Sermon: Plotting & Planning

He would take a copy of God's word. This morning, we're gonna turn open to the book of Second Samuel as we continue our way through that book. Return to it after a few weeks break here and this morning, we're second Samuel chapter 14. If you wanna use a pew Bible, you can turn right there to page 2, 6 5 in the pew Bible 2, 6, 5. And this morning we're looking at all of chapter 14 of two Samuel,

and let me pray for us and before we open up God's word together this morning,

Father, we are thankful for your living word and we sit here this morning with bated breath, knowing that it is living and it accomplishes your purposes and accomplishes your will in this world.

This kind of thing that men and women will scoff at. And yet it promises eternal life and promises life abundant. So we pray this morning that even as we sit under this word, as it's read and as it's preached, that we would find that we have ears to hear, we have hearts to receive, that our souls are ready receptacles for that which you would say to us, your people. And we pray all of this in the strong name of Christ, our Lord and our savior.

Amen. This morning, two Samuel chapter 14 verses one through 33. This is the holy ander sufficient word of God. Now Joab, the son of Zaria, knew that the king's heart went out to Absalom and Joab sent it to Koa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. Do not anoint yourself with oil but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. Go to the king and speak thus to him.

So Joab put the words in her mouth. When the woman of Koa came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said, save me. Oh king. And the king said to her, what is your trouble? She answered a loss, I'm a widow

Cliffhanger, my husband is dead. And your servant had two sons and they quarrel with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them and one struck the other and killed him. And now the whole clan has arisen against your servant and they say, give up the man who struck his brother that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed. And so they would destroy the air also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left

and leave to my husband, neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth. And the king said to the woman, go to your house and I will give orders concerning you. And the woman of KOAs said to the king on me, be the guilt my Lord the king. And on my father's house let the king and his throne be guiltless. The king said, if anyone says anything to you, bring him to me and he shall never touch you again. Then she said, please let the king invoke the Lord your God

that the avenger of blood kill no more and my son be not destroyed. He said, as the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground. Then the woman said, please let your servant speak a word to my Lord the king. He said, speak. And the woman said, why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God from giving this decision? The king convicts himself, and as much as the king does not bring his banish one home

again, we must all die. We are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again, but God will not take away life and he devises means so the banish one will not remain an outcast. Now, I have come to say this to my Lord the king because the people have made me afraid and your servant thought, I will speak to the king and may be that the king will perform the request of a servant. The king will hear and deliver his servant from the hand

of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the heritage of God. And your servant thought the word of my Lord, the king will set me at rest for my Lord. The king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil, the Lord your God be with you. And the king answered the woman, do not hide from me anything I ask you. And the woman said, let my Lord the king speak. The king said, is this the hand of Joab with you in all this?

The woman answered and said, as surely as you live, my Lord, the king one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything my that the Lord my king has said. It was your servant Joab who commanded me. It was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant in order to change the course of things your servant, Joab did this, but my Lord has wisdom. Let the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth.

Then the king said to Joab, behold, now I grant this. Go bring the young man Absalom and Joab fell on his face to the ground and paid homage and bless the king. And Joab said, today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my Lord the king, and that the king has granted the request of his servant. So Joe a arose and went to Geisha and brought Absalom to Jerusalem and the king said, let him dwell apart in his own house.

He is not to come into my presence. So Absalom lived apart in his own house and did not come into the king's presence. Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. There was no blemish in him. And when he cut the hair of his head for at the end of every year, he used to cut it when it was heavy on him, he cut it, he weighed the hair of his head,

200 shekels by the king's weight. They were born to Absalom, three sons and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a beautiful woman. So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem without coming into the king's presence. Then Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him and he sent a second time, but Joab would not come. Then he said to his servant, see, Joab Fields is next to mind and he is barley there.

