And tonight we're looking at
chapter 14. 2 Samuel chapter 14. Now Joab the son of Zerui perceived
that the king's heart was toward Absalom. And Joab sent to Koah,
and fetched then a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee,
feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel,
and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a
long time mourned for the dead, and come to the king and speak
on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her
mouth, And when the woman of Tekoa spake to the king, she
fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance and said, help,
O king. And the king said unto her, what
aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed
a widow woman, and mine husband is dead. And thy handmaid had
two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there
was none to part them. but the one smote the other and
slew him. And behold, the whole family
is risen up against the unhandmade. And they said, deliver him that
smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his
brother whom he slew. And we will destroy the heir
also. And so they shall quench my coal
which is left and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor
remainder upon the earth. And the king said unto the woman,
Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee.
And the woman of Tekoa said unto the king, My lord, O king, the
iniquity be on me and on my father's house. And the king and his throne
be guiltless. And the king said, whoever saith
aught unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee
any more. Then said she, I pray thee, let
the king remember the Lord thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer
the revengers of blood to destroy any more. lest they destroy my
son. And he said, as the Lord liveth,
there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth. Then the
woman said, let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto
my lord the king. And he said, say on. And the
woman said, wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against
the people of God? For the king doth speak this
thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch
home again his banished. For we must needs die, and are
as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again.
Neither doth God respect any person, yet doth he devise means
that his banished be not expelled from him. Now therefore that
I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is
because the people have made me afraid. And thy handmaid said,
I will now speak unto the king. It may be that the king will
perform the request of his handmaid. For the king will hear to deliver
his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy
me and my son. together out of the inheritance
of God. Then thine handmaid said, the
word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable, for as an
angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad,
therefore the lord thy God will be with thee. Then the king answered
and said unto the woman, hide not from me, I pray thee the
thing that I shall ask thee, And the woman said, let my lord
the king now speak. And the king said, is not the
hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered
and said, as I so liveth, my lord the king, none can turn
to the right hand or to the left from aught that my lord the king
has spoken. For thy servant Joab, he bade
me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid,
to fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this
thing. And my Lord is wise, according
to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that
are in the earth. And the king said unto Joab,
behold now, I have done this thing. Go therefore, bring the
young man Absalom again. And Joab fell to the ground on
his face and bowed himself and thanked the king. And Joab said,
today thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight,
my lord, O king, and that the king hath fulfilled the request
of his servant. So Joab arose and went to Gesher
and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. And the king said, let him turn
to his own house and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned
to his own house and saw not the king's face. But in all Israel,
there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty. From the sole of his foot even
to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. And when
he pulled his head, for it was at every year's end that he pulled
it because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he pulled it. He weighed the hair of his head
at 200 shekels after the king's weight. And under Absalom there
were born three sons and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a woman of a fair countenance. So Absalom dwelt two full years
in Jerusalem and saw not the king's face. Therefore Absalom
sent for Joab to have sent him to the king, but he would not
come to him. And when he sent again the second
time, he would not come. Therefore he said unto his servants,
see, Joab's field is near mine and he hath barley there. Go
and set it on fire. and Absalom's servant set the
field on fire. Then Joab arose and came to Absalom
unto his house and said unto him, wherefore have thy servant
set my field on fire? And Absalom answered Joab, behold,
I sent unto thee, saying, come hither, that I may send thee
to the king to say, wherefore am I come from Gesher? It had
been good for me to have been there still. Now, therefore,
let me see the king's face, and if there be any iniquity in me,
let him kill me. So Joab came to the king and
told him, and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king
and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king,
and the king kissed Absalom. Now, I'll begin my message tonight
by reminding us of what we saw last time in chapter 13. And
this explains to us, when we go over this, this will explain
to us why Absalom, David's son, was in Gesher, as this chapter
opens telling us that he was there in Gesher. We saw in chapter
13 where David's son Amnon raped his half-sister, Tamar. And we
know that Tamar was David's daughter and Absalom's sister. And then
Absalom killed Amnon and fled. He fled into Gesher. And Gesher
was the country from which Absalom's mother originated. It was not
a city, it was a country in the territory of Israel. They had
never fully conquered that part of Palestine. David made a treaty
with the king of Gesher and married his daughter. And from that marriage,
we know that Absalom and Tamar were born. Now, the first person
mentioned in this chapter tonight is this man by the name of Joab,
who was, we know, one of David's cousins. He was one of David's
cousins, and he was the commander-in-chief of the armies of Israel. And
this wasn't a small army. This was a large army that he
was commander of. And we know that he also, like
Absalom, he also was guilty of murder. He had murdered Abner. And he, that may explain why
he did some of the things that he did here in this chapter.
