The Lord may graciously help
me, I turn your prayerful attention to the second book of Samuel,
chapter 15 and verse 23. The second book of Samuel, chapter
15 and verse 23. And all the country wept with
a loud voice, And all the people passed over, the king also himself
passed over the brook Kidron. And all the people passed over
toward the way of the wilderness. That's the second book of Samuel
chapter 15, and particularly these words in verse 23, the
king also himself passed over the brook Kidron. As I mentioned, at the beginning
of the reading that this is the first time the book Kidron is
mentioned in the Bible. It was a small brook that ran
out of Jerusalem towards the Dead Sea. And it was renowned
for its dirt and blackness. It seems that sewage was put
in there and filth, and it was not a pretty stream. It was a
black and a dark place. And you see, as David, in what
we read together in this chapter, this was, I believe, one of the
darkest times in the life of King David. You think about it,
he was the king in Jerusalem, the first king in Jerusalem.
was the first king of Israel, but he did not live in Jerusalem. It was David that took the stronghold
of Zion and became king there. David was that first king, but
he, you see there was a picture here of, that he was picturing
one that would come as the true king. And as we have in our text,
the king also himself passed over the Bruch Kidron. Well,
David passed over at this time, but the Lord Jesus so many years
later would pass over this brook Kidron. And you think of the
many times that he went from Jerusalem to Gethsemane, because
we read that he often frequented the place. So he must have traveled
over the brook Kidron many times, but it's never mentioned, just
this once, when he passed over the brook Kidron. In John's Gospel
chapter 18 and verse 1 we read, if I just turn that, how that
Let's look at John's gospel and chapter 18. How that Jesus himself
passed that way when he was, he had had all his discourse
with the disciples on that Passover night. And we read in John 18,
verse one, and when Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth
with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where was a garden into
which he entered. with his disciples. So Christ
was passing over that dark brook to receive really that cup of
the wrath of God. It was a sorrowful time. We read
in the Garden of Gethsemane and we're hoping God willing to have
the Lord's Supper this evening and how it is good for us to
meditate on the sufferings of Christ, and really the exceeding
sinfulness of sin. You see, I think as David was
passing over this brook Kidron, he'd left Jerusalem, he was the
rightful king, God had put him as the king, and now he was being
threatened off his throne, not by an enemy, outside his house,
but by one of his own children. It was a very, very hard pathway. And then this deception by his
most trusted counsellor, Ahithophel. And you see a great sadness to
David. But surely, as David had all
these things going through his mind, surely this must have been
very much in his thoughts. in all that took place. What
was said to David after the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite,
now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house. That was what God had said to
David as a chastening for what he'd done regarding Bathsheba
and Uriah the Hittite. The sword shall never depart
from thy house and from then on soon we read Only a few chapters
earlier, that is, that's chapter 12 in 2nd Book of Samuel. And
in the intervening time, we have Amnon committing, forcing his
sister, half-sister Tamar, and then Absalom killing Amnon, and
then Absalom banished, Absalom brought back, and then Absalom
really seeking to win over the hearts of the Israelites against
David, and to topple David's kingdom. A very great sadness
in David's pathway. The sword shall never depart
from thine house. And as he went over this brook
in much sadness and much weeping, surely wasn't there a fresh understanding
of the exceeding sinfulness of sin? And that's what I want you
to consider tonight, the exceeding sinfulness of sin. You see, as
David looked upon his rooftop and saw Bathsheba bathing, there
was such an attractiveness in sin. There was such an allurement. It seemed so pleasing. But you see, as he crosses here,
this brook Kidron and sees the awful, awful effects of sin. O thou hideous monster sin, what
a curse hast thou brought in! All creation groans through thee,
pregnant cause of misery. Surely he saw sin in such a different
light than when he was on the rooftop. He could see the exceeding
sinfulness of sin. And that's one of the aspects
that we need to grasp hold of as we gather around the Lord's
table tonight. The exceeding sinfulness of sin. And what it cost. What it cost
David. Oh, the sadness that this cost
David. All because of sin. You see, this was a very sad
time. David and we read that see Absalom
stole the hearts of the children of Israel many of them went away
and we read that the conspiracy was strong and the people increased
continually with Absalom what a difficult that was what a difficult
thing it was for David and how sad he was the rightful king
and all the he had fought Goliath he had being very honorable apart
from in the matter of Uriah and Bathsheba, apart from that we
read in the Word of God that apart from that issue he was
a very honorable king. And yet, you see, there was a
challenge to his leadership and a challenge here from his kingdom. But as we read through, you see,
this account, I just want to point out one of the things in
verse 19 of this chapter 15. and that is this character Itai,
the Gittite. Some of David's followers, you'll
probably find this hard to take in, perhaps you didn't realize
it, there was a whole band of 600 men which were from Gath,
which were Philistines basically, and they had become loyal to
David And it's interesting, at this time when many of David's
flesh and blood were leaving him and going against him, it