Go and set it on fire. So Absalom servants set the field on fire. Then Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, why have your servants set my field on fire? Absalom answered, Joab, behold, I sent word to you, come here that I may send you to the king to ask why have I come from Geisha? It would be better for me to be there still now therefore, let me go into the presence of the king and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.

Then Joab went to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king and the king kissed Absalom. Though the grass withers and the flower fades, the word of God is forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.

You sang this morning from Psalm 24 and you sang, lift up your head so mighty Gates be lifted up. Oh, ancient doors that the king of glory may come in and you'll sing at the close of the service today you will sing. Oh come Emmanuel, oh come Emmanuel, they both these songs have anticipation in them. There is anticipation in the first advent of Christ and Christ coming into the world and as Christ the king comes into the world,

he ushers the kingdom into the world. But there's also this anticipation of the second advent of Christ that when Christ returns upon the clouds with the angels and the archangels, that as he enters into the world the second time, the kingdom has not only come but it is consummated. Everything that it is and will be is realized in that moment. And we all live day in and day out in light and in the shadow of this king and of his eternal kingdom.

That's all of life. And as you and I see these different men, these failures of men, they point us to the king and to his perfect kingdom that is yet to be consummated. We see a king in Christ who is not a reluctant king, but he's a true judge king for all of eternity and not reluctantly as we'll see in the text this morning from David. Maybe though a little context before we jump right into the passage because we've taken a three week break,

we're gonna remind you where we are at. David is king over the nation of Israel. His second son, Amon, chose to commit a heinous sin by raping his sister and in light of that Absalom, the next son in order then will murder Amon, his brother for raping their sister Tamar. And then Absalom will flee and he'll go to another region upon murdering his brother and that sets the stage for our narrative. This morning we're told that Joab noticed, quote,

the king's heart went out to Absalom. Actually that verb that is there in verse one is not actually there in verse one in the original language you have to grab it, it it comes from the the previous verse verse 39. And then it's assumed here in verse one and it's an odd phrase went out, his heart went out and there's disagreement among scholars. What does that actually mean? That his heart went out. It has the idea of someone being fatigued or or used up

and so it could be translated in two different ways. Is it that as the ESV suggests that David longed for his heart went out and longed for Absalom? That could be or could be the exact reverse that he was so fatigued by Absalom, so worn out by Absalom that he wanted nothing to do with Absalom.

It was David four or against Absalom. At this point we don't know. And I think that's the point because it fits the context.

David is a man in limbo and he rules with a kind of air of limbo as king, he was judged over the land, but he's a reluctant judge King. He he, he knew that Absalom deserved justice but he was reluctant to execute that justice upon his son. And so he dwelt in this kind of halfway house in between justice and mercy. Absalom, I'm gonna leave him in exile. I'm gonna give him the cold shoulder and that's the issue. And what, what does he do with Absalom?

Is Absalom allowed to return or is he forbidden from returning? If he does return, is he going to be put to death or is he allowed to live and if he's allowed to live, has he forsaken his right to the throne? He's no longer the heir to the throne or he has every right to the throne. David rules and judges, but this is a reluctant governance. He is a reluctant judge King. He he is a half measure judge king and half measure leaders are poor leaders.

Half measure kings are poor kings, half measured judges are poor judges, everyone is in limbo and only David could determine the answer.

Joe ab, as the head of the army sees and is experiencing this limbo, the nation is experiencing this limbo. Absalom is experiencing this limbo, so something has to be done and so Joab takes action. He sins for the woman of Koa who we are told was a wise woman, probably better in English to understand that as she shrewd, she's crafty, she's a schemer. He gives her a story and tells her that he wants her to take this story,

puts it in her mouth and that she is to go before David the king. And she does. David was apparently in a judicial court where he is ruling and different people are coming before him. So he sometimes plays the judicial king

and then comes this woman from Koa. She falls on her face. The words begin pouring out of her mouth in verse four and following, she tells him a story that she is a widow. She had two sons, however, the two sons were out in the field one day they began to argue between themselves and then one son took it a degree higher and it turned into not just an argument but a fight. And the one son struck the other son and then we struck the other son.

