2 Samuel 15 (Part 2) Bible Study (David Flees Jerusalem) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

I'm excited to be here tonight. I can't recall a time where I wasn't excited to come before people who wanna be with God's people and to be before God's word. But this particular study stirred my heart in many ways, and I trust that it will stir yours as well. If you were here last week, we took the first six verses of this chapter to look at a teaching on how division occurs among the people of God. It's not exhaustive, but it is pretty insightful of how it is that there can be a severing among even the spiritual, among God's chosen, among those who are called by his name.

And the way we did that is we looked at the example of Absalom, the son of David, who had a conspiracy against his father, and who brought about successfully a chasm between him and his father and between the people of God among the nation of Israel. And the three things that were recognized as ingredients for division was number one, division begins in the heart of unholy men. If you have a person who is dominated by selfish ambition, division is very likely. Some kind of discord is very possible. But secondly, we looked at how division requires deception and accusation.

Division requires deception and accusation. And lastly, we looked at how division is strengthened by naive hearts who are not discerning, who do not take their time to investigate, and who just receive anything from anybody. That is very dangerous. And you realize that we just looked at the first few verses. We didn't even cover anything really past verse seven down.

We looked at the first six verses in detail, and we have all this terrain to deal with. But instead of looking at each verse carefully and commenting on these verses, I want us to continue in that theme. I want us to continue with the theme that we began last Friday, and I want us to specifically look at David's response to Absalom's collusion. I want us to see how David reacted when he was betrayed, when there was relational treason, when there was a person in his life who who went beyond the point of reconciliation. Like, you can't even talk to this person more.

You can't reason. You can do everything you can biblically, but this person is determined to destroy your reputation, your life, your ministry. This is where David is at. He's crossed the line in his relationship with Absalom regardless of what he has done for him and we wanna see how to respond to that because if you serve God long enough, you will know some level, some level of hurt from another. And maybe that's not the case for you and I praise God for that.

I pray that you would never know that bitterness. But it does happen often especially for those who serve God in some capacity. And so I think it's incredibly valuable to look at how David responded. What will that require of us? Well, again, we have to just kind of glean and take specific verses rather than take everything that this chapter has to offer.

And so you might feel like, well, there's that. What about this? This is in this point to Christ. There's a lot in here. But for the sake of honoring the theme and being consistent with what we learned last week, we're gonna trust that the Holy Spirit has much to say in consideration of what we will read now.

Here's what I need you to remember though as we move forward. Everything that David is about to undergo is for one main reason. And the primary lesson of this point of David's life is that he is reaping what he has sowed. Every single ache, every pain, every single update of of some new crisis is all the result of his sin. Nathan told them that this was gonna happen.

And so if if you need to take away anything, it's that sin produces sorrow. It will hurt you, and it will inevitably disturb others that you did not intend to disturb. That is what we see primarily here. Nonetheless, even in this example, we see practical steps offered to us that can apply to the faithful servant of God who is now who is now brought into a season of life that is beyond their control, an agonizing situation, a painful set of predicaments that are applicable to us. The suffering that we want to keep in mind here is the suffering that I just mentioned.

That of disloyalty of various kinds. Betrayal, treason, collusion, and even conspiracy. When there is a plot with you being the target, what do you do? How do you go about it? How do you respond?

And tonight, you're gonna hear four things. Four things in the life of David at this point, in this episode of his story that will equip you. When something happens through somebody else that is completely uncalled for and undeserved, What do you do with betrayal? What do you do with disloyalty? Let's read the first two verses beginning in verse 13.

And a messenger came to David saying, the hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom. Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, arise and let us flee or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword. The first thing that you and I have to understand when it comes to pain caused by another person is this rule, avoid more bloodshed. Avoid more bloodshed.

In the first two verses here, where David receives the news of Absalom's conspiracy and the success of it, we already see his shepherd's heart. David is now calling his servants to follow him from the palace and to flee into the wilderness, an environment that he's very familiar with. If you remember his his time with Saul. And he he urges them to get up and to go and the reasons are here. We we see that he realizes that the support that Absalom has is enough to overtake and overwhelm them.

They're outnumbered, they're not gonna succeed even if they stay, but that's not the main motivation necessarily. That is one of them. But the main one for our focus is what he says after. Afterwards, he says, and strike the city with the edge of the sword. David is concerned not only for himself and his men and his family, he's concerned about the innocent inhabitants of Israel.

That if David chooses to remain in Jerusalem and stand his ground and resist and fight, what can happen at a cost is that there would be casualties. And so David here is concerned that there are some if not many who would get caught in the crossfire of Absalom selfishness and David's rightful defense of his own throne and his own position. And what David is doing here is incredible. He is willing to surrender what rightfully belongs to him. What rightfully belongs to him for the sake of peace.

For the sake of others not experiencing the blunt and the collateral damage that can come from a feud between him and his son. And here's the instruction for the follower of Christ today, that there are times in your life that you will know some kind of conflict that will demand of you to surrender what you believe rightfully belongs to you for the sake of a greater cause. And I hope you understand that and I hope you you believe that. There are gonna be times that in conflict, in warfare, unfortunately through people, where you have to make the willful decision to surrender what you believe to be your right for the sake of a greater cause. And you see many examples of that not just in the old but in the new.

