Chapter 18. Verse one. And David numbered the people
that were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of
hundreds over them. And David sent forth a third
part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part
under the hand of Abishai, the son of Uriah, Joab's brother,
and a third part under the hand of Atieh the Gittite. And the
king said unto the people, I will surely go forth with you myself
also. But the people answered, thou
shalt not go forth, for If we flee away, they'll not
care for us. Neither of half of us die will they care for
us. But now thou art worth 10,000 of us. Therefore now it's better
that thou sucker us out of the city. And the king said unto
them, what seemeth best to you, I'll do. And the king stood by
the gate side and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.
And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Atahiah saying, deal
gently for my sake with the young man. even with Absalom. And all the people heard when
the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
with thanksgiving. We thank you for the complete
salvation that we have in thy blessed son. We thank you for
the forgiveness of sins. Lord, how we praise you for the
fact that you're a God that forgives iniquity and transgression and
sin. Lord, how we thank you that you're
a God who's absolutely just and that all sin must and will be
punished either in my son or in sinners. Lord, how we thank
you for your sovereignty that you're in control over all things. Lord, we give thanks for everything
about you. And Lord, meet with this cause
your gospel to be preached. Grant us. Hearing ears and receptive
hearts and give us hearts that love you more and love one another
more and Lord bless us for Christ's sake. Be with all your people,
wherever they meet together. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Look back in chapter 17, verse
14. Chapter 17, verse 14. And Absalom
and all the men of Israel said, the council of Hushai, the Archite,
is better than the council of Ahithophel. For the Lord had
appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel to the
intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. Now the Lord intended, the Lord
intended to judge Absalom and bring evil upon Absalom. And the thing I was thinking
was if God before, if God before you, who can be against you? But if God be against you, who
can be for you? The Lord was against Absalom. Now, Absalom is one of the most
wicked men in Scripture. And humanly speaking, he had
everything that a man could desire. He was the king's son. He was
wealthy, influential, and he was the best-looking man in all
of Israel. Scripture points that out. Look
back at 1 Samuel 14. Verse 25. But in all Israel,
there was none to be so much praised as Absalom. For his beauty from the sole
of his foot, even to the crown of his head, there was no blemish
in him. And this speaks of his vanity. When he pulled his head, for
it was every year's end that he pulled it, he cut his hair
every year. Because the hair was heavy on
him, therefore he pulled it. He weighed the hair of his head
at 200 shekels after the king's weight. I mean, once a year.
he'd get his hair cut. And it would be a public display
for everybody to see his hair and his good looks and so on.
This man was overcome with vanity. Now, David, humanly speaking,
failed Absalom as a father. Now, any of us who have children
feel like in many respects we're failures as parents. So I don't
want to get too hard on David for failing as a father with
Absalom, but he was just too easy on him. He let him get by
with too much. When he murdered Amnon, what
did David do about it? Nothing. He just kept his mouth
shut. He failed to restrain Absalom. You remember what God said concerning
Eli and his sons? The Lord said his sons made themselves
vile and he restrained them not. Well, David did not restrain
Absalom. So in some respects, it's David's
fault Absalom turned out the way he did. But like I said,
I'm not gonna fault David on that. He loved his son. As a
matter of fact, even when at the end here, I read that passage
of scripture, he said, be easy on Absalom for my sake. Absalom
was a rebel. He was a deceitful man. He was
a wicked man. He tried to kill the king. He
tried to take over everything. And yet, after all this, David
said, be easy on him. He's my son, and we're going
to see next week when he is killed. David says, oh Absalom, Absalom,
my son Absalom, I wish it was me that was dead instead of you.
And that's the way we would respond to our children being killed
too, wouldn't it? So I don't want to be too hard
on David, but Amnon was nothing but trouble, or Absalom was nothing
but trouble. Now he began his conspiracy against
David in chapter 15, look at it, Chapter 15, 2 Samuel chapter
15. And it came to pass after this
that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses and fifty men to run
before him. And Absalom rose up early and
stood beside the way of the gate. And it was so that when any man
that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom
called unto him and said, Of what city art thou? He said,
Thy servant is one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto
him, See, thy matters are good and right. Now, you know what
this is? It's called flattery. It's called
flattery. And this is the way wicked people
work their way in with flattery. That's all it was. He didn't
even ask, your matters are good and right. He didn't even know
what they were, but they were good and right. So he uses this
flattery. Absalom said, verse four, moreover,
oh, that I were made judge in the land, that every man which
hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I do him justice.
