Father to Son (Part C)

Barzillai was a friend when David needed friends.

This is a lesson for everybody here. You can be a fickle friend, a fair-weathered friend. When everything is fine, you're friends.

But when the pressure is really on, and you've got skit in the game too, are you still going to be a friend? Jesus, when they said to the Lord, this is a hard saying. We don't like that sermon. You said in your sermon.

And they said, we're going to leave. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of 1 Kings.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Now here's Pastor Rick with the conclusion of his message called Father to Son in 1 Kings chapter 2. You can take everything away. God's going to still be there. So David is saying, Son, for God to fulfill His promise, you will need to be more than a male. You will have to be strong and you will have to be a man according to the scripture, according to truth. And the Holy Spirit says, this has not stopped being so.

It is still in effect. Integrity before God. Integrity before God allows a man to recover if he fails. If you fail, you say, you know, I'm wrong.

I've got to build this back up. I've got to get to work to be able to be a man of God or a child of God in the eyes of God and even people by that blameless according to the rule. And that's what Peter said. Look, they're going to say nasty things about you as a Christian.

Just make sure they're not true. Luke's Gospel chapter 24 concerning Jesus of Nazareth who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. This is the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

They're telling Christus about Jesus. And he's going, yeah, that's me. But Acts, in Acts 24, there's Paul giving his witness and says, I myself always strive to have a good conscience without offense toward God and men. God knows who I am.

He knows my heart. And that said, it doesn't matter what kind of damage I'm doing to human beings. We want the balance. We want to be blameless before not only God, but also before men. Otherwise, the integrity is sacrificed and we can become delusional supposing that God is pleased when we're not living according to his word.

If your sons take heed to their way, that if is not chance like they might. It is a requirement. It is a conditional clause. 1 Chronicles 28, David's last words this belongs to. As for you my son Solomon, know the God of your father. Boy, the authority that David is just pouring. You know he's under the anointing. And in this is also the building of the temple at this time. He's just laying out how he wants to worship set up, how the temple is going to be.

And he is all over. This is a man going out of his life just like Elijah, just not with the chariot on fire, but just as a sensational, spiritually, sensational leaving this world. And so he says, as for you my son Solomon, know the God of your father and serve him with a loyal heart and a willing mind.

Have a teachable spirit. For Yahweh searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you. But if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

This does not put us in a bubble. This does not make it so that if I'm having hard times and I seek God, he's just going to come and take my problems away. That is not what it means. It means that when the dust of this life settles because you adhered to the Lord, you abided in Christ, you will be with Christ forever. And there will be no more suffering for you. God always has his eyes on eternity because that's where he dwells.

He says, if your sons take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth, truth is to be lived and it must be esteemed. Why the world doesn't really, you know, the news media, how much time do they spend suppressing the truth? You know what they call it?

They even have a fancy, well it's not fancy, it can be. They have a word for their suppression of the truth. It's called editing. Don't tell that story. That's true.

Tell this story instead. That has nothing to do with anything. And they do this all the time, if not flat out lying, as they do do. And so they do not respect the truth. The truth is not esteemed. David is saying truth must be esteemed and it must be guarded in the mind. You have to have it in your head that this is what's going to dictate the course of your life. Truth.

It's not a magic wand. Just because you love the truth and pursue the truth and are a child of the truth does not guarantee that you will be shielded from other truths that aren't so pleasant. With all, in this life, with all their heart and all their soul. David is, we say he's not taking any prisoners when it comes to telling the truth to his son what it's going to take to be a king.

And he's not even gotten to the people yet. He's just laying the foundation for what he's going to say about the men that Solomon is going to have to deal with. With all their heart and all their soul. Words from a man of the word of God.

A man of his Bible. Devotion demands effort. And it comes with agony. And anyone who is not suffering to some degree to expand their knowledge of the word is not in the word. I mean, it just takes work. Hard work. Like loyalty, devotion has to be tested to be proven that it is there. And that usually comes when the moods start fighting against us. I don't feel like it.

Again, using myself. What would happen to a church if you had a pastor that did not feel like staying up on doctrine? I'm just going to go out in the pulpit and I'll read a verse and I'll just go off on this thing about what I think. Hopefully you have men in the pulpit who pour over God's word.