was this band of men, a significant proportion of the people, who
were on David's side. And later on, when they went
to fight, With Absalom, they split the army with three captains,
and Ittai was one of those captains, and he had a third of David's
army, and he was from the Philistines. And David says to him, you see,
in verse 19, then said the king to Ittai, wherefore goest thou
also with us? Return to thy place and abide
with the king, for thou art a stranger and also an exile. You're strangers,
you've only just come to us. Whereas thou camest but yesterday,
should I make thee this day to go up and down with us, seeing
I go whither I may, return thou and take back thy brethren. Mercy
and peace be with thee. David doesn't want to take these
Philistines with him. He feels that he can't do that
to them. They've been loyal to him, but it would be too much
to ask any more of him. And then you get this strong
answer, really resembling Ruth, speaking to Naomi, there's echoes
of it. And it is verse 21, answered
the king and said, as the Lord liveth, as my Lord the king liveth,
surely in what place my Lord the king shall be, whether in
death or life, even there also will thy servant be. These were
Philistines. These were 600 men who were really
naturally from the enemy camp. And they became loyal to David. Surely there's something here
of the picture of how he came unto his own, and his own received
him not. But to as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to those
that believe on his name. You see, here we have the rejection
of the Jews rejecting the Messiah for the most part, and the Gentiles
coming into the blessing of it. And that's really, I believe,
I think pretty much all of us have not got Jewish backgrounds.
And it's a mercy, isn't it, that the Lord has opened the way of
salvation for those that were also out of the Jewish camp,
those that were Gentiles. And here we have this picture,
you see, even here, of those who you'd be the last people
to be loyal to David. These were the people that were
loyal. These clang, and how the Lord's people, you see, they're
brought to embrace Christ and they're brought to love him.
Like Ruth the Moabitess, she came to love Naomi and she came
to love Naomi's God. And so here in the midst of great
discouragement for David, there was this real encouragement that
these people who were natural enemies, they came from Gath
and Goliath, the Philistine, came
from Gath, that one who he fought on that memorable time. But they
were faithful to David. So they went with him. But then
in verse 23, and all the country wept with a loud voice, and all
the people passed over. The king also himself passed
over the brook Kidron. There seems to be a special emphasis
on David passing over this Kidron. this dark valley, picturing something
surely of what was coming, of the one that was great David's
greatest son, who would pass this way. Yes, he passed, Jesus
passed many times over the book of Kidron, he must have done
in his life, but there was a specific time that it's mentioned in the
Bible, when he was going over to the Mount of Olives on that
memorable night of the Passover, when he was going to say that
my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. This is the
saviour. And surely, you see, there's
types, there's similarities, but there's also massive contrasts.
You see, for David, surely that must have been in his thoughts,
his sin. The sin that had caused this to happen, caused that the
sword that would not depart from his house It was sin that was
so exceeding sinful in his sight, I'm sure, as there was that sorrow
and sadness. But when Christ passed over that
brook Kidron, yes, it was sin that was so sad, but it wasn't
his sin. It wasn't his sin. He was holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. It was a sin of his church. It
was a sin of David. It was a sin of all his people,
heaped on Christ. You see, and he was gonna go
forth weeping and he was going to be a blessing and to gain
that great conquest. You see David did return. It's
wonderful as we go through this account to see David's great
faith and I want you each to take hold of this because you
see the devil would grab one side of the truth and he would
lead you then on that to make a conclusion about something
else. Yes, David was a sinner. And you see, wouldn't you logically
say, and thinking in logical terms, if God had brought this
sadness into David's life as a correction, because the sword
shall not depart from his house, there could be a way of thinking
that said, well, if God's brought this evil upon me and all this
difficulty, there's no point going back to God. He's against
me. You look at the spirit of David
in this account, and interestingly also, we have the prayer of David
on this very occasion recorded. And it's recorded for us in Psalm
3. Psalm 3 is the prayer of David
on this very occasion. Psalm 3. It's a short psalm,
a precious psalm. We read this, a psalm of David
when he fled from Absalom his son. Lord, how are they increased
that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against
me. You say, yes, I can read the
account and I can see, David, that's exactly true. That's exactly
true. The conspiracy was strong. There
was more and more against him. All these people who had been
a gracious king too, they were starting to leave him in their
droves. Many there be which say of my
soul, there is no help for him in God. Now that's the point
I want to get to. There's no help for him in God. If God has said that the sword
shall not depart from thy house, then there's no help in God,
is there? That's Satan's reasoning. And you look at David's faith,
and it's a wonderful thing to trace the faith of David in these
overwhelmingly sad situations, that his faith was centered on
God. And you see, that's true of great
David's greater son. As the wrath of God came upon
him because of the exceeding sinfulness of sin of his entire
church, his faith in God was firm. He still loved his father. He still prayed to his father.