He killed that son. And now her entire clan, her entire family wants justice. He's taken a life, his life needs to be taken.

A woman pleads with the king David, tell them to spare my son. And David hears the story and and he's, he's moved with emotion. He tells her to go back to her land and he infers that he is going to give instructions that her one remaining son should be kept alive. But again, she is shrewd and so she presses, she flatters David in the text and then she asks for an oath in verse 11 and David makes the oath, as the Lord lives,

not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground. And then verse 13, it's abrupt. She turns the tables. It's much like Nathan, Nathan in that scene that we saw upon the heels of the sin with Bathsheba, all of a sudden after telling his story points at David and says, thou or the man, she pulls the trigger. Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? She continues even more poignantly for in giving this decision the king convicts himself

and as much as the king does not bring his banished one home again, the people are suffering because of you O King.

When David sees clearly verse 18 though, the woman tries to return back to her story as if it is real. He asks the woman if Joab has put her up to this.

Now my guess is that most people when they read this passage and you're reading through it on a cursory level, you're thinking, you know what? I've heard this story before. It's a story that we saw with Nathan. It's identical that a, a parable is told and he's caught in it and he sees himself in it and and now this is God instructing David and bringing this home, this chicken home to roost that look, you are just like this,

but they're drastically different.

They're not the same. Blakey a commentator said it. Well when he stated this, he said there was a worldwide difference between the purpose of the parable of Nathan and that of the wise woman of Koa. Nathan's parable was designed to rouse the king's conscience as against his feelings. The woman of KOAs is prompted by Joab to rouse his feelings as against his conscience.

And many stories that you and I are told and what we are so susceptible to are meant to rouse our feelings against our consciences. This is the game they're playing Joab and the woman, it's our conscience as is dictated by the law of God. That is to govern our feelings.

Snail Ralph Davis said, he said, to appeal to God's mercy in a case that requires his justice is not wisdom but sentimentality. They're attempting to get David to avoid justice where justice is demanded.

This was not manslaughter. When she tells her story, it's a story about manslaughter. This is not manslaughter. Absalom's action was no accident. He struck his brother not in a sudden violent fit of rage but rather with premeditated, unadulterated plotting murder in his heart and God's law demands justice.

But David, this judge king of Israel is a reluctant judge king and there has been and there will be a lack of justice on David's party. He rules the kind of air of limbo. Joe, as Joab, as the head of the army sees and experiences this limbo, the nation is experiencing this limbo. Absalom has experienced limbo and it's absolutely awful to live under.

I've recently been reading Alexander Schultz, Eaton's book Gulag It is said of that book along with Ronald Reagan's leadership during the 1980s. That those two things more than anything else historians have often said led to the downfall of the Soviet Union. And what Schultz, Eaton is writing about is he is writing about all of the great crimes that the Soviet Union committed against its own people.

And one of the things that has struck me about the book, a portion of the book is where he's talking about the people constantly living in limbo in Soviet Russia, he doesn't use that term, but that's what it is. He said you didn't know if you were walking down the street or that person that gave you a stare from across the train station or just in the marketplace or that knock on your door or that person that just bumped into you

that at any moment one of those people could be the person that whisked you away and you're taken to jail and you're on trumped up charges and you're even put to death. You never knew. You never knew because it wasn't about justice.

The police had a quota. So there's one story of a woman that she lives in an apartment complex and there are a family that lives in an apartment complex and the mother and father are whisked away by the secret police and they've been taken away and they're being taken away to death. And they had a small child that was left in the apartment. So the woman seen the small child left in the apartment, goes to the police station.

A week later the child's been living by itself for a weeks. She goes a week later to report this to the police station. There's still a child that's left there. So they grab her and she's put in prison and eventually dies because they had a quota to meet. And it was purposeful that one of people always on the edge, always looking over their shoulder, always living in a kind of limbo. Limbo creates anxiety whether intended or not.