And was so that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance,
he put forth his hand and took him and kissed him. Now see the
way he's working his way in with the people. He's telling them
your position is good, right, he uses flattery, he kisses them,
he brings them into his circle, and this is the way It says,
Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Verse seven, now
he uses religion. It came to pass after 40 years
that Absalom said to the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay
my vow, which I vowed unto the Lord in Hebron. For thy servant
vowed a vow while I was abode at Gesher in Syria, saying, if
the Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I'll
serve the Lord. Now that's human religion, isn't
it? If the Lord does this, I'll do that. I make my promise. And
the whole time he was using this religious language, and that's
all it was, was religious language, he planned on taking over. He'd
already made this conspiracy to take, to have his father killed
and for him to take his place. Yet he uses this religious language. And David bit the hook, and David
said unto him, go in peace. So he arose and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout
all the tribes of Israel, saying, as soon as you hear the sound
of the trumpet, then shall you say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
So here we see what this man was doing. He was using flattery. He was using religion to get
his way. Now, chapter 18 is about his
destruction. Verse 1, And David numbered the
people that were with him, and sent captains of thousands and
captains of hundreds over them. This is in this battle against
Absalom. And David sent forth a third
part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part
under the hand of Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother,
and a third part under the hand of Attei, the Gittite. And the
king said unto the people, I'll surely go forth with you myself
also. Now he's using all the military
strategy he knows. He's dividing his army into three
parts to go against Absalom, and he said, I'll go with you
myself, verse three. But the people answered, thou
shalt not go forth, for if we flee away, they will not care
for us. Neither if half of us die will
they care for us. But now thou art worth 10,000
of us, therefore now it's better that thou succor us out of the
city. Now here, David is a great type
of Christ, isn't he? I love the way they say this.
They say, you're worth 10,000 of us. 10 billion would have
been a, as a matter of fact, you can't give a numerical calculation
of the worth of the Lord Jesus Christ. But that's what they
said. They said, you're worth 10,000 of us. We don't want you to go.
We want you to stay here and succor us, help us from the city.
Just seeing you will be an encouragement to us. And that is the way the
believer feels toward the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the fairest
of 10,000. No one can be compared to Him. Isn't that glorious? There's
no one or no thing that can be compared to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the bright and morning star, the fairest of 10,000. And that's
how they looked at David, their king. The beauty of Christ. Now let's go on reading. And the king said unto them,
what seemeth you best, I'll do. And the king stood by the gate
side, and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.
Now here we see the humility of David. King David, the one
who's the fairest of 10,000, he says to these people, whatever
you all see is best, that's what I'll do. And that just speaks
of the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ, as great as he is, how
humble he is. Isn't humility beautiful? He
said regarding himself, I am meek and lowly in heart. What a description of the son
of God. Fairer than 10,000, yet meek
and lowly in heart. Verse five, and the king commanded
Joab and Abishai and Nittai saying, deal gently for my sake. with the young man, even with
Absalom. And all the people heard when
the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom." Now,
Absalom was a rebel. Absalom had tried to murder his
father. He was trying to take over as
the king of Israel. What did this man deserve? He
deserved to be put to death. Now, this was David's son. and
put yourself in David's place. You know, it would be hard to
put your own child to death, wouldn't it? Yet, justice demanded
this, but David couldn't do it. He loved this boy even after
everything that he'd done. He loved this boy. And what I
thought about, anybody here any better than Absalom? Think of the father's love to
his children. David loved his child. And I
think, is there anybody that's better than Absalom? Why, you
and I are just as bad. And you think of the father's
steadfast, continued love to his children. As bad as they
are, they're perfect and beautiful in Christ Jesus. And he loves
them. I understand David saying this,
don't you? Deal gently with the young man,
even though he's so bad, even though he's so wicked. Deal gently
with the young man for my sake. And every one of us can see where
we would say the same thing. But David was wrong, wasn't he?
