Good morning. Would you turn to 2 Samuel chapter
15? I'd like to read verse 31. And I have entitled the lesson
for this morning, God's Sovereignty prayer, and the use of means. It's interesting, isn't it? God's
sovereignty, prayer, and the use of means. Now let's read
verse 31 together. And one told David, saying, Ahithophel
is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, here's David's
response to this, O Lord, I pray Thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel
into foolishness. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
through thy son, with thanksgiving, that he is on the throne, that
you're on the throne, ruling and reigning. And Lord, we give
thanks. We're so thankful for who you
are. We're so thankful for all your
glorious attributes. And Lord, we stand amazed at
the salvation that's in thy blessed son. And Lord, we stand amazed
that You've been pleased to make Yourself known to us. Now, Lord,
we pray that Your Gospel would be preached in the power of Your
Spirit, and that You would enable us to worship You in spirit and
in truth. Bless us for Christ's sake. Be
with all Your people wherever they meet together. And Lord,
we pray for the forgiveness and cleansing of sins. In Christ's
name we pray. Amen. Let's read verse 31 again. and
think about what's being said. And one told David saying Ahithophel
is among the conspirators with Absalom. Now, do you remember
who Ahithophel was? Ahithophel was the grandfather
of Bathsheba. He was at one time David's trusted
friend. As a matter of fact, David mentions
him in two different Psalms. And he is the one who the Lord
uses as a type of Judas. Now first, turn with me to Psalm
41. Psalm 41. Verse 19. Or excuse me, verse 9. Yea, this is David speaking.
He says, Yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which
did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. Now if you read John chapter
13, the Lord uses this. as referring to Judas Iscariot. But this was David's trusted
friend, his own familiar friend. And like I said, it was Bathsheba's
grandfather. Turn to Psalm 55, verse 12. This is David writing about this
man of Hiphophel again during this revolt with Absalom. Remember,
it says, they came to him and told him, Ahithophel has joined
up in this conspiracy with Absalom. Absalom had a conspiracy to overthrow
the throne. And we read in verse 12 of Psalm
55, We took sweet counsel together
and walked in the house of God in company. Now he talks about
this man. We went to worship together.
This was my dear friend that has betrayed me. And he's talking
about Ahithophel. And we know because the Lord
gives us this psalm that Ahithophel is the great type of Judas and
he ends up having the same end as Judas. You go on reading about
this man and he went out and hanged himself just as Judas
did. Now, David finds out that Ahithophel,
his trusted friend, has joined with the conspiracy. And I think
of Ahithophel, I put myself in his place, he was Bathsheba's
grandfather. Look what David did to Bathsheba. Look what David did to Uriah. Look at the evil manner in which
David conducted himself. Put yourself in Ahithophel's
place. Would you be upset with David?
If your grandchild was done that way, or if your child was done
that way, would you be angry? Well, Ahithophel, I can see all
the things that would go through his mind, man after man, God's
own heart, yeah, I really believe that. Look at the way he conducted
himself. He couldn't forgive David. And he joined this conspiracy
against him. And here's the thing about Ahithophel.
He was a highly respected man in all of Israel. Look in chapter
16, verse 23. And the counsel, the advice of
Ahithophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if a man
had inquired at the oracle of God. His counsel was looked upon
If he says it, it's just like God saying it. That's how respected
he was in Israel. So was all the council of Ahithophel,
both with David. He was David's counselor before
he became Absalom's counselor. And then he joined in this conspiracy
with Absalom against David, and he became Absalom's counselor,
but his counsel was highly respected. Now, back to our text. And one
told David saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with
Absalom. And look at David's response.
I love this. And David said, oh Lord. Now,
he understood that Ahithophel, like everybody else, they're
in the hand of the Lord. Remember how the wise man said
in Proverbs 21.1, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. And David understood that even
a hither fail, his heart was in the hand of the Lord and God
could turn him any way he wanted to turn him. He understood that.
He really believed that God's on the throne. He really believed
that God is sovereign. So look what he says. And David
said, oh Lord, I pray thee, turn the council of Ohithophel, which
he knew would be good council, into foolishness. But you know something that preceded
this prayer? Now he prays, turn this council
into foolishness. but there is something that preceded
this prayer. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 17,
verse 14. And Absalom and all the men of
Israel saith, the counsel of Hushai the archite is better
than the counsel of Ahithophel. They listened to the counsel
of Hushai, this time over Ahithophel, and here's why. Look, for the
Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel
to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. You see, God was in control of
this all the time and he had already appointed and decreed
and determined to bring evil on Absalom. And so while David
prays this prayer, there's something that preceded David's prayer. God's appointment, God's decree
with regard to Absalom. He had already determined evil
against Absalom. And David prays this prayer. And here's the point. God works through the prayers
of his people. Now God determined this before
this prayer ever took place. But God works through the prayers
of His people. Now, turn to Ezekiel 36. This
is a very important passage of Scripture to put this down. Now, if you read this chapter,
God talks about all these things He's going to do. I'm going to
give Him a new heart. I'm going to do all these things.