You've heard me use this example many times, where Paul instructs the Corinthian Christians when he received news that they were suing each other. Christians going to court. Christians trying to to to win a case over another brother in Christ. And you know what Paul says? Why not suffer loss?

Why not be defrauded? Why don't just lose? Why don't you just just let that person get away with their offense? And what is his motivation? Because he does not want the internal strife of the believers to be a stumbling block for the watching unbelieving world.

That's your greater cause. And so so don't don't worry about the preservation of your property. Don't don't worry about the harm that somebody might have caused especially if he's a brother. For the sake of the greater cause, surrender. And that's not the only example you think of Paul applying that rule to himself personally as an apostle.

To the very same Christians, he says that he has some rights as an apostle and the apostles held certain rights. And the right that he is speaking about there in chapter nine is the right to be compensated materially for his spiritual service. He makes a case there in first Corinthians that a person who has dedicated any portion of his time or energy to serve the people of God deserves to be compensated in one way or another. And he he goes to the old testament to prove that case. But at the same time in verse 12 of first Corinthians nine he says, we do not make use of that right.

We don't make use of that right. Why? Lest we put an obstacle in the way of the gospel. And what is Paul trying to say there? This is what he's trying to instruct about.

He's saying, you Gentiles, you fresh territory, I I refuse to implement this right lest I cloud your judgment, unless I give the potential persuasion that I'm doing this for money. I'm actually gonna reserve myself from exercising the right for you to give me my needs as I serve you because there is a greater cause I have in mind and that is you to understand my pure intentions. That I'm not doing this for any selfish purpose for any financial gain. I want your soul saved. I want your soul sanctified and so I will put aside this right for the sake of a greater cause.

And what we see in David is he's willing to let go of his right as the promised anointed king for the sake of preserving the lives of people who can get caught up in the warfare between him and his son. And there is a call for wisdom in knowing how to go about this. There is a call for the Holy Spirit to help us understand in what situations this rule will supersede any other conviction that you might have. And so there are times where again, you might say, okay, I have to let go of whatever was offended, whatever was taken, even my own reputation not being defended. For what purpose?

Considering the possibility of the harm that my retaliation or my resistance can cause to the cause of Christ. As I said, that is not always the case Because Paul instructed the Corinthians, hey, what? Just suffer loss. Just let it go. The gospel the gospel is more important than your your hurt here or what you lost or what somebody did to you in the church.

And my right, my right as an apostle. I'm gonna I'm gonna work as a tent maker and I'm now I'm gonna raise up support for myself and actually see that he supported even others. And I'm gonna preach the gospel freely to you. I'm gonna teach you freely because I know the temptation that you have and I know what people are saying about my ministry. So I'm gonna I'm not gonna put any obstacle in your way.

But there was times where Paul stood his ground. And there were moments where Paul utilized his rights and made a defense for himself. But for no different reason than if he had not used his rights for a cause, for a specific cause. Can I show you one? Go to Acts chapter 16.

And I want you to see in your bibles at this point of Paul's ministry where he is in Philippi. Philippi with his missionary partner Silas. And as they are there attempting to reach people, they are instead imprisoned, beaten, shackled. And in that famous scene, as they are bruised and bloodied and blistered, they sing hymns to God in the midnight hour, and they pray. And they pray, and an earthquake comes.

And when an earthquake comes, they can run off. They don't run off because this jailer is there. He pleads with them, asking how he can be saved. He gets saved. His family gets saved.

His whole household gets baptized, and then something interesting happens. It would have been great if the story ended there, and you transition to Paul's next missionary endeavor, but it doesn't. Something happens. And what happens here is in verse 36. And the jailer, the jailer who was just freshly saved, the jailer reported these words to Paul saying, the magistrates have sent to let you go.

Therefore, come out now and go in peace. Pause here. The same magistrates that bound Paul, beat Paul, ripped Paul's clothes, and threw him in that dungeon are now realizing that they were wrong and they sent word to the jailer who was hosting them and said, hey, we made this mistake. We made a mistake with these two guys. Let them know that they can they're they're they're not arrested, they're not in prison anymore, there's no case against them.

Just let them let them head out peaceably and we can just forget this ever happened. What would be the Christian thing to do? Oh, praise God. Okay. Just sweep it on the rug and let's just move on.

That's that's that's wonderful. Is that is that what Paul does? Look here and see what Paul does. But Paul said to them, verse 37, they have beaten us publicly, uncondemned men who are Roman citizens and have thrown us into prison. And do they now throw us out secretly?

No. Let them come themselves and take us out. And here's what some pastors would say to Paul. Paul, it's not very Christ like. Turn the other cheek, Paul.

Just just go about peaceably and ignore this and there's no need to cause waves here, Paul. They they want this to end smoothly. Why don't you just move on and not cause a stir? Paul says, no. No.

No. No. No. No. If they want us to go, let them come here themselves and escort us.

We want a private escort from the police. We're not stepping on until they arrive here and they do that. Here's my question to you at bible study tonight. Why is Paul doing this? Very good.