There's no question. This man was a rebel. He was
one who should be put to death because of his insurrection against
the king, against his father. But David loves this boy. Verse
6, So the people went out into the field against Israel. This
is David fighting against all of Israel. All of Israel had
followed after Absalom. And the battle was in the wood
of Ephraim where the people of Israel were slain. before the
servants of David. And there was there a great slaughter
that day of 20,000 men, for the battle that was there scattered
over the face of all the country, and the wood devoured more people
that day than the sword devoured." Now what's that tell us? It's
talking about in the forest, somehow, in the trees, they would
run into trees, branches, and there were more people killed
by that than there were by the sword. Now what that tells us
is the Lord is in control of this and he's the one fighting
for David. He even uses his trees to kill
more people than the sword did to let all of David's men know
the Lord's fighting this battle. And the Lord's winning this battle.
And it's the Lord who is defeating Absalom. 20,000 people were devoured
with the sword, but there was a whole lot more devoured by
the wood. And this was a great slaughter
that day. And remember, David and his men were greatly outnumbered.
But if the Lord's on your side, you're the majority, aren't you?
That's all it takes. The battle is the Lord's. Verse
nine. And Absalom met the servants
of David, and Absalom rode upon a mule. And the mule went under
the thick boughs of a great tree." Boughs? Boughs are boughs. Boughs,
I guess. Okay, boughs. Boughs of a great
oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and was taken up
between the heavens and the earth, and the mule that was under him
went away. Now, I think this is ironic. Is this the right
word? What was he so proud of? His
hair. His hair. What caught him? His hair. Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before the fall. that which he took such
great pride in. His hair was the instrument that
caught him. And there he hangs, hanging.
I guess he was using his hands to hold himself up to keep from
being hung, but he was hung in that tree by his hair. And this
is of the Lord. Now let's go on reading. And
a certain man saw it, and told Joab and said, behold, I saw
Absalom hanged in an oak. Now, I believe I know who this
man was, and we're going to get into this next week. I believe
it was Cushi. Because Joab told Cushi, after
Absalom was destroyed, you go and tell the king what you saw.
And that's what a true witness is. He's someone who tells what
he has seen. Ammiahaz wanted to go, but he
hadn't seen anything. But Cushah had. And Joab says,
you go tell the king exactly what you've seen. So I think
this is the man that is speaking at this time. He sees Absalom
hanging there by the hair of his head, stuck in that tree. And he goes and tells Joab. Verse
10, and a certain man saw it and told Joab and said, behold,
I saw Absalom hanged in an oak. And Joab said unto the man that
told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, why didst thou not smite
him there to the ground? I would have given thee ten shekels
of silver and a girdle. Joab was upset. You should have
killed him immediately. Now, remember what David said?
David said, deal gently with the young man for my sake. But
Joab wasn't going to do that. Joab wanted him dead. You see,
Joab was a ruthless man. He would have obeyed David when
it served him. But when it didn't serve him,
he wouldn't. So what does he say? Verse 12,
the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels
of silver in mine hand. Yet would I not put forth my
hand against the king's son? For in our hearing, the king
charged thee in Abshianetae, saying, beware that none touch
the young man Absalom. Otherwise, I should have wrought
falsehood against mine own life. For there is no matter hid from
the king, and thou thyselves would have set thyself against
me." Now, here's what he says. He said, if I would have hurt
that young man, I'd be disobeying the King. Not only that, I'd
be putting my own life in jeopardy because the King would find out
about it and He would kill me. Nothing is hid from the King. Now what does that make you think
of? The Lord Jesus Christ, nothing is hid from Him. He sees everything. There's no point in pretense.