Who are just so, you know, hours into what is being said. Well, continuing here in verse 4, he said, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. He being God who said it. And so David recites God's promise based on the condition. The outcome of faith is devotion, Solomon.

That's what he's saying. And that faith comes from the word of God. Verse 5, moreover, you know also what Joab the son of Zoriah did to me and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel. To Abner the son of Ner and Amaser the son of Jethur, whom he killed.

And he shed the blood of war in peace time and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist and on his sandals that were on his feet. David is like, listen, I have been articulate with my praise of God and now, Solomon, I'm going to articulate to you the truths of God and what's happening in the kingdom. Now again, we won't get to Solomon dealing with Joab in this session, but here is the groundwork for it. David took Joab's, when it says, moreover, you know what Joab the son of Zoriah did to me in verse 5. David took it personally because they were done behind his back, both murders, and they were done against his will. Joab killed Abner and Amaser to suit himself. Both were cold-blooded murders by Joab. And so what David says, and he shed blood of war in peace time, he's saying they were unjustifiable killings. They were murders. And the Bible makes a clear distinction throughout between killing and murdering.

They are two different things. Capital punishment is justified in the New Testament and murder is not. Peter was warned when the Lord said, you live by the sword, you die by the sword. He's saying, Peter, you're trying to kill this guy, and if you succeed, they're going to kill you.

And they're going to be justified in doing it because this is a violent act. And that's what was, all belongs to the word from Christ to Peter. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

There are broader applications, but that is the crux of it. Anyway, he continues here in verse 5, and put the blood of war on his belt, Joab did this, and around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. Well, this is literal.

It's not poetic. Their blood was splattered on Joab because Joab killed them with a knife, that means, we didn't throw it, he killed them up close. And David is pointing out the violent tendencies which is a part of Joab's life, that he killed these men up close, both stabbed in the stomach. But in Amasa's case, there are more gruesome details given in the Bible, two words that stand out in his death, his entrails and his wallowing. He wallowed in his blood and his death and David is pointing this out.

He says, listen, the blood of those men splattered on Joab because he's such a savage. Solomon's ascension to the throne is accompanied by a fresh work and opportunity to purge the kingdom that David really doesn't have. David is a little spooked when he was ruling, with Amasa especially. God had told him that there was going to be violence, war, because of his sin with Bathsheba, and this would characterize the rest of David's reign. Well, he kind of walked lightly, I believe, because if he had executed Joab, there were so many people loyal to Joab, I think David feared another insurrection. When David, I know I'm covering a lot of information here, let me slow it down and back it up a little bit. When David sent Amasa to deal with an uprising, Amasa dilly-dallyed, then David had to send Joab. Well, Joab was the commander of the army, Amasa is the new commander, so Joab figures, you know what, you caused the king grief and the kingdom, and Joab kills him up close, and then he becomes the commander. Well, David doesn't want to just kill him, he's dealt with Absalom, he's dealing with this insurrection, if he kills Joab too as punishment, he's got another problem on his hands. And so that might explain some of the psychology, and I don't mean the pop psychology, I'm talking about the way David was thinking, that would explain why he was reluctant. When Solomon comes to power, David says, hey, those allegiances, that political fallout that I was faced with all my life, you won't have this.

Things have changed, you're going to have opportunities that I don't have. This is what you need to do, and that's part of what David is taking care of here. God never rebukes David for these things, he never rebukes Solomon for these things, because these men were right in what they were doing.

Some commentators, they don't like it. Sometimes I think these guys are living in a bubble somewhere, it's like, man, put yourself, before you start bashing on David, I got your phone number and your address, I'm coming for you. That's just my flesh, it's okay. No, it's not.

Some of these guys, I mean, they're just not realistic. Put yourself in David's spot, in Solomon's place, you've got these guys like Shemaiah walking around, still looking to rebel. You can't leave it that way. Anyway, verse 6, therefore, do according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace. I'm not telling you how to kill him, but you've got to kill him, and you're wise enough to figure out a way to do it the right way, so that you won't get blamed by God. Because Joab's going to hand it to you, and he's going to, so is Shemaiah, because David knew these guys, he knew how they thought, he knew what they did. He could control Joab long term better than Solomon could, and that's why he's saying, you've got to kill that guy.

