It's always Samuel chapter 13 verses 23 through 29. And so what we see is that he is a weakened person. He's no longer resolute. He's easily manipulated. He's either unwilling or unable to take control.
In short order, he's not living to a good old age. Maybe he doesn't listen to anybody. Maybe now he's peerless. Maybe now he's friendless. Maybe now he doesn't really care what any of his wives have to say. Maybe he's just tired.
Maybe he's just fed up. Now, I pause on that, because let's just acknowledge that David's demise is a warning to us all. Somebody just showed me a photograph this morning that was taken staggeringly in 1996. I don't say this to my commendation, but I looked at it, and I said to myself, that must have been taken the year that I arrived. Because the year that I arrived, I was thirty-one. At that point, I looked about twenty-two, or maybe fourteen, on a better day.
But I looked at the thing, and I said, goodness gracious, I was forty-four years old there. And some of you were too. But we're not anymore. So the question is, are we gonna go the David route? Are we gonna allow ourselves to be jaded, disappointed, disenfranchised, lose our zeal, lose our verve, say to ourselves, Who cares? It's all over now. Nothing left to say, just our dreams and the orchestra playing. Oh, I hope not.
I hope not. That's what it says, he let him go. And what happens? Well, in the same way that when he sent Tamar to Amnon, he couldn't know the disaster that was about to unfold. And when he allowed Amnon to go to the sheep shearing, he couldn't know what was about to unfold. Tragically, if you look at verse 28, I wrote in my notes, Like father, like son. Like father, like son. Then Absalom commanded his servants, Mark when Amnon's heart is merry with wine. Remember that?
With Uriah? What did he do? Try to get him drunk.
Hey, let's party. See if he could ease the slopes. That's the same thing here. Maybe father and son had even talked about how that unfolded.
I don't know. And David had given clear instructions on that occasion, hadn't he? He said to the guy Abner, Take care of it up there. Just one, two, three dead. What do you find in the text?
Exactly the same. Strike Amnon, then kill him. Do not fear. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.
Amazing, isn't it? This is a murder we're talking about here. This is not a launch into battle.
This is not Joshua chapter 1, Be strong and very courageous, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you're going. No, this is where you're gonna kill my brother. Isn't the perversity of the human heart and mind so amazing? I mean, our capacity for deceit is phenomenal. As I suggested to you the last time, when, in that horrible act of violation, Amnon uses language that is endearing, that is sort of sensitive, at the same time while he is physically overpowering the girl.
I mean, it's horrendous. And now, what does Absalom do? He uses the language of honor. Be strong. Be courageous.
I'm the heir to the king. I've told you, get about your business. And what happened in the previous incident, the first half of the chapter? Five minutes after, Amnon hated Tamar. And you look there in verse 29b, and essentially five minutes after the servants had done what Absalom told them to do, they made a run for it. Then all the king's sons arose, and each mounted his mule, and he fled. Now, it is in that context, then, in verse 30, that the news comes to David. While they were on their way… So they're going one way.
Absalom, actually, he's making a run for it too, but he's going in a different direction. And while they were on their way, the picture now takes us back. This is a movie. We cut back to Jerusalem now, and the watchman on the gates is aware of the fact that news is coming of what has been taking place.
And the word that comes is that Absalom has struck down all the king's sons, and not one of them is left. Well, this turned out to be fake news, and whoever reported it was ill-informed. Perhaps—and I've noticed that when people are given an opportunity with the microphone to describe what happened, I think there is a sort of inherent tendency not just to say, Well, the truck ran through the light and banged into a lamppost. But now is your one moment to explain that it was coming at a ferocious speed. It skidded to the left.
It skidded to the right. Just say what it said. We don't need all that. And I think this fellow presumably has his moment.
And so he decides, I'll just embellish it a little bit. What news is there in one murder? Let's let it be known that all the king's sons are dead. The newspaper that we had in Yorkshire when I was a boy was… You know, it couldn't find a scoop to save its circulation.
I mean, we used to have headlines in the local newspaper that said, like, Man Had Bacon and Eggs for Breakfast, or A Tree Fell in the River. You know, it was like, Whoa, this is good stuff! But the fact that David actually reacts immediately and dramatically, as he does, then the king rose, tore his garments, lay on the earth, his servants did the same thing—that speaks to the fact that he was aware of the feud between his sons. He'd questioned Absalom, probably when he did, suspicious of his motives. But now he doesn't actually question the reporter. You say, Well, would he? Well, yeah, actually, I think he would.
