Let's be turning to 2nd Samuel chapter 16, 2nd Samuel 16. Tonight we're looking at the afflictions of David that he's suffering at this time under the chastening of the Lord. And we're gonna see the manner, I want us to take notice of the manner in which David conducted himself while under the chastening hand of the Lord because there's spiritual blessings for us. There's the witness of how we may be comforted and know how to conduct ourselves when we are being chastened of the Lord. And what we find is that there's, well, David suffers various afflictions in this.

There's just a number of afflictions that just keep on coming and keep coming up to him during this time. And David didn't expect or want to be treated any differently or any better than the people that were with him. We're told that as he's going out of Jerusalem during this time, he went with his head covered, his feet were bare, he's weeping, the people are weeping with him. They're bearing the reproach of David with David in this. They're suffering too in this very thing. But in this chastening, the Lord blesses David and the people with David are blessed and comforted as well.

Now, typically when we are being chastened, there's not one thing that's troubling us, right? There's usually a number of things that arise that just complicate it and compound the troubles or the difficulties that we're having when we are being chastened. But listen to what James tells us in James chapter 1 verses 2 through 4. He says, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations.

And the reason why I bring that up here is because while he's being chastened by the Lord, while the Lord is dealing with David for his sin that he committed in committing adultery with Bathsheba and in putting her husband Uriah to death, to cover his sin and her sin. He did wickedly there, and the Lord's chastening him for that. He's chastening him for that.

And so what we'll see is that there's many people who come along. We've been seeing people in the last chapter, and there's many people that come along, and they're heaping it on him. They're also adding their own thoughts, what they want to say to David at this time to add more affliction to him. And so this is a temptation to him, especially being king, he could deal with it. He could deal with it very harshly. He could put them to death. but he doesn't. He doesn't do that, as we'll see here. James goes on to say, knowing this, right?

Consider it, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. And that is something that we're going to see, is that the Lord gives David a right spirit to bear up in this chastening. He has a sweet spirit, he has a gracious spirit in bearing up under this affliction of the Lord. And so, understand that when you and I are chastened, when we're being chastened of the Lord, James goes on to add, he adds this, so let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

In other words, God has a good purpose in it for you. It's not to destroy you. He always has a good purpose. When he chastens his child, it's for your good. It's for my good. And so we can joy in that, though we don't joy in our sin that brings about the chastening or a weakness or a folly. So let's begin with reading the first four verses of 2 Samuel 16. And this is the first trial that we're going to look at here tonight. David's had plenty already, plenty of different afflictions come his way as we looked at in the last chapter.

For example, that's when the rebellion of Absalom began. And this is when he hears of Absalom's rebellion and the people joining with him. He has to flee Jerusalem very hastily. And as he's going out, he learns of his wise counselor, Hithophel, that he's also joined Absalom. And this is a wise man, a smart man who knows David well, and he's against him as well. But now more afflictions come in this chapter. So verse one. and when David was a little past the top of the hill.

Behold, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him. And this is the man who told David about Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth is Jonathan's remaining son, a son of Jonathan, who was David's best friend, closest friend before Jonathan died. And so David wants to show him kindness, the kindness that God has shown him. And Ziba is the one who told David about Mephibosheth when he asked.

And he comes out now to meet David as he's going out of Jerusalem, and he meets him with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and a hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king said, And where is thy master's son? Where is Mephibosheth, who you serve? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem. For he said, Today shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.

Now that is a lie. Ziba is lying to David. He's making that up. He's slandering his master Mephibosheth. Then said the king to Ziba, behold, thine are all that pertain unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, oh king. He's saying, oh, just to have your gracious smile upon me and you to receive me and speak so kindly, that's enough for me, but I'll take the land anyway. He's happy to have the land because That's what he wanted.

He's a deceiver. He's being deceitful. He's slandering Mephibosheth's character and his actions. Mephibosheth, as we know, is lame on his feet. He can't get around and he got left behind and Ziba's taking advantage of that to throw him under the bus, as we would say. Now, Ziba, obviously, is incontent to be the manager of all of Mephibosheth's lands.