Did you hear it? If you read this without much meditation, you would think Paul's a little bitter here. That Paul has something in his heart where he wants some kind of humiliation for these police. You would think that he just wants to get back at them in one way or another. That he's not gonna leave without some kind of a a nudge, not some kind of a little punch in the gut before they can just move on.

That is not what Paul is doing here. Paul appeals to his Roman citizenship for a greater cause. He's not doing this for himself. He's not doing this because he was humbled. He's not doing this because he was embarrassed.

He's doing this because something happened earlier in the chapter and you you heard me allude to it. He was beaten publicly. He was arrested before the eyes of many witnesses. He was shamed and he was imprisoned. And these men, Paul and Silas entered into this region as missionaries.

They came, Paul cast out a devil out of a girl. There is an obvious sense that these men were different. They came with some kind of mission. And the last that people have seen of them is that they were apprehended and they were put away. They were in essence seen as guilty of something.

And this is how Paul's thinking, what a brilliant man. What a brilliant man Paul was. Here's what Paul is thinking. He's saying, the last that these Philippians have seen of us is that we were some sort of criminals. Silas, hear me out here.

These police that wrongfully treated us in this way, they have to rectify what happened here. And here's what Paul is demanding. In the same way that they were condemned publicly, they wanted to be seen as innocent publicly. And it would be the presence of these magistrates and these police that would validate their innocence. And that would show that they were in error in their judgment against these missionaries.

For what for what cause? For the sake of the unbelieving to realize that there's no real scandal here. For the sake of these witnesses to realize that these men are not men of ill repute. That they are not questionable in their character. They are innocent men.

They are good men. And if they are good men then surely there's something about their message that is pure. So even when Paul exercises his right, that same temptation you feel when injustice has been caused to you, it's still gospel focused. It's still gospel centered. It's still soul winning driven motivation.

And so understand that when he didn't use his right it was for the sake of the gospel. When he did use his rights it was for the sake of the gospel. And so we need the wisdom of the spirit and we need an honest investigation of our own hearts whenever we we we have to determine how do I go about what is happening in my life right now. And this is what we see from David. David is not going to cause more bloodshed, more shame, more embarrassment, more chaos by restraining and holding on to what belong to him, which will require what when you experience some kind of suffering at the hands of another.

Point number two. Number one was to avoid much bloodshed or more bloodshed rather. And number two, in the conflict, as arrows are flying by and bullets are whizzing through, trust in the sovereignty of God. Trust in the sovereignty of God and you're gonna know how important that is when you do surrender a right that you know you can really fight for and make a case for. Where do I see that?

Scroll down in first Samuel excuse me, second Samuel chapter 15 verse 25. Look at verse 25 of second Samuel 15. We can look at verse 24 to understand what's happening. And Abiathar, verse 24, came up and behold, Zadok came also with all the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of God and they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city. Then the king said to Zadok, carry the Ark of God back into the city.

If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place. But if he says I have no pleasure in you, behold, here I am. Let him do to me what seems good to him. Here's what David is admitting. The outcome of this uncontrollable situation is ultimately determined by God.

By God. This is all in the hands of God. Absalom is not the one calling the shots here, almighty God is. And if God wants me to go back to Jerusalem and to behold the tabernacle, he will bring me back. But if God in his perfect wisdom says, you're not going back, you're gonna stay out here as a fugitive forever, then so be it.

The understanding here of David is, I completely trust that even though Absalom is is controlling this whole thing and determining how we're going about this, God is still supervising the situation. He is still sovereign over all of this. And this was his solace. This was his comfort. This was his assurance.

And it's true here that David's confession is an awareness of the discipline of the Lord. The reason why he can humbly receive this is he knows that this is tied back to his sin with Bathsheba and that he is experiencing the chastisement of God. And so he just he just embraces it and he says, if this is how the Lord is is disciplining me then so be it. But more than that, his attitude here applies even to the faithful servant of God, not just the one undergoing God's discipline. The the faithful servant of God who is now losing control of their life, of what's happening to them.

It is one of the greatest secrets to successfully enduring all kinds of suffering including the suffering of betrayal. When you can't control what people say about you, do to you, plot against you. Here's the glorious thought. No matter how strong someone's selfishness is, it will never be able to overpower the sovereign purposes of God for your life. Never.

And that's what David is anchored in. And the extent of his trust is so inspiring. You see it you see it in subtle ways. You see that David here is very realistic about this whole ordeal. He's not pretending here.

He's he's not, he's not playing these mind games where he's he's just dismissing the severity of it. No. He's very honest. Look at verse 19. Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, why do you also go with us?

Go back and stay with the king for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home. What stands out to you from that verse? When he instructs Ittai to head back. The king. Who is he referring to?

Not him. Absalom. David calls Absalom the king. David acknowledges that Absalom's conspiracy succeeded. And he was willing to humbly receive how things were playing out.

And at this point, he was completely convinced that Absalom gained the throne and gained the title and gained the crown. He's not saying this sarcastically. He's saying this with complete honesty. He's saying, just go back to the king. Right now, I'm not the king.