You see, and that's the great truth that Satan would love to
say, you see, you've sinned and you've come short, and therefore,
not that Christ sinned and came short, but he had sin laid upon
him, the sin of his entire church. But Satan would love to say to
us that you're so sinful, you can't go back to God. Just like
Judas. Judas, you see, in one way, Judas
made a tremendous repentance. He acknowledged his sin. He gave
the money back to the people who had given money to him for
betraying Christ. He said that he had betrayed
innocent blood. In many ways he made a good repentance,
but not, he did not view Christ as one that was merciful. All
he could think that the way forward was separation from this one. David, you see, goes back to
the one that had given the very verdict, the sword shall not
depart from thy house. He goes back to that one, and
we do too. You see, we are under the condemnation of God, but
because of our sin, but we go back to God. Like Job says, though
he slay me, yet will I trust in him, because he is, you see,
he is merciful. And that's the aspect that David
shows so clearly in this. And the So as we think of Christ
and his suffering, the rejection, see it must have been really
sad for David to be so rejected by his kingdom. And the lies
that Absalom told in the beginning of the chapter that we read,
a pack of lies. It wasn't true. And yet they believed him. This
was so sad to David. He stole the hearts of all the
people and so many went with him. with Absalom against him. Wasn't that true of Christ? You
think he's standing there with all these people in front of
him and they're all shouting out, crucify him! Crucify him! Why? What evil has he done? They
didn't answer that, they just shouted more. Crucify him! Crucify
him! Which shall I release? Barabbas?
The robber? The murderer? Or shall I release
Christ? Barabbas! That's what we want! Reproach hath broken my heart. The broken-hearted Jesus, as
he suffers the awful consequences of sin. You see, one of our hymn
writers picks this up in Hymn 1116, verse three, it says this. Ye who think of sin but lightly,
nor suppose the evil great Here may view its nature rightly,
here its guilt may estimate. You see, sometimes when you see
what sin does, you see the awfulness of it. And here we see the awfulness
of it. Mark the sacrifice appointed,
see who bears the awful load, tis the word the Lord's anointed,
son of man and son of God. So as David was passing over
this book, this sorrowful way. Surely there was something of
a picture of great David's greater son who would walk this way.
We have the very words of David's prayer, you see, in Psalm 3,
many there be saying there is no help for him in God, and that's
exactly what they said to Christ on the cross. God would have
him, then he would deliver him. And the fact that he didn't deliver
him was, in their view, a sure proof that he wasn't who he said
he was. There be many which say of my
soul, there is no help for him in God. But listen to David's
prayer. But thou, O Lord, art a shield
for me, my glory and the lifter up of my head. And may some of
you be able to turn round and say that to the devil. To say
that to all this unbelief that says, well, yeah, but you've
brought yourself in this mess. And David could say, really,
that was true. The sword shall not depart from
thy house. Was it not for Bathsheba and not for Uriah and not for
that whole episode? He wouldn't have been there.
But God allowed it that he may give a type of the sufferings
of the great David's greatest son, who would pass this way. Thou, O Lord, art a shield for
me. My glory and the lift are up of my head. And this is, you
see, we need to lay hold of these things because we're sinners. We don't come to the Lord's table
because we're righteous. We come because we're sinners
and we cannot stop sinning. And we need to go to this one
who is merciful, this one who is gracious. See, Jesus said,
I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. to repentance, I
came for this very purpose. Sinners can say, and none but
they, how precious is the Saviour. And then you see he says regarding
that the Ark, he sends the Ark back, he doesn't want the Ark
to come out of Jerusalem, He sends it back and look at his
words in verse 25 of 2 Samuel 15. And the king said unto Zadok,
carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall find favor
in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again and show me both
it and his habitation. See the faith of David. He put
his trust in God. Though he slay me, yet will I
trust in him. This is putting our faith, you
see, into practice. This is walking out this experience
of the Lord's people, of experience in something of the exceeding
sinfulness of sin. And sin was a really, really
bitter thing to David, wasn't it? Surely the bitterness of
sin must have been so palpable to David as he walked up this
Mount of Olives, weeping. We see in verse 30, and David
went up the ascent of Mount Olives, wept as he went, had his head
covered, and he went barefooted. Didn't look much like a king,
did he? You don't walk barefoot as a king with your head covered
and weeping as you go. Didn't look much like a king.