He was the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, the former king. So he had a good inheritance, a good amount of good lands, goodly lands that produced and things like that. And Ziba and all his sons and servants worked that land. But Ziba didn't want to be manager. He wanted to be the master. And he wanted to be the master of that.

And so one thing we see here, Well, just one thing for any of us, whether we're under chastisement or not, is the danger of covetousness and desiring the riches of this world and seeking the fame and the applause and the greatness of this world because, as we can see, when that's your pursuit, it makes us liars.

It does. It makes us deceivers. It makes us to do dirty, nasty things to others to get ourselves ahead. Because they say, nice guys finish last. So if you're just waiting for it to come to you, it's usually going to someone else, unless you go and take it. That's how the world looks at it. That's how the world sees it. And so it makes us do things and stoop to low places.

But if the Lord intends to give it to you, if He wills to give it to you, there ain't nothing stopping it. He's going to give it to you. He's going to provide for you without your or my fleshly schemes doing that. But the other lesson that we see in this is how sad is it for Ziba? because this is all that he wants. This is what he wants in this world. He doesn't care about the truth. He doesn't care about the true and living God. All he wants is what he can get in this world. He wants the fame. He wants the riches. He wants the glory. He wants the land, as it were, for his inheritance only.

You know, that's how the world is, except the Lord do a gracious work in our hearts. And then we're content. Then we're made content by the Lord. And because the Lord teaches us, what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and yet lose his own soul? What good is 70, 80 years of having, and usually it's a shorter time than that, of having glory and fame or riches that just diminish and go away. And when you die, they become someone else's. So, like, what's the purpose?

And that's what our Lord is teaching us, but this is what Ziba sought in his life, and this is what was given to him. It was given to him. Paul says it this way to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, 6 through 10. He says, Godliness with contentment is great gain. It's great gain.

And honestly, when you are just content with the things you have, there's a lot of peace in that. There's a lot of peace in just being thankful for what you do have. And when you recognize that, there is peace in that, because now you're not stressing and worried and scheming to get other things. You can just be at peace and be thankful for what the Lord has given you. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. and having food and raiment or clothing, let us be therewith content. And if the Lord give us our necessities, be content with that.

But they which will be rich, those who desire to be rich, fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts. which drown men in destruction and perdition. And what perdition means is a destroying destruction. It's just a whole series, a way of just things that just tear and break down and destroy one's life. For example, our Lord called Judas the son of perdition.

And that man was a religious man. That man, for a long time, walked with our Lord, and heard our Lord, and saw His miracles. And then right at the end, he thought to himself, I'm wasting my time. I'm ruining my chances to get ahead in this world. And he sold the Lord.

He betrayed Him for 30 pieces of silver. Nothing. Almost nothing. And then he didn't even enjoy it. He was so sick to himself that he went and hung himself. And that was the end of it. That was the end of his life. He was called the son of perdition. That's what perdition looks like, just a series of behaviors and actions that just destroy you and end in eternal Destruction. Four, Paul says, the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

And so, in other words, these things are given to us to take heed, right, in seeing Ziba and his actions and behaviors. But I want to apply something here to you as when we go through various afflictions, or under the chastening hand of the Lord, or through various trials and temptations here. And we see that David was rash in just believing Ziba's report about Mephibosheth. And it was wrong for him to be so quick to believe it.

But one thing that we see, one thing I saw in this is that when we're being tried and tempted, And when we're afraid, when we feel alone and we feel like the world's against us, that's usually when you're listening to the wrong voices. We're listening to the voices that we ought not to be listening to, the voices that tempt and deceive us, and make us build up things in our minds of people. Like we listen to the wrong voices, like David listening to Ziba, and we think ill of the voices of our friends, like Mephibosheth. We discount those, and we make them seem like the bad guy instead of listening to the evil voice. And what that is in us is that's the old sinful nature of Adam. That is the old nature that does that, that listens to that which is evil and hurtful and destructive, rather than trusting the Lord in it during that time.