He doesn't say, I will if. He says, this is what I'm going
to do. Read that chapter on your own. And look in verse 37 of
that chapter. Thus saith the Lord God, I will
yet for this be inquired of, of the house of Israel to do
it for them. I'm going to give them a new
heart. You know what they're going to do? They're going to ask me, give
me a new heart and I'm going to do it. Now understand that
everything that God decrees, all of His people are going to
be moved to ask Him for it. Do you know it's already been
determined whether or not you're going to be saved? You believe that? It's been determined before time
began. And you know what you're going
to do? You're going to say, Lord, save
me. Save me. Everything He's determined
to give you, you are going to ask him for. How sovereign is God? That is a very unintelligent
question. There are not degrees of sovereignty. God is absolutely sovereign. He's in control of everybody
and everything, and He's in control of the thoughts that are passing
through your mind right now. Now, what you and I do is uncoerced. We do what we want to do. Whatever
it is you do, it's because you wanted to do it. And God is in
absolute control of all of that. Let me show you this in the scripture. Turn to Genesis chapter 20. Genesis 20. And Abraham, verse
1, journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelt
between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham
said of Sarah his wife, He told this to the king. She's my sister. She's not my wife. She's my sister.
He told a lie. He told a lie. Would Abraham
do something like that? Would you? Would you? To get
yourself out of trouble? Well, Abraham did. He knew that
if this king knew that Sarah was his wife, he'd probably kill
him and take her to himself. That's the way it was back in
those days. So he told a lie. She's my sister. And Abimelech
king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God said to Abimelech in
a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art a dead
man, for the woman which thou hast taken, for she is a man's
wife. But Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, Lord,
wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? Said he not unto me?
She's my sister. And she even herself said, he's
my brother. In the integrity of my heart
and the innocency of my hands have I done this? Right, right. That's just the natural man's
response to anything. And God said unto him in a dream,
yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart,
and here's why, for I also withheld thee from sinning against me. Why didn't Abimelech take her? God said I prevented it. I prevented
it. Turn to 2 Samuel 24. I want to
show you several scriptures. 2 Samuel 24. I'll be looking at this again a couple
of months down the road. Verse one, and the anger of the
Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David against them
to say, go number Israel and Judah. Now, this was a wrong
action on his part. God said, don't take a census
of the people without the atonement money. David did it. And God killed 70,000 people
as a result of what David did. You go on reading in this chapter
and you see what took place. But here this chapter is introduced
with God being angry at Israel and Him moving David. Now when David did this, it was
all his fault. It was wrong. It was wicked.
It was evil. But look what the Scripture says. This is God's
Word. This is not... This is what God's Word says, isn't it?
God moved David against the people. Now turn to the Chronicles account
in Chronicles 21. 1 Chronicles 21. Verse 1. And Satan stood up against
Israel and provoked, tempted David to number the people. Now
first it says, God did this. And now it says, Satan did this. What I thought of is where God
said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? He brought Job
up to say, God is in complete control of everything. Now let's
look at another couple of scriptures. Turn to Proverbs chapter 16. Proverbs chapter 16, verse 1. The preparations, that word means
the Thinking, the plans, the calculatings, the devices, the
preparations of the heart in man. We have all kinds of plans,
don't we? And the answer of the tongue.
How you respond to whatever God brings on in his providence toward
you. The preparations of the heart
in man and the answer of the tongue is where? From the Lord. Look in verse 9. A man's heart
deviseth his way. We all make plans. A man's heart
devises his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. Verse 33 of the same chapter.
The lot is cast into the lap that we think of as by chance,
luck, and happenstance. The lot. The casting of the lot.
The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof. Everything that takes place is
of the Lord. Now this is God's sovereignty. He controls everything. He controls
even the free, uncoerced actions of men. You know, I can't express
to you just how much I love that. God reigns. He's in control. The people you work with, He's
in control of those people. The people that you're having
a hard time with, He's in control of those people. And everything
that happens, happens according to His good purpose. I think
somebody says, well, that takes away the free actions of men. That leaves us with fatalism. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. Now, think of that scripture,
him being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of
God, talking about the death of Christ. He says, you have
taken, and with innocent hands who were forced by divine sovereignty,
have taken... No, it doesn't say that, does
it? You have taken, and with wicked hands have crucified and
slain. Now, this is something that our
little Minds can't grasp, but we believe. We believe. And this is not fatalism. It's fact. God reigns. Somebody sent me an article,
and I read it last week, from The Atlantic, whatever magazine
that is. It's called The Atlantic. Maybe
you've heard of it. But in it, the writer, and this man was
not a religious man, He was denying that there's any such thing as
free will. And he said, your genes determine the choices you
make. And there's really no such thing
as free will. It's kind of the same thing that
Stephen Hawking said in his book on a brief history of time. He says, if there is a God, I'm
not sure if there is, but if there is a God, there's no such
thing as free will. God controls everything and everybody. And this fellow said, while it's
true that your genes determine what you're going to do and what
choices you're going to make, and there's no such thing as
free will, you're still better off believing in free will, because
if people believe this, it'll make them think they're not responsible
for their actions. Well, for one thing, it's not your genes that determine
what you do. Who'd determine your genes? God
reigns. God's in control. And all my sin is all my fault. And I stand and you stand personally
responsible and accountable to God for every decision you make.
