2 Samuel, chapter 3. Beginning in verse 6. 2 Samuel chapter 3 verse 6, and
it came to pass while there was war between the house of Saul
and the house of David that Abner made himself strong for the house
of Saul. As we're going to see, Abner
was an opportunistic man and he's trying to make the situation
better for himself the way human beings do. Verse 7, and Saul
had a concubine. whose name was Rizpah, the daughter
of Ahai, and Ishbosheth said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou
gone in unto my father's concubine? Then was Abner very wroth for
the words of Ishbosheth, and said, Am I a dog's head which
against Judah do show kindness this day into the house of Saul
thy father? to his brethren and to his friends, and have not
delivered thee under the hand of David, that thou charges me
today with a fault concerning this woman. So do God to Abner
and more also, except as the Lord has sworn to David, even
so I do to him, to translate the kingdom from the house of
Saul and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over
Judah from Dan even to Beersheba." Abner switching camps, he's switching
places. And Abner sent messengers to
David on his behalf, saying, whose is the land? Saying also,
make thy league with me, and behold, my hand shall be with
thee to bring all of Israel unto thee. And he said, well, I'll
make a league with thee, but one thing I require of thee,
that is, thou shalt not see my face, except thou shalt bring
Michael, Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face. And
David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, Deliver me
my wife, Michael, which I espoused to me for a hundred foreskins
of the Philistines. And Ish-bosheth sent and took
her from her husband, even from Phaltiel, the son of Laish. And
her husband went with her along, weeping behind her, to Beharim.
Then said Abner unto him, Go return. And he returned." What
a sad sight, isn't it? And Abner had communicated with
the elders of Israel, saying, You sought for David in times
past to be the king over you. Now then do it. For the Lord
has spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant David
I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines
and out of the hand of all their enemies. And Abner also spake
in the ears of Benjamin. And Abner went also to speak
in the ears of David in Hebrew and in all that seemed good to
Israel and that seemed good to the whole house of Benjamin.
So Abner came to David, to Hebron, and 20 men with him. And David
made Abner and the men that were with him a feast. And Abner said
unto David, I will arise and go and will gather all Israel
unto my Lord, the King, that they may make a league with thee
and that thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth.
And David sent Abner away and he went in peace. Let's pray
together. Lord, we come into your presence
with thanksgiving that your God and beside thee is none else.
And we're so thankful for the free salvation that's in your
son. Lord, we pray for your mercy upon us. We pray for your grace
and favor to each one of us for Christ's sake. Lord, we ask for
the forgiveness of sins and cleansing from our sins. Lord, we ask that
your gospel might be preached in the power of your spirit and
that you'd give us hearing ears and receptive hearts. Lord, be
with all your people wherever they meet together. And Lord,
meet our needs, we're a needy people. Bless us for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray, amen. Now, we see from verse six of
chapter three that Abner was a very opportunistic man. Look
in verse six again, it came to pass while there was war between
the house of Saul and the house of David that Abner, and remember
who Abner was, he was the general under Saul's army. And remember
when Saul has been put down and died, he wants to keep Ish-bosheth
in place so he could have his position. Now it just sounds
like life, doesn't it? That's the kind of stuff that
happens all the time. And that's what was going on
here. Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul. Now, during
this time, verse 7, and Saul had a concubine, whose name was
Rizpah, the daughter of Ahai. And Ishbeth said unto Abner,
wherefore hast thou gone into my father's concubine? Now, this
is about, I don't know how else to say it, this is about sex
and power. This is all this is about. Saul had a concubine,
and that was for an illicit sexual relationship. It was wrong. Abner could have that, that means
he would have this, and it would also be a signal of his power.
He's the one really in control, not Ish-bosheth. Abner's the
one. He takes Saul, the former king's
concubine, and takes it to himself. And so you have this sex and
power thing going on, which, that's our society, isn't it?
It doesn't seem like anything new. Now let's go on reading. Ish-bosheth confronted him about
it. Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ish-bosheth,
and said, Am I a dog's head, which against Judah do show kindness
this day unto the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren,
to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand
of David, that thou charges me today with a fault concerning
this woman? He was mad. You're charging me with a fault
concerning this woman and I'm the only reason that you're king
right now? You owe everything to me, he says, and here you
are rebuking me over this woman. So he switches parties. He goes
from being on ishboshisheth, however you say it's side, to
David's side. He switches parties. He switches
allegiance. Now, once again, this is something
that happens all the time in our society in our day, isn't
it? People are looking out for their own best interests, and
if they can see they'll be better off over here, they do it. So
he says to David, all that you have is because
of me and you charge me with fault concerning this concubine.
