Sermon: Vengeance is Mine

All right, let's take a moment. Let's pray before we open God's word together.

Father, we are thankful this morning that you are a God who speaks and speaks still. You have not left us shrouded in darkness. You haven't left us to the folly of our own minds and hearts.

You have provided this everlasting word and we pray this morning that as we sit and stand in this place, that we would know that it is you who is speaking this poor preacher fade into the background. May the voices in our heads. May the adversary and his cadre of demons be quieted, and may we find that you are thundering in our minds and our hearts and our very souls this morning, and that we would say that we know our living.

God spoke to us this morning by the truth of your word, and we pray all of this in the strong name of Christ, the great preacher of God's people. Amen. Two Samuel chapter 13, verses 23 through 39. This is the holy iner, sufficient word of God. After two full years, Absalom had sheep shears at Baal Hazo, which is near Ephraim. And Absalom invited all the king's sons, and Absalom came to the king and said, behold, your servant has sheep shears.

Please let the king and his servants go with your servant. The king said to Absalom, know my son. Let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you. He pressed him, but he would not go, but gave him his blessing. Then Absalom said, if not, please let my brother Amon go with us. And the king said to him, why should he go with you? But Absalom pressed him until he let Amon and all the king sons go with him. Then Absalom commanded his servants, mark,

when Amons heart is merry with wine. And when I say to you, strike Amon, then kill him. Do not fear. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant. So the servants of Absalom did to Amon as Absalom had commanded, then all the king sons arose and each mounted as mule and fled while they were on the way. News came to David. Absalom has struck an all the king sons, and not one of them is left. Then the king of rose and tore his garments

and lay on the earth, and all his servants who were standing by tore their garments. But Jonah Dabb, the son of Shiia, David's brother, said, let my Lord suppose that they have killed all the young men. Let not my Lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king sons, for am not alone, is dead for by the command of Absalom. This has been determined from the day he violated his sister Tamar. Now therefore, let not my Lord the king.

So take it to heart as to suppose that all the king's sons are dead. For Amon alone is dead, but Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked and behold many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain. And Jonah Dabbs said to the king, behold, the king's sons have come, as your servant said. So it has come about. And as soon as he had finished speaking, behold the king's sons came and lifted up their voice

and wept, and the king also, and all his servants wept very bitterly. But Absalom fled and went to Talai, the son of Amud, king of Ur. And David mourned for his son day after day. So Absalom fled and went to Ur and was there three years. And the spirit of the king longed to go out to Absalom because he was comforted about am nun since he was dead. But the grass withers and the flower fades. The word of God is forever. Thanks. Speak to God. Amen.

Let's begin this morning with just an overview of this passage, but understand this passage. You have to go back to last week's passage and the very end of that passage. Let's go back to verse 22. And there we read, but Absalom spoke to Amon. Neither good nor bad for Absalom hated Amon because he had violated his sister Tamar. And now, for two years, as we entered our passage for two years, Absalom has plotted and he has schemed,

and he has waited. After that awful act was committed by Amon against his half-sister, Tamar. Absalom has not forgotten. Now he's brooding in anger and he is plotting and waiting for his moment to enact vengeance upon his half, brother Amon. And the day has come, he approaches his father David, and invites him and all the king sons to come to the sheep shearing. This was to be a festival, a celebration as they bring in the wool.

And David's response is, no, I I, I don't think I should go. We shouldn't all go because it'll be too much of a financial burden for you, Absalom. But Absalom continues to press, and he press says, well, at least allow, as he says, his brother Amon, to come. Now, you'll know that from last week, David is not ignorant of the relationship between Absalon and Amon. He knows what Amon has done. Remember last week, he became angry about

what Amon had done to his sister. He was angry about it, but he does nothing about it. And now in our text, as Absalom comes to him and says, at least send Amon with me. David's response to him, why should he go warning? Bows are going off in David's head. There's something curious about this. And he knows that there is friction between these brothers. But Salm continues to press, and David approves. He not only approves that Amon can go, but he approves it.

All of the king sons will go and they'll all go to this sheep shearing festival. And the plot has taken off

Absalom schemed. He waited. He planned for two years. And now his moment to reap vengeance upon Amon has come. No one can imagine. Two years you've been waiting, you've been planning, and the day has come. And that morning you, you wake up with excitement finally. Or maybe you didn't even sleep that night.

Vengeance would be his. He approaches his men, men loyal to him. In verse 28, mark, when Amons heart is merry with wine, and when I say, do you strike Amon, then kill him. Do not fear, have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant. And the moment came, Amon is feast filling his belly. He is drank his share of the wine and he is merry at the feast. And Absalom gave the word strike Amon.

