Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to 2 Samuel chapter 19 and reading
for our text part of verse 14. We'll read the whole verse first. Verse 14, and he bowed the heart
of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man so that
they sent this word unto the king, return thou and all thy
servants." Specifically the words, so that
they sent this word unto the king, return thou and all thy
servants. I want to just recap and think
of this in the literal account that is set before us here, and
then applied in a spiritual way, remembering that King David,
his greatest son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the teaching that
is in this passage, the men of Judah, made willing, and to send
such a word to the king, return thou and all thy servants." But
what a picture that we have here. David had been anointed king,
and he was the line through Judah, the line to Christ, In fact,
it was to be David's son Solomon in the kingship line and his
son Nathan in the line to Mary. And he had been king in Jerusalem. Because of his sin with Bathsheba
and murder of Uriah, her husband, The Lord had said that the sword
should not depart from his house, and the troubles that he had,
including this with Absalom, was a direct result of that. Absalom had killed Ammon because
Ammon had slept with Thamer, his sister. He'd bade his time
two years and then plotted his murder and murdered him and ran
away to Geshe. Then he had been brought back
to Jerusalem And then Absalom had stolen the hearts of the
people of Judah. And the way he stole them was
to stand between the people coming to the king and the king and
make out that there was no man deputed from the king to hear
their case. And so he heard it instead. And we have this solemn situation
David, he would never touch King Saul because he was the Lord's
anointed. And yet David's own son stole
the kingdom or stole the hearts of the people away from David
so that then they were willing to follow him in rebellion against
his father. And if he could have, Absalom
would have killed his father. He would have killed many of
the people of Judah and the servants of King David. David had to flee
from out of Jerusalem, goes to Mahanaim, over Jordan, and yet
the Lord delivered Absalom into their hand. But David was really
in a, in my own impossible situation. Absalom was seeking his life,
but Absalom was his son, and David loved his son. And really
there could be no way that David could have got out of that situation
without the slaying of Absalom. He charged the captains of war
as they went out against Absalom and his men that they would not
harm the young man Absalom, but it was Joab that killed him.
Later on, and in this chapter here, David was to take away
the captainship from Joab and give it to Emesa. Well later
on, Joab murdered also Emesa. And no doubt David felt it and
is very evident from this portion so much that Absalom had been
killed. But what other way? The people
would not let David himself go into battle and David then remained. in the city, waiting for news. And the news was brought by Haimahaz
and Cushai. Haimahaz not clearly telling
him what had happened, but Cushai very clear that the enemies of
my lord the king be like that young man today. And David understood what had
happened. And so he was greatly distressed. As we read in the first part
of this chapter, the last verse of the previous chapter, the
king was much moved and went up to the chamber over the gate
and wept. And as he wept, thus he said,
O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, would God I had
died for thee, O Absalom, my son. my son." He did not have
a good hope spiritually. He couldn't say of Absalom like
that he did of Bathsheba's son when he died and God said that
he would die. He said that, he shall not come
to me, I shall go to him. He had a good hope of that one. But in the midst of this we have
many, many lessons really Here is Absalom that had rebelled
against his father, against the Lord's anointed, had turned all
the hearts of the people against the king and the people were
willing to turn against the king. And yet in this instance, David
still, he cannot let go of Absalom. And when we think of it in many
ways with ourselves, we may have those, whether it is of our kinsfolk
or whether it be our own besetting sins or the rebellions of our
own heart, and that we're willing to have them still alive. We
don't want them slain. And yet, as in this so vividly
shows, it was a matter of life and death. And if we are cleaving
to our rebellions and cleaving to our sins and cleaving, we
need to ask ourselves, are we in the same position here? Now, Lord said he cannot serve
God and mammon. And in the way here, there could
not be David still alive, Absalom still alive. One was to be king. It was God's anointed was to
be king. And in God's mercy, Absalom was
slain. But then that left the people
that had all followed Absalom without a king. What an embarrassing
situation, as it were, they're in. How could they now turn around
and say, well, we want David again? What an embarrassing situation
they were in. And we read that David begins
to hear that Israel, that is the other 10 tribes, or the other
tribes apart from Judah, we're speaking about bringing the king
back again. We read in verse 11, King David
sent to Zadok and to Abiath the priest saying, speak unto the
elders of Judah, saying, why are ye the last to bring the
king back to his house, seeing the speech of all Israel is come
to the king, even to his house? To those that were of his bone
and flesh, those that should have been the ones that had been
first to desire him to come back, they were not asking him to.
