The Harvest of Poor Choices

Today on Summit Life with J.D. Greer.

I'm your host, Molly Bittovitch. As we near the end of 2 Samuel here on the program, Pastor J.D. is examining the often far-reaching consequences of sin. These consequences played out not only in David's life, but in the lives of many in his family as well.

For those who have experienced or observed these types of tragic results, things may seem hopeless. But thankfully, there is healing to be found in the true kingdom. who redeems and restores. Now, remember, we might be getting near the end of this teaching series, but you can always find previous messages for free at our website, jdgreer.com. But for now, let's join Pastor J.D. in 2 Samuel chapter 13.

All right, if you got your Bibles this morning, and I hope that you brought them, opened them up and turn them on or whatever to 2 Samuel chapter 13. A few years ago, I shared with our men here at the Summit Church a list that I have compiled over the years of the top nine all-time stupidest quotes that I've actually heard or read. Some of these I borrow from different lists.

Some of them I found on my own. I think I've shared them with maybe you before, but I think they bear repeating. Number nine, top nine all-time stupidest quotes. Airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value. Marshal Ferdinand Falk, the French military strategist and future World War I commander in 1911.

I feel like that explains so much. Number eight, number eight, there is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home. That was Kenneth Olson, actually said that, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation in 1977. Felt like that didn't age well as attested to by these little supercomputers we carry around in our pockets right now. Number seven, number seven, television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night. Daryl Zanuck, president of 20th Century Fox, 1946. Felt like he might have chosen the wrong profession. Number six, number six, we don't like their sound.

Groups of guitars are on the way out. Deck of Records in a letter explaining why they were rejecting the Beatles to sign them in 1962. Number five, number five, for the majority of people, the use of tobacco has a beneficial effect. Dr. Ian McDonald, Los Angeles surgeon quoted in Newsweek 1969. Number four, number four, this telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.

The device is of inherently no value to us. That's a Western Union internal memo in 1876. Should've thought a little bit ahead on that one, I think. Number three, number three, nothing of importance happened today. A journal entry by King George III of England on July 4th, 1776. Now, gotta be honest with you, I've heard the authenticity of that one disputed, but some swear that it's legit, okay? Number two, number two, everything that can be invented has been invented. That was a letter of resignation submitted by the commissioner of the US Patents Office in 1899 saying there's no more use for this office. Everything that can be invented has been invented, okay? Number one, now for the stupidest quote of all, give me some dumb music here.

This is like really dumb. Number one, my choices affect nobody but me. That's what I shared with our men.

21st century man, dumbest statement ever made, and I hear it implied all the time. Our decisions really affect nobody but me. Our decisions have massive impact on those around us, and that's what we're gonna see today in Second Samuel 13 to 21.

You're gonna see how David's sin affected more than just him. Now, I wanna give you a little warning as we get started here, and then I'm gonna pray. Today's message is one of those ones that probably needs a lot of emotional patting because it's about the scars of sin.

They are ugly, and they hurt. I just wanna say as we walk through these scars that I'm aware that some of you have some deep scars that this passage is gonna open up. I just want you to know first that God never, ever opens up a scar in your life without the intention of mending it to completeness. It is very important for you never to avoid God's Word, because God's Word is good even when it's difficult. But I also wanna be sensitive to where some of you are in these discussions. If you have a young child in here, you might wanna think about taking them to Summit Kids, because this passage does contain an incident of sexual assault.

The description is not graphic, but it is in the narrative, okay? All right, let's bow our heads, and let me pray and ask for God's help as we walk through this very difficult chapter. Father, we thank you that your Word is good, and God, even when it causes, as Jeremiah said, indigestion in us, that it's good. Ultimately, it leads to life. I think of what Moses said.

These are not idle words. They are your life, and I pray, God, that if you need to open up some scars, if you need to revisit some painful chapters, if you need to, God, bring some things to the surface that are difficult to look at, I pray that you would do so, and that way that you do, that brings healing and grace and not judgment and shame and condemnation. Lord, that's how we know that you're gonna be here speaking today, is it's not gonna lead to condemnation and shame.

It's gonna lead to hope and life, and, Lord, that's a miracle. I pray that kind of faith and that kind of power would be upon your Word today that you promise won't come back to you void, so use it to bring life. We pray, God, we have expected hearing hearts. By your grace, we are looking to you, so speak, Lord Jesus, in grace to us. We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. 2 Samuel 13. After David's sin with Bathsheba, Nathan had told David, the prophet Nathan had told David, 2 Samuel 12, 13, David, God has put away your sin.