You know, Adam hearkened to the voice of the woman, and the woman was deceived by the serpent. He ought not to have been listening to her. She was following the serpent. And so Adam did so, he sinned, and he fell. And after that, once he heeded that voice, once he fell there, he died spiritually. And afterward, what happened? When the voice of God, the voice of God walked in the garden, Adam fled. He didn't hear the good voice.

And his true friend is that voice, which is Christ in the flesh, or at least pre-incarnate Christ there in the garden, the voice of God, the word of God, and that's his true friend. And so, temptations and trials make it so that when we're tempted, that temptation is we're listening to the wrong voice, rather than listening to the Lord and seeking the Lord in it. And hearing that voice and seeking to know the truth and the voice of our friend. our true friend, our true and living God and Savior. And so believe the Lord, right? And the best thing we can do is hear this word, hear the word, because it's so easy when this book is shut. And you're not hearing the word of the Lord.

It's very easy for those outside voices to come in and deceive and to dismantle the truth and to get your eyes off of the truth and hearing the vain and wicked voice, so to speak, the voice of this world, the temptations of this world that say, you want us, like, look at us, pursue these things. And so that's the danger that we see there.

But David was being chastened of the Lord for his sin. There's no getting around that. David was being chastened of the Lord for his sin, and it brought about many afflictions. But again, what God was doing for David was for his good. It was for his good, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to purpose, to God's purpose. God has a good purpose in here. In this severe trial that David's going through, it wrought in him a true and deep repentance.

That's the good thing. Because we see it. We see and acknowledge our weakness. We see and acknowledge how we can play the fool when we are tried and tempted and how we need the Lord to keep us and to sustain us. Now, he was hasty with Ziba, right? And the Lord teaches us in that too, that the children of this world are in this generation wiser than the children of light. They just are. They're going to get it. Let them get it. Let them take the world. Let them have it. If they're going to take it, they want it. Don't fight or resist them. Just trust the Lord in it.

He's able. And so it all resulted that the thing is Ziba only had that land and it perished, right? He perished, it's not his land anymore, as ever it is today. But David was given great patience and grace toward others in this trial, great patience and very gracious to others. Because again, the trial of your faith worketh patience. patience.

The Lord is doing it for good. It's not just to take from you, it's to strip us of vain things and to give us eternal fruits of his spirit, blessed things to help us. Now, we see this in the very next thing that we read in our text, verses 5 through 8. We'll begin there in verse five.

And when King David came to Behurim, that's just a town name that means something like village of young men, something like that. It says, behold, from there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gerah. he came forth and cursed still as he came." Meaning either as David was drawing near to him or as he was coming near to David, he's just letting David have it. He's just cursing him. He is saying evil things about David and hurtful lies, really.

And it says in verse six, he cast stones at David and at all the servants of King David, And all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left." Again, we're looking at just how the Lord's dealing with David as he's going through his chastening for his sin. For his sin, right? David is a very public figure, and he has sinned publicly, as it were, and he's being chastened. He's being afflicted for this. And this man's casting stones at David. He probably was far enough away where they weren't reaching him, but he's throwing stones. And symbolically, we know that at pictures, this man is judging David.

It symbolizes judgment. When you stone somebody, when the Jews stoned somebody, when someone sinned in the village, all the people were to pick up stones and take part of that stoning. And it sent a message, don't do this, it's death, don't do this, and all the people agreed that it was death. And so what he was doing there was saying, God has judged you and I judge you too. And if I could, I would put you to death, David. I would put you to death. And what's David's great crime against this guy?

It's that when Saul was removed as king, because he was the king just before David, when Saul was removed as king, this man lost all his prospects in this life of being related to the king. He was of the family of Saul. And now that was all taken from him, and he was mad about it. He was very mad and upset about it, and he calls David, in verse 7, a bloody man, a bloody man, saying, Shimei, when he cursed, saying, come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial, or child of Satan. That's what he's calling him. He's calling him a child of the devil.

