We're in 2 Samuel chapter 18. We're going to read from verse
one, but I will miss a few verses out in the middle and then pick
up a few verses at the end. 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 Zeruiah, Job's brother,
and a third part under the hand of Ittai, 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 will not
care for us, neither if half of us die will they care for
us. But now thou art worth ten thousand
of us, therefore now it is better that thou succour us out of the
city. And the king said unto them,
What seemeth you best, I will 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 Ittai, 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. So
the people went out into the field against Israel, 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 twenty thousand men. For the battle
was there scattered over the face of all the country, and
the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. And Absalom met the servants
of David, and Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under
the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the
oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth, and
the mule that was under him went away. And a certain man saw it,
and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak,
And Job said unto the man that told him, And behold, thou sawest
him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? And
I would have given thee ten shekels of silver and a girdle. And the
man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of
silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against
the king's son. For in our hearing the king charged
thee and Abishai and Ittiai, saying, Beware that none touch
the young man Absalom. Otherwise I should have wrought
falsehood against mine own life, and there is no matter hid from
the King, and thou thyself wouldst have set thyself against me. Then said Joab, I may not tarry
thus with thee. And 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. And ten young men that
bear Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom and slew
him. And Joab blew the trumpet, and
the people returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab held back
the people. 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, every one
to his tent. Now Absalom, in his lifetime,
had taken and reared up to 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 is called unto this day
Absalom's place. And then just to turn to verse 29. And this is after some messengers
have come from the army. And verse 29 says, so some messengers
have come from the army to tell David in the city what had transpired
during the battle that day. And the king said, is the young
man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab
sent the king's servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great
tumult, but I knew not what it was. And the king said unto him,
turn aside and stand here. And he turned aside and stood
still. And behold, Cushie came. This
is a second messenger. And behold, Cushie came. And
Cushie said, tidings, my lord, the king. For the lord hath avenged
thee this day of all them that rose up against thee. The king
said unto Cushie, is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushy answered,
the enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee,
to do thee hurt, be as that young man is. And the king was much
moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And
as he went, 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. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. There are many interesting parts
to this chapter and a lot happens in a short space. So I decided
I would read those particular verses rather than the whole
passage, but do go back and look at it yourself if you care to
do that. It kind of speaks for itself
in the story, in the narrative, in the history. And we will make
a few applications as well towards the end. But here we have the
history of the victory of David's loyal troops in putting down
this rebellion. And it also includes the death
of Absalom, his rebel son. It's hard to know how many soldiers
rallied to David's cause at this time, but it seems as though
David retained a small army of supporters while Absalom was
gathering his larger army, which was his purpose, from all around
Israel. David, in preparation for this
battle, displayed his military experience by carefully arranging
his army under capable generals. And David was at first minded
to go into battle himself, but he wisely agreed to his friend's
request not to do so, but to stay in the city. In truth, David
would have been a liability on the battlefield. He'd have been
a target for sure, just as his friends told him. But it is also
very likely that his desire not to have Absalom hurt would have
caused confusion and resulted in more of his own soldiers being
put in danger and potentially killed. So David was advised
to stay in the city and from there he could support, the word
is sucker, he could support the army and perhaps his greatest
contribution would be to uphold the army in prayer. Nevertheless,
David's parting request, his plea to his generals in the hearing
of all the people, was that they would deal gently with Absalom. And I think here we see a great
weakness in David that is repeated throughout this chapter. His
natural affection for his son was excessive and misplaced. Absalom was a vicious, headstrong
and wicked young man. His actions, his rebellion threatened
the whole of Israel. His selfish ambition cost the
lives of many, many people. 20,000 in this day alone. Absalom would have killed David
in the blink of an eye. And David as king over Israel
was father to a nation and he ought to have carried this responsibility
above his personal feelings. I have no doubt that David blamed
himself for Absalom's poor character. He felt that Absalom's faults
as a son were his failings as a father. However, the time for
reconciliation was past Wars are full of waste and full of
horror. But once begun, they must be
fought to be won. And David's half-hearted commitment
in prosecuting this fight was a problem to the rest of the
army. So it was best that he stayed
at home, as it were, in the city. The battle was fought in an open
field backed by a forest. And Absalom maybe thought that
this was a good location for cover. But when the battle went
against him and his ranks broke, his army found no protection. no security among the trees. And we're actually told that
the wood devoured more people that day than the sword, which
is quite an extraordinary statement that the wood, the forest devoured
more people that day than the sword. How this happened isn't
said. Perhaps Absalom's soldiers randomly
fled into the forest and fell into pits or swamps or met wild
animals or just in the confusion many ended up being killed by
one reason or another. But 20,000 of Absalom's army
were slain and the rest fled. The actual death of Absalom was
not an ordinary or common death either, even for war and battle. He rode on a mule, and that's
not too surprising because that is how kings did ride and travel
in those days. But in the confusion of the pursuit
through the woods, it seems as though he rode right into a group
of David's men or Joab's men. And in his effort to flee, he
became tangled in the branches of an oak tree. Now perhaps it
was his long flowing hair or more probably his head was caught
in the bow of a tree or stuck between two branches that overlapped
and came together and his head and his neck were stuck in that
place. But whatever it was, he literally
was left suspended dangling because his mule ran off from underneath
him. And he was left there hanging
and unable to free himself. No one, it seems, dared to touch
him. And Joab was told of the matter. And he came himself. carrying
three darts. Now these are not the darts that
we would play with on a dart board. They appear to have been
iron-tipped spears or javelins, and perhaps smaller than that. And he threw these three darts
into Absalom's chest. It says into his heart, but that
probably means into his torso, into his body, because Had it
been into his heart, he would have died immediately. But he
was taken down, it appears, still alive. And there, 10 of Juab's
guards surrounded and slew him. Absalom's body was thrown into
a pit in the forest, and a heap of stones was raised over the
grave. And news of the battle was sent
to David. In fact, there were two runners.
