Good morning. Would you turn to the fourth
chapter of 2 Samuel. And when Saul's son heard that
Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble and all the
Israelites were troubled. This is talking about Ish-bosheth,
the one Abner had put in power. And Saul's son had two men that
were captains of bands. The name of one was Baena. And
the name of the other, Rechob, the sons of Rimmon, a Beerethite
of the children of Benjamin, for Beereth also was reckoned
to Benjamin. And the Beerethites fled to Gideon
and were sojourners there until this day. And Jonathan, Saul's
son, had a son that was lame in his feet. He was five years
old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel.
And his nurse took him up and fled, and he came to pass, as
she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame, and
his name was Mephibosheth. Most of us know who he is, and
we're going to come to him a few chapters away. And the sons of
Rimen, the Berethite, Rechab and Benah, went and came about
the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed
at noon. That's unusual, isn't it? Laying
in bed at noon. Seems to me that he was probably
depressed. That happens a lot. He was afraid because Abner was
dead. And they came thither into the
midst of the house, these two men, as though they would have
fetched wheat. And they smote him under the fifth rib and Rechob
and Baena, his brother, escaped. For when they came into the house,
he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, and they smote him and slew him
and beheaded him, and took his head and gathered him away through
the plain all night. A murder took place. And they
brought the head of Ish-bosheth unto David, to Hebron, and said
to the king, behold, the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul,
thine enemy, which sought thy life. And the Lord hath avenged
my Lord, the king, this day of Saul and of Esed." Now they thought
they would be rewarded for this, didn't they? And they blamed
the Lord on their sin. They said, the Lord did this.
A lot of people do that. This is what the Lord did. And
David answered Rechob and Bani his brother, the sons of Rimen,
the Berethite, and said unto them, As the Lord liveth, who
hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, when one told
me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good
tidings, I took hold of him and slew him in Ziklag, who thought
that I would have given him a reward for his tidings. How much more
then, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own
house upon his bed, shall I not therefore now require his blood
of your hand and take you away from the earth? And David commanded
his young men and they slew them and cut off their hands and their
feet and hang them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took
the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the sepulcher of Abner
in Hebron. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name and we ask in his name that you would be pleased
in your mercy to meet with us and to speak in power to our
hearts from your word We ask that Christ might be revealed,
that Christ might be exalted, that Christ might be preached.
And Lord, we ask that we might be found in him. Lord, we confess
our sins, how thankful we are that you are a God who forgives
sins for Christ's sake. Bless us, those that are going
through trials and troubles. We ask that you would be with
them. Give us grace to love you more
and love one another more. In Christ's blessed name, we
pray. Amen. Saul's son, Ish-bosheth, heard
that Abner was dead. Abner had put this man in power.
And Ish-bosheth, we know, was a very weak man. And he was scared
to death. And he was troubled. All of Israel was troubled because
they saw that Abner was gone and there was a vacuum of leadership. And then we read of two men,
Bena and Rechab, the sons of Rimen, who came to, they had
been formerly in Saul's army, and now they're coming to murder
Ish-bosheth, thinking that they're going to be rewarded for it. Look down in verse five, and
the sons of Rimen, the Berethite, Rechab and Bena went and came
about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth. who
lay on a bed at noon. And I think that that's just
a reference to this man's total depression. He was upset. He thought he was in trouble.
He didn't have anyone to protect him. He thought because Abner
was gone and he just lay in a bed paralyzed, unable to do anything. Verse six, and they came thither
into the midst of the house as though they would have fetched
wheat and they smote him under the fifth rib. And Rechab and
Bain, his brother, escaped, for when they came into the house,
he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, and they smote him and slew him
and beheaded him and took his head and gathered him away through
the plain all night." They thought they were really going to benefit
from this. I mean, we've killed one of David's enemies. And they brought the head of
Ish-bosheth unto David, to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold,
the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, thine enemy, which
sought thy life, and the Lord hath avenged my lord the king
this day of his seed." Now, they do what a lot of religious people
do. They blame their actions on the
Lord. The Lord did this. Ultimately, the Lord's in control
of it. We know that he is completely sovereign over the free actions
of all men and anything that happens, he's in control of,
but we can't ever blame our sin on him. And that's what these
men did. They blamed their sin on the
Lord. The Lord did this and they thought
they were going to be rewarded handsomely for this. And David
verse nine, answered Rechab and Bainah his brother, the sons
of Rimeh, the Berethite, and said unto them, As the Lord liveth,
who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity." We're going
to come back to that. That's a glorious statement. As the
Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my soul Out of all adversity,
when one told me, saying, Behold, Saul's dead, you remember this
from several weeks ago, thinking to have brought good tidings,
I took hold of him and slew him in Ziklagon, who thought that
I would have given him a reward for his tidings. How much more
when a wicked man hath slain a righteous person in his own
house upon his bed? Shall I not therefore now require
his blood of your hand and take you away from there? If you'll
remember that in the last chapter, how he wouldn't put Joab to death.
