Would you turn to 2 Samuel chapter
3. 2 Samuel chapter 3. I'd like to read verse 36. And all the people took notice. Speaking of the way David conducted
himself, we're going to consider what that's a reference to. And
all the people took notice of it and it pleased them. They were pleased with how he
had conducted himself during this event. As whatsoever, the
King did pleased all the people. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in the high and holy name of thy son. And we ask that by your
grace, this will be said of us that whatsoever thy son as done,
is doing, and will do, we're all pleased with. Lord, may we be enabled to worship. May we be enabled to hear your
gospel and the power of your spirit. Will you meet with us? Lord,
deliver us from hearing from a man, but let us hear from thy
word. Lord, we confess our sins. We
pray for forgiveness and cleansing. And Lord, we ask in thy son's
name that we might be found in him. Be with all your people
wherever they meet together. We pray for your blessing on
upon our homes. Lord, give us grace in our marriages. Give us grace to parent our children. Give us grace to glorify you.
Lord, we pray for our nation. We ask for your mercy upon us.
In Christ's name we pray, amen. Verse 22 of 2 Samuel chapter
3, And behold, the servants of David
and Joab came from pursuing a troop, and brought in a great spoil
with them, But Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he
had sent him away, and he was gone in peace." Now you'll remember
that Abner had been an ally to the house of Saul, and he's changed
positions. We saw that last week. Now he's
on David's side with no good motive, but at any rate, Joab
was the general of David. He was his main military man.
And you will remember that Abner had killed Joab's brother Ahasuel. Turn back to 2 Samuel 2 verse
19. And Asahel pursued after Abner,
and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left
from following Abner. He intended on killing him. Then
Abner looked behind him and said, Art thou Asahel? And he said,
I am. And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to the right
hand or to the left, and lay hold on one of the young men,
and take thee his armor. But Azahel would not turn aside
from following him. And Abner said to Azahel, turn
thee aside from following me. Wherewith should I smite thee
to the ground? How then should I hold up my face to Joab thy
brother? Howbeit he refused to turn aside,
wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under
the fifth rib that the spear came out behind him, and he fell
down there and died in the same place. And it came to pass that
as many as came to the place where Ahazael fell down and died
stood still." Now, was this murder? No, it was self-defense, wasn't
it? That's all it was. I mean, the man was coming after
him. He was trying to kill him. He gave him every opportunity
to leave, and he didn't take advantage of it. It was not murder.
He was defending himself. Now, back to our text in chapter
3. Now, remember this is Joab's
brother who was killed, and Joab has something against Abner because
of this. And behold, the servants of David and Joab came from pursuing
a troop and brought in a great spoil with them. But Abner was
not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he
was gone away in peace. Remember, Abner had started seeking
to turn Israel back to David. Now when Joab, verse 23, and
all the hosts that was with him were come, they told Joab, saying,
Abner, the son of Ner, came to the king, and he has sent him
away, and he's gone in peace. Then Joab came to the king and
said, what hast thou done? Behold, Abner came into thee.
Why is it that thou send him away, and he's quite gone? Thou
knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he's come to deceive thee,
and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all
that thou doest. He was very upset about David
receiving Abner the way he did. And Joab is accusing Abner. Maybe he was right. But the point
is, Abner was not guilty of murder, and this is Joab wants to pay
him back, so let's go on reading. Verse 26. And when Joab was come
out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, which brought him
again from the well of Sarai, but David knew it not. David
didn't know what Joab was up to. And when Abner was returned
to Hebron, and remember, Hebron is one of the cities of refuge.
Remember if someone would slay someone, and if they got in accidentally,
and if they got in the city of refuge, they were safe. The avenger
of blood couldn't get back. You were not allowed to kill
somebody in a city of refuge. Hebron is one of the six cities
of refuge. Now, and when Abner was returned
to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him
quietly. And my marginal reading says
peaceably. We're friends now. all is well. And after that he
smote him under the fifth rib, in that he died for the blood
of Asahel his brother." He murdered him. This was a cold-blooded
murder on his part. It was wrong to do it in the
city of refuge and it was wrong to do it in the first place because
Abner was simply trying to defend himself when Asahel was after
him. But this was murder, nothing less. Verse 28, And afterwards,
when David heard, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before
the Lord forever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner. I had
nothing to do with this. Let it rest on the head of Joab
and all his father's house. And let there not fail from the
house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that's a leper, or
that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that
lacketh bread. David cursed this house because of this. He brought
a curse upon this house. So Joab and Abshi his brother
slew Abner because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon
in the battle. And David said to Joab and to
all the people that were with him, rend your clothes, and gird
you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And King David
himself followed the bier, the funeral procession, or bier,
however you pronounce it. But the point is, David made
Abner, I mean, made Joab mourn for his murder of Abner. And he had to follow in the funeral
procession. And in reality, what David should
have done is punish Adler, put him to death, because he'd shed
somebody's blood. This was cold-blooded murder. But he lets it go, but
he makes him... mourn. Verse 32, And they buried
Abner and Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice
and wept at the grave of Abner. And all the people wept. And
the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool
dieth? thy hands were not bound, nor
thy feet put in fetters. As a man falleth before wicked
men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again
over him. And all the people came to cause
David to eat meat while it was yet day. And David swear saying,
so do God to me and more so if I taste bread or ought else till
the sun be down. He was fasting in his morning.
