Spies and Traitors | Chris Osburn

I want to go ahead and read the chapter before we go into prayer

and get into our lesson this afternoon, This morning, Second

2 Samuel 16 · chapter mention

Samuel, chapter 16, and it's recorded there, says when David

was a little past the top of the mountain, there was Ziba, the

servant of Mephibosheth, who met him with a couple of saddled

donkeys, and on them 200 loaves of bread, 100 clusters of

raisins, 100 summer fruits. And a skin of wine.

And the king said to Zeba, What do you mean to do with these

things? So Zeba said, the donkeys are

for the King's household to ride on, the young bread from summer

fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who are

faint in the wilderness to drink.

And the king said, And where is your master, son?

And Zeba said to the king, indeed he is staying in

Jerusalem, for he said today the House of Israel.

Israel restored the. Kingdom of my Father to me.

So the king said to Zeba, Here all the thing, all that belongs

to Mephibosheth, is yours. And Zeba said, I humbly bow

before you, that I may find favor in your sight, my Lord, O

king. Now when King David came to

Bahiram, there was a man from the family whose House of of the

House of Saul, whose name was Shimmy Eye, the son of Guerra,

coming from there. He came out cursing

continuously, and came and threw stones at David.

And all the servants of King David and all the people and all

the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left also

Shimmy. I said thus when he cursed, Come

out, come out, you bloodthirsty man, you rogue, The Lord has

brought upon you all the blood of the House of Saul, and whose

place you have reigned, and the Lord has delivered the Kingdom

into the hand of Absalom your son.

So now you are caught in your own evil, because you are a

bloodthirsty man. Then Abishai the son of Zeariah,

said to the king, Why should this dead dog curse?

My Lord the king, please let me go over and take off his head.

But the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of

Zeariah? So let him curse, because the

Lord has said to him, Curse David.

Who then shall say, Why have you done so?

And David said to Abishai and all his servants, See how my

son, who came from my own body, seeks my life.

How much more now may this Benjamite let him alone and let

him curse. For so the Lord has ordained,

ordered him. It may be that the Lord will

look on my affliction, and that the Lord will repay me with

good. For what?

His cursing for his cursing this day.

And as David and his men went along the road, Shimmy Eye went

along the hillside opposite of him, and cursed as he went and

threw stones at him and kicked up dust.

Now the king and all the people who were with him became weary.

So they refreshed themselves that there.

Meanwhile Absalom and all the people of the men, the men of

Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him.

And so it was. When?

Who? Shy the archive.

David's friend came to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom,

Long live the king, Long live the king.

So Absalom said to Hushai, Is this your loyalty to your

friend? Why do you not go with it with

your friend? And Hushai said to Absalom, No,

but whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel

choose, His I will be, and with him I will remain.

Furthermore, whom should I serve?

Should I not serve in the presence of his son?

As I have served in your father's presence, so will I be

in your presence. Then Absalom said to Ahithophel,

Give advice as to what we should do.

And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Going to your father's

concubines, whom he has left to keep you the house, and all

Israel will hear that you are aboard by your father.

Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.

So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the top of the house.

And Absalom went into his father's concubines and all the

side of Israel. Now the advice of a hippophile

which he gave in those days was as if one had inquired at the

Oracle of God. So was all the advice of the

hippophile, both with David and with Absalom, correctly read.

We're going to study this chapter this morning.

Hopefully we can shed light on some of the things that were.

Going on during this time and, and we can what we can do with

those things today in our life. But before we go any further, we

want to go to our God in the word of prayer at this time.

As has already been mentioned, we're so thankful for all who

have made it here this morning to worship God.

And we're thankful for you If you consider yourself a visitor.

And if you are a visitor, please, anytime you have the

opportunity to come back and worship with us, please feel

free to do so. If there's any questions you may

have, please ask one of the brethren and we'll do the best

we can to answer those questions.

Well, we're continuing our study in Second Samuel of the exile of

David. Basically Absalom, his son, his

evil son, is trying to overthrow David as king.

And that was all kind of set into place into chapter in

chapter 15. And David was in the middle of

great trouble. He was opposed by those who were

supposed to have been his friends, particularly

Ahithophel, with whom we dealt with last time a little bit.

It was David's counsellor. Hepophil had actually gone over

to now support Absalom. And we shared the the conjecture

that given that Hippophel, he was the grandfather to Bathsheba

and there may be a little bit of, of personal agenda that a

Hippophel had maybe towards David concerning that we're not

told, but maybe that was the case.

Maybe that was what is in his heart or in his mind.

But without question, he was a traitor.

He's the Old Testament equivalent of Judas Iscariot.

And David, we have seen has gone over the Brook Kidron.

He is ascended over the Mount of Olives.

And the description of him is really a sad one.

He's weeping, he's got his, he's barefoot, his head is covered.

And, and an expression really of his mourning that he's being

exiled out of the city of Jerusalem.

And without question, that picture we have of him there is

a far cry from the man he used to be, for sure.

But what we need to keep in mind, and it's very important

that we do so, is that he is still the king.

David is still the king. He is the king.

He is the Lord's anointed. And therefore, when we consider

what is taking place here in terms of a rebellion towards

him, it's just not some kind of interaction between two guys who

have the same equal status. It's not the case.

He's the one who's been set apart by God.

He is the man after God's own heart.

In other words, God's heart was filled with David.

God loved David for who he was. And God had promised to David

that there will come one who will sit on the throne forever

and ever. But then we read these chapters

and we might start to think to ourselves, well, you know, at

this point in time in David's life, it really doesn't seem

like the David's kingdom's really going to survive at this

point with everything that's going on.

We could say that David is holding on to the prayer that he

gave back in chapter 15 and verse 31.

It says, and David said there, and that's this is his prayer.

Oh Lord, please turn the counsel of a hippophile into

foolishness. In other words, at this time,

his basically David's Kingdom, the future of the Kingdom from a

human perspective is hanging on that prayer.

David's hoping that that prayer comes to light.

Who shy, which was David's friend was sent back to

Jerusalem to spy on Absalom. A hit the fell, which was

previously counseled to David defected and went to Absalom's

side. And if we remember who shy

appears on the scene and David immediately recognizes that this

is more than possible, that the actions of who shy very well may

be the answer to the prayer that David gave back in 15 in chapter

15. And what he did is he sends

Hushai back to Jerusalem as a spy.

And he has a straightforward objective to of seeking to

overturn or to to feed the counsel of a hippophile.

And now we have reading through the chapter one part of the

council without a hippophile that we saw in that chapter.

Reading is really, really bad advice, really bad counsel.

And the next part of it will come at the beginning of chapter

17 and and we'll wait till then till chapter 17.

It's in verse 5. And to see how that all went.

And, and what's been provided for us here is that the by the

writers that we have a series of encounters between individuals

and King David. And we saw him encounter with

his encounter with Itai to get tight and then with Abby Athar

and with Zadok. And now we're going to see the

encounters with with Zeba, who deceived David and then as a

curse, cursed by shimmy eye, supported by who shy and as

opposed by a hippothel. And that's kind of the framework

that I hope to take our lesson moving forward this morning.

But first of all, in all these opening verses, we find that he

is here deceived by Zeba. Now Zeba is not a new character

to David. I'm so thankful forgot people

who put these charts together who have the time to do so.

Because when we read through that Old Testament and all the

characters and the relationships and and all that it is, you have

to be a scholar to remember and to know those things.

And people who do stuff like this make it so, so easy.

But you see here that that we have Saul, Saul, King Saul up

here. If I can get that to work.

You see the relationship down here to Ziva.

Ziva was a steward under the House of Saul, and we're

introduced to Zeba back in Chapter 9.

And Zeba was given the responsibility to care for

Mephibosheth, which was Saul's grandson, the son of Jonathan.

We're introducing him in back in Chapter 9.

And then in that encounter with Mephibosheth, you know, he was

lame in both his feet and he really needed somebody to care

for him. Well, Zeba was given that job of

caring for Mephibosheth. And in Chapter 9, verse 10, the

word was given. It says you and your sons and

your servants. This is Zeba and his sons and

servants shall till the land for Mephibosheth, and they shall

bring in the produce that your master's grandson may have bread

to eat. And Mephibosheth shall always

eat at my table. That's the job that King David

gave Zeba. That's what he was instructed to

do. And here we find him showing up

on this occasion basically, essentially with a large amount

of food to King David. This may not be an unfamiliar

scene that we've seen. In fact, back when the Bible

first introduces us to David, he was kind of engaged in a similar

responsibility. We remember all the times that

he had to go to his father and and his father said to him, I

want you to go to your brothers in the battlefield.

I want you to strengthen them and encourage them.

And he took with him an ephib of parched grain, 10 loaves and 10

cheeses back in chapter 17 of First Samuel.

And now David is actually on the receiving end of food coming his

way. David is belaboured.

He's weary. His company, his companions are

stressed out from leaving Jerusalem.

He's running for his life, if you want to say.

And here into his inner into his circle of influence comes Zeba

and the provisions that are far greater than and then David ever

took on any occasions that he had that opportunity.

Donkeys here in the translation of the word couple here could

also be translated into a string.

So a string of donkeys. And it would seem that you may

need a string of donkeys for all the stuff that Ziva brought out

to to David. I think 2 donkeys would be hard

pressed, but donkeys, bread, Raisin, summer fruit and wine.

And in encountering this, David says to him, he says, what do

you mean to do with these? The answer that Zeba gives is

not really the answer to the question that David is really

asking. Which you know, maybe there's

other translations. Maybe you could translate this

to say like what are you doing with these things?

Why have you brought these here? What am I supposed to do with

all this food? What's this all about?

I think is what David is asking Zeba.

And I think the inference is probably that King David knows

that you're supposed to be doing another job that I gave you.

You're supposed to be taking care of Mephibosheth, and you're

over here bringing me all this food.

I didn't give you that job. And there's something about the

gesture, the gesture of generosity that doesn't quite

meld with the fact to, to his loyalty.

If you want to say his generosity is, is expressed here

to David. But Zia Zeba's loyalty actually

lies with with Saul, still with the House of Saul.

He is a servant of Saul. And this is where, again, we

have to understand the whole story in mind when we're reading

stories like this. We need to understand that Saul

was dethroned as King David was put in the power.

And and even though that happened, there's still battles

going on between the Philistines.

For a long time they would fought against those Philistines

because they were coming for him again and again and again.

And that that issue still hadn't ended.

And so this little encounter with Ziba has to be set within a

wider framework. And it makes us wonder, you

know, why then is isn't that why David then sends and where is

your master son? He's asking him, where's your

master son? And that word son is used quite

liberally in the Old Testament writings.

It's actually Saul's grandson. Jonathan's son says, where's

your master son? And Zeba says to the king,

indeed, he is staying