And I'll tell you why. Because if you remember the beginning of 2 Samuel, about a hundred years ago, as 2 Samuel and David hears the news of Saul's death, and the young man who told him, 2 Samuel 1.6, said, By chance, I happened to be on the mountain, and so on. And David actually presses the man and says, Oh, you really got this accurate. Well, here we have it. The news comes to him that there has been a complete loss of his entire lineage.
How could this possibly be? Of course, we're going to discover that it isn't, but for the time being, you recognize that the promise of God had been that when your days are fulfilled and you lie down, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish your kingdom. That was the promise of God. So the promise of God is that through his lineage, he will establish his kingdom. And now all the rest of the kingdom is gone, and David must have had occasion to say, You know, I have deserted Yahweh's trust. I have incurred Yahweh's displeasure. But as he stands there in the company of his servants, he's about to discover that things are not as reported.
And that is where we have Mr. Crafty back on the scene, when Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother, shows up. He is, of course, Absalom's cousin.
He is officially the spin doctor. He does provide the actual account of what has taken place, but he does it in such a way as to let, if you like, David down lightly. They haven't killed all the king's sons.
Only am none. And of course, he says, this is something that is a slow train coming. You see that there in verse 32, for by the command of Absalom, this has been determined from the day he violated his sister Tamar. We've been expecting this, he says. And it would seem reasonable—reasonable, not a main thing and a plain thing—but it would seem reasonable to suppose that Jonadab's ability to explain this is because he has been in on it from the very get-go, that he's been in on it from the start, that he's the fixer, he's the get-it-done man.
He made it possible for Amnon to violate Tamar, and now he fixes things for Absalom in the killing of Amnon. Things are not as bad as you seem, king. Don't be too heartbroken.
You see his language there? Don't be too heartbroken. You're not without an heir. Only Amnon is dead. And this becomes very clear as the king's sons return to Jerusalem. In that context, it allows Jonadab the opportunity to say, I told you so. You see that in verse 36. And Jonadab said to the king, Behold, the king's sons have come out. As your servant said, so it has come about. It hasn't been a wholesale slaughter, even if it was a dreadful killing. Nevertheless, here are the facts.
Now, here's just a thought in passing. It's even possible, isn't it, that Absalom is using what happened to Tamar as a mechanism to justify his killing Amnon? Because Amnon is heir to the throne, number two. Number three, heir to the throne. We know nothing of him since 2 Samuel 3, and the presumption is that he is dead. Therefore, Absalom is now clearing his way to assume the throne for himself.
And as we go on in our studies, what I've just suggested to you may either come to you with a sense of, Yes, I think so, or you may determine that it isn't the case. But here's the fact. Absalom had no place at all to execute justice in this way. The fact that it was wrong for it to take place, which it was. The fact that it caused such pain to his sister, which it did.
The fact that it made him hate his brother, which was also true. None of that legitimized Absalom taking matters into his own hands. And there is a reminder to us here, isn't there, that when the Scriptures say, Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I am the one who will take care of things. Eventually, when God sets to right his world, all of the injustices, all of the hatreds, all of the attempts at vengeance meted out by humanity will be dealt with absolutely perfectly. And in the meantime, we need to acknowledge that we very rarely, if ever, get vengeance right.
Well, I'm going to take care of it. In fact, as my friend says, in our hands vengeance just becomes another expression of our own sinfulness. Now, what happens is that Absalom fled. In fact, my title this morning was Amnon is Dead and Absalom Fled.
You say, well, you could have just said that, and we could have had the benediction. I understand, but I want to try and encourage you to read your Bible. Absalom fled, verse 34. Absalom fled, verse 37. Absalom fled, verse 38.
So what do we know? We know that Absalom fled. He fled in another direction. He fled to a place that was beyond David's jurisdiction. He fled to his maternal grandfather and to his kingdom. He fled in such a way that he put himself beyond the reach of David, which is perhaps the answer to the difficult closing, verse 39, where it says, And the Spirit of the King longed to go out to Absalom.
Well, maybe he didn't go out to him because he was beyond his jurisdiction. Absalom fled. Tamar still somewhere. And David mourned for his son day after day. Which son do you think it was? Well, you say, I think it must be Amnon. Well, surely Amnon.
But why not Absalom too? Again, if you know anything of the story that is to come, both of his sons were the occasion of his grief. I have a picture of David in my mind. He's just sitting. He's sitting, gazing.
Sitting, gazing, but not in the way that he gazed when he was up on the top of the building, gazing down at that pretty girl, bathing. No, that gaze is long in the past. No, he gazes now. He gazes, really, probably—I don't think he fixes his eyes on anything. He just gazes.