After Joab had murdered, he was afraid to do it, but now he's
performing his kingly duties to bring justice. And he brings
justice. And David commanded his young
men and they slew them and cut off their hands and their feet
and hang them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the
head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the sepulcher of Abner
in Hebron. Now, let's go back to verse nine. Last part of the verse. David
says, as the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of
all adversity. Now, I love thinking about this.
As the Lord liveth. He is the living God. As the
Lord liveth. He said, I am he who liveth,
who was dead, and behold, I am alive evermore and have the keys
of hell and death. He is the living God. Right now, he liveth. I've heard people say Jesus is
alive and doing well. No, he's a whole lot more than
alive. He is life. He is the living God as opposed
to all the false concepts of God, the idols, the gods of men's
depraved imagination, the gods men make up. He's the living
God as opposed to all the idols. Turn with me for a moment to
Psalm 115. David uses some sarcasm here. Psalm 115. Verse two, wherefore should the
heathen say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Now that's the living God. Their
idols. Their false gods are silver and
gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but
they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell not. They have
hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but they walk
not. And neither speak they through their throat. They that make
them are likened to them. So is everyone that trusted in
them." Now you see what he's saying about these false gods?
He says they're dead. They can't do anything. They're
not even real. And I love the sarcasm he uses
there. Now, the fact, I want you to
think about this. The fact that you're breathing
right now and that you're alive testifies that there is a living
God. There's no such thing as an atheist. Somebody says, no, there are.
Well, they may be now, but they didn't begin that way. There
is no such thing as an atheist. Everyone knows intuitively, just
because they're alive, that there is a living God. There's gotta
be a reason. Life didn't just happen. Life
didn't just all of a sudden, somebody's alive, or this view
of evolution, so on. No, there is a living God who
causes life. Now we know that intuitively,
and we know it by reason, really. Everything has to have a cause. Turn with me to Romans 1 for
a moment. The living God. Romans 1. You know, it takes more of a
stretch of blind faith to believe in no God and atheism and evolution
and all that kind of stuff. That's a lot more of a stretch
of blind faith than it is to believe that God created the
heavens and the earth. Romans chapter 1, verse 20, for the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. Just looking at creation tells
you, tells me, that there is a living God. There has to be
a cause. Everybody knows that. There has to be a cause. The fact that there is design
supposes that there is a designer. I think of David saying, I'm
fearfully and wonderfully made. And you look, just having a thumb
that puts us different from all the other animals. That's God's
design. Just the fact that there is a design tells us that there
is a designer. The fact that there's right and
wrong. Now, if there's no God, there's really no right and wrong.
Who's to say what's right and who's to say what's wrong? But
because God is, there is a right and there is a wrong. And everybody
deep down knows that God is. We know God is by his revelation
of himself in his word. Now we know it intuitively, we
know it by reason, we know it by what we observe, and you know
what? I can say this honestly. When
I read the Bible, I know it's the word of God. I know this
is not the word of man. This didn't come from man. This
came from God. And you know, I've read some
of those, some of the books of the Apocrypha and you know, you
read those things and you know, God didn't write them. I mean,
you can just read them and see how ridiculous they are, but
you can read the Bible and you know, this is the inspired word
of God, God's revelation of himself. Now, the living God, the living
God, as the Lord liveth. I love thinking about the living
God, how he reveals himself in his word. The Lord liveth. Now, according to the Bible,
God is spirit. I get to thinking about that.
How do you explain that? God is spirit. Our Lord said, God is spirit,
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. God is spirit. God is holy. That means he's not like me and
you. He's holy. I love this definition
of holiness. He's other. He's other. He's just not like me and you.
God is infinite. Now this is all from the scriptures.
It means He's not bound by time and space the way you and I are.