What about great David's greatest son? Did he look much like a
king when he was see him groveling in the garden? Did he look much
like a king? Oh, he was the king of kings
and lord of lords. He was fighting a battle. that
would be our everlasting salvation. But it was exceeding sinfulness
of sin. And as we take the Lord's Supper,
those of you who do, and those of you who look on, this is the
message. Sin is really sinful. And sin
cost that the Savior, His life, He laid down His life. And we're
not to minimize sin. We're not to trivialize it. It
is exceeding sinful. And yet, you see, you might say,
well, surely then, if I'm so sinful and sin is so terrible,
then despair is the only solution. Well, sadly, that's what Judas
thought, because he didn't perceive the mercy of God in Christ. And
you see here, in David's time, in his time, we have this close
associate of David, Ahithophel, his counselor, and we read, Later
on, in a few chapters later on, Ahithophel's counsel was as if
God had said it. They took it that seriously.
It was like the word of God, almost, to the people at that
time, Ahithophel's counsel. Well, David also says in Psalm
41, let me just look that up. Psalm 41, verse nine. Yea, mine own familiar friend
in whom I trusted, which did eat bread at my house, hath lifted
up his heel against me." What a betrayal. You see, there's
betrayal. It's really horrible to be betrayed,
isn't it? To have somebody betray you, somebody who you really
felt was your friend, and when you need them most, they totally
betray you and go on the enemy's side. David knew that. Christ
knew it. Judas betrayed him with a kiss.
You see, there's similarities here. And what did Ahithophel
end up doing? He ended up going out and hanging
himself, setting his house in order and hanging himself. The
same with Judas. Judas did the same. You see,
there was the sadness of perceiving sin and not perceiving the mercy
of God in Christ. This is the gospel, the gospel
is for sinners. And the gospel is to be preached
that sin is exceeding sinful, and yet God has made a way whereby
wretched sinners can have union with the church's living head.
And David knew You see, you just see in his faith in verse 25,
and the king said unto Zadok, carry back the ark of God into
the city. If I shall find favor in the
eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again and show both it and
his habitation. And that's what he was, he had
faith in God. And the Lord, we read in Peter,
and committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. This
is talking of Christ, that he would vindicate him. The Lord
Jesus was vindicated by his father. It didn't mean that he didn't,
he was taken off the cross. It didn't mean that he didn't
have to die, but he went through death. And that's why the resurrection
is so precious, isn't it? Because he rose again, he did
die, and it seemed to his enemies that it was all over. As our
pastor was speaking this morning, there was a perplexity amongst
the disciples. We thought it had been he that
should have redeemed Israel. But he rose again, and as they
grasped that precious truth, you see, then it was precious
to their souls. So David had a faith, and as
he believed that God could bring him back and install him back
in Jerusalem, so the Lord Jesus was restored, you see. In Philippians
2, it says, about the sufferings of death, wherefore God hath
highly exhorted him, giving him a name which is above every name,
the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow. This is the great
work of Christ. Well, when we come to verse 30
of the chapter that we read, and David went up by the ascent
of the Mount of Olives and wept as he went up, and had his head
covers and went barefooted, and all the people with him were
covered, every man his head, and they went up weeping as they
went. See, there was a whole weeping
amongst the people that were with David as well as weeping
himself. Now there's a contrast here with
the Lord Jesus. When he went across that brook,
Kidron, the disciples didn't seem to understand at all what
Christ was about to enter into. They weren't weeping. They were
following him and then when he said, watch and pray, they went
to sleep. There was a total apathy in a
sense. They didn't understand what he
was going through. You see, Isaiah picks that up. The loneliness of Christ. Isaiah 63, I have trodden the
winepress alone, and of the people there was none with me, for I
will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury,
and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will
stain all my raiment, for the day of vengeance is in my heart,
and the year of the redeemed is come. You see, there's two
sides. vengeance and the year of the redeemed has come. See
this was, he was fighting that great battle. Of course for Absalom
this was a solemn time. Absalom was going to be killed.