The Lord said David was going to be king and I'm going to switch
my allegiance. Now he knew all along that David
was to be king. God had said it. But now he's
for it because he thinks it's now in his best interests. So
we see what an opportunistic man he is. Verse nine, so do
God to Abner and more except as the Lord has sworn to David,
even so do I to him to translate the kingdom from the house of
Saul and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over
Judah from Dan even to Beersheba. I'm getting on David's side.
And Ish-bosheth was a very weak man. He could not answer Abner
a word again because he feared him. And Abner sent messengers
to David on his behalf, saying, whose is the land? Saying also,
make thy league with me, and behold, my hand shall be with
thee to bring about all Israel unto thee. Now David says, this
is going to be an ally for me. You know, he acts as fleshly
as everybody else does during this period. I mean, he's getting
on in the political games. And look what he says. Verse
13, and he said, well, I will make a league with thee, speaking
to Abner, but one thing I require of thee, that is, thou shalt
not see my face, except you first bring Michael, Saul's daughter,
when thou comest to see my face. Now you remember when he had
married Michael years ago, he was six years on the run away
from Saul, and Saul had taken Michael back and given her to
somebody else. And I think this was a political move. I don't
think he's much, as a matter of fact, he ended up banishing
Michael at some point, as we'll go on. He said, I'll make a league
with you if you bring my wife back to me. And this is such
a sad scene. Verse 14, and David sent messengers
to Ishbosheth Saul's son saying, deliver my wife, Michael, which
I've espoused to me for 104 skins of the Philistines. And Ishbosheth
sent and took her from her husband. Even from Phautel, the son of
Laish, and her husband went with her along weeping behind her
to bear him." Think of that scene. I mean, this woman is just ripped
out of her husband's hands at this time, and it's not a thing
he can do about it. And he follows behind, weeping
the whole way, just greatly upset that this had taken place. This
is a wretched story. Like I said before, this is not
something you want to read to your kids at bedtime. It really
isn't. I mean, the Bible's just not sanitized, is it? But this
is life. This is the kind of stuff that
happens all the time. Verse 17, And Abner had communication
with the elders of Israel, saying, You sought for David in times
past to be king over you? Now then do it. For the Lord
has spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant David,
I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines
and out of the hand of all their enemies. You can see the gospel
in that, can't you? That is the gospel, that's the gospel message
right there, what our great David will do. Verse 19, and Abner
also spake in the ears of Benjamin, and Abner went also to speak
in the ears of David, and Hebron, all that seemed good to Israel,
and all that seemed good to Israel. And that seemed good to the whole
house of Benjamin. So Abner came to David, and Abner
came to David, to Hebron, and 20 men with him. Now remember,
Abner had been David's enemy. And you can remember way back
when David confronted Abner, when he went in to get, he was
in with Saul and cut off his skirt, and he said, Abner, how
come you weren't able to save him, you mighty man of valor?
So these men had a history, and there was a lot of problems between
them. So Abner came to David and Hebron, 20 men with him,
and David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast.
And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go and will gather
all Israel unto my Lord the King. Look at the way he's speaking
to David now, with such respect. It's hard to take anything Abner
says seriously because he was such an opportunistic man. But
look at his speech, and Abner said unto David, I will rise
and go and will gather all Israel unto my Lord the King, that they
make a league with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all
that thine heart desireth. And David sent Abner away, and
he went in peace. Now Abner says, here's what I'm
gonna do for you. And nothing in this whole story seems on
the up and up. It's sordid, it's about political maneuvering,
it's about power, it's about sex, it's about all of those
things. But what I want us to realize
is God had already determined David would be king, and he had
anointed him to that in 1 Samuel 16, and God is overruling all
these sordid events for his purpose to take place. All I want us to get out of this,
other than when we end at looking at the gospel, but God is completely
sovereign over the free actions of men. Now I want you to think
about that. Everything we do, we do freely. We do what we want to do. And in this sordid story, you
see a bunch of men doing what they want to do to further their
own ends. And it's evil. Everything they're
doing, it's self-serving. There's nothing good about any
of this story, including David. David trying to get Michael back
for political purposes and him using Abner. He says, now Abner
can be my ally. I'm going to start buddying up
to this guy and making him my friend. All this stuff is just
so the world, isn't it? Men acting like men. Evil men
acting like evil men to try to get their purposes done. You've
all seen it. You've all experienced it. You've
all been in something like this. Men were doing what they wanted
to do freely, but God is sovereignly controlling all of this. God
brings good out of evil. And God is sovereignly controlling
all of this that his will might be done and David might be king
of all. Now, I think that's glorious.