And David always seems to have been more anxious about Absalom
than the well-being of his own men. His question is not, how
goes the battle? His question is not, what casualties
have there been? His question is invariably, what
of the young man? What of Absalom? And in learning
of his son's death, we read these words, David was much moved and
went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went,
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. And that's how the chapter ends.
Let's see if there are some lessons here for us. And I think that we need to take
a step back from this situation. Our first reaction, perhaps,
is to have sympathy for David in his grief. but I'm not entirely
sure that that is justifiable. I suspect the Lord had told David
his army would be victorious. I feel sure that David was more
sensitive towards God in these days of his trouble. He'd lived
to see the deliverances and the judgments that God had promised
would afflict his family and shake his house. But despite this, David's love
for Absalom revealed a weakness in the man. David was blessed
by God to know the plan that God had for the eternal salvation
of his people by the coming of Christ, the Messiah. David knew that and he knew the
way in which that would come about and yet David's fleshy
passions wrestled against God's eternal plan. We might find it easier to censure
David in the affair of Bathsheba than for his excessive love for
Absalom. And yet David knew that Absalom
could not be the heir, and that while he lived, his ambition
would be to usurp God's plan and disinherit Solomon, through
whom the line of promise flowed. And here again, the Bible truth
of human nature's opposition to God can be seen. Even something as worthy and
as elevated as a parent's love for their child will, if possible, by the weakness of the flesh,
by the temptation of Satan, be used by the flesh to obstruct
the purposes of God. The implacable opposition of
our Adamic nature to the Spirit of God, even in a believer, which
David was, cannot be understated. And what is this that David prays? Make no mistake, this was a prayer
that David uttered when he said, would God, I had died for thee,
O Absalom, my son. Was David so concerned about
Absalom's death that he wished to have died in his place, substituted
himself? Maybe, maybe, that's possible. Out of love, a parent could wish
that. But had God taken David at his
word, what would have been the outcome of that prayer? Would
David have been willing to go to hell for Absalom too? Did David really mean to overturn
the Lord's will and purpose in election for his own feelings? We who have heard the gospel
and understand something of the sovereign glory and the sovereign
wisdom and kindness of God, must be careful what we think and
say, especially in prayer. We should be careful not to challenge
God. Now this is an extreme example,
but we're all guilty of grumbling and complaining against the Lord's
will, and it isn't worthy of God's people to do so. Humility
before God is a good thing. Acceptance of his purpose is
a good thing. Anger at God's providential dealings
with us is unacceptable. May the Lord forgive us when
we fight against him and act more like the young rebel Absalom
than a chosen vessel of his grace. And yet, what a loving Saviour
we have in Christ. What a blessed, caring and forgiving
God we have. Many of us, I fear, have spoken
harshly against the Lord, saying things in haste we ought not
to have spoken. Yet such is the mercy of the
Lord that He forgives us all our sins, and he restores our
hope and our confidence in himself. David would learn the folly of
his words because the Lord was merciful to him. And we're jumping
ahead a little bit, but I think the case merits doing so. In 2 Samuel chapter 23, David will later acknowledge,
although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me
an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. For this
is all my salvation and all my desire, though he make it not
to grow. If like David we have said foolish
things against the Lord, if like David we have acted improperly
against him, let David be our example. Remember the covenant
of God's goodness and grace. Remember God's mercy. Remember
Christ has died for us. Remember that he really has taken
our place and delivered us from hell for love and for his own
name's sake. We cannot take another's place. But if we are His, then Christ
has taken ours. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us today. Amen.