And with those words, servants killed his brother. And you can imagine the scene, what was a festive gathering. What was a celebration, all of a sudden becomes chaos

while the brothers that are there have just watched their own brother have one of their fellow brothers killed.

And surely what is going through all of their minds is, am I next? And so they all leap to their feet and they run out and they jump on their mules and they flee back to Jerusalem as fast as they can.

We're told now before they get back to Jerusalem, someone else gets back before them. We don't know who it is. That person approaches King David, no doubt. It comes in with baited breath and with sweat on their brow and in between gasp of oxygen, they say to David, all of your sons have been killed by Absalom. And David and his servants are immediately wrapped with grief. He tears his garments, they tear their garments,

he lays prostrate on the ground. All of his servants lay prostrate on the ground.

But then we're told verse 32, Jonah abb, you'll remember him from last week, a cousin of Amon. Cousin of Absalom, a man that we are told in the passage of last week was a crafty man. The same man who helped Amon violate his sister. It's this Jonah ba Jonah Dabb who now appears before David and says, that report that you just heard, it's not true

Before all the other sons have arrived, before anybody else has gotten there. Jonah Dabb knows it's mistaken, only Amon was killed. In fact, Jonah Dabb says Absalom had determined to reap this vengeance since the day his sister was raped by Amon. All this violence and all the ity leads to even greater pain in David's house. Absalom fleas. He goes to another territory. We're told in verse 37 that David mourned for his son day

after day, and he longed to go out to Absalom. David's family is in shambles.

That's the count. What can we learn?

Three points this morning? We're spend most of our time on the last point. First though is the influence of sin. The influence of sin live. Knowing your life impacts those around you live. Knowing your life impacts those around you. It is impossible for you and I to live an isolated life that does not impact those around us. We cannot live independently from everybody. You say, well, what about that hermit that goes out

and gets away by themselves? That hermit that goes off into their own secluded world has robbed their own family and former friends of their presence. His choice has impacted those who used he used to be around or that she used to be around. But we often think that we can close up our little lives that my life and what I do in it only impacts me. And as I make this choice or I, as I make this decision, it, it really only has

to do with me. And we especially think that in regards to sin, my sin doesn't affect anybody. As we've touched on in previous weeks, it always impacts others. When Jesus has asked What is the greatest commandment, he will say, the greatest commandment of love, the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, strength. And then he quickly follows it with, and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Why?

Why does he say that? Because we always live coram before the face of God. You always live before the face of God. But it's not just that you live before the face of God, you also live quorum. Homini boost that is before man. You gotta know this. Live in a way that impacts others for good.

Your life impacts others. And we bear responsibility, especially those in leadership, parents, husbands, elders, pastors. And we see the impact in this text.

David's sons didn't have to commit David's sins, but they did. And the text makes it clear that his sons are repeating his sins. They've been influenced. There are illusions to David's sins throughout this passage. His sinful crimes. He committed sexual sin with Bathsheba. Well, Amon commits sexual sin with Tamar. Amon lies. David lies in our passage. Verse 28, the words struck down and die are the same verbs used in 1115

where David gave instructions to Joab, where he says, set your eye in the forefront of the hardest fighting and then draw back from him that he may be struck down and die. The words that Absalom uses here to his murdering posse in verse 28, be strong. It's meant to remind the reader of David's instructions at Joab after Joab sets your eye in the front of the fighting so that he dies in 1125. David's sons didn't have to follow David's sins,

but they did 'cause they were influenced by him. And the author wants you to understand that

there's a great song, cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin, where it's of a son who says he wants to be like his father. I want to be like you dad. And he asks in the song, the Son over and over that his dad would spend time with him, that his dad would do this with him, that his dad would do that with him. And the dad each time says, I'm too busy, too busy, son. We'll get to it son. We'll get to it. And then, and then the song flips.

The the dad has become older, the son has grown up, and now the dad is calling his son and saying, I'd like to, to talk with you and spend some time with you. And, and the son now is responding to his dad. I, I can't find the time, dad.

He promises We'll get together soon and we'll have a good time. Then it became what he saw.

We don't determine others' actions, but we do impact others' actions and lives live knowing you live quorum from mini booze. You live before men, even as you live before God. Second, the perceptibility of sinners, the perceptibility of sinners. Know that those who sin with you will sin against you. As we saw last week, the narrator told us Jonah Daab was a crafty man. He was supposed to be a friend to anon, but he seemingly knew what Absalom was doing.