The rest of Israel were, but not them. But then David, in
this verse, verse 11, he speaks to the priests and tells them,
ye are my brethren. Yeah, my bones and my flesh. Wherefore then are ye the last
to bring back the king? And he then gives charge concerning
Emesa. And in the words of our text,
he, that is, and I understand it, some will say it belongs
to Emesa, but I believe, and others do, that it belongs to
David himself. Yes, through Emesa and through
the priests Sadok and Abiathar, But he bowed the heart of all
the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man." And so we
have a situation that David himself was used to bow the heart of
the people and make them willing to speak these words. So that
they said, this word unto the king, return thou, and not just
thou, but all thy servants, the king and all his servants, to
return to Jerusalem and to be over them again." So that is
the situation in a literal way that is before us here. Now to think about it in the
way of the people of God, and especially in a backsliding state. The word here is return, and
I know for one that is being quickened and called by grace
at the start, in one sense it is a returning, because we in
Adam fell and we are to be brought to return unto the Lord. But it especially fits of those
that, like the children of Judah, were under the king. The Lord Jesus Christ was their
king. He was anointed king. He was
over them. But then there arose that one
that stole their hearts away. That's what happened with what
Absalom did. And what a warning it is to us
that as the Lord's people, we can be so deceived and so drawn
away and Absalom did it very gradually, very subtly, very
carefully, in how the Word of God warns us, take heed lest
there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living God. It's a long while since I've
read it, but I believe really is a similar illustration that
is fitting this is in John Bunyan's Mansoul and how that pictures
again that the city of Mansoul was taken by Satan and all the
means that were used that the soul again desired the king to
return and all his servants. So A situation here that many
of the Lord's dear people find themselves in. Fallen, deceived,
rebelled against the Lord and virtually have driven the Lord
away. The king that was king over them,
he is gone. The Lord says in Ezekiel, I will
return unto my place, until they acknowledge their sin. He will
be silent to his people. He withdraws from them. He is
no longer with them. His servants no longer minister,
and they are left. The Lord used this method many
times, and sometimes he used it in bringing the children of
Israel into bondage in Babylon and to other nations. And then
they desired the Lord again, and longed for the Lord again.
In the first book of Samuel, we read that after the ark had
been in the land of the Philistines, then brought back to Bethshemesh,
and for 20 years there was no word from the Lord, no sign,
and there under, the Philistines. And we read that the children
of Israel, they longed. They longed after the Lord. And
the Lord used Samuel to bring them back again and to ask again
for the Lord to return and to come back to them again. I want to highlight what an embarrassing
situation, a shameful situation, This was in a literal way. Now
we may feel in realising how we have treated the Lord, how
we have dealt with Him, how we have acted, the things that we
have done, the things that we have said, how easy we have been
deceived, how easy we have turned aside, how we have been so deceitful,
so dishonest, so unloyal as it were to the Lord. and thinking
of what these people were walking in here and yet how David was
so willing to return, so willing to come over them again, so willing
even to make it that their hearts should be turned again. And so on to just briefly consider
firstly a backsliding people made willing. And then secondly,
their request, return thou, return thou as king. But thirdly, the king and his
servants, just to consider what it is when King Jesus, the Lord,
and his servants do return. and a backsliding people made
willing. It was David here, and it is
the Lord himself that brings again his people. David says
in the Psalms, he restoreth my soul. When David had sinned in
the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah, It was the Lord that made the
first move as to the returning and restoring of David from that
very sad fall. He sent Nathan. Nathan spoke
the parable to him. David was humbled before the
Lord. It is the Lord that restores
the soul of his people, but here David had heard the things that
had been saying by Israel. My mind went to what the Lord
heard when the children of Israel were in Egypt. They were groaning
under their bondage. They were in bondage. They were
under burdens. And again, the Lord instigated
it. He heard their groaning. He raised up Moses. He sent Moses
to them, and he delivered them. Again and again throughout the
scriptures, we find that the Lord does save his people from
their sins. Not that we should be in a fatalistic
spirit. God forbid that that should be
so. But when we see the mercy of
the Lord, even to the rebellious, He hath received gifts for men.