You shall not die. He forgave David. But then, through Nathan, God also said to David these three things. Verse 10, he said, but David, the sword shall never depart from your house. Verse 11, I will take your wives before your eyes, and I will give them to your neighbor.

He shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun. Verse 14, the son that is born to you from this incident will die. It's like we often say, you can always be forgiven of sin, but you can't un-sin.

God said to David, you will not die for your sin. You have been forgiven, but there are results and consequences of what you have done. Some of you know this very deeply and very painfully and perhaps very personally that just because God forgives somebody doesn't mean that the impact of their sin goes away, especially for that person's family. Forgiveness can be real and genuine.

Consequences and pain remain. In the next five chapters, we're going to see David's family turn into a nightmare. The painful outworking of his sins, both the sin with Bathsheba as well as others after it, you're going to see the tragic story of how David's sins affected lots of people besides him.

And then you're going to hear the whisper of hope through it all. First, what I'm going to do is just walk you through the events of the chapters, and then we're going to draw some conclusions. Second Psalm 13, David's firstborn son, Amnon, who was the heir to the throne, of course, because he was the firstborn son, becomes consumed with lust for his half-sister Tamar. David had multiple wives, unfortunately. Tamar was the daughter of one of his other wives, so Amnon and Tamar had the same dad, David, but different moms, and that makes her his half-sister.

David had multiple wives, and that makes her his half-sister. Amnon lures Tamar to his bedroom one evening and tries to seduce her, and when that fails, he rapes her. The word rape is actually used.

It is aggressive, and it is violent. After the incident is over, the text says, verse 15, and then Amnon hated her so that the hate with which he hated her was more intense than the love with which he had loved her. He said, verse 17, put this woman out of my presence and bolt the door after her.

This woman. Do you remember how objectification was a theme in David's sin with Bathsheba? When David saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof of her house one evening, he asked, who is this woman?

Same exact language that Amnon uses there. The answer that came back to David was, well, David, that's Bathsheba, the daughter of so-and-so and the wife of Uriah. I pointed out that it's like the author is trying to reinforce to David that this woman was not just a beautiful body.

This woman also has a name. She's somebody's daughter, somebody's wife, maybe somebody's mother, but David didn't think of her that way as a person with relationships. He thought of her only as an object to satisfy his sexual lust.

Well, now we're seeing the sin multiplied in the sun. Tamar is literally just an object to Amnon. She was like a can of Coke.

You drink the Coke, and then you throw away the can. Verse 18, so the servant put her out and bolted the door after her like Amnon had instructed. And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long road that she wore, and she laid her hand on her head and went away crying aloud as she went. Verse 21, when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry. But read the next verse.

That was it. He didn't do anything. Never reaches out to Tamar.

He never confronts Amnon. We don't know why. Maybe he felt morally compromised, like he could not intervene. Maybe he was just too distracted with kingly problems. Maybe he was just a disengaged dad.

We just don't know. Bottom line is though, you got a dad who's walking around angry, but doing nothing, which is not helping anybody. Beth Moore says that we got way too many dads walking around angry, but doing nothing, which is not the same thing.

Being angry is not the same thing as acting justly and redemptively. Well, because of David's passivity, Absalom, who was Tamar's full brother, stepped in to handle things. And so he says to Tamar, verse 20, hold your peace, my sister. Do not take this to heart, which was, of course, colossally bad advice. I mean, how could she not take this to heart? And she should not be quiet. In fact, Absalom should be speaking up for her. How many sex abuse victims have there been who tried to say something only to be told, hold your peace, sister?

Don't take this to heart. Like many victims, she did what she was told. Verse 20, so Tamar lived a desolate woman in her brother Absalom's house.

The word desolate, by the way, means stunned or devastated. Tamar was never the same. Her life was shattered. And then Absalom starts to plot revenge, but it's a revenge scheme that is way more about him than her.

He hatches this two-year scheme whereby he lures Amnon away from the palace, gets him drunk, and then murders him. You need to be really clear, this is not about her. It's not about her healing or her restoration. If it had been about her and her healing, he would have done things differently. This is about Absalom, about Absalom and his honor. But Absalom does it.

By the way, did you hear that, getting somebody drunk and murdering them? What does that remind you of? Again, David's sin is being multiplied now in the life of his sons.

Well, after the murder, Absalom flees the country for three years and it turns into a national scandal. And that takes us into 2 Samuel 14. Unlike some commentaries, it's more devotional than academic. And the teaching is presented as sermons and divided into chapters that conclude with a reflect and discuss section.

So you can actually use this for a small group study, personal devotion, and even sermon preparation. David's life is rich with so many lessons, both positive lessons to strive towards, as well as some tough moments to make sure we avoid. We'd love to send you a copy with your gift of $35 or more to this ministry.