And verse 36, and all the people took notice of it. They saw the
way David conducted himself over being grieved over the death
of Abner. He had nothing to do with the murder. And it pleased
them. And whatsoever the king did pleased
all the people. For all the people and all Israel
understood that day was not of the king to slay Abner the son
of Ner. And the king said unto his servants,
know ye that there's a prince and a great man fallen this day
in Israel. And I think it's interesting
what he calls Abner, a prince and a great man. And if you read
the history of Abner, there's nothing about him that seems
like a prince and a great man. We've seen that in the last several
weeks. He sought to turn people against David at first, but this
is David's testimony. And I couldn't help but thinking
in light of that, how that is the Lord's testimony of all of
his people. a great man and a prince. Even
though in themselves they're sinful, that is the Lord's testimony
concerning every one of his people. And that shows the reality of
justification. If he's justified me, I'm a great
man and a prince. You're a great man and a prince.
And that is what the Lord has done for his people. But the
thing I want us to dwell on for the last several minutes is the
fact that all the people were pleased with everything David
did. Whatever he did, they were pleased
with. Now, it wouldn't stay that way. They're going to kick him
out and side up with his son Absalom some years down the road.
But right now, at any rate, everything David did pleased the people. They took notice of it, and everything
he did pleased the people. Now, while that was true on a
temporary A note with David, isn't that true concerning our
feelings of the Lord Jesus Christ at all times? All that he has
done, all that he is doing, and all that he will do, we are pleased
with. From the very depths of our heart,
we really are pleased with what he has done. Why would we feel
this way? Because this is the fruit. And
this is what every believer possesses by his grace. This is the fruit
of a genuine love to his person because we love him. Everything
he does, we are pleased with. And I want us to think about
this love that we have. It's the gift of God's grace.
It's not the product of human nature. It's the fruit of the
spirit. This love that every believer possesses toward the
Lord Jesus Christ that makes them pleased with everything
he does. It is a love, first of all, without suspicion. A love without suspicion. Whatever he does, he has holy
purposes in it. And in doing it, we might not
understand what he's doing, but we trust him. And we're not suspicious
of him. Whatever he does is right, just,
holy, and true, and we're not suspicious. We trust him. It's a love without suspicion. Turn with me to First John chapter
four. First John chapter four. Verse 18. There is no fear in
love But perfect love casteth out fear. Fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. Now, this is talking about the
fear of unbelief where you don't trust him. But his perfect love
to us, his complete love, casts out fear. Whatever he does is
right. And our love to him is without
suspicion. We really believe that what ever
He does, we are pleased with. Now this love that we have to
Him that causes us to be pleased with Him, it's a love that inspires
confidence. Now, what kind of confidence
would you have if your fate was in my hand? Boy, that'd be foolish,
wouldn't it? That'd be foolish. You might
cross me and everything would be over. What confidence would
I have if my fate was in your hand? I wouldn't have any confidence
because while I love you, who knows what I might do to make
you mad? No confidence there. But what
confidence we have knowing everything is in the hands of him who is
omnipotent, omniscient, all powerful, that whatever happens, anything
he does, we have confidence in because it's him doing it. Not
only is it a love without suspicion, it's a love that is confident
in him. He's too powerful to be out of
control. He's too wise to err. He's too
kind to be cruel. Now, think of the confidence
this inspires. Romans 8.28, and we know that
all things Work together for good. Notice that all things,
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. Why can that
be so? Because he's working all things out. He's in control.
Whatever happens in your life, bad things, good things, he's
in control of. And he's working it together
for your good and his glory. Now, does that inspire confidence? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Does that inspire confidence?
Now that's the kind of love that every believer has to his person.
We're not suspicious of him. We know that whatever he does
is right because it's him. And we have confidence because
we believe that he has the power to make his wills always done. So this inspires confidence.
Now, and it's also a love of unquestioning reverence. Now,
what do I mean by that? It says the people were pleased
with everything he did, whatever he does. And listen, in my experience,
there's all kinds of things I'd like to not happen. to me, you
know, bad stuff, stuff that is painful, things that are difficult.
In my experience, I mean, if it were up to me, I'd change
things. But with the knowledge of him,
I wouldn't change anything. He's in complete control, and
I wouldn't change anything. And whatever he does is, an example
would be Eli. Eli, when Samuel says, Both of
your sons are gonna be killed. And Elah says, it's the Lord.
Let him do what seemeth him good. Whatever happens, it's the Lord.