We read in Psalm 68. Yea, for the rebellious also,
that the Lord God may dwell among them. And here we have, in the
literal sense, rebellious, and they want David to dwell amongst
them again. And if we are in this position,
if we have backslidden from the Lord, then we're in a situation
where, like with Absalom, we have a rebel king over us. We have one that is seeking to
destroy the rightful king over us. And the king's servants,
the Lord's servants, no longer minister, no longer are heard. We're in a sad and low place,
a place where the Lord has just returned And he's just waiting
and watching and seeing how we react to his withdrawing. Do we miss his presence? Are
we finding that the world like we have sung is a waste howling
wilderness? Are we remembering the blessings
and helps that we once had and going over our ways, our thoughts
and searching our hearts as to why the Lord has been driven
from our breast, why he is no longer there, no longer as king
and his servants silent, a backsliding people, but a backsliding people
made willing, made willing, this beautiful word, he, bowed the
heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man,
so that they sent this word. Made willing, my people shall
be willing in the day of my power. One interesting thing, David
had heard what Israel had been saying, and yet it is when he
deals with Judah, that then they come with the very specific request
that he returned. And so I want to think that in
the second place, their request, the request that is here in our
text, the effect of a heart that is turned, that is bound, so
that they sent this word. In a way, in a Gospel day, if
we send a word unto the Lord, it is that we do it in prayer.
We ask. In many of the prayers of Scripture,
they're very, very simple and direct prayers. Jacob, when Esau was coming in
prayer, he tells the Lord what is happening. He tells how he's
so frightened of Esau. and that he will kill him and
the women and the children. And then he makes his petition
that he would be delivered. The Lord says, ask and it shall
be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened to you. There's no greater incentive
to ask than to feel a heart moved by the Lord and inclined to desire
the Lord's presence. May we remember that. If the
Lord has bowed our heart and turned our heart, may we be encouraged
to ask, to put that in words. That it be not like our text
stopping halfway and the heart be bound, but there is no sending. There's no asking. There's no
petition. May the Word this evening take
away those hindrances to prayer. And if you and I are mindful
of our actions like the people here, no doubt of theirs, we'll
need to be encouraged to come before the Lord. Naturally speaking, we think,
how can the Lord ever receive us that are so rebellious, so
vile, so contrary, dealing in such a deceitful and wrong way? And yet here is a willingness.
May we be mindful of our hearts. The hymn writer says, my heart
will move at Thy command. It is the Lord that softens a
heart. It is the Lord that puts prayer
there and puts a cry there. And that willingness, it begins. It begins afar off. Our Lord
told the parable of the prodigal son. He came to himself while
he was feeding the swine. Fain would have filled his belly
with the husk that they did eat. Then he thought of his father's
house. In that parable, he was the one
that was returning. In this account, it is the Lord
returning to his people. But is a bringing together again
And we read that, as the prodigal was coming, while he was yet
a great way off, his father saw him, ran and embraced him, gained
the encouragement. The elder son offended. He knew what the younger had
done, spent his substance in riotous living. The younger son
knew it too. And he professed. He said, I'm
no longer worthy to be called thy son. Make me, I pray Thee,
as one of Thy hired servants. We may feel that. No longer worthy,
ashamed, and yet a way of escape, a way of the Lord returning. And may it be then that we also
have requests. that we have our petitions, and
our petition be this, that these people had. And what was it? They sent this word unto the
King, like us coming in prayer and sending this word to the
Lord. Return thou and all thy servants. Return thou, Lord Jesus, and
all thy servants. Take possession of my breast.