And that's what's going on here. Knowing, David knows, that Solomon will figure it out, and he knows that he will be the man, he will be strong enough to carry it out, and Solomon, he does it. And so David here mentions Solomon being wise. He says, therefore, do according to your wisdom. Now this is before the events in 1 Kings chapter 3, where God comes to Solomon in a dream, and says, what would you like? Riches?

Long life? Kind of a moment. And Solomon says, wisdom. Where did he get that? Who put that seed in Solomon's head? I think his dad did.

I think he did it on this day. See, that's what I meant. When David's talking to him, there's an intensity going on between the two men. There's a look in David's eyes.

There's the features. There's a part where David looks his eyes up, and he's processing information. He's remembering things from times past, and Solomon is processing that, and saying, this is important, and he's got them. And then when he says, therefore, do according to your wisdom, Solomon says, this is important, to be wise, to be strong. This is very human. It's very real, and it's very much available to us.

Otherwise, why print it and preserve it? I think this was the catalyst for Solomon's request for wisdom from God when asked, what would you like? I need wisdom.

Maybe David spooked him. Maybe when David said, do according to your wisdom, he said, you do know I'm only like 24, and I don't know anything except my urges. So, man, I wouldn't want to be 24.

If you're here and you're 24, God bless you. Get to where I am, OK? But hurry up and get out of there.

Let's go back to this. And do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace. Justice delayed is not justice denied. It is remarkable that one of the final acts of Moses in his life and in his ministry was justice mingled with revenge from God. God told him this. Where?

Where did he tell him? I'm not telling you. No. Numbers, chapter 31, verse 2, God saying to Moses, take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward, you shall be gathered to your people. I need you to deal with these people, and then I'm going to take you to heaven. Man, that's intense. Just think about it.

You don't want to arrive home. Think about God saying, and so here we see David. And David, being such a man of the word, may have just had that in mind. I would have searched the scriptures and said, OK, I find precedence in scripture.

I have a match here. There are times when justice and revenge do merge. Verse 7, but show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother. Barzillai was a friend when David needed friends.

This is a lesson for everybody here. You can be a fickle friend, a fair-weathered friend. When everything is fine, you're friends.

But when the pressure is really on, and you've got skit in the game too, are you still going to be a friend? This is, you know, Jesus, when they said to the Lord, this is a hard saying. We don't like that sermon. You said in your sermon, and they said, we're going to leave.

And Jesus then, of course, asked the disciples, you're going too? Where do you stand in this matter? Where else are we going to go? We're your friends.

We're with you. We are loyal. They didn't articulate it with their mouths that way. They did it with their lives. Peter just simply said in his wonderful fashion, there's nowhere else to go. You got it all.

We're not going to find this anywhere else. Barzillai was that kind of guy. And when things were looking really bad for David, he risked his life, and he brought friendship and food. And that is a friend. And David wanted to reward Barzillai's friends.

David wanted to reward Barzillai. He said, come, you can sit at my table. But I'm too old for that. I don't need the palace life.

I just want to go back home, finish out my days here where I live. However, take my son, Kimham. And David does that. Well, there David is saying to Solomon, expand it. Remember his other sons, his other family members. Always have a place for them at your table.

This is very beautiful. This is what Joab could have had, what Shemaiah could have had, but they opted out of this. David is not, he's no monster. He knows what he's doing, and it is right. He's telling Solomon, Barzillai, I refreshed me with food and friendship. I want you to refresh his descendants with the same thing. Verse 8, and see, you have with you Shemaiah, the son of Gira, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Yahweh, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. Verse 9, now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man, and know what you ought to do to him, and bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood. In case you're not clear on this, kill him. He's right out with this. This is such, here's the second time, Solomon has to say, he's calling me wise again.

I don't know if I can do this. He's telling me to rule the nation. Solomon at this point, we're going to read later, Solomon loved the Lord.