I look at that and I think to myself, this is a man who knew and trusted in the wisdom of God no matter what was taken from him. No matter where he was headed. He didn't try to console his soul again by playing pretend and imagining things not to be what they are. He just received it. And he rehearsed he rehearsed not what he wanted necessarily.

He rehearsed that God was in complete control. It was difficult. It was not easy for David to confess this. The description of him and his men as they walked away from their homes, their family, the palace, the temple was one of great honesty as well. Look here at verse 30.

Second Samuel fifteen thirty. But David went up the ascent of the Mount Of Olives weeping as he went. Weeping as he went. Barefoot and with his head covered and all the people who are with him covered their heads and they went up weeping as they went. Here's what you can take out of this.

Here's what I can take out of this. I can weep while I trust. I can weep while I believe. I can be broken in my faith. David's confidence in the sovereignty of God not only caused him to be unrealistic about the situation, it also did not encourage him to deny how he really felt.

This is painful. My son, the son that I gave so much mercy to, the son that I was willing to return and to restore, the son that I kissed when he deserved an ax to the neck, that same son now has taken everything that I've ever had, everything that God has promised me and is now even out to kill me to ensure that I would not get it back again. He's aching and so he's weeping. And what you see with David's weeping is this, that genuine faith in God does not require the accompaniment of positive feelings to make it legitimate. Okay.

Let me put it this way. The presence of sorrow, the presence of pain, the presence of a sense of grief does not indicate the absence of faith in God. Remember that for yourself. You can you can know truth. You can say it.

You can rehearse it. You can memorize it. You can you can share it with others and at the same time, when you lay your head on on your pillow that night, feel the coldness of all that is happening around you. Don't only remember that for yourself. Please remember that when you counsel another believer.

Please remember that as you look at another believer who's come to you and is broken about a situation. And don't disqualify their faith just because their voice is cracking and their eyes are swelled up because they couldn't sleep the night before. You can weep while you trust. You can trust and still weep. That's what's happening with this man and that's what's happening with these warriors who are with him.

And you know what I find so encouraging about this? Not only that you're not supposed to misinterpret someone's brokenness as a lack of confidence of God. No. Look at the amount of times I wish I could read the rest of this chapter because you would be overwhelmed by a certain word in this chapter, especially beyond verse 13. You you would see a slight exaggeration of an emphasis.

And I can't read the rest of these verses, so I'll read two, three verses and you'll pick up on it. Look what the narrator does. Look what the author does by the guidance of the spirit in verse 15 to verse 17. Just listen carefully. And the king's servants said to the king, behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.

So the king went out and all his household after him, and the king left 10 concubines to keep the house. And the king went out and all the people after him, and they halted at the last house. Do I have to tell you? What word? The king.

The king. The king. The king. The king. And there's more.

There there is almost the mention of the king in every verse. The king. The king. The king. The king.

David said, the king concerning Absalom. The Holy Spirit through the author is saying, David, you're the true king. You're the king. Why is this happening? So that the reader as they come to this moment where David himself even perceives that Absalom is now the king, you would realize here that no no one nor anything could change what God had already decreed.

God had determined David to be the king and no matter how forceful or aggressive or devilish Absalom was to try to take that position from David, it still belonged to David. It was still his because God said it was his. And it would remain with David if all hell belched out every demon possible, it would still not alter the reality that God had set for his servant. The king, the king, the king, the king, the king's servants, the king, the king, the king to tell you, hey, no matter what Absalom is doing, David will go unscathed. And nothing will ultimately change in the end.

David trusted in the sovereignty of God. Yeah. He he had tear stained cheeks, but his heart was swollen with this trust in the sovereignty of God. How much did David trust in the sovereignty of God? So much so that he wrote a psalm in this moment.

There is actually a psalm. You heard it in the beginning. This is why you have to show up early. You get extra bonus scripture. But there's grace, so you're gonna hear it again.

Right? David wrote a Psalm exactly when he was going through this period of exile and it's Psalm chapter three. And I want you to see something in the Psalm that indicates the extent of this man's trust in God at this very moment. And beyond this moment, beyond the day of his exit, this is how he felt. K.

You're at Psalm three. Look at verse five. Now, as I'm reading this, keep in mind the background that this man is barefoot, ashes, weeping, not knowing what tomorrow will bring, living with the realization that at any time, Absalom can say the word and we will be surrounded and swallowed up by his army. Look what he says. Psalm three verse five.

I lay down and slept. I woke again for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. You know how much David trusted God? He could sleep.

He could sleep. He could sleep knowing again that just a few miles away, just like the Israelites at the Red Sea, they can turn around and see the smoke of chariot wheels as the enemy is headed towards them and numerically speaking, humanly speaking, they would be done. And here's what David is saying as an exile. I could actually sleep and I can wake up because the Lord is sustaining me. And even though thousands may surround me, I will not be afraid.

That's how much he trusted the Lord. And so this man, don't be fooled. Don't be mistaken. Don't misinterpret this man's brokenness here. Down deep inside, he was unshaken.

Unshaken. He really believed that God was with him and for him. So trust in the sovereignty of God. And trust is is seen in faith like this. But faith is not passive, it's active.