Maybe he was even participating in the murder of Amon. How did he know that Absalom had only killed Amon and not all the rest of the brothers? When all the rest of the brothers are running out of the tent and they're on mules and they're making it back as fast as they can, how does he know that? From the very beginning when Tamar was violated, that Absalom was plotting and planning vengeance upon Amon? He says from the very beginning,

he was a crafty man. He showed Amon who he was, and Amon should have run from him. If he was willing to scheme for the seduction of a sister, then he could scheme for the death of a so-called friend. Those who sin with you will sin against you.

Remember David Powell and saying once that if you stand close enough to a puddle, eventually you'll get splashed. And by that he, he meant if your friend will gossip to you about others, they will probably or already are gossiping about you to others. If they're raging against others, don't be surprised when they're raging against you.

Adad was a schemer. He was a crafty man. He was not to be trusted. Third, and this is where I want to spend time this morning. The peril of bitterness. The peril of bitterness do not play with the sin of bitterness.

Absalom we're told in verse 22, hated Amon. And he nurtured this hatred and anger towards Amon for two years. The result was bitterness.

And the outcome was an avalanche of pain and an avalanche of sorrow and an avalanche of destruction and an avalanche of death.

And it's because of bitterness.

Lemme define bitterness as my definition. It's an attitude of heart that comes from long-term anger that has been nurtured and fed. And it's deadly. It's deadly.

Let's start here. Absalom had every right to be angry. He had every right to detest Amon. He had every right to desire justice to be brought to bear upon his half-brother. He had every right, never to trust him, never to honor him, never even to like him every right. In fact, if he hadn't been angry, you and I would be asking questions about him, whether he was in his right mind. He has every right to be angry.

But this anger, this was nurtured, it was fed, it was allowed to brew, it was allowed to boil. For two years, he plotted and he waited and he, he stewed in his anger, wonder how, how different it would've been for Absalom and the nation and David's family. Instead of spending two years brewing in this anger and allowing bitterness to take root if he had instead turned his heart to holiness, how different it could have been.

Now may have taken those two years to get through anger. It may have taken those two years to put to death bitterness. It takes time. But that would've been quite a different project. Again, he's rightfully angry. But he left that unchecked. He nurtured it, and it was killing him softly. For two years it, it grew like a parasite in him.

Again, if you were to take Absalom aside during this time and you'd say, Absalom, what are you doing? He'd say, I have every right to be angry. And he does.

But feeding it, nurturing it, it will eventually take hold and it destroys. It kills.

There's a fungus that is often called the zombie ant fungus. Carpenter ants, especially in tropical locations, are susceptible to this. The fungus releases some spores and those spores get on the ant's body and then they infiltrate the ant's body. And as they do so, it grows through their tissue. And eventually those chemicals spread to its brain.

And when it spreads to the brain, the ant is no longer in control. They actually leave the colony and they will climb up a tree or climb up a vine or a plant to what is an ideal level for the growth of this fungus. And what's fascinating, if that's not fascinating enough, they will get there and they will take a bite of a twig or take a bite of a leaf, what scientists call a death grip because they won't let it go.

And they will stay there immobilize until they die.

And eventually a stalk grows outta the back of their head of this fungus to release more spores.

What the zombie ant fungus is to the ant, bitterness is to man

it. It's unsuspecting. Ant takes over the host, it spreads to the host, it takes over the host's thoughts. Its the host behavior, and then immobilizes the host until it kills the host

Bitterness, whether it's founded upon warranted anger or not, is absolutely deadly. It slowly eats your soul until your life is focused on that person or on that thing or on that event, or on riding that wrong or being justified in that person's sight

or getting vengeance for that one pain. And it eats you alive. It did. Absalom,

he thought he could be freed from his pain by enacting vengeance on Amon, taking vengeance in his own hands. And you realize there was no freedom. All he did was bury himself more, more pain came. More sorrow came. More destruction came.

Bitterness and vengeance never free us. They never set us free.

John Newton once said, the two great points we are called to pursue in the sinful divided world are peace and holiness. These are the peculiar characteristics of a disciple of Jesus. They're the richest parts of the enjoyment of heaven. And so far as they're received into the heart, they bring down heaven upon earth, peace and holiness.

It is close to impossible. Hear me clearly. It is close to impossible to enjoy communion with Christ and nurture anger, wrath, bitterness, vengeance. You could still have union with Christ, but you won't enjoy that sweet communion.