He gazes into the distance. He's a jumble of reactions, a mixture of emotions. All the glory days are all so far away now.
Like that picture they just showed me. He's no longer the handsome, ruddy boy who steps out onto the field of battle, who speaks to the giant and says, The Lord delivered me, and the Lord will deliver me. Now, he's a shadow of himself. He can't get a balance right between being merciful to his sons and executing discipline upon his sons. So when he should say, No, you're not doing this, he says, Oh, go ahead. Well, what are we to do with this? Well, we gotta do with it what we do with it every single time. You say, Well, this is very repetitive. No, it's purposefully repetitive. In fact, I met a lady in the last couple of days, and she came to me, and she said, You know, I've been following along in 2 Samuel, but I've also been reading Chronicles. And she says, You know, I'm getting thoroughly depressed with the kings of Israel. No matter which one comes up, it's another disaster, another disaster. It is thoroughly disheartening. What am I supposed to do with this? I said, Oh, I think a member of my congregation could tell you what to do with this.
I hope they could. They would say, Oh, listen, madam, the reason for this, the reason that the spotlight is roaming, as it were, all through the pages of the Old Testament, looking for a king, settling on a king, moving on to another king, is because none of those kings is the king that we need. None of those kings is the one for whom we're looking. And so the whole point of it is you should feel in a measure that way, in order that you say, Well, where is there then this king who will reign supreme, who will set justice to right, who will magnify the wonder of God's dealings? And the answer, of course, is in Jesus. Because only in the work of Jesus do we find mercy and justice executed properly. It is beneath the cross of Jesus that not only do we find a place to stand, but it is beneath the cross of Jesus that love and justice meet one another.
How else could it be that God would save sinners except that he, the sinless one, bore my sin in his own body on the tree, in order that I might enjoy what it is to be brought into his family and to live in his presence? And here's my final observation. I said to myself, You know, people are going to sit there and say, Yeah, I kind of get this, but it's so way out there. I mean, what has it got to do with me? Well, it's got everything to do with you.
Everything to do with you. Because we share Absalom's nature, even if we don't duplicate what he did. You say, Well, where do you get that from?
Well, where do you think we get it from? But particularly, when Paul instructs Titus to make sure that his congregation are eager to do good, to make sure that his congregation do not engage with people in the community in a spirit of sort of obnoxious piety or with a snooty down look on the lives of men and women, in order to ensure that, this is what he says, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of nobody, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, to show perfect courtesy towards all people. For, he says—now, here's the punch—for we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others, and hating one another. We share Absalom's nature, even though we do not duplicate his deed.
And what's the distinguishing reality? But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness but according to his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior so that, being justified by his grace, we may become heirs of the King according to the hope of eternal life. So he says, make sure your congregation gets this, and that way they won't talk down to people, and neither will you, Titus, and neither must you beg, because this is what you are.
A total sinner apart from the redeeming grace of Christ. You're listening to Bible teacher Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. Alistair returns shortly to close today's program. We are recommending a book to you today that you'll want to request if you don't already have a copy. It is the second volume of Alistair Begg's daily devotional titled Truth for Life, 365 Daily Devotions. This hardcover book presents a full year's worth of one-page readings that unpack a passage of scripture, followed by Alistair's insights, and then offers wisdom on how to apply the passage to your daily life and thinking. Since these devotionals were first published, we've received an overwhelming amount of feedback. For example, we heard from Joe in Minnesota who wrote to say, my friend and I both bought Alistair's devotional book. We each read the daily entry, then text a few lines to each other about its application and impact in our lives.
It's been a daily source of encouragement and a challenge that has bonded our friendship. If you'd like to enjoy the same kind of daily encouragement as Joe and her friend, you can request a copy of Truth for Life, 365 Daily Devotions, Volume 2, when you donate today to support the ministry of Truth for Life. Go to truthforlife.org slash donate and tell a friend about us as well. And if you request the book along with your donation and would like to purchase additional copies to give to a friend, you'll find the Truth for Life devotionals in our online store where they're available for purchase for our cost of $8.
Go to truthforlife.org slash store. Now here's Alistair with a closing prayer. And grant that we might hear the voice of Jesus that bids us come to him, so that when we acknowledge what we are by nature, we might become all that he designs by grace. Grant that we might come to the place where love and justice meet, and that we might bring others to the same place. For in Christ's name we ask it. Amen. I'm Bob Lapine. Tomorrow we'll learn how God used an army commander and a clever woman to preserve King David's lineage. I hope you can join us. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.