Let him do what seemeth him good. We're pleased with whatever he
does. Even if it's painful and difficult, we still know it's
the Lord. Let him do what... When Shemai is cursing David,
Abshai says, you want me to go take his head off? And David
says, no, the Lord said, curse David. The Lord said it. Whatever
happens in my life, whatever happens in your life, the Lord's
in control of it. The difficult things, the good
things, whatever. And we don't question what he does in the
sense that he's the Lord. He's the Lord. It's the Lord.
Let him do what seemeth him good. And that's why Paul says in 2
Thessalonians 5, 18, in everything give thanks. In everything. in everything give thanks, for
this, whatever it is, is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you." Whatever's going on with you, this is God's will for your
life. He knows what He's doing. Trust
Him. Trust Him. Now, this being pleased
with all that He does is a consequence of knowledge. We know shall not
the judge of the earth do right. That's something we know. Shall
not the judge of the earth do right. We know his character.
Whatever he does is right. He's absolutely just. He's immutably
sovereign. That means whatever's going on,
he's in control of. He's all powerful. He's all wise.
Of course, we're pleased with everything he does because of
who he is. We have some knowledge of his
person. So we really believe that whatever he does, whatever
happens, he's in control of, and whatever he does is right. He's perfect. How can we be anything
but pleased with what he does? Turn with me to Ecclesiastes
chapter three. I can, by the grace of God, that
doesn't mean I enjoy trials. I just soon get out of them.
It doesn't mean I enjoy pain or sickness. It doesn't mean
I enjoy heartache or heartbreak or disappointment. I'm not saying
I enjoy these things and I'm immune to them, but I do believe
this, that whatever happens, He's in control of. It's for
my good and His glory, and therefore whatever He does, I'm pleased
with. Every believer deep down can
say this. That doesn't mean that they're
immune to all the difficult things that take place, but we're pleased. Look here in Ecclesiastes chapter
three, verse one, to everything there
is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. There's
a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, and a time
to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill, and a time to
heal. A time to break down, and a time to build up. A time to
weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to
dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together.
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A
time to get and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to
cast away. A time to rend and a time to
sew. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love
and a time to hate. A time of war and a time of peace.
What prophet hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth?
I've seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men
to be exercised in it. Now listen to this statement.
He hath made everything beautiful in his time. You see, everything
is beautiful. in history. And it might not
seem that way now, but we, by faith, know it is because of
who he is. And that's why we can, as James
said, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations.
Now, do I enjoy Falling into diverse temptations? No, I don't
enjoy it. But I can count it joy in this
sense. God sent it. And it's for my
good and for His glory. And He controls everything. Therefore, whatever He does,
we are pleased with. Now, this genuine being pleased with whatever
He does being the fruit of knowledge, we have some knowledge of His
purpose and His will. Now, we know it's His purpose
to glorify Himself, don't we? That's His purpose. And everything is a means to
that end. My salvation is a means to the
end of His glory. That's why He does what He does. And we know it's His purpose
to save all of His people. Now, knowing His purpose, His
purpose is to glorify Himself, and His purpose is to save all
of His people, we can be pleased with all He does because we know
what His purpose in doing these things. Now, we might not know
all the ins and outs of it, but we know his ultimate purpose.
He's going to glorify himself, and he's going to save all of
his people. And we rejoice in that. We're
pleased with everything he does. And we bow before his rights. You know, his absolute sovereignty. The unbeliever gnashes their
teeth at it. We don't like this. But we do, don't we? We do. We
love him being in absolute control. And we bow before his right to
do whatever he's pleased to do. And we love it that way because
he's our king. He's our Lord. And we're pleased
with all that he does. Now, am I pleased with myself?
No. Am I satisfied with myself? No.
Am I pleased and satisfied with him? Yes, I am. Everything he
does. And we really rest in this. and wouldn't change it if we
could. We don't want things to be any
other way than His way. I love the story one man tells
about a preacher had come in to see a woman who was dying
and she was very sick. And he said, well, do you want
the Lord to heal you or do you want to die? And she replied,
well, whatever the Lord's will is. And he said, I know that,
but if you had your will, what would you want? Well, if I had
my will, my will would be whatever his will is. That's it. We bow
down before what he does. It is best. And you know, we
have absolutely no reason to worry about anything. We're pleased with whatever he
does. And there is no reason to worry about anything because
everything that takes place is what He is doing. And He holds
the future. It's already all been determined.
And there's nothing to worry about. Day by day and with each
passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here. Trusting
in my Father's wise bestowment, I have no cause for worry or
for fear. We are pleased, not with ourselves,
I'm not pleased with myself in any way, but I'm pleased with
everything He does. He's the King. And may this be
the description of you and I I don't even want to think about what
you do or what I do, but I want to ask, here's the main thing
I want to ask. Are you pleased with everything
about the Lord Jesus Christ, His person, His work, His providence?