Faith isn't just something that's there and oh, there it is. It's it's I I didn't realize I had this in me. No. That's not the case. Faith is active.

You act on that faith. You exercise that faith. You move about with what you know to see that faith strengthen and flourishing in your life and then you reap the blessings of it, which brings me to the third point. So the first point was in warfare, in betrayal, in the pain caused by another person, whatever the extent of that betrayal is, whether it's an attack on your ministry, in your church, coming from within your church or it's somebody in your family that's just downright devilishly annoying and harassing, whatever the case may be. Avoid more bloodshed.

Know what your rights are. Sure. But know when to use it and know when to surrender for the sake of a greater cause. Number two, trust trust trust in the sovereignty of God, especially when you realize I have to surrender this right because I wanna please my master. But lastly or not lastly, thirdly, commit your cause to God.

Commit it to God. Where do I see that? Well, come here at verse 30 verse 31. And it was told David, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, oh Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.

So with with all the devastation that this man is already dealing with, you have a messenger running by and catches up to David. David, there's an update on this whole thing. Your good friend, your counselor, your advisor, Ahifilful. He's now joined the cause of Absalom and he is he is with him on a campaign to have you killed. And this is what this man hears on top of all that he's already trying to manage in his mind.

And what happens when this news comes to him? What comes out of the man? A prayer. His immediate reflex with this news is to turn toward heaven and to sigh a supplication. Very brief, very direct, very simple, very effective.

See, when this man was squeezed, when he was pushed further into the corner of despair and hopelessness, what really came out of him was just more trust in God. More trust in God. And he knew how to just throw it at the feet of the Lord and you have to understand that this is a very painful moment. You have your son. You have your son who now betrays you, but now you have one of your best friends added to it.

K. One betrayal is enough. You're telling me two on top of that, a bunch of naive Israelites who love the the looks of Absalom and his charm that are swept up with him. Never mind them. The one that David said, I I walk with you in the house of God and took sweet counsel with you.

Remember that? I believe David had in mind when he wrote Psalm 41 verse nine. In Psalm 41 verse nine, he he spills his soul and he says the following, even my close friend in whom I trusted who ate my bread, he came over for dinner many times, who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. More than just turned his back on me, he lifted his heel against me to strike me. My close friend, not just a friend, not just an employer, not just an employee, my close friend.

And so some of us here have have sipped from that bitter cup of betrayal. And if you haven't yet, don't be surprised if it comes your way and you have to sip from it without your control no matter how much you plead for peace and reconciliation. There are some people who have unfortunately ulterior motives and agendas and who like Ahithilof are bitter and has to do something with you and so they will come against you when the opportunity arises. When David's close friend turned against him, what did David do? He turned to the friend of friends and he poured out his soul.

I love that. He turns to God and he speaks to him. Yes, as Lord, but also as someone who can who can promise more than just willing to hear you and even heal you in that place of discomfort. But David David reaches out to God knowing that he will can actually do something about it. That's how real God was to David.

He didn't just, you know, pastor said at bible study, if you if you're feeling overwhelmed because of somebody's foolishness and selfishness, just pray. No. He that was like his reflex. It wasn't some premeditated thing. He just cried out to God.

Lord, you gotta do something here. You gotta do something about Ahifofo. You know Ahifofo, I know Ahifofo and it can get real ugly real fast. You see, beyond the pain of personal history being violated, what he knew about Ahifofo was that he was a strategist. He was somebody that he received counsel from concerning military affairs and internal affairs.

And so this is dangerous. This is more than just you hurt my feelings. This is our our future can be gone if they listen to Ahithophel. And so this is a scary moment. A man with many resources, much power, much persuasion is now against him.

At one point, he was a partner with him and now he's his enemy. So he turns to the Lord. And the glorious thing about the friendship of God is that you can turn to him and he is trustworthy and reliable. And he is accessible. He is accessible at all times.

I've realized in my past with all the shards of broken relationships, all they have really done is serve as a backdrop to portray the absolute beauty and reliance and consistency of my Jesus. All the blackness of people, failures, and disappointments, and condemnation, whatever. All of that just serves as a backdrop and it just makes Jesus look more beautiful. He'll never fail you. If you walk with him consistently, you will know beyond just savior and creator and provide you will know him as friend.

And you can find it in your heart because you know how what it's like to spend time with him and to love him and to worship him privately. That when these things come to you, you can turn to him and actually believe he hears you. Yes. He can heal you, sure. But He can actually do something on your behalf.

You're touching the apple of God's eye when you touch a servant of God. Servants of God are not just pastors. Anybody here who loves God and wants to obey him. And so David turns to the Lord. And here's the thing I wanna ask you tonight.

How do you think God would answer this prayer? Like I'm at if you don't know the story, this will be especially more engaging. If you do, reserve your answer for now. But I'm I'm wondering. Here this is a prayer.

In your mind, in in your understanding of how things can play out, understand the extent of God's power and wisdom, how do you think God could? Let's put it that way. God could answer this prayer in thwarting the council of Ahithophel. I have a couple of things that came to my mind. What's that?

