noticed that one particular difference between Christianity and Islam is that Islam is incredibly brittle. Right? Salman Rushdie, you just saw he's in the news again. Right? He just got attacked. Do you gotta go back, like, what is it, twenty years or thirty years? How long was it? Thirty-eight. Thirty-four years? Okay. What was Salman Rushdie's offense, like, way back in the day? Do you remember this? Satanic Verses. Satanic Verses, okay. And what was the gist of this? Criticize Islam. Criticize Yes, exactly. Right? And so, when that was going on, I remember being struck that Islam is a system that if you say something bad about Islam, if you say something bad about a law, if you are disrespectful, it's like, you know, we've got to kill you. It's over. You're dead. Right? Think about Christianity. Jesus is so unimaginably patient in suffering insult. And then he tells his followers, They insulted me. They're going to insult you. He's so patient. And he says, just take it. They persecuted me. They're going to persecute you. Just take it. When they slap me on the face, I turn to the other cheek. When they slap you on the face, turn to other cheek. Christianity is unbelievable in that our Lord and that we ourselves are to be a people that are infinitely patient in suffering evil. And everything in you wants to be like, Don't you dare do that. Right? How disrespectful. How wrong of you. How unjust of you. But in Christianity, it's like, You know what? That's fine. Bring it on. We'll just take it. We'll just take it. We'll just take it. And that's what David is doing. It is exhausting. But as he's modeling for you, he's modeling for us what Jesus would be, not just for a week's worth of time, but for all of time. Jesus' name has been dragged through the mud for centuries, and he says, It's fine. It's fine. He says, They're going drag you through the mud, and it's fine. It's fine. We'll clean it up at the end. Just wait. It's a big, big deal. And so David, again, David blows all these things, but he gets this right, and he learns how to take the hit and, quite literally, turn the other cheek. Right? It's a setup for what Jesus is going to call us to be in our lives.

The Rise of Absalom and the Advice of Counselors

Let's keep going. A couple more. The new scene. It's going poorly, but David is killing it. Verse 15: Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. That's another name. Who's that? Do you remember Ahithophel? Which one is he? David's counselor. What is it? David's what? Counselor. Yes. And which side is he on now? He's gone over. So we've all these guys that were David's team. Ahithophel was on David's side, but he is genuinely now loyal to Absalom, so we've lost him. But then there's this other counselor who was a mole. Which one is he? Hushai. Okay, very good. Alright. So, meanwhile, Absalom said to all the men of Israel—I'm sorry, meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. So he's a bad guy now. He's on Absalom's side. And then Hushai, who was secretly on David's side, the Arkite, David's friend, went to Absalom and said to him, Long live the king. Remember, he's the mole. And Absalom says to Hushai, Is this the love you show your friend? Why didn't you go with your friend? Meaning David. And Hushai says to Absalom, No, no, no, no. The one chosen by the Lord, by these people, and by all the men of Israel. His I will be, and I will remain with him. Okay. What do we call this? What's what's he doing right there? Playing some of the ends against the—he really is. Both ends against the middle. Now, when he says, I will serve the one chosen by the Lord, I will serve the one chosen by these people, I will serve the one chosen by the men of Israel, who is he talking about? David. He's talking about David. Who does Absalom think he's talking about? Jesus. He's got this little double entendre going here. He says, I will be his and I will remain with him. And then he says this, Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve the son? Just as I serve your father, so I will serve you. Now, this is a little more explicit in his coming onto Absalom's team, but he asks the question, whom should I serve? He's intentionally being a little bit double in his language. Right? But whatever it is, Absalom buys it, and he lets him onto the team. He's made it onto the cabinet, and he's going to be one of the guys. And his job there is specifically to thwart Ahithophel. It was David's idea. Yes. David's like, Dude, go be a mole. And he takes—well, you've got to know, he's going to risk; he's going to lose his life if this goes badly. So there is advice. Ahithophel's there giving advice. Hushai's there giving advice. Absalom thinks they're both on his side, but one of them is there to thwart the other. All right? And you're going to see more of these guys, but I just want you to learn these characters. So, a weird thing happens. Absalom says to Ahithophel in verse 20, Give us your advice. What should we do? And do you remember his advice? It's weird, but we would generally do this. Okay? Verse 21, Ahithophel answered, 'Lie with your father's concubines, whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench in your father's nostrils, and the hands of everyone with you will be strengthened. So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he lay with his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. That's the plan. Okay. What is the—what's the, what's the rationale behind this? They're gonna hate him now. Okay. Yes. So who's gonna hate him? The people are gonna see the ugly side and the true—I mean, the nastiness. Well, okay. That's true. But what is Ahithophel, the guy giving this advice, is genuinely on Absalom's side, and he thinks this is a good idea. So why? What is he saying here? What's the point of it, Zach? It's a power play. It's a power