He sees everything. And you know what? That's comforting
to a believer. Somebody says, how can that be comforting if
he sees all the bad stuff? He sees what I really am in Christ. I might not be able to see it
very clearly, but he does. He sees everything. Yes, he sees
the bad stuff. He sees the sinful thoughts,
the sinful actions. He sees all that. I love what
Peter said when the Lord said to him, do you love me? He said,
Lord, you know what? All things. You know everything about me.
You know my inconsistencies. You know my contradictions about
myself. You know my sinfulness. But you
know, you know, he appeals to the omniscience of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You know that I love you. Now that is true of every believer. Every believer loves the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so we can take comfort in
Him knowing all things. You know, the Word of God is
quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
asunder to the joints and marrows of the heart. It's a discerner
of the thoughts and marrows of the heart. All things are naked
and open with the one with whom we have to do. And that's comforting
to a believer. He knows all things and he sees
who I am in his blessed son. But this man says, I'm not gonna
put my hand up against the king's son. He knows everything and
I'm gonna leave that alone. Verse 14. Then said Joab, I may not tarry
thus with thee, You know, I think Joab would have killed him, you
know, because he wasn't gonna do it, but he leaves him alone.
I don't understand why, but Joab takes the matter into his own
hand. He took three darts in his hand and thrust them through
the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of
the oak. He took three darts and put them right in his heart
and killed him. Verse 15. And 10 young men that
bear Joab's armor compassed about and smote Absalom and slew him. Now, I think that Absalom, I
mean, Joab killed him and these 10 men just abused his body.
And as a matter of fact, they ended up throwing it in a pit.
But I think there's such significance to the word 10. 10 men. If you die, There are ten men
that are going to condemn you. The Ten Commandments. The Ten
Commandments. If you die, if I die, there'll
be just reason for our death. Ten Commandments. These ten men
slew Absalom, they smote him, they slew him. Verse 16, And
Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing
after Israel, for Joab to help back the people. Now once Absalom
was dead, the war's over. We're not gonna kill any more
Israelites. He blew the trumpet and pulled them back from doing
this. Verse 17, and they took Absalom
and cast him into a great pit in the wood and laid a very great
heap of stones upon him and all Israel fled everyone to his tent. Now this was the greatest indignity
that they could lay on Absalom. They just threw him in a pit.
Verse 18, Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared
up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale. For he
said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. And he called
the pillar after his own name, and it's called unto this day
Absalom's Place." Now, we see the vanity of this man. He had
three sons, we read of. I guess they got killed. I'm
not real sure what happened here, but he had reared up this pillar
to himself. The man was filled with vanity,
obviously. And we see his end. Now, the Lord determined evil
against Absalom, didn't He? We read that. The Lord orchestrated
all these events because He had determined evil against Absalom. We introduce this lesson with
this scripture. If God be for us, who can be against us? If God's for you in foreknowledge,
if God's for you in predestination, If God's for you in calling,
if God's for you in justification, if God's for you in glorification,
whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called. Whom He called, them He also
justified. Whom He justified, them He also glorified. What
should we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? But if God's against you, is
God against people? Of course he is. Of course he
is. Absalom was a wicked man. He
was a deceptive man. He was a vain man. He was a manipulative
man. He was a hypocritical man. He
would use whatever he needed to get his end. Yes, God was
against this man, and he's been in hell ever since then. So somebody
says, well, isn't God for everybody? No. No. He's for his people. He's for those who believe. But
those who are against him, as Absalom was, God determines evil
toward those people. And that is exactly and precisely
what they deserve. And that's the end of all who
do not look to Christ only as everything in their salvation,
they're going to have the same end as Absalom. Now, does that
take away David's grief? No. He's still brokenhearted
over his son. And you know there's going to
be heartache and heartbreak in this life, isn't there? It's
coming. It's coming. David would later
on lament, oh Absalom, my son Absalom, and this is when Joab
rebukes him and says, you'd be happy if all of us were dead,
and Absalom made it. After all, he did. But David,
the man after God's own heart, is a man, a sinful man, a man
saved by the grace of God. and we can see ourselves so clearly
in this man. I'm thankful for David, aren't
you? But more, I'm thankful for the son of David, David's Lord,
the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that's in him. Okay,
we'll pick up in verse 19 next week.