Masterfully? Sure. But more specifically, what can God do? You know what I think God could have done? He could have muted Ahithophel.

You're no longer able to speak. Wouldn't that be something? Ahithophel was there and they sought counsel and he can't talk. What's going on with this man? He could have paralyzed them.

He could have blinded him. He could have just outright just killed him and got rid of him in that very moment. The moment David uttered that prayer, Ahifophel could have lost his life. Did God answer this prayer? Did he?

Okay. For you who know that he answered this prayer, how did he do it? What's that? You're right. He did bring in somebody else.

Who did he bring in? Shai. Oh, would you look at it with me here in verse 32? While David was coming to the summit where God was worshiped, behold, Hishai the archite came to meet him with his coat torn and dirt on his head. Do you see the word behold there?

That is intended to highlight the significance of Hushai's arrival. It's almost as though as you're reading, especially verse 31, you just learned that David uttered his prayer to God that something would happen. And what the Holy Spirit is trying to do is when you come to verse 32, hey, pay attention to what's about to happen. Behold, look at this. See what is now entering into the scene.

This is important reader. Recognize the significance of this reader. This is not disconnected from the context reader. This is a fact very much associated with what you just learned in verse 31. The moment David prays his prayer, he walks towards the summit and what you see here is that Hushai enters the scene and the writer is saying, behold, check this out.

And it's supposed to grab your attention and make the connection with the previous thing that you just saw. Hushai is the answer that God provided for David's plea. The openness, the humility, the position, just all the providential pieces that fit Hushai would serve a purpose connected to David's prayer. And you're gonna see that in the next few chapters. And if you doubt that Hushai is actually the answer to David's prayer, this is the person that God provided that would bring about deliverance, go to chapter 17 and look at verse 14.

And I want you to see how God confirms that Hushai is in fact his provision for David's prayer. Second Samuel 17 verse 14. And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, the counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom. Do you see it?

Hushai is gonna go back to the palace. Hushai is gonna interact with the king. Hushai must have had some kind of counseling position even during David's reign. Absalom recognizes that. And then they receive Ahithophel's instruction, his advice for this whole thing, and they turn to Hushai.

Hushai says, you know what? Ahifophel is usually good but this time he missed the mark. And he gives his advice. And the advice would suspend and give the the men and David more time to escape and to establish themselves. And God allowed this to happen so that when they received when they received Hushai's advice, it would be to their own detriment.

Okay. When I read this, I thought to myself, there's so much in this. We don't have the time necessarily to unpack each of it in great detail. So pay attention Because we have incredible insight about prayer here. We have incredible insight about what we can take for our own lives.

Here's the first thing you have to understand. When God answers our needs, if you're a praying person, pay attention. When God answers your request, it doesn't always come in predictable packages. K? Sometimes when we pray, we don't only pray, we imagine and fantasize how God's gonna answer that prayer.

This is how God's gonna do it. This is how God's gonna do it. Right? And that's a dangerous thing to do because as much as you need to be specific with your prayer, you also need to be open with how God will answer. Or else you can miss how God provides.

You can fail to see how God brings about his faithfulness in your life. And here's the thing, one of the most overlooked ways in which God provides for us is through friends. It's through friends. Look at how David's friend here is described in verse 37 of chapter 15. Second Samuel fifteen thirty seven.

So Hishai, David's friend. David's friend came into the city just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem. I think one of the ways in which you and I overlook God's faithfulness is when we fail to see him working through friendships. You say, brother, you might be reading too much into this. No.

I think it's a principle that is that is valid. What did Paul say about the comfort that he received from God at the coming of who? Titus. It was the coming of Titus that God brought about comfort to his soul. The people in your life, the very people that you're sitting with can be God's answer to many things in your life.

And we can overlook that. His answers are not always predictable. His packages vary. They're not always flashy. They're not always supernatural.

Sometimes it's flesh and blood. And God just finds a person like Hushai who has a a loyalty and a openness in their heart to bring about some kind of support and it's totally directly from God and you just need the scriptural insight to see that this is one way in which God extends his hand to you. As much as it's through somebody else with their personality and their history with you, it's very much God who moves that heart to help yours. That's what we see. God's answers to our prayers are not always predictable packages.

But secondly, we see that his grace is so wide that he considers our prayers even though the duration of that supplication is no longer than a single breath. Put a put a clock, put a timer to that prayer that David prayed in verse 31. What? Like half a second, a second? And still God heard it because God is not impressed by drawn out elaborate, painful cries and intercessions.

It's not the length of prayer that moves the heart of God, it's the depth of that prayer. And you can have a one sentence prayer that is so genuine and sincere that will win God's favor over three hours of hypocritical, pharisaical like praying. This is the grace of God. It's so wide. David can just say, this is God.

I need you here. And he'll provide. He'll provide. That's the grace of God. That's how wide it is.

That even and and how just our weakness and how pathetic our prayers are and all the intrusive thoughts that come when God zooms in even while you're trying to push through the laundry idea and what you're gonna make for dinner but you know you need to pray and you know that God is the only one who can supply and you have no other way out, God will say, I'll still give you this grace. That's how wide his grace is. But here's the third thing I take out of this. God does more than we can ask. David's prayer was very simple.