Because he was guilty of murder, Absalom was guilty of murder,
and he thought that he would get away, and he did. David did not have Joab executed
until on his deathbed he told his son Solomon You know Joab
must be executed. And when David died and Solomon
came to the throne, that's one of the first things he did. And
Joab ran into the tabernacle or temple there and grabbed hold
of the horns of the altar. And Solomon said, bring him away. And they took him away and destroyed
him. He was a wicked man, Joab. He
was a wicked man and he was a man who no doubt in this case, why
would he intercede for Absalom like we see that he did here?
Because it is obvious as we read that Absalom was well liked. He was well favored among the
nation of Israel. And we're not specifically told
that in the scripture, but we read that into the scripture.
because of circumstances and things that took place. Later,
of course, he will cause most of Israel to follow him in rebellion
against his father, David. Amnon, whom Absalom had killed,
most of the writers believe was a worthless fellow to begin with.
And so the nation of Israel, they looked upon the fact that
Absalom had killed Amnon as good riddance. They did not want Amnon
to ascend to the throne, which he was older. You know, if the
line of ascension to the throne goes to the elder, then Amnon
was an older son than Absalom. Most people believe that the
nation of Israel were in favor of Absalom becoming the king
when David died. And Joab, knowing this, then
he intercedes, and he comes interceding for Absalom, and in the event
that Absalom comes to the throne, he will be in good standing with
him. That explains his actions in
this chapter. You know, this woman was very
wise, this woman of Tekoa. Now, she tells us told David
that Joab had given her all of the words which she spoke. But
she was very wise, she played this part very well. And she
came to the king and told him that she was a widow, she had
two sons, and they got in a fight out in the field, and there was
no one to separate them, and one killed the other one, so
she was left with only one son. But her family, now she was the
next of kin to the son who died, of course, the mother was. But
her kinfolk, they wanted her to deliver, according to her
story at least, her to deliver the live son so they could kill
him and get the inheritance, the property of their father. And David, at first, he said,
well, I'll take care of that. This is where I see her wisdom.
David at first said, I'll take care of that. Well, she wasn't
put off, was just sad. And she spoke a little longer,
and he said, well, bring them to me. Whoever would hurt your
live son, I'll take care of them. She still wasn't satisfied with
that. She wasn't satisfied until David
swore using the name of the Lord. You notice that, if we can look
back here in verse 11. Then said she, I pray
thee, let the king remember the Lord, thy God, that thou wouldest
not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy anymore, lest they
destroy my son. And he said, here it is, as the
Lord liveth. Now, With David taking that oath,
she knew that his judgment was, and under God, he would make
sure that no one touched her live son. But then she explains
to him that she's really not talking about her sons at all. She's talking about you, you,
David, your son, Absalom. He's fled, but the people wanted
him to come back. And why don't you send for him
and bring him back? He's afraid to come back because
he should be executed according to the law. And this reasoning
here, I want you to look at what she said. Verse 14, for we must needs die. In other words, Amnon, yes, he
killed Amnon, but we're all going to die. We're all going to die
eventually. You know, this kind of reasoning
would excuse every murderer. The man takes the life of another
man, and his defense is, well, we're all going to die anyway.
There's no justice there, is there? Not at all. That kind
of reasoning, but that's the reasoning that she came up with.