God brings good out of evil. Now what comes first? Now think
about this. What comes first? The free actions
of men or the sovereignty of God? Sovereignty of God comes
first, doesn't it? The sovereignty of God is in
complete control of the free actions of men to bring his purpose
to pass. Now, in all this muck, this political
maneuvering, this ambition, this uncleanness, God is in complete
control. And you know, He's in complete
control right now. Right now, He's... I love thinking about
this. He's in control of the very thoughts that go through
my mind. Now, do I blame Him for sinful actions? No. But God's
in control. That's the God of the Bible.
Daniel put it this way, or Nebuchadnezzar put it this way, he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. Everything that's going on is
his will being done. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth
and none can stay his hand or saying to him, what doest thou? Give an account for yourself.
You know, I was, I'm going to get into this next week, but
I was thinking of people talking about, they talk about the problem
of evil. If God's good, if God's all powerful,
how can he allow evil? The problem of evil. And if they
were honest, they wouldn't call it the problem with evil. They
call our problem with God, our problem with God. We don't like
the way he's doing things. We don't agree with this. Doesn't
matter whether we do or not, God's in control and He knows
exactly what He's doing. And I'm thankful for that, aren't
you? In all this mess and muck, God is in control. Now let me
show you some scriptures. Turn to 1 Chronicles 29. Verse
11. David says, Thine, O Lord, 1
Chronicles 29, 11, Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that
is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. Thine is the kingdom,
O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all, both riches
and honor come of Thee. And Thou, reignest over all,
and in thy hand is power and might, and in thine hand it is
to make great and to give strength unto all." He's in control of
all this. Look in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, verse 6. He said, O Lord God of our fathers,
art not thou God in heaven? And rulest not thou over all
the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thine hand is there not
power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? He
controls everything and every event, even in the heathen kingdoms.
Everything that happens is His will being done. Look in Deuteronomy
chapter 32. I'm going to ask you to look
at a lot of scriptures fairly quickly. Deuteronomy 32, verse 39. See now that I, even I am he,
and there is no God with me, I kill and I make alive, I wound
and I heal, neither is there any that can deliver out of my
hand. Look in Psalm 33. You remember the song of Hannah,
the Lord killeth and the Lord maketh alive. Psalm 33. Verse 10. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to naught. He maketh the devices of the
people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. And you're familiar with the
scripture, the heathens say, where is thy God? Our God is
in the heavens, he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Now, God is sovereign over the
seeming coincidence and random acts of men. And the scripture
speaks in this light. For instance, Proverbs 16, 33,
the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. Now that seems like a random
act, luck, chance, happenstance. People use that language all
the time. But we know there's no such thing. The whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord. Turn with me to 1 Kings, chapter
22. You know, I personally love this.
I love it that the Lord is in such complete control over everything.
It's not something I just solemnly say, well, nothing we can do
about it. No, I love Him being in control, of Him being in control
of everybody and everything. Now look in verse 20. And the Lord said, who shall
persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?
And one said on this manner, and another said on the other.
But the Lord was saying, Ahab's going to fall. Now, look in the
same chapter in verse 37. Well, I'm in the wrong. Wait
a minute. Well, I've written down the wrong
scripture for that, but what happened, it says that a man
shot a bow at a venture. Like he just shot it up in the
air at a venture. And it went right into the heart
of Ahab. And he died according to the word of God. And God purposed
his death. And that man shot that bow at
a venture, the scripture says. Just pure happenstance and luck.
And it ended up killing Ahab when Ahab was trying to hide
himself. So that shows how the Lord is in control over every
event, even the seeming coincidences and so on. He's, where? Okay, well, I couldn't read my
writing. Verse 34, and a certain man drew a bow at a venture and
smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness. Wherefore,
he said unto the driver of the chariot, turn thine hand and
carry me out of the host. I'm wounded. Well, he died. He
died because that man shot that bow at a venture. Now, he's sovereign
over the wicked actions of men. God said to Pharaoh through Moses,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might
show my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. You think of what Joseph said
to his brethren, you meant it for evil. And what they did was
evil. I mean the patriarchs, that was
a wicked bunch of people. And he said, you meant it for evil,
but God meant it for good. Most obvious example of this
is the cross. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, you have taken and with wicked hands have
crucified and slain. He is sovereign over what we
don't do. I love that passage in Genesis chapter 20 when Abimelech
says to the Lord, he said, in the integrity of my hands, I
didn't touch Sarah. I did right. He said, yeah, I
know. I suffered you not to do it.