Right? He he just said, please turn the council of Ahithophel into foolishness. That's all he asked of God. Very simple. Just confuse him.

Confuse the hearers. Lord, whatever it is that you need to do to ensure that there there will be this this missing mark here from Ahithophel's mind to the hearts of these evil men, Just please do that. You know what God does? He goes beyond that. You heard it right in second Samuel seventeen fourteen when we were told that they took the advice of Hushai.

Can I remind you what else happened? It says to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, but it didn't end there. He goes on to say, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom. I'm not only going to make Ahithophel's counsel unconvincing, I'm gonna let Hushai's counsel be convincing and be the very death verdict of Absalom. I'm gonna take care of Absalom once and for all.

I'm not gonna let Absalom advance one more step beyond my perfect will. And so he he does more than what you ask even if what you ask you think is is sufficient. God says, your faith, I'm gonna take it beyond what you intended it for and I'm gonna give you more than you thought you needed. I'm gonna deal with Absalom and my answer to your prayer is gonna be multipurpose manifold. Here's my favorite part.

Here's my favorite part. Those are all great parts, but here's my favorite part about this lesson of David praying in this context. When you think about David's prayer, he's praying about a specific man. He's praying about a man who had a brilliant mind, a frighteningly sharp mind, a man who was praised. We're told later that the advice of Ahithophel was like the very counsel of God.

Imagine knowing somebody that you can rely on their every word that there is no doubt that when they tell you to do something, it's the absolute best outcome that could come about in your predicament. That's who Ahithophel was. And what you see here is that when David prays, it beats that. Prayer is more powerful of a weapon than the most brilliant mind a person can have. I love this point.

This point excites me. David was not as smart as Ahithophel. David David was not as wise as Ahithophel. David was not as successful in trying to find out a practical way to come about something, but David was a praying man, and a praying man is more dangerous than a smart man. Oh, you don't believe it.

Right? Because we worship the brain these days. We worship the brain. Somebody can get up there and just wax eloquence and have a bunch of letters by their name and we we just listen to their every word. Listen, to be honest, some people that people listen to, they're popular and they have millions of views.

I don't get it. I don't get it. One, not that you can't glean some things from the world, but one, they don't have Christ wisdom. They don't have God's wisdom. And you have Christian people more excited about secular philosophy and psychology than than God's word.

Personally, not not not just because I wanna defend God's word and I I wanna sound simplistic. I just I I don't see it. I don't understand it. That's besides the point. I don't wanna go down that rabbit hole.

But here you have a man who prays and this man who prays is at a greater advantage than the man who has a mind unlike any other but whose heart is far from God. Give me a man who has a limited mind but a heart filled with God over a man who has a great mind but has no connection to God that I love and serve. A praying man is more to be feared, is more guaranteed success and peace and protection than a man who could configure and figure out all these things with his own human wisdom and reliance. Believe that about prayer. Believe that God backs up a praying man.

Oh, is God against intelligence? Absolutely not. Is God against thinking? No. Is God a God God against knowledge and acquiring knowledge?

No. I'm sure you read Proverbs and many other places to realize that's not the case. But God opposes the man who relies on the strength of the flesh and the arm of the flesh. And he backs up the man, though pathetic in his situation, but strong in prayer. Commit your cause to God.

Bring that person to God and say, God, I surrendered my right here. I'm not gonna deal with this. You need to come in and deal with this. You need to step in here. I'm not gonna do it, Lord.

And watch how God will come through. Watch how God will defend you. Watch how God will, in a scary way, set you up for a future. What do I do? What do I do?

What do I do? What do I do when something like this is is is beyond my control and it's very painful and my whole world is being flipped upside down. Well, avoid avoid more bloodshed. Trust in God's sovereignty. Commit your cause to God.

And lastly, take the opportunity in that season to give special worship to the Lord. Where do I see that? Look again at verse 32. While David was coming to the summit where God was worshiped, That's an interesting description of where he was headed. Behold, Hushai the archite came to meet him with his coat torn and dirt on his head.

Who has a King James version? Who has a New King James version? Who has ESV? And all the hands go up. Right?

Okay. Yeah. If you have the New King James or the King James, it will say in that part where it says where God was worshiped, it will say in those versions where he worshiped God. Right? Where he worshiped God.

Where he worshiped God. The New King James and the King James will say that. I believe whatever whatever transition you're holding, they're saying the same thing. There's the mention of David headed towards somewhere where worship was and I believe where he went to worship. David in his mind, in all of this chaos, in all of the the development of all this this thing, right, that's happening in his life, and all the fireworks and all the bombs that are just around him, dropping around the mind field, all these things, David purposed in his heart, hey, I gotta pause at some point here and give God worship.

This is just astounding to me. He comes to seek the Lord in a specific way and give him particular recognition. And here's the thing you have to understand. What does this kind of disciplined adoration to the Lord, what does that do to God's heart? That was my question when I looked at that.