It's just the wealth. So before we start throwing stones at Solomon, how would you live if you were a multi-trillionaire? How would you live? Do you think you would be better than Solomon? You wouldn't get my vote. Rick, we're going to kill you if you get this wrong. Well, I'm not voting.

The flesh is too mean. The mercy of God, though, is bigger than it all. We'll cover that. What does God do with Solomon after we get to chapter 11 and two years from now? Anyhow, Solomon, he is going to extend grace to Shemaiah.

He's going to give him one more chance. Because David had his spies out, David knew Shemaiah still was doing his little stuff out there, and this is why Solomon is going to say once David dies, Shemaiah, you need to live in Jerusalem and you need to stay in Jerusalem, because I can't have you out there with the Benjamites and the boys trying to stir up trouble. And Shemaiah says, you got me.

And he doesn't fuss. He comes to Jerusalem. And Solomon says, if you leave the city, I'm going to kill you. And two years later, he leaves the city. And Solomon said, bingo, that's what Dad was talking about.

He said, do it the right way. So there's more to these stories, but they're not hard to find. It's just life. You can look at that and you can understand. Since the days of kings, there has been much intrigue. They have their spy network.

They know what's going on. And that's what we're having. David says, that guy, he cursed me. The Lord justified me, killing him for that. I did not, because God was merciful with me. I was merciful with him.

Plus, he greeted me when I returned with a thousand men, and it would have just been wrong. But he still, we know who he is. He flies beneath, the kind of guy that flies beneath the radar. You know those kind of people, they're always getting away with wrong.

It's like, when is justice going to fall? This guy gets another promotion. He's a little rat.

He can't even, you know. It's not the flat. Okay, maybe a little bit. But if you've been in the, worked in the world, you've seen this.

I work for a company, American Bridge, US Steel. Or was it? It was them. Their policy was to take the weakest worker and make him the boss. They took a slave and made him a slave driver. And because that guy was such a lazy guy, he wasn't going back into the gang, he just made sure he did his job the right way so he could stay in his position. It's like, what? The lazy guy gets the promotion? Oh, man, how do these guys pull it off? Well, anyway, I don't even know what I'm talking about.

I'm wearing a hard hat right now and clunking around some job site. Verse 10. So David rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.

Again, a euphemism. He's not really like, okay, I'm just going to lie down with my dad. He's dead. This is it for David. He's about 71, 72.

You know, got some half years in there to calculate. But it says, and he was buried in the city of David, the royal tombs outside Jerusalem. Manasseh will be the first Judah king to opt out. Manasseh was the wicked guy who gets saved, incidentally, after 52 years.

Seriously. Anyway, David's sepulcher is said to be still around in the days of the apostles. In Acts chapter 2, we'll read about that in one of the sermons given that his tomb is still with us. Some believe they found it. Not a big issue with me. Verse 11.

Unless they could really prove it, then it would really be nice. Verse 11, the period that David reigned over Israel was 40 years. Seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years. Verse 12. And then Solomon sat on the throne of his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. So Solomon inherits the throne.

We're about 970 years before the birth of Christ. 1 Chronicles chapter 29, verse 22. So they ate and drank before Yahweh with great gladness on that day, and they made Solomon the son of David king a second time, and anointed him before Yahweh to be leader and Zadok the priest. And that is the second coronation of Solomon. There was the first one impromptu when Adonijah was having his festivities, and they interrupted that, dissolved it, and then David planned this huge affair, and that's what we're reading about that I just read from 1 Chronicles.

Subtle differences. I'm not going to read them. Just suffice that verse is strong enough. So the new king comes to the throne, and his to-do list is prepared for him by his father. Deal with Joab, deal with Shemaiah, reward the sons of Barzillai, and build the temple. That's the directive that Solomon gets. The temple part is mainly in Chronicles.

We close with this because that first major crisis is on the horizon. Adonai, his brother, will make his move. 2 Chronicles chapter 1, verse 1. Now Solomon, the son of David, was strengthened in his kingdom, and Yahweh his God was with him and exalted him exceedingly. And that is an approval of what Solomon was doing in these early days under the charge of his father David. What a magnificent story.

I don't know about you, but I love this story. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross-Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

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