The only reason you didn't do it is because I didn't allow
you to. He's sovereign over what we do not do, and he's sovereign
over the most powerful men. Proverbs 21.1 says, The king's
heart is where? In the hand of the Lord. As the
rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever he will. You know,
when we talk about our president, or if we talk about Putin in
Russia, or if we're talking about ISIS and all those different
things, Everybody's just in the Lord's hand and he turns their
heart any way he wants to turn it to accomplish his sovereign
purposes. God is in control. That's why
I don't think we're wise when we talk about it was better way
back when. No it wasn't. No it wasn't. God's in control
now just like he's always been. And everything is exactly as
he has purposed it to be. And he's sovereign in our daily
lives. Turn to Proverbs chapter 16. I'd like to read a few verses
to you. Proverbs 16. The preparations or the inclinations,
the disposing of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue,
the way he answered something is from the Lord. Look in verse 9. A man's heart
devises his way. Think of all the plans you've
made in the last 24 hours. Think of all the things you've thought.
A man's heart devises his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Look in chapter 19, verse 21. There are many devices in a man's
heart. Nevertheless, the counsel of
the Lord, that shall stand. Proverbs 20, verse 24. Men's
goings, What they do are of the Lord. How can a man then understand
his own way? I mean, the Lord is in control of everything.
Somebody says, I don't believe this. Well, he's in control of
that, too. He's in control of that, too. Aren't you glad he's
on the throne? I mean, he rules and reigns and all things. He's
sovereign over evil. Amos 3, 6 says, shall there be
evil in the city? And hath not the Lord done it?
Isaiah chapter 45 verse 7, I formed the light, I create darkness,
I make peace, I create evil, I the Lord do all these things. Oh, how we love God's sovereignty,
how he controls everything. Here's something that I never
really, I thought of it, but I've never articulated it. Disabilities. Do you know the Lord's sovereign
over those? We see people with disabilities, and the Lord points
this out. He says in Exodus 4.11, who made
man's mouth? Or who maketh the dumb or the
deaf or the seeing or the blind? Have not I saved the Lord? He's
in control of all that. Now, what this is is absolute
sovereignty. The only kind of sovereignty
there is. This is who God is. Life and death is in his hands.
The Lord killeth, the Lord maketh alive. Salvation is in his hands. I love, after we have the first
sermon that Paul preached, or recorded sermon in Acts chapter
13, it says, when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. They
found out there was salvation for Gentiles. And as many as
were ordained to eternal life. Don't you love that scripture?
Who believed? As many as were ordained to eternal
life. You see, all things are in his hands. He worketh all
things, Ephesians 111. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. So in this drama taking place,
where there's nothing clean about it, opportunistic men, men taking
advantage of situations, men using things, in this sordid
story, we have God's will being done. Aren't you thankful? Now I want to close by looking
back to our text in 2 Samuel 3. Here's the gospel. Verse 17, And Abner had communication
with the elders of Israel, saying, You sought for David in times
past to be king over you. Now then, do it. for the Lord
has spoken of David." Now, isn't this interesting that he's now
saying this? He knew this when he was trying
to promote Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, because he thought, this
will keep me in power. But when he saw trouble in his
own life, all of a sudden he switches gears. He says, I'm
on the Lord's side now. I'm on David's side now. And
you're going to find out what happens to Abner next week. But
at any rate, he says to the elders of Israel, now do it for the
Lord has spoken of David saying, and here's the gospel. God saying,
by the hand of my servant David, the Lord Jesus Christ, the son
of David, I will save. Not I'll offer salvation. Not
I'll make it available. I will. Don't you love the I
wills of God? I will save Israel. Matthew 121 is the commentary
on this passage of scripture, but let's read the rest of verse
18. I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines
and out of the hand of all their enemies. Matthew 121, thou shalt
call his name Jesus for he shall save his people. from all their enemies, their
sins. And when he said, it is finished,
they were saved. You have the whole gospel just
in that one little verse. Here's Shakespeare, who said,
all the world's a stage. And you know it is. It is, it's
a stage for God bringing His purpose and His will to pass. May we have that assurance to
where if you, you know, when you really believe this, you're
not worried, are you? You're not worried. God is on the throne. He's in absolute control, and
we're thankful.