Absalom, this usurper of the kingdom, he was going to put
down and the enemies of Christ were put down at Calvary. When
he went across that brook Kidron and faced the enemy and dealt
with the enemy. The enemy, the serpent's head
was bruised. But you see, so there was judgment,
but there was also victory. There was victory. So there's
a contrast. And we find that in all the types.
There's similarities and contrasts. But you see, in verse 31, we
have another sorrow told to David. And one told David, saying, Ahithophel
is among the conspirators with Absalom. Oh, that must have been
another blow to David. This one who was so trusted by
David, now he's joined the enemy side. And he had tremendously
wise counsel, and God twisted in answer to David's prayer,
twisted. and made it that they did not
listen to the counsel of Ahithophel. And David said, O Lord, I pray
thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. And you see, God did. Do you
see that God was working with David in his chastening, in his
sorrow? In his sadness, Satan would say,
well the Lord's chasing you, he's against you, you can't go
back to him, you can't pray to him, he won't help you. David
said, no, I am under the chasing hand of God. I have sinned, God
is chasing me for my sin. But although my house be not
so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and sure, and this is all my salvation
and all my desire." The covenant made between the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit before the foundation of the world.
David was a chosen vessel of mercy. He was a sinner, a sinner
saved by grace, a sinner that felt chastened at times. And
Satan would say to him, well, just like it was in Psalm 3,
There'll be many that say, there is no help for him in God. And that's what it looked like.
If God's against you, or God has said the sword shall not
depart from my house, there's no point going back to God in
prayer, you might think. But don't think that. It's wrong.
And David didn't do that. David went back to God, but thou
art a shield for me, and the lifter up of my head. I cried
unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy
sealer. I laid me down and slept. I awaked,
for the Lord sustained me. There's a peace you see, there's
a serenity that David was given. And I want to point that out
just as we look in verse 32 of 2 Samuel 15. If there's anything that seems to
be an unusual event, I believe it is in this verse. And it came to pass that when
David was come to the top of the Mount, the Mount of Olives,
where he worshipped God. Now that's strange, isn't it?
Under the chastening hand of God, removed from his kingdom,
it seems, his son so against him, so many of Israel against
him, and so many saying that there's no help for you in God.
David worshipped. See, that's the nature of faith. Faith lays holes. Our pastor
mentioned it this morning about one of the deliverances. Before
God had delivered them at all, they began to worship. And then
the Lord changed everything. But there was the first, was
the worshipping. Here, David is worshipping. God has not delivered
him from Absalom. Absalom's still alive, very much,
and doing all manner of evil against him. But you see, David
worshipped. And this is the nature of true
godliness. A true hatred for sin. the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
but a realization that we have a God that is merciful, a God
that laid down his life a ransom for many, a God that loved his
church and gave himself for it, so that as David passed over
that brook, that sorrowful brook, God brought him back, put him
back on the throne, but it was a picture of one greater than
David. Who would pass over that brook? Who would fight the enemy?
Who would come off victorious? Although, as far as everybody
looking on was concerned, they would say there's no help for
him in God. As far as they were concerned, the city of Shushan
was perplexed. But you see, God moves in a mysterious
way and he's bringing about his eternal purposes. And there's
a picture here, I believe, of the sufferings of Christ and
how God turned those sufferings and encouraged him with people
like Ittai the Gittite, the one who would never think would be
friendly to David at this time of everybody leaving him. You
see, it's a time, you see, when the Lord is able to bring his
people from every kindred, nation, tribe and tongue to come to glory
and to worship him. And these people of God will
worship God in the most unlikely circumstances. On the Mount of
Olives, when he was barefooted, he had nothing going for him,
naturally speaking. David worshipped. May we be able to worship the
Lord tonight. Not because everything's sorted
out, not because everything's easy, not because you're not
sinful and you've never sinned and you've never come short of
the glory of God, not because you've never done the wrong thing,
not because you've never departed from His ways. But you come and
worship a God that is merciful. And that's our hope tonight.
Our hope for gathering around the Lord's table is not that
we're sinless, It's that we're sinners that have obtained mercy,
and Christ is precious. His work that is foreshadowed
in this passing of David across the Brook Kidron is a foreshadowing
of the greater than David, who is such a blessing to his people.
May the Lord, at his blessing, amen.