And it's not even for his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, but because he blamed David for Saul's death. for Saul dying. He's accusing David of doing it. And we know from the scriptures David didn't put him to death. David spared his life. On two occasions, David spared Saul's life.

And so again, we see this jealousy and this covetousness here, where it drives men to wickedness. Don't covet this world. This world is passing away. It's not the inheritance of the children of God. Christ is our inheritance, and He promises you shall not be ashamed trusting in Him. You shall not come short of an eternal inheritance. Whatever you do, it never diminishes, it never gets old, it never falls apart, it never changes, it never goes to anybody else. It's yours forever. It's your inheritance forever, an eternal life in him.

And verse eight says, the Lord, or this is what he says, the Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned, and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son. And behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.

And so we see that when a man is chastened of the Lord, he's gonna suffer various afflictions. They come up, and he'll be tried and suffer various afflictions depending on the nature of the sin and the publicity of it. A man is charged like him with speculations, a man is charged with accusations, and a man is given predictions of his destruction. Cast upon him, and all manner of things get hurled at the godly. They'll say everything. They'll accuse you of everything. If you fall, they'll accuse you of everything while the Lord's chastening you.

You'll have rocks thrown at you by others. And if you stand with that one, if you're on his left or on his right, and you're standing with that brother in Christ who's going through the affliction, you're going to get rocks thrown at you too. It's just the way it is. They're just they're going to throw them at you as well. And so people come out of the woodwork to voice their complaints and their opinions and their hatred.

Discussed with you, so we see that there now David again was guilty of sin There is no doubt about this man sinned grievously Against the Lord and even though this man's accusations weren't wrong. I mean we're wrong about about Saul Right, but you know David felt the sting of him because he knew he was bloody when it came to Uriah he put Bathsheba's husband to death So he knew it, he understood what was being said. But you see, David was being made, I think, why the Lord did this, and why the Lord does this. He has a way of rooting out our sin, of getting to us, because And David wrote this in Psalm 51, because God, he said, you desire truth in the inward parts. You're gonna make me to know how I've sinned against you. You're gonna make me to know that I'm the sinner, Lord, and how desperate I am for your mercy and for your forgiveness. Lord, have mercy on me. You desire truth in the inward parts.

It's not just about being religious. It's not about the form of religion and how good we make it look. The Lord is interested in the truth, in a true heart. He loves his people. He's going to make us true and honest before him, not liars and hypocrites. We have enough of that just in the flesh. He's going to show us that we need him. and that his blood was shed to purge me of my sin because I can't. I can't purge myself of my sin just by the practice and form of religion.

And God worked in David what he also wrote in Psalm 51, a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. And so that's why David could bear the reproaches that this man was hurling at him and had nothing to say back to him because he knew that the Lord had sent this man. The Lord had allowed this man to come. And again, this is a good thing.

When we're being chastened, it's not about defending yourself. It's best just to be quiet and not to fight and not to defend yourself, but just bear it quietly, patiently. As Peter says, humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God. that He may exalt you in due time. Because what are we going to say? What can we say to defend ourselves? There's really nothing we can say, because the Lord knows the truth.

So Shimei was deceived, and he's acting like a self-righteous judge. He should not be doing this. That's true. He's accusing David of being a son of Belial, when in reality, he's the one accusing the way the devil comes and accuses us when we are low. When we're already low because of our sin, who comes but the accuser? to bring up to our face our sin, our faults, our failings. He just does that, and it just heaps on us. Who's the son of Belial here? It's the shimmy-eyed guy who's accusing David. He's worse than David.

As our Lord said, he that is without sin, let him cast the first stone. That's a good place to start. If you have no sin, then yeah, you can judge, like God can judge. But who are you and I to, like, we should be careful, right? It's sometimes, whatever we say to somebody, it should be with love and to help them, not to hurt and to heap on pain and suffering when they're already suffering. And so Shimei could not see his own sin, and that's how men are by nature. They judge, they blame, they criticize, all while being guilty of the same sins, if not worse.