Why? 'cause it directs walls in the heart. It directs your attention to that person or directs your attention to that situation or to that event, or getting that vengeance or setting that right instead of him. What fills your eyes of your heart and your mind, and and, and all of your focus, your very spirit, your soul is that instead of him consuming and it demands all of you.

So I want to give you four safeguards against bitterness this morning because I've watched it dash too many against its rocks, as happens to Absalom here. Four things. First, guard your heart and your mind. Guard your heart and your mind. Be careful what you feel your mind and your heart with because what you fill your mind and your heart with you will meditate upon you, will think upon you, will dwell upon.

Paul says this in Philippians four. He commands this, think upon these things. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever's, just whatever is pure, whatever's lovely, whatever's commendable. If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, what is he saying? Goodness in goodness out trash in trash out. Be careful what you put in your mind. Be careful what you put in your heart.

The psalmist was say in Psalm 19, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Guard your heart and guard your mind. Second, remind yourself of what you've received in Christ. Christian. Remind yourself of what you've received in Christ. Paul takes bitterness head on in Ephesians four. And he says this in verse 31. He says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor

and slander be put away from you along with all malice. And now he gives another instruction. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you. He reminds them, look, I want you to kill these things. How do you kill these things? Well, he says, look, you gotta remind yourself of what you yourself have received in Christ and you've received forgiveness.

Having said that, paying someone calls may be so severe that you aren't quite there yet. You aren't in a place of forgiveness yet. Or that person may still be on a campaign of offending. And so it's not yet time to forgive them yet. And yet it's still a good exercise to remind yourself of what you've received in Christ.

Why? Four reasons. One, it reminds us that we are so are sinners apart from the grace of God. I'm nothing but a sinner. And that leads to the second it humbles us. It, it stops us from being haugh and looking down upon someone else and thinking what a wretch they are. And you have the realization that, oh, I am equally such a wretch apart from the grace of God.

And humility does this for you. Three. It solicits kindness.

It solicits kindness. When you've recognized all that you've received,

I've received a righteousness that is not my own. I've received right standing before God. I've received adoption as a child of God. I've received the inheritance of the saints in light. I've received the Holy Spirit who has taken up resonance in me. I've received a savior who even now intercedes from me. I've received forgiveness. I, and we could go on and on for all time. And you will Christian, go on and on for all time with thanksgiving to him over

and over for things that are countless and without number.

When you realize and you begin to contemplate all that you have received in Christ, all that I've received

it, solicits kindness, how kind he has been to me, those who have been given much, give much

forth, reminds us that God can do great things. He forgave me. He did what seemed impossible, forgiving me with God. All things are possible. And so I know that he can do something here, a great work here. It could be in that person that has done me such injury. It could be that he heals me. It could be that he restores the years that the locusts have eaten away as he promised. It could be that he provides comfort in something

that I feel like has taken all the joy out of my soul and on we could ago. 'cause he's great.

Guard your heart and mind. Remind yourself of what you've received in Christ. Third, to fight bitterness. Pray. Pray. Oh my that we were more people of prayer. I say that of myself as well.

Your anger and possible bitterness. It doesn't disappear all of a sudden it doesn't because it, it takes up. We've been hurt or we've been offended, or we've been betrayed, or we've been maligned or slandered or we've been sabotaged, or you name it, whatever it is. And it hurts. And pain likes to sink in. That's what you, you don't usually just get rid of it all of a sudden.

But prayer is amazing as you pray. It is a great antidote where it lessens it and it makes it languish and it steals its power.

Especially pray for the person

you have that root of bitterness growing towards.

Oh, it will free you up.

You say, well, what do you pray for that person?

I feel like the Lord taught me this lesson close to 20 years ago. Now, there was a family that did me great harm, uh, an injury. And I used to drive by their house every day. And you know, after a few weeks of driving by their house, every day I had a conviction that I should be praying for them. And so I started praying for them. But it was not a good prayer. It was, Lord, show 'em, get 'em.

And I noticed as the weeks went by that I was getting more angry and I was getting bitter.

And in the Lord's kindness, he showed me my own sin. Jason, you're sinning against them.

And so I remember driving down the road one day and thinking, okay, I I, that I, I need to stop that prayer, but I need to pray. So what do I pray? And again, just the Lord's kindness. I feel like it was very clear all of a sudden,

Jason, I just started praying. Bless them. Bless them.

It's incredibly freeing. You're sovereign, you're good. You know what's best. Just bless him. It has a great loosening effect upon the soul and the heart and the mind.