But thank God He rules and He reigns in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
His hand or say unto Him, What doest thou? He reigns. And so David is upset. He prays,
Lord, turn the counsel of Ahithophel. Make it foolishness. He prays
that God would take care of this. And all along, God has already
determined what he's going to do. And God controls. Now, but let's look
what happens afterwards. Turn back to our text. I think
this is so interesting. Does this encourage you to pray?
It does me. I want to pray about
everything. In everything, be careful for
nothing, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God. Pray about everything. Pray about
the salvation of people. Pray for the Lord's grace to
reign in you. Pray for wisdom and grace in all things. If you're
in a situation, ask the Lord to turn it around. Ask the Lord
to count that person's counsel foolishness. Ask the Lord about
everything. There isn't anything you and
I shouldn't be praying about. Oh, be men and women of prayer.
God works through prayer. God answers prayer. Now, David prays this, but look
what happens next. Verse 32. And it came to pass
that when David was come to the top of the mount where he worshipped
God, I love that, David was in sorrow at this time, but oh,
he worshipped God. Behold, Hushai, the archite came
to meet him with his coat rent, this earth upon his head. He
was so upset overseeing David flee from Jerusalem because Absalom
was going to take control. Verse 33, unto whom David said,
if thou pass this on with me, then thou shalt be a burden to
me. But if you return to the city and say unto Absalom, lie
to him, and say, I'll be thy servant, O king, as I've been
thy father's servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant. Then thou mayest thou for me
defeat the council of Ahithophel." Now, all of a sudden, David turns
to the use of spies. This is espionage. That's exactly
what it is. He's saying, you go in and get
in good with the king, and you listen to what's going on, and
you can bring me the information I need. And that's what's going
to defeat this council. Now, he just asked God to defeat
the council, and now it almost seems like he's taking things
into his own hands, doesn't it? Verse 35, Thou hast thou not
there with thee, Zadok and Abiathar, the priests? Therefore it should
be that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king's
house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests.
Behold, they have there with them two sons, Ahimaz, Zadok's
son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son. And by them shall you send
unto me everything that you can hear. So Hushah, David's friend,
came into the city, And Absalom came into Jerusalem. Now, this is a story. Now, this is a story of espionage,
isn't it? Him bringing people into the
government, getting secret information like the CIA or the FBI or whatever. I mean, that's this kind of stuff
going on even at this time. You go into the government, you
get me the information I need and send it to me. And as you
go on reading in the following chapters, that is exactly what
took place. They gathered information, sent
it to David. They ask Ahithophel for counsel.
He gives them good counsel that would have One, if they would
have taken his counsel. But God sends Hushai in there,
David's friend. Hushai gives him different counsel.
And we're going to see this later on. And they say, we like Hushai's
counsel better than Ahithophel's. Even though Ahithophel's was
the best counsel and they would have been victorious had they
followed Ahithophel's counsel. but they followed Hushai's counsel
and that's what ended up costing him, Absalom, his life. God ended
up killing him and this was all because of God's eternal purpose.
Now you can read all about this in the next two chapters this
week and see what took place. Now I read several men about
what David did here. Here he He says, Lord, take care
of this, and then it seems like he takes everything into his
own hands. And he sends spies in to try to find out what was
going on so he would know how to counter Absalom. I mean, he
prayed for God to take care of this, and you'd think he would
have just left it alone at this time. But does he leave it alone? No. He goes ahead and does whatever
he can to make sure this wouldn't take place. Now, what I think
is real interesting I want to say this right. A lot of people said David was
wrong in this. He told Hushai to tell a lie. You go lie to him and tell him
you're faithful to him. And then you come and tell me
about what takes place. He told Hushai to tell a lie.
When is it ever OK to tell a lie? Well, it's never okay, is it?
A lie is a lie, any way you look at it. But these same people
are the ones who said that Rahab was wrong when she received the
spies, and then lied about hiding them, and then lied to the Keepers
of Jericho to go out and look for them, they went that way.