And what it shows, right, if you attack a brother that's fallen, and just want to see him destroyed, right? Just want what's hurtful for him, and just to see him destroyed, that's showing no confidence in God. That's showing no trust in the Lord to chasten his child, just as he chastened David.

He's able to chasten his child, and that's the hope we should always want, and hope that our brethren are being provided for and cared for by the Lord, and trust that he does it. And so, you know, some will condemn a brother, they'll justify themselves in condemning a brother, rather than forgive him and seek reconciliation to restore him in a spirit of meekness, considering yourselves, lest ye also be tempted. Paul wrote to the Galatians, right? It's just being mindful that there are things that happen that the Lord knows and that he deals with, and we can trust him for that. Now, let's see the gracious spirit of David here in verse nine through 11.

Then said Abishai, the son of Zeruiah unto the king, why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take it off his head. And the king said, What have I to do with thee, ye sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, Behold, my son which came forth of my bowels seeketh my life. How much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, leave him alone, let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him."

And so here we see a right spirit that the Lord had worked in David. David understood this man could never even be here unless God permitted it. God permitted this man to come. He gave him the strength and allowed him to come. And he came to curse me. And so he's heaping more affliction on David in this thing. But with David, the Lord was sanctifying the whole of it to David, so that as this stuff's being heaped on David, he's bearing it. And he's being gracious about it.

He could have let Abishai go over there and just lop his head off, and that would have been that. But he was gracious. and just seeing and recognizing the Lord sent them, I'm just gonna bear it, and I don't want you to do anything to harm this guy. And so the Lord blessed this affliction, and Shimei, all he got out of it was hate and bitterness and aggravation, and he was just so mad at David, and he had a profane spirit, but David, received in it a gracious spirit, very gracious toward his accuser in that hour.

And so that's something that, you know, I can say it, but we'll never learn it until you go through the fiery affliction and recognize the hand of the Lord in it and recognize his hand keeping you and giving you grace and peace in the midst of the trial and the affliction.

And again, that shows us that that's a right spirit that the Lord gives you. That shows you that even in the affliction, the Lord has not left me. The Lord has not forsaken me. We're humbled. We're still tried and troubled, but the Lord has not left me.

And the scriptures tell us, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." If I see a man that's being chastened, I have a hope. I had a hope because the Lord chastens those whom he loves. If a man's not chastened, then he's a bastard. He's not a son of God. And so, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. He does show us our sin and he teaches us and he has a way of getting right to the heart of things. He knows how to address us and how to deal with us so that we hear him rightly.

Verse 12, it may be, David says, that the Lord will look on mine affliction and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day. And so David knew this man was unjust in what he was doing and what he was saying, but he bore it patiently because he trusted. He trusted the Lord and knew that the Lord had given it to him. And he knew that the Lord's able to bring about good.

And one of the greatest examples we have of this in scripture is with regards to our Lord sacrificing himself on the tree when he was crucified. It says in scripture that Christ being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. God knew this. This is no surprise to God what they're doing to his son.

But Peter went on to say, but ye have taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. In other words, God permitted it. God didn't stop it. He allowed you to put his son to death. And then it says the next verse, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holding of it. And so that in that, when they put Christ to death, it worked good. good for Christ who was glorified, good for all his people whose sins were put away in the sacrifice of Christ, in that death.

And that's what we see here, that when we're chastened, we can rest in the Lord. We can trust the Lord that it is for our good. And our Lord suffered and was heard in his suffering, right? And so it is that we are drawn near to the Lord in our suffering.

Verse 13 to 14, David, as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hillside over against him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and cast dust. And the king and all the people that were with him came weary and refreshed themselves there. Now, when I read that, I can't help but notice there's a sort of a tension there. There's no resolution. Well, what happened to Shimei? Did he go away? Did he get out of earshot? I don't know. It never says that. It just says that the people came there, and they were refreshed there. They came weary, and they were refreshed there.