To fight bitterness. Guard your heart and mind. Remind yourself of what you've received in Christ. Pray. And finally, remember, the Lord is the Lord of vengeance. The Lord is the Lord of vengeance.

Paul says in Romans 1219, beloved never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written. Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. And then he says, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome. Evil with good Absalom was overcome by evil. He took vengeance in his own hands. Don't don't

and trust yourself to the Lord. The Lord is the safeguard of your person. And the Lord is the S guarder of your reputation. Your pains are not lost on him. He suffered. He was despised, he was smitten. He was treated as one who had no form or majesty that men should behold him. He was beaten, he was bruised, he was crucified. He suffered. Suffered more than you ever will in this world. And he suffered at the hands of men.

He understands. He knows we have a sympathetic high priest.

He's worthy of your trust. Surrender it to him. You surrender it to him.

Think Absalom. If he had just trusted the Lord, he he would've been spared greater pain. The nation would've been spared greater pain. David would've been spared greater pain. Now listen, Amon offended him. David failed him, but the Lord does not offend and he does not fail.

Not in the end. If he had simply turned it over to the Lord, waited upon the Lord, how much of his own heart and his own life would've been spared the destruction that came

calper William Calper, who was a hymns that knew struggles in this life or that wonderful hymn. God moves in mysterious ways. And then as he says, deep in unfathomable minds of never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works, his sovereign will. He sits enthroned over all this. You think there's a portion of your life that he doesn't sit enthroned over? Is there something from your past that he doesn't sit andron over?

He's king, he's Lord, and he's worthy of your trust.

It's interesting to me that in the Book of Revelation, as John has this vision of heaven, the opening chapter, chapter one, he has this vision of Christ. But what really fascinates me is that you go on in the book and he addresses the churches there. And then you get to chapter four. And the vision that he has of Christ is that Christ is seated. He's king, he reigns, he's Lord

and John. And we as the readers are given that vision we're having. We have that picture of Christ seated and reigning before we go through all the rest of the book. Before you hit all of the rest, the plagues and the diseases and the demons and the dragon and the first beast and the second beast and the great prostitute and the devil and all the rest of the book. Before you hit all of those things, he sets our minds eye.

He's king, he reigns, he rules,

he has all authority.

And as he does, he will uphold justice

when he returns upon the clouds with the angels and the archangels, and there is that rupture between heaven and earth. When he comes, he comes to judge

Psalm 98, 9. For he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity. Jeremiah 46, 10, that day is the day of the Lord God of host a day of vengeance to avenge himself on his foes. In Revelation six, when all of those martyrs, we get the picture in Revelation six of all those martyrs underneath the altar, and they're all crying out to the Lord. And they say, oh, sovereign Lord, isn't that interesting?

Martyrs? Oh, sovereign Lord, holy and true. How long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? They know he's going to judge because he is. He's upholding justice and it will be perfect justice. And he is making all his enemies and all your enemies a footstool beneath his feet.

But here's what we do. We think, and I know this 'cause I know my own heart and I know it from pastoring you. We think I'm gonna take this into my hands.

That wrong, I need to remedy that. I need to correct

and we think we think it's going to free us up.

We think that pain will lessen and that sorrow will lessen and that and justice will lessen

if we get our vengeance. If I nurture that root of bitterness, if I exact my hatred on that person, it'll free me up. I listen you, you can see how this goes through Absalom's mind. His sister has been violated. She has been violated severely, and he loves her and he is paying for her

and he wants to be freed up. Let me get vengeance on this man.

But our scheming, our plotting, our anger, our bitterness, our vitriol, our hatred never frees up. It just buries you deeper.

The Lord alone is our salvation. And he's your salvation in every part and portion of your life. Every part of your life.

It's upon him alone that we depend in every part of our life.

He's your salvation. He is strong to save, faithful to love.

And so we just cry out with those martyrs before the throne. How long, oh Lord, with John at the end of revelation, come quickly Lord Jesus,

and we entrust him with it.

Kill bitterness. Don't let it take root.

Let's pray.

Father, we are thankful that you are a holy God. As we have sung and prayed this morning, and that as a holy God, you must and will uphold justice.

It comforts us in a world that is filled with sin and sorrow and injustice. We look forward to the day when your son shall return upon the clouds and every enemy is a footstool beneath his feet. No longer there shall be injustice in the land. No longer shall there be sin that reigns in any way or any part, and that we are free in Him. Who is our salvation? Day after day for all of eternity, we say, quickly come Lord Jesus, come quickly.

And we pray all of this in his strong name. Amen.