Come and dwell again as king of one host. Come and rule in
my heart. Have we requests like this? Is that the desire of our song? May this be our prayer. Return
thou and all thy servants. In the third place then, let
us consider the king and his servants, or the lord and his
servants. What are they? Well the first
thing, with the king, return thou, return thou as the king,
as the anointed one, as the one with authority, as the one who
has the rightful place and rule in our hearts. Other kings have had rule over
us, or other men, other powers. They would have said that regarding
Absalom. But by thee only will we make
mention of thy name. How willing are we that the Lord
should be our king? The Lord said, while on earth,
he said, you call me Lord and you say, well, for so I am. But you do not the things that
I say. What a sad kingdom. If there
was a king and he was just a figurehead, really, I suppose, in a way,
it's a bit like the kingdom in our land, because The kings or
queens don't have that power. The power is in Parliament and
Parliament tells them what they should say and what they should
do. It is not the same as in the kings in Bible times or even
in earlier times in our land. But what would it be if we had
a king but they had no authority? They had no reverence. They had
no sway. Nothing that they could do. They
were powerless over us. It would be a very sad kingdom. But for people like this, willing,
we may ask ourselves in this, if the Lord is our King, how
willing are we that we should obey Him, that we should serve
Him, that we should follow him in his word, that we should be
truly his servants. The Lord said, A servant, knowing
not what his master doeth, but I have called you friends. I
have called you friends. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
always for his dear people to be in that place that is rightfully
his. In this account here, as king
over Judah and really over all Israel, that was David's rightful
place. He was being brought back to
his rightful place. May the Lord be brought back
to his rightful place in our hearts, our affections, in all
that is spoken to us. When the Lord appeared to Saul
of Tarsus on the Damascus road, his word was, Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do? And all of the apostle's life
was as a servant of the Lord, to know His will, and may that
be our desire as well, that we have a King over us, and that
King is King Jesus. But what of the servants? David
had servants, David had his men, those that were with him, that
did his bidding, that brought about his will even in the context
here. His calling to him, Zadok, and
to Abiathar the priest, they were his servants. He was giving
direction to speak unto Asa. He was one of his servants. These
were the men that were round about David, that were going
to be coming back with David. He was not on his own. And the
Lord again, he has his servants. The Lord has those things that
he uses. Now I don't mean in that though
the Lord does, of course, use his servants as in the ministers
of the gospel to preach and to speak to the people. The Lord
returning in that way with his servants, his servants again
are speaking the words of the Lord, the King. And they have
a place in the hearts of the people. When David was fleeing,
then whatever he spoke to his servants, his servants were also
not with the people and the word wasn't getting with them. And
you can be sure with a backsliding soul, that they had begun to
despise the servants of the Lord, to not respect the house of God,
and to not bow before the word of God. The Lord said, He that
heareth you, heareth me, and he that heareth me, heareth him
that sent me. And the other side of it as well,
he that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me
despiseth him that sent me. And so the servants, yes, the
servants of the Lord, those that bring the word, preach the word,
a return of the Lord speaking through his word. and conveying
his will and blessing through the word again. May our prayer
be, be not silent to me, silent to me through the ministry and
through the word, but cause me again to hear thy voice. The account of Naaman the Syrian
who was cleansed of his leprosy is full of those of his servants
that are bringing the message. It is the servant girl that speaks
of the man in Israel, man of God, that is
able to heal of the leprosy. It is the man of God's servant
that sends to Naaman, bidding him to wash. It is the servants
of Naaman that pacify his anger. The servants were used, and the
Lord uses his servants. But a sad thing, for a backsliding