We're all going to die. Amnon was going to die. We're
all going to die in the end. And when we die, we're all like
water. Now this is important to register
because this is a certain truth that when a person dies, it's
just like taking a glass of water and pouring it out there on the
ground. There's no way you're going to be able to get that
water back into the glass. And men, when they die, are not
going to be raised until the resurrection, when the Lord Jesus
Christ commands men to come forth, the bodies of men to come forth
from the grave. But what I would like to speak
to us about tonight mainly are two words. These two words are
found in verses 13 and 14. The first word is the word banished. And the second word is the word
means. Banished and means. She appeals to David to devise
means to fetch home again his banished. That's what she asked
David to do. to devise means, figure out some
way to bring your banished home, to fetch your banished home again. Well, who was David's banished? Who was it that was banished
from David's presence? It was his son, Absalom. But
here's the thing that stands out to me. What means did David
use What means did he use to fetch his son Absalom back home
again? And there are three things I
bring out to us. First of all, he disregarded
the law of God. David did. How's he going to
bring his son Absalom home again? By disregarding the law of God. The law of God demanded that
Absalom be executed for murder, for the crime which he had committed.
The law, the law of God that was given to the nation of Israel
in Exodus, let's just read a couple of verses, but in Exodus 21 and
verse 12, here's what the law says about murder. He, if a man
or he that smiteth a man so that he die shall surely be put to
death. Now that's what God's law said,
an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. He that smiteth a man
so that he die shall surely be put to death. Now Absalom didn't
flee to a city of refuge because a city of refuge was not for
a murderer As Absalom was, a city of refuge was for a man who was
guilty of accidental manslaughter. But Absalom, he planned, he premeditated
the murder of his brother Amnon. You know how he did that. How
he lied and got his father David to send Amnon down to where he
was having a celebration for shearing sheep. And when they
all got there, all the sons of David, he had told his servants,
you mark the spot where Amnon is, and when I give you the signal,
you kill him. He was guilty of murder. And
the law was very clear. He wasn't a candidate for the
city of refuge. No. In Numbers, here's another part
of the law, explanatory of this law. Numbers 35, verses 16 through
18, we read, if a man smite him with a piece of iron, he's a
murderer. The next verse. If a man smite
him with a throwing stone, he's a murderer. If a man smite him
with a hand weapon of wood, he's a murderer. Those three verses,
whether he kills a person with a piece of iron, with a stone,
or with wood, a weapon of wood, he's a murderer. And no matter
what weapon he used, he's a murderer, and the murderer shall surely
be put to death. You know, we have a lot of talk,
don't we, sometimes in our country about gun control, and laws limiting
the number of guns that a person may have or not have, but you
know, it's not the guns, it's the person, isn't it? And we
see even way back, In the beginning, men found a way to kill other
men, whether it was with a stone or with a piece of iron or a
piece of wood, a club. There's ways to kill, right,
besides a gun. They could take all the guns
up in this country, and there may be way too many. I'm not
getting into that. But I will say this, if they
confiscated all the guns, and I hope that never happens, people
will still get murdered in this country. I mean, they just would. They didn't have guns in Israel.
Absalom killed his brother. What David, now to fetch back
his banish, what does he do? He disregards the law of God. The law of God commanded that
he be executed. The second thing that David did,
he trampled upon justice, the justice of God. Now, David, remember,
he's king, but he's a judge. When the first king was put on
the throne, he replaced Samuel, a judge. And the people, the
nation, wanted a judge. They wanted a king, rather. They
had been ruled by the judges, but now they have a king and
the king is a judge. And he is in the place of God
to administer justice. To administer justice. What justice? Look down in verse 21. What justice does David administer? for the crime of murder when
he just says, well, let him come home, but he can't see my face.
You know, the punishment must fit the crime, right? Man goes
in a store, and he steals a package of gum. He comes out, and he's
caught, and he's tried, and he's sentenced to death. No, no. Here's the punishment. He can
come back. I'll just overlook what the law
says. He can come back, but he cannot
see my face. Is that punishment? Is that justice? By no way. And the third thing
that I see here that David, in bringing his banished back aloud,
he didn't demand repentance. He didn't demand any repentance
on Absalom's Park. There's no sign, as we read through
this chapter, when Absalom comes back, there's no sign of any
remorse for the guilt of murder. There's no sign of any change
of mind. He's still the same man that
he was when he fled. No sign of repentance in the
actions that are recorded of Absalom. The pulling or the cutting
of his hair just shows him to be the vain, empty man that he
was. And then when he went and sent
his servants to set the fields on fire of Joab, just shows him
to continue to be a self-willed, rebellious man. No repentance
at all. David didn't require any repentance. He said, Let him come back, he
just can't see my face. And then eventually we say that
he let him come back and he kissed him. David did, he kissed him,
which was a sign of forgiveness. Now, look at verse 14. For we must needs die, and ours
water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again.