And you can give by calling 866-335-5220 or by heading to jdgrier.com. Now let's get back to today's teaching on Summit Life. Once again, here's Pastor JD. Woman comes in 2 Samuel 14 and tells David this story about having two sons who get in an argument when one of them accidentally kills the other one. And that son who killed the other one had to flee for his life. But then he repents. It was an accidental death. And he wants to come back home and he wants to come back to his mother, but the community won't let him.

And now she has no more sons and no heir to take care of her in her old age. Now, David doesn't realize that she's telling one of those stories that's really about him, like the one that Nathan had used when he confronted David about Bathsheba. David's not the spiciest Dorito in the bag when it comes to recognizing these setups. And so David says, well, my judgment, my decision in this is that this son should be allowed to be brought back to the community, should be restored.

This woman then says, you are the man in this story. And David is like, dang it, I fell for it again. So David says, okay, well then let's bring Absalom home.

And they do. But David refuses to even speak to Absalom. He's still so angry. So Absalom doesn't even see David's face for two more years. That makes five total years since Absalom has spoken to his dad or been in his presence. Eventually, verse 31, chapter 14, Absalom sets a field on fire, trying to get his dad's attention. David finally agrees to see him and gives him the official ceremonial kiss, which is a formal restoration of their relationship, but there's no real reconciliation. And so Absalom spends the next four years systematically trying to overthrow his father's throne.

Now, a few things you should know about Absalom. First, he was tall and really good looking. Text tells us that he had beautiful long hair. His hair alone, chapter 15 says, weighed five pounds.

Oh, is he tall, good looking with five pounds of hair? The text tells us he was very politically shrewd. He was smooth. Chapter 15 explains how he would stand outside of his father's palace and whenever people would bring their cases to the king, Absalom would go up to them and he put his arm around them and say, wow, you got a real issue there.

Unfortunately, my dad is too busy to give you justice. I'm not sure what that was, but it made me feel warm and fuzzy. So if I were judge of Israel, Absalom says, if I were judge of Israel, I'd make sure that you got justice. Chapter tells us that when people realized Absalom was the king's son, they would bow down. Oh, this is the king's son. But then he would pick them up and hug them and say, oh brother, don't bow down to me. I mean, we're the same, you and me, which is kind of absurd. It's like one of these trust fund babies turned politician who works to convince the working man, tries to convince the working man that they're just alike. You know, I'm dead broke.

I'm going to get paid $100,000 each for my speeches and that's going to leave me broke. That's what Absalom is doing here. He's trying to convince everybody that he's one of them. And so verse six of chapter 15, Absalom thereby stole the hearts of all of Israel. And then when the time was right, Absalom staged a coup. He mounts a rebellion and drives David out of the palace. And then as a show of power, he sets up a pavilion on the roof and sleeps with some of David's wives after he's driven David out of Jerusalem. That was intended to be a public humiliation of his dad to let everybody know that he had stolen his dad's kingdom.

That's how chapter 15 ends. Absalom has stolen David's house, his kingdom, and even his wives. The irony of course is that Absalom is doing all of this from the roof of the palace, which was the very place from which David's original sin had begun.

The sins of the father have multiplied in the son. Chapter 15 ends with David in abject failure. It says that David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives weeping as he went barefoot and with his head covered. He's running for his life barefoot, head covered, weeping.

Those are symbols of utter defeat, utter humiliation. David has lost everything. Eventually, however, you jump over to chapter 18. The tide turns and David is able to muster enough of his army to take back his kingdom. Absalom and his followers are driven out into the wilderness and David's army chases after them. But as they do, David gives these very explicit instructions. Verse 5, chapter 18, deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.

As Absalom is fleeing through the forest, his horse goes under this heavy brush and his five-pound hairdo gets tangled up and he's literally left suspended in the air. David's men quickly surround him. One of the guys says, King David said not to hurt him, but Joab, the commander of the army who we've seen in here has a penchant for revenge and violence already.

He says, that's nonsense. We cannot leave this guy alive. He'll just do this again if we leave him alive. So he gets three javelins, verse 14, and he thrust all three through Absalom's heart. Meanwhile, people are bringing word back to David about the battle and every time somebody brings news, David asks them, well, what about Absalom? What about Absalom?

Is he safe? Eventually, one of the messengers who knows that Absalom has been killed, but just cannot bring himself to tell David directly says, verse 32, he says, well, may all the enemies of my Lord the King be like that young man. The next verse describes one of the most heart-wrenching scenes of David's life.