You don't want limbo, you want justice and you want consistent, right? Holy justice,

it's freeing.

I wonder if you've ever thought about the great blessing of knowing what it is that the great judge kings of all the universe, demands what he desires, how he rules. Do you understand how gracious and kind that is that he reveals that to us?

It's freeing. It's interesting that Allah in Islam, one of his attributes is that he's capricious. That is that he's, he's prone to the fits of anger all of a sudden will fly off the handle and he'll change from what he was previously. You never quite know is he having a good day or a bad day? Is this a standard today or is this a standard today? Have I met it today? Did I meet it yesterday? You never quite know because he changes not so

with this true king, the living God of the scriptures. He's not like this. He's the just judge king of the universe. He's true and he's faithful and just consistently so he doesn't change

and he doesn't change his standard because he can't because his law is simply a reflection of his holiness. He commands what reflects his very own nature and his nature doesn't change.

He's declared his standard before us. He's clear. No limbo. There's such graciousness in this. There's such kindness in this. He's not a reluctant judge king. So what does he require? Holiness. What standard? Be perfect as I am. Perfect.

We are creating his image. We were meant to reflect him. He hates sin, he detests sin. He doesn't wink and nod at it like you and I are prone to do. He doesn't shrug it off as if ah, that was just a mistake like you and I do.

He hates it. He doesn't tolerate it like David does. Not the judge king of heaven and earth. As Stephen Charnock said, he must necessarily hate everything that is against himself. There's no limbo here. He possesses an infinitely full unyielding hatred of sin. Why? Because it's opposed him. He hates it

and thus he demands holiness be perfect as he is perfect. You always know where this judge king stands. It's never in doubt. Holiness is an essential attribute of his and so is justice. He must uphold his holy standard. Now his justice requires a condition for the act of justice to be exercised. But it is who he is. He's just

David as Judge King is sometimes just and sometimes not. He's sometimes holy and he's sometimes not. And all the land lives in limbo. But the just judge king of heaven and earth is clear. His standard is perfect holiness. And he judges according to this perfect standard,

well then maybe it's better to have a king like David 'cause maybe you get to catch him on a good day.

Maybe it's better to have one that is wishy-washy and his standard isn't so perfect.

What hope is there when you have a king judge who so hates sin that he always must uphold holiness and justice when we're sinners.

That's the beauty of the gospel.

The utter beauty of the gospel. This says king and judge,

this is the true judge king, the one that we want. And he's the one that you have this judge King comes in, the person of the son and the son takes on flesh and he lives a perfectly righteous life in his own realm, he fulfilled the righteous standard. Be perfect as I am perfect. And he says, here I am. Perfect. And then the cross on the cross, he took upon himself our sin and our guilt and he paid the just penalty receiving the

just judgment of God. Do you understand how much God hates sin? Do you understand it?

As Char said, not all the vials of judgments that have or shall be poured out upon the wicked world nor the flaming furnace of the sinner's conscience, nor the irreversible sentence pronounced against the rebellious devils. Nor the groans of the damn creatures give such a demonstration of God's hatred of sin as the wrath of God. That loose upon his son, he so hates sin that he is willing to punish it by condemning his son.

That's how much he hates sin.

That's good news because he has provided for sinners under the weight of this law. The law giver and the law abide her becomes sin for our sake. The judge becomes the judged

limbo is banished, it's gone. The the just judge, this judge king, he, he upholds righteousness. He upholds that perfect standard and he condemned sin. He does both. He condemned sin and he punishes it. And then this perfect righteousness of the son is gifted to sinners who have placed their faith in him. He took our filthy rags and we are adorned with his glorious garments of righteousness.

And we are perfect as he's perfect.

There's no limbo.