play, yes. Very good. So take the women, set up a tent, take the women, and why is it a power play? I mean, he's the new king. You gotta be able to establish that you are you're at least trying to establish that you are. Very good. Yes. Now he's like it's it's absolutely a flex for sure. And then there's another layer to it. Gina? It's the only thing David left behind. Oh, good. Remember this? Gina says it's the only thing David left behind. Remember he left the concubines behind? And now this guy's gonna take possession of these women for sure. You gonna add something, Chris? Just that it's gonna show the true colors of the other dude, the shy. Yes. Hey, you're gonna serve me. Well, I'm gonna do the most disgrace the only the last disgraceful thing I can do to David. Yes. See if you really still shine like a—that's right. And what is the purpose of doing something that is going to be just what did you say, disgraceful to David? What is the point of alienating David? Yeah, Marty? He's burning the bridge. That's it. In burning the bridge, there's no retreat. There's no other option now because the die has been cast. This is it. Okay? When they say, Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench in your father's nostrils, our cultural phrase of that is burn the bridge. Right? There's no going back. What I want you to do, I want you to do something that there will be no hope in anybody's mind that there will be a reconciliation between David and Absalom. Burn the bridge. Tear the thing. Let's just be done with this. Let's let everybody that's like, is it gonna go this way, is it gonna go this way? I'm not sure where it's gonna go. It's an open declaration of war. Right? And so everybody's now gonna know that David hates you, which he doesn't, by the way. It's weird. But that's what he's trying to do, to make it a very clean break so everyone come with us. Yeah. Ellen? He's also taking David's authority. He is now declaring himself king. It's like when Reuben slept with Jacob's concubine. It's saying, this is my house. This is my kingdom. And it's not yours anymore. Yes. That's right. Very, very good. Okay. A couple of hands up here. Tommy? I wonder also with Absalom. Absalom might have appreciated the symmetry of it. A lot of the division between Absalom and David came from Rick with his sister. Yes. So now that no justice was brought by David. And here he perpetrates, in essence, a similar type action against David's house. Yes. So we're absolutely meant to see that there is this human activity of Absalom being treacherous against David, but the whole time there is this divine line of judgment, right? That even as David—he did something on a roof once. Right? There is a parallelism and poetry to all of this. Even though it's sin, and this is where we'll end on this. These women are being turned into commodities. These women are pawns in a game. Okay? And when you see this, when you see like, oh, these women are being abused, is your perspective? What do you think? The Bible's perspective on that is? There's all these hideous things that happen in the Bible. Is this pleasing to the Lord? Is the Lord sovereignly behind it? That's a weirder thing. That's a harder question to answer. Right? Lily, do want to speak to that? Be really loud. Yeah. God is always sovereign. So this is not an exception. But I would say that when you see the abuse of the most vulnerable, that just cuts the heart of what makes God angry and what disturbs his heart. You know, not caring for for those who have no protection. I mean, it just flies in the face of the God who is the only one who is just. You guys God is okay. Michael, and then I'll and then I'll comment. Then we gotta get out of here. Michael? You know, he created people with choice in that, and so he is in control of the situation, but the sin did not come from him. That's right. So Michael's observation, this is really important, we we must affirm two things that can feel very difficult to hold intention. Number one, God is sovereign over all things. Number two, God is not the author of sin. But the world over which he is sovereign is just riddled with wickedness. So how does this play out? We can't do this in thirty seconds, but it's my fault for choosing it anyway, so we'll do it. Very, very briefly. Sometimes it's been said that God can write straight with a crooked stick. God is sovereign over all things, and that the world that he reigns is a world filled with badness and brokenness. God is not pleased. He is not the agent behind these women's commodification, but he is using a broken world and all of its wicked players to bring about a good end. And it's basically like all he has to work with, because all he has to work with is us. Right? In all of our badness, in all of our brokenness, in all of our treachery and lechery, he uses these are the blocks that he uses to build his purposes. Right? So he is not behind these women being treated like pawns in a game, but he is behind everything, and they are part of the everything that he is behind. And this is one of these theological conundrums that we really wrestle through. I want you to see what Michael said, he's right. Leviticus 20 forbids this. It says this, If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Right? He must be put to death. This is not okay. This is sin. This is a wicked thing. And yet God works through wickedness to accomplish his end. Alright, Kelly, you get the final word. That's right. And so this and that's the sovereignty of God's side. But he is not, he it is nevertheless, God was sovereignly working through wicked men to accomplish a good end. Alright? And that's about as tidy as we can make that in this moment. So next week, chapter 17, we'll do it again. Will I be here wait. Maybe in two weeks. I'm not here next week, so in a couple weeks. It's chapter 17.