My question was not anything else other than Lord, what does that mean to you? When a man like David at this point in his life is choosing to stop before moving on to give worship to God and to seek God and to prod his heart to God. And what I especially love about his worship to the Lord is this. Look again at verse 31. It was told to David that Ahithophel joined Absalom.

Right? David in verse 31, he prays to God. He seeks God for this thing. And verse 32, we are told that he goes where god was worshiped or where he worshiped god. And then after that, we see the behold, Hushai the archite came to meet him.

What do I mean by that? What I see here is that David gave God worship or was headed towards the place of worship before the answer to his prayer came. So his his worship to God was not dependent upon a solution that was provided him or or some kind of answer, some kind of provision that God made. His he he was totally intended to give God glory and honor and praise even before a sign of some kind of improvement was made known. That's worship.

That I believe is the sacrifice of praise. I'm not gonna wait to worship God and give thanks to him once he answers that prayer. I will when it does, but I'm gonna give it to him even before just because God is God. Just because God is God and he's worthy. This is what he does here.

Does he not? He worshiped before and his adoration was not dependent upon answers. His adoration was not dependent upon answers. It was totally energized by his understanding of how much God is adorned in his person with holiness and goodness and infinite beauty and power and love toward him. And even in this, he could say, I wanna worship you.

And I wonder if this is where the beginnings of Psalm three were birthed. I wonder if the words of Psalm three began when David here says, I'm I'm gonna worship God. And I wonder if that's not true, that Psalm three was something that David David did during this whole exile because he slept and he woke up. So there's there's there's continuous worship through all of this. Not just a moment, but continuous worship.

And so I think that it's worth ending this bible study of just reading all of Psalm three again. You just got a little glimpse of what David was enduring And we started the service with the reading of Psalm three. Now all that you've accumulated, maybe it'll bring a different light to Psalm three as you read it again. And when we come to it, I'm sure it will be a blessing to you. Psalm three.

A psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. Tired, exhausted, weary, dirty. Oh Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him and God.

Selah. But you, oh, Lord, are a shield about me. My glory and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord and he answered me from his holy hill. I laid down and slept.

I woke again for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, oh Lord. Say themselves against me all around. Arise, oh Lord.

Save me, oh my God. For you strike all my enemies on the cheek. You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your people, Selah.

Listen, if praising God is for God, Then in those seasons where nothing is in your favor, do you understand what an opportunity is to give God worship? Do you do you interpret that as an opportunity to give God worship when everything has literally been stripped from you? If worship is really for God, then bless him. Bless him even when you don't feel like you're being blessed. That's worship.

My goal here is not to make you feel guilty. My goal here is not to just break your arm and to convince you of something. My goal here is to show you how worthy God is for you to consider blessing him when you're being blunted, and when your soul is blistered, and when your eyes are blinded with tears, to in that moment consider, oh God, this is an opportunity to worship you when it really counts. You know, unfortunately, you have people, they disappear when they suffer. I'm not saying we don't we don't have compassion and patience and reach out to people.

That's part of what the church does. But what a blessing it is. Not to anybody else, though it is a blessing to others. What a blessing it is to the Lord your God. I'm sure of it.

To be like David and to say, I wanna worship him. I need to make time in all of this where I'm figuring out my life. I'm being sued and people are stealing from me. People are tarnishing my name left, right, and center. My ministry might fall apart.

My family is threatening me this way or that way. There's there's a hit list and my name is on it. Whatever the case may be, I I need to find some time in this place to worship God. Why, brother? No other reason.

Not to impress anybody, not for your pastor to say, what a good Christian. Just to bless him. Just to bless the Lord. Because he's worthy. What do you do?

Well, just avoid avoid bloodshed. Trust in God's sovereignty. Commit your cost to God and interpret this as an opportunity in your little life where everything that you can suffer is considered light affliction to say I I wanna worship him with whatever strength. And maybe your worship is a sigh, but it's still worship. And just bless God and bless God.

Let's pray. Lord, like the woman from Ethiopia who was astounded by the wisdom of Solomon, We recognize the wisdom of the one greater than Solomon and there is no more breath in us. We have been confronted by the depths of your mind and we haven't even we haven't even treaded beyond the shallow place. Lord, we just thank you that how in a text like this, we can acquire significant, reliable resources to know great blessing, more importantly, more glory to you. And we do pray that in this house, our hearts would have been changed.

In one way or another, our hearts would have been changed. And Lord, we do worship you tonight regardless of where we're at. We want to take this opportunity to give you glory. Help us remember these things in those tumultuous periods where our our thoughts and our energy are being pulled in a thousand different directions when we are being drained by those who have no good in mind toward us. Help us, Lord, to be like David, so prepared through our meditation.

So invested in you that when the news comes and when the updates are worse and worse, what comes out of us is prayer, is praise, is love, is trust. Even through the tears, even through the exhausted voice, even through the sleepless nights, Help us, oh lord, to be so filled with you that when we are crushed by conflict, what comes out is Christ. That's our prayer. You you only can make that happen. We want that.

I want that. I want that more. And only you can provide that reality. So tonight, we praise you. We praise you because your word is so alive, and it touches us.

And we wanna touch your heart by thanking you in song. In Jesus' name, amen. Would you stand as we sing?