There's no, I wonder if

you don't ever get to ask that question for all of eternity, forever and ever, you know his perfect standard and you know it is met by his son and it is gifted as a gift of those that are in him by faith. Not just today but tomorrow forever. There's never a day. You have to wonder, did he change? Will he change the standard change? Will he get tired of me? Will he think differently of me?

Never. 'cause he's clear, he proclaims it and he's consistent.

What an eternal gift. No limbo.

David was not such a judge. You see, even as he instructs Joab to go get Absalom and to bring him back, even then he kind of keeps it in a limbo. He, he's not quite sure what to do or what his standard is or what he should do with Absalom. And so he says he's allowed back in the land but he is not allowed to come into my presence and he puts him under a kind of house arrest.

On David's part we see a reluctant judge king on Absalom's part. We see a reluctant repentance sinner and both are absolutely deadly. The description of Absalom in verses 25 through 27 provide a little short foreshadowing as those of you who know the book know. However, it's more than that. The description of him here is not only to give you foreshadowing but it's denote for you his vanity. And that is that Absalom remains an unrepentant sinner.

This is not a man of character, he's a man of looks. He's praised for his appearance. Verse 25, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, there was no blemish in him. What a statement. Congratulations if you've ever heard that. And then you get the description of his hair in verse 26. If you've received that compliment, I especially want to congratulate you this morning.

But it's not conveyed here to celebrate him. It's a subtle kind of condemnation of him.

I had a friend and a mentor who opened up for Elvis Presley on the road. And so he would often tell me stories of Elvis Presley. And one of my favorites was when he was dating the woman that would eventually become his wife, he decided that he would impress her by taking her backstage to meet Elvis Presley after a concert. And so he took her backstage and they spent the evening with Elvis Presley and then they left And he was so anxious to know

what she had thought of Elvis. And so he said to her, you know, wasn't it great just to spend the night talking with him? Isn't he just an incredible man? And he said she just looked at him and said, well he's pretty to look at, but there's not much else is there?

She wasn't impressed with the man. He had good looks. That's it. S has been applauding, scheming, murdering fool of a man.

What the author is pointing out to you is that he's unchanged. He looks good. That's it.

He remains under house arrest for two years. He sins for Joab, but Joab isn't going to put himself in harm's way again. So Absalom ever being the schemer decides he is going to burn down his barley fields and set them on fire. And that gets Joe a's attention. So Joab goes to Absalom to inquire of him. Why in the world are you bare? Are you burning my fields and Absalom makes a request. Let me go into the presence of the king.

And then the second half of verse 32, 2 tells you everything that you need to know about Absalom. And if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death. That's reluctant repentance. If there is guilt in me, if you killed your brother, you plotted to kill your brother,

it's deadly. There's no repentance and it's going to kill Absalom. Now here's a question for you. Do you think Absalom actually believed this? I do. I think he believed that about himself. There's no guilt in me.

You could see how he could be self-deceived. Sin is so good at this. You can hear the argument that Absalom would've made. Amon violently violated my sister Tamar. He ruined her life. Justice was demanded. David is king and father, it is his realm to do and to execute this judgment. But he didn't as king, he didn't as father. And I gave him two years.

And I am the brother and I'm a prince in Israel. And we need to uphold justice. We need to protect our women. And so I exercised justice. I gave two years for Amon to repent, to ask for forgiveness, to confess his sin and he didn't. I'm protecting the women of the nation. All the women of the nation will know that they are protected and all the men of the nation will know you are not to do such an abominable thing in Israel.

I'm upholding justice.

You can see the rationalization, you can see the beginning to excuse oneself and it's still sin.

When you begin rationalizing your sin, you are on very dangerous ground. It's a ground of an unrepentant sinner and it's deadly. The standard is not whether you think you can make an excuse for it or what might flow from it or what led to it. There's only one question. Does this stand up to the law of God?

He's made his righteous standard known. He's told you, he's told me

The law is clear, the law giver has been clear and that's a gift.