And I'm reminded of The other psalm that David wrote, well, he wrote a lot of psalms, but Psalm 23, the last three verses of that psalm, David wrote, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. The Lord's chastening hand and the Lord's keeping hand, they are a comfort to the children of God. Because it means God has not left you. He's not left us.

Now, right, thinking of these people finding rest while this man's complaining and carrying on in the background. Think of this verse, thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over.

And so all the while David's fleeing Jerusalem, he's pushed out of all his comforts, he has enemies all around him, people accusing him, people adding on to the afflictions that he's bearing there, he found great comfort in the Lord. And that's the comfort, that's the takeaway for us, is that even when we are chastened and we are tried and troubled for our sin, we may find great comfort in the Lord and rest in Him and seek Him for a gracious and patient spirit. As we see here with David, that we by that spirit may bear up under the affliction.

And this peace has everything to do with the grace of God for us for Christ's sake. God is very gracious to us. God is just and just to forgive his people for Christ's sake whom he sent to lay down his life, to shed his blood, to die our death in our place that we would go free in Christ, that we would go free from the punishment of our sin because Christ bore it. And if he poured out his wrath on Christ, he's not going to pour it out on you who trust Christ and believe him for all your righteousness and believe that testimony of God that that's why Christ came, to put away the sins of his people, to pay that debt that we owe.

And those who believe him and confess him and follow him, their sins put away. And they'll have a warm, blessed reception unto the Father in that day who look to Christ. The scriptures say, thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. If you're the Lord's, you'll trust him, confess him, believe him, and you'll continue to trust him, confess him, and believe him. And you'll follow Him. You'll continue to want to know Him more and more. And you'll learn. You'll learn Him.

As you go through this life, as you seek to do what is good and right, and you stumble and fall, and the Lord gathers you back to himself and deals with you in a gracious manner and in a chastening manner for your good, we learn. And so the Lord says, trust ye in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

And so just to wrap up this chapter, because I was just going to finish it, I'm not going to read the verses here. It just gets into Hushai going to Absalom. and telling Absalom, David's son, that I'm with you, and Hushai was another wise man, David's good friend, another good friend to David, and he lied.

He lied to Absalom, and Absalom believed it. Absalom bought it. He didn't question that Hushai was for him because the Lord intended to destroy Absalom, who was going against his son, and to destroy Ahithophel. And the Lord, what the Lord was doing was destroying those two men because he used those men as a means to chase, as a tool to chase in his son, but then he destroyed those men. for seeking to harm his child, for seeking to destroy David. He destroyed them instead. And Ahithophel gives Absalom wicked counsel.

He's a wicked man. And he said in verse 21, And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house, and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father, then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. He slept with the ten concubines of his father. And there's no going back from that. He just shamed his father's wives, and he shamed his father, and there's not gonna be any reconciliation. And so it strengthened the hands of those that were with him. And this closed the loop.

This finished the chastening that the Lord said to David back in 12, 11, and 12, thus saith the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against thee of thine own house, out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor. And he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the sun. For thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun."

And so some think Ahithophel did this just to get back at David. Because remember, it was with Bathsheba who was Ahithophel's granddaughter. And they think maybe Ahithophel was doing this to to put a dig into David and to get back at him. I don't know that, but the Lord punished them. They lost their lives, both Ahithophel and Absalom, in this.

And so if a man's being chased, if a brother's being chased, don't lay your hand to hurt him too and judge him too. If you speak to him, speak for his good, to encourage him, to reconcile him to the Lord, to restore him to the Lord. ought to be, and to trust the Lord to heal him.

Because the Lord does good things. The Lord teaches his people through the chastening. The Lord will manifest sweet, blessed fruit when we're being chastened. And so you can thank the Lord. You can trust the Lord. You can give him thanks when you're being chastened, because it's for your good. And he's wise and a faithful father unto his people. So I pray the Lord bless that.