Indeed, maybe the entire Old Testament, verse 33. The king was shaken and he went up to the chamber over the gate and he wept. Shaken, the crushing realization of all that has happened comes down on him. And he said, oh, my son, Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom. That is the first time in all of these chapters that David uses the word son for Absalom.

But now it's too late. And he says, would I have died instead of you, oh, Absalom, my son, my son. A couple of weeks ago, I told you that the repetition of a phrase in Hebrew indicates the intensity of emotion.

It's their version of writing in all caps. Here, David repeats the phrase, my son, my son, five times. It's the only thing like it in the entire Old Testament, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son. And thus ends the tragic story of David and his son, Absalom.

Here's what I want us to draw away from this. Three very important things, not just about your life, but three things that will help you understand your whole Bible. These are three major themes in your Bible. Number one, the sins of the father are multiplied in the children.

The sins of the parents are multiplied in the children. I'm going to put some of these points in the language of fathers with their children, because these stories are about a man and his children. But these principles apply to all of our relationships. In fact, you'll notice there are several relational dynamics that work in these chapters. You've got brothers with sisters and children back toward their parents and friends toward each other. So these principles apply everywhere, even if I'm going to put some of them in the language of fathers with children, because I think they first apply there.

But regardless of what relation, whether you have kids or not, whether you're married or not, these are going to apply to you. The sins of the father are multiplied in the children. Last year, we talked about something called the laws of the harvest. And that was the idea that when you sow something, it multiplies. When you plant something, what comes back to you is greater than the seed that you planted, for good or for bad. In fact, I compared it to Bermuda grass. You cannot isolate Bermuda grass in one little section of your yard. Left unchecked, it will take over your entire yard. In my old house, my dad pointed out to me that my neighbor had just planted Bermuda grass, and he told me that unless I put up some kind of barrier, soon my entire yard would be Bermuda grass also. I didn't want Bermuda grass, so I just moved. I just moved.

That's the way I dealt with that. Now, we apply the law of the harvest to money, and that's a very important application. The financial place that you're in today is the result of decisions you made yesterday, putting God first in your finances today. It's like a seed you plant that brings a good harvest later, and that's a very important application. But the law of the harvest shows up everywhere in God's creation, and it applies especially in regards to the seeds of sin or the seeds of righteousness that we sow into our lives and into our families. In fact, in Galatians 6, when Paul uses that phrase, what a man sows, that will he also reap, he is talking specifically about sowing sinful habits into your flesh. He says that whenever you do that, sin grows and grows in you until it takes you over and chokes out all spiritual life in you. In these chapters, what we're seeing is the principle of sowing and reaping work itself out in David's family. David sows lust and betrayal and murder, and it multiplies to much greater degrees in his kids. You can always be forgiven of sin, but you can't unsin.

What a man sows, that will he reap. This is part of what is meant when God says in Exodus 34, I will visit the sins of the parents to the third and the fourth generation. He's not saying when he says that, I'm going to hold the kids responsible for the sins of the parents.

That would be immoral. He's just saying, they end up suffering for it. Sins ramifications are always bigger, deeper, and darker than we ever intend.

But thankfully, we always have a Savior in whom we can find repentance and restoration. Pastor JD, your commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel is from the Christ-Centered Exposition series of commentaries. That's a scary word, exposition. What does that mean, Christ-Centered Exposition?

Just think about expose. You are trying to expose what's in the text. So the goal ultimately of preaching and teaching is not for me to cover up the text with creative ideas and stories.

The goal is to just unlock it and let it do its work. I love Charles Spurgeon's when they would attack the Bible. He's like, if somebody is attacking the Bible, treat it like a caged lion. If they're attacking a caged lion, you don't stand outside and defend the lion. Just unlock the cage and the lion will defend itself. That's kind of what I do as a pastor.

Just unlock the cage and let it do its work. What we do week by week here at Summit Life is we just try to expound the word. We also provide you resources like this one through 1 and 2 Samuel or our study guides that will help you expound, expose the word to yourself. We'd love for you to have this for whatever purpose you have for it. It could be a reference book.

It could be something you use to teach. Go to JDGuirre.com. Get this incredible little commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel that me and a friend wrote. Go to JDGuirre.com and you can get yours today. Thanks, JD. We would love to send you a copy of this commentary Pastor JD co-authored called Exalting Jesus in 1 and 2 Samuel. To give, call us at 866-335-5220. That's 866-335-5220. Or you can give online at JDGuirre.com. I'm Molly Vitovich. Thanks for joining us today and don't miss out tomorrow as we continue today's teaching called The Harvest of Poor Choices. We'll see you Tuesday for Summit Life with JD Guirre. Today's program was produced and sponsored by JD Guirre Ministries.