soul, the Lord has ceased using his servants. The ministry is
barren and dry and silent. But when the Lord returns, and
when he answers such a desire, return thou and thy servants. Then again he speaks, and again
His word is heard. Again, there is the authority
that is put forth with the word. Another servant of the Lord is
the conscience. The hymn writer says, a conscience
hard and by sin defiled, or a heart that is defiled by sin defiled,
carries me away. But it's also that hard conscience. that it by thee may tend to be,
and all its hardness cease. The conscience is that still
small voice that speaks for the truth of God, that warns of that
which is wrong, that directs to that which is right, that
speaks the word of God. We think also of the We sing in our last hymn concerning
the desire of the return of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the
Spirit he shall receive of mine and show it unto you. One of
the servants of the Lord that does the Lord's bidding, he is
God himself, the third person in the Trinity, but for our soul
is backsliding. then that spirit is wounded,
is grieved. How the apostle says, grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Another one of the Lord's servants
is Providence. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them that are the
called according to his purpose. And the Lord is pleased to use
providence, things that happen in our lives, for our spiritual
good. When the Lord is from us, then
all is confusion. But when the Lord comes, when
the Lord is King, and the Lord is guiding and directing providence,
not that at any time He's not in control of it, but specifically
for His people, then we begin to notice the timing of things. We notice life's minutest circumstance. We notice how that it is worked
for good, how it's overruled for good. We cannot but believe
the Lord is with us and the Lord is ordering all of these things. We read in Psalm 148, of even
nature, the hail and the snow and the fire, All these things
performing the will of the Lord. We think of how it was with Elijah
in the cave in Mount Horeb after the trial on Mount Carmel. And the Lord passes by and there
was a great wind. The Lord was not in the wind.
And a fire. The Lord was not in the fire.
An earthquake. The Lord was not in the earthquake.
And then a still small voice. The Lord controls all of that,
the fire, the earthquake, the wind. We think of with our Lord
on the boat, he spoke and the wind ceased, the waves ceased,
the power and authority that he had. And with heaven and earth
at his command, he waits to answer prayer. Many of the Lord's people
Watch and wait upon the Lord, it's right we do, in providence,
in the difficulties, the trials, the afflictions, the perplexities
that come into our lives. And when the Lord is King, then
we know, we know these are under His control. When His presence
is there, we can smile at the storm. We can rest in Him, trust
in Him. And it's a blessed thing to know
that providence, rather than belonging, as it were, to Absalom,
to the rebellion, is actually under the Lord's control and
the Lord's hand. And even men themselves, even
beasts. With Elijah, I've commanded the
ravens to feed thee. And many of the Lord's people
are found, even the ungodly, have been used by the Lord to
speak the word to them or to minister to them of their substance. Another of the Lord's servants,
that which is the blessings he gives to his people spiritually,
spiritual eyes and spiritual ears. that they actually, instead
of being the servants to sin, looking upon sin and evil and
conveying that to the heart, or hearing wicked things and
conveying that to the heart, the eye again is the eye of faith. And it's looking at those things
that strengthen the soul. And what the ear is not listening
to the world and to the absolutes and to the rebellions. but it
is with the right spirit and it's hearing right things. How
we need the Lord to return and to come not just Himself but
with all His servants and all these things where we've seen
the Lord's hand, we've heard His voice, we've been instructed,
corrected and helped by Him. And yet through our rebelliousness
and sins, we may look back and we think the Lord is silent.
The Lord is gone. His servants are gone. And our
desire is to have our heart turned in this way, so that our prayer
be, return thou and all thy servants. May the Lord give us this personally
as our prayer. that this be so, that the Lord
be our King, and all these things be servants for our spiritual
good and eternal comfort. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.