He's infinite. God is independent. That means He's the opposite
of me and you. I want you to think about how
dependent you and I are. God is utterly independent. He has needs of nothing. He's
independent. He's eternal. That means he never
began to be. He never had a beginning. He's
always been before creation. He's always been. He's eternal. He's immutable. He never changes. I want you to think of how many
times you've changed in the last 24 hours. I mean, different thoughts
that have come through your mind. You know, he never changes because
he's utterly immutable. He's omnipotent. He's all powerful. Whatever he desires, he has the
power to perform. He's omniscient. He's never learned
anything. He knows everything. This is
the God. This is the living God. Oh, he's worthy of worship. He's
omnipresent. He's here. He's everywhere. because he's spirit. Just think
of this glorious God, this God who is just. He's absolutely
just. All sin must be punished, but
this God is gracious and merciful. This is the God of the Bible,
the living God, the Lord who lives. I love his name. I am that I am. Isn't that glorious? I am that I am, not I wanna be,
not I would be, not I could be, not I will be. I am that I am. That is the God that liveth. And this God is nobody less than
Jesus Christ. The Lord said, he that hath seen
me hath seen the Father. What a glorious God. All we'll
ever see of God is Jesus Christ himself. David said, as the Lord
liveth. And look what he said next. He
said, as the Lord liveth back to second Samuel four. Verse nine, as the Lord liveth,
who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity. Now this Lord who lives, the
living God, the absolute God, the God of glory, the living
God, the independent God, the God who created all things. This
God who lives, the living God, is the one who has redeemed my
soul. What a thought that is. He has
redeemed my soul. He obtained eternal redemption
for us. Now, what does this mean, he
redeemed my soul? Here's one thing it means. Ephesians
1, 7 says, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. Oh my, if he's redeemed me, That
means all my sins are forgiven, including the ones I have not
yet committed. They're all forgiven. Now that's what it means to be
redeemed. It means all your sins are forgiven
sins. They've been washed away by the
blood of Christ. They are no more. Romans chapter
3 verse 24 says, being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Now I'm redeemed. Not only are
my sins forgiven, I'm justified. I hope that justification never
simply becomes a doctrine we believe in. It's always something
we're utterly amazed by. that I'm justified, that God
looks at me and he sees somebody who really has never sinned. Someone who is perfectly just
in his sight. Somebody that he's satisfied
with. Now, can you imagine God being completely satisfied with
you? Well, if he's redeemed you, he is satisfied with you. You've been justified. You have
no sin before God. No guilt. before the living God,
the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed my soul. At what cost? His own
precious blood. It didn't cost me anything. It
cost him everything. The fact that he could die amazes
me. He's the God man. How could he
die? I don't know, but he did. I never will forget somebody
calling me saying, what are you saying about God dying? God can't
die. Well, Christ did. I don't know
how you answer that, but Christ did. The fact that he could die
is amazing. The fact that he would die is
amazing, that he was willing to die as the sinner substitute.
And the fact that he did die is amazing. He hath redeemed
my soul. through his death. The living
God, the Lord Jesus Christ, hath redeemed my soul. And notice
what David says, I like this too, in verse 9, as the Lord
liveth who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity. Now that's what he's done. He's
redeemed my soul out of all adversity. Now that word is also translated
trouble. distress, affliction, anguish,
and tribulation. We've got plenty of that, don't
we? And I like what Spurgeon said about our troubles. He said,
our troubles are all homemade. They're all our fault, aren't
they? You know, every mess we get ourselves in, we got ourselves
in it. All of our trouble is all our fault. Our sin is to
blame. Trouble. Tribulation. But he's
redeemed us out of all tribulation and trouble. David said in Psalm
25 verse 22, redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. Now
here's how this works. He takes all my adversity, all
my trouble, That is all my fault. And he uses that very trouble. That's all my fault for my good
and for his glory. That's what he does. He put away
my sin. He redeemed me. He made me to
where I am, and this is the heritage of every believer. I'm speaking
as the spokesman right now of every believer in here. He has
redeemed me from all my sin. He put it away and he's causing
all of my adversity, all my trouble, and they're homemade too. They're
homemade, they're all my fault. But he's taken all my trouble
and he's using it. He's using every bit of it for
my good. It works like this and we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are thee called according to his purpose. So we can see
every one of our troubles in this light. It's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. With regard to all of our troubles,
he says, it is I. Be of good cheer. With regard to all of our troubles,
David is as down as he can be, and he's fleeing his son right
now. What's his name? Absalom. And
he's just as down as he can be, and he's leaving Jerusalem. And
a man named Shemai starts cursing David and saying, you're a bloody
man. All this is your fault. You brought all this on yourself. You're a wicked man. You're a
bloody man. And the Lord's paying you back.
And Abishai said, David, let me go take his head off. And
David said, no. The Lord said to Shemai, curse
David. Isn't it wonderful to know that
everything that happens, he's in control of. He's the living
God. He's the Lord. He's the Lord
Jesus Christ. He has redeemed my soul out of
all adversity. What a glorious Lord he is. Amen. Next week, we'll look at David
being crowned.