So lemme give you five quick applications. First, rejoice and delight in the fact that our judge king is clear. He's not capricious, he's consistently true. He's consistently just, he's consistently righteous. He's consistently holy now and forever more. That should delight you. Oh to so free, which should lead to the second trust in him. The fact that he's clear and consistent means you can trust his law to be what is right and what is good.

It's actually for your good. The moral law which is summarized in the 10 commandments. It's for your good. You can trust him in that because he's consistently holy, he's consistently righteous and he can't change from that

which third hope in this judge king. 'cause he is just. And because he's true, you can trust that the hope he has provided is secured hope. He's provided for sinners under the weight of this law. The law giver and the law abide became sin for our sick. The judge became the judge so that we might be the righteousness of God now and forevermore. That is our king, that's our judge king. Your hope is not some, some pollyannish quest.

It's not something hanging out there that ah, it's wishful thinking. No, it's secured. You don't have to doubt today or tomorrow for all of eternity.

'cause he is a judge king who has made his standard known and he does not depart from it. And then he fulfills it for us.

Which leads to the for

place your faith in Christ. If you have not done so, what in the world are you thinking? I'll tell you, you're not thinking.

So often in our culture when we have this conversation with people, I find myself asking someone, you know that great ee question, if you stood before the the throne of God today and he said, why should I let you into my heaven? What would be your answer?

And so often in our culture, someone will say, well, I feel like I've been pretty good. I hope I've done enough. You haven't.

But let's even say that was a possibility. Why would you want to live in that limbo? You've just crushed yourself with limbo. Maybe. Maybe I get in, maybe I don't May. Maybe I'm declared forgiven, maybe I'm not. Why?

When he's offered you security, true security, everlasting security, fixed hope that doesn't fade, that doesn't disappear, that can't be taken from you by simply placing your faith in the son of God who died for sinners and grants you his righteousness.

Finally, if you're in Christ, then live ever before him. And for him you're to be a repentant sinner. You are to become more and more like what you already are and someday fully shall be. You've been declared holy.

You are righteous before his throne. And now you are to grow in that. You are to look more and more like the one who bought you. You've been bought with a price and oh the price. He hates sin and he loves holiness. You are to hate sin and to love holiness, to where you get up every single day. And the start of your day is not the big to-do list. The start of your day is that one thing that overarches all of your two to-do lists.

Wh whether I eat or drink or whatever I do, I want to do to the glory of God today. Now how do I go about my day to the glory of God? And as you're going through your day, you're constantly checking yourself, oh, what am I doing to live to the glory of God? To become more like the Christ who bought me to put to deaths in because he hates sin and to live in holiness because he has bought me for holiness

until that day that we stand before his throne clothed in his very righteousness.

'cause you have that fixed hope. You get to the end of this passage and you go, Absalom's brought back into David's presence and he gives him a kiss. What does that mean? Nobody knows. Absalom doesn't know. I don't think David knows. But on that last day, when you appear before his throne in Christ clothed with his righteousness, you are accepted into his presence. And he says, come into the inheritance of the saints.

You are forgiven and you forever belong as a child of his fixed. Because this Judge King is not a reluctant Judge King. And he has made his way known and who he is and what it is he requires and then he reaches out with it.

You just receive it. It's a gift.

What a judge King one that's worthy of serving with all of your life. Let's pray.

Father, we give praise to you and the Son and the spirit are one triune God this morning for being such a judge king over all of heaven and earth, that you have declared yourself to us by your word. That you have pricked our consciences with the truth of your word.

That you sent your son into this world to live for sinners such as us. And that even now he reigns and that he will come again to fully consummate that kingdom that he purchased with his own blood. Are we long for the day when we shall no longer battle sin shall no longer cling so closely to us and all we shall know day after day is holiness in your presence, gazing upon your glory and enjoying your lavish love for all of eternity.

It would be true of all of us in this room this morning, and we pray all of this in the strong name of Christ, our Lord and our Savior, judge King, that even now rules over us. Amen.