Neither doth God respect any person, yet doth he devise means
that his banished be not expelled from him. Now that word he, yet
doth he, I am going to look at this as referring to God, the
antecedent of this pronoun, God. Neither doth God respect any
person, yet doth he devise means that his banished be not expelled
from him. So just hurriedly, let's think
about that as speaking of God devising means to fetch his banished
to him. Who are his banished? Who was
David's banished? It was Absalom. Thinking of this
as referring to God, who are his banished? His elect. Those whom he has loved with
an everlasting love. Banished, why? Because of sin. Separated, why? Because of sin. Your iniquities have separated,
Isaiah said. Your iniquities have separated
you between you and your God. Well, let's look at the contrast
in these three areas in which David failed. First of all, God's
law was honored by the substitute that he provided. Yes, he's going
to fetch his banished, his elect back unto him, and he's going
to do it through a substitute who honored his law. Remember the scripture says in
Galatians, but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth his son made of a woman made under the law. Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world at eight days. Remember he was circumcised. And Paul tells us if a man is
circumcised, he becomes debtor to the whole law. And the Lord
Jesus Christ was made of a woman, made under the law, that he might
keep the law, perfectly keep the law, that God might fetch
again to himself his banished. The law had to be honored. Our Lord said, for verily I say
unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall
in no wise pass from the law to all be fulfilled. He fulfilled
it, didn't he? He fulfilled it. Keep your places
here, but look with me in Isaiah just a moment. Isaiah 42. And verse one, Isaiah 42, verse one. Behold, my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect. In whom my soul delighteth, I've
put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. Now you know that's referring
to Christ, God's servant, the God man. Look down to verse 21. The Lord is well pleased for his
righteousness sake. He will magnify the law. He will
magnify. How did David fetch his banished
home? By disregarding the law, overlooking
the law which required that Absalom pay for his crime. Just forget
about it. No, God, he didn't do that. He
came as a holy God that he is. Sometimes people who are not
familiar with the gospel, when they first start hearing the
gospel, Why can't God just erase it? He can do all things. Why can't He just forget it? Why does He require satisfaction? Why? Because He's holy. Because He's absolutely holy. And if He did not punish sin,
He would not be holy. No. Number two, God's justice must
be satisfied. David, was there any justice
in what he, the punishment he meted out to Absalom? Let him
not see my face anymore. And then after a while he even
overlooked that. No, God's justice must be satisfied. And God's justice demanded satisfaction
for the sins of his banished. God's banished and it was on
the cross that God's justice was satisfied by the sufferings
of his son in the state and in the place of his people. We know
that he satisfied the justice because he was raised again for
our justification. Who is he that condemneth? Can
anyone condemn one of God's banished that he has reconciled for whom
Christ has died? Can anyone condemn? Can anyone lay any charge to
God's elect? Of course not. No. Why? Because Christ died in their
stead, in their place, satisfying God's justice, honoring God's
law perfectly. And the last thing God, God requires
repentance. You know, the last chapter of
the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, just before the Lord Jesus ascended
back to the Father there, we read these words of Christ to
his disciples to go into all the world and preach that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations beginning at Jerusalem. A man must repent and believe. Now, the two are gifts and they
always go together. First, it'd be impossible to
have true repentance and not have true faith. It'd be impossible
to have true saving faith and not have true God requires both
to put us in union with Christ. Both repentance and faith are
given to God's banished. And usually, now let me say that,
let me qualify that, usually, this repentance and faith is
granted or given under the preaching of the gospel. God is chosen
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That's most generally how a person
turns from his sins, changes his mind, and turns to Christ. It is under the sound of the
gospel. God has chosen to use these means,
these means of preaching. Well, I pray the Lord will bless
the word to all of us here this evening. Let's sing a hymn before
we go home.