It was all a lie. And they said, she should have
never told a lie. That was wrong. And I wouldn't
disagree with that. It's never right to tell a lie.
But regarding anything you've ever
done, anything, anything, has it ever been without sin? That doesn't excuse it. But,
uh, Rahab shouldn't have told a lie. Well, I guess she shouldn't
have, but she did. And it was for the accomplishment of God's
purposes. And that doesn't implicate God
in sin. God's holy. But if you think of the cross,
what is the most wicked thing to ever take place on this planet? The cross, isn't it? There, God
let men do what they wanted to do. Pilate delivered Jesus to
their will, the scripture says in 2 Samuel 23. It's the most
evil, wicked thing to ever take place when man crucified the
Son of God. Yet, what did God use more than
anything else for the accomplishment of His purpose? the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That was a wicked thing, and
those men were wicked, and taking wicked hands, and crucifying,
and slaying Him, and all the stuff that took place in the
cross. Yet, what is it that God used
for the salvation of His people? The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, the point is, was David wrong
in doing this? I don't know. I don't even know
how to answer that. I put myself in his place. If
I had a chance to get intelligence, I probably would have done the
same thing. And you would too. Would you have said, well, I'm not
going to do that. I'm just going to wait. Don't you know yourself any better
than that? You would do what you felt like
you needed to do in order to help yourself. Was David right? I'm not going to say he's right.
But with regard to everything I've ever done, I can't say it
was right. But here's the point, God always
uses means. God is sovereign. He'd already
determined the defeat of Absalom. God always works through prayer.
David prays, Lord, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
Turn it around. God has a purpose. His purpose is always accomplished
through the prayers of his people, and God always uses means. And the greatest example of that
is the cross. God purposed the salvation of
his people. His people are going to ask for
it. But does that mean Christ doesn't have to go to the cross
to save him? Christ went to the cross to put away the sins of
His people, to bear the wrath of God. He had to do that. God
wouldn't save. God couldn't save because He's
just. He's holy. He's not going to act contrary
to His nature. God would not save apart from His Son coming
to this earth and putting away the sins of His people. God always
uses means. And regarding means, you say,
I'm praying for the salvation of my spouse or my child. Oh,
I want the Lord to save them. And you do, don't you? You pray
for the Lord to do this. You pray for the Lord to do that.
But what if you said, well, I'm going to pray for them, but I'm
not going to have them hear the gospel. I'm not going to have them I'm not
going to preach the gospel to them. I mean, if God's going
to save them, he will. And if not, he won't. So I'm not going
to preach the gospel to them. What's that mean? That means
you have no understanding of God's sovereignty at all. And
you don't really have any understanding of anything. God always uses
means. and the means, well, David was
using espionage, he was using spies, that doesn't seem altogether
on the up and up. Well, I know it doesn't. I don't
even know what to say about it, but it's what God gives us in
his word, isn't it? And these means were used by
God in order to bring about the destruction of Absalom. God determined
it, first. David prays for it, second. And David uses whatever means
are at his disposal to bring this to an end. And like I said,
I don't think I have time to read all the scriptures, but
there's a lot of scriptures that tell the story of Ahithophel's
counsel, Hushai's counsel. Then they make this decision.
We like Hushai's counsel better. And the reason they liked Hushai's
counsel better is because God had already determined to defeat
the counsel of Ahithophel and bring evil upon Absalom. And
God was in control of all this. And it's exactly what took place. Now, what are we left with? God's God. He's sovereign. He's, there's no degrees of this. I listened to a preacher in the
last month who said during the cross, God and his sovereignty
quit being sovereign and let men do what they wanted to do.
No, he didn't. God's never relinquished His
throne. He's in absolute control of everything. What does that
leave me to do? Pray. The Lord always works through
prayer. And use whatever means the Lord
brings my way to bring apart His purpose. Now, you can judge
David if you want for using spies. Maybe he's wrong. I don't know.
But he did it. And God's word records that for
us. Lord, give me grace to bow to
your sovereignty. Give me grace to pray regarding
all things and not be fatalistic. Give me grace to pray and give
me the grace to use whatever means you call me to use to bring
your purposes to pass. Now, God always uses means. I
think one of the clearest examples of that is you pray to God to
heal you. You're sick. Lord, heal me, heal
my body. If it be your will, if it's for
your glory, heal my body. Well, here's medicine that'll
heal your body. No, I'm not gonna take that medicine.
God's sovereign. If it's his will for him to heal me, he will.
If not, he won't. That's foolishness. Take the
medicine. Well, some of the stuff that
is used in that medicine is used for evil purposes also. Well,
what's not? What's not? Take the medicine. Use the means God has appointed. And may the Lord enable us to
preach the gospel through understanding that God is sovereign and he
used the means of his blessed son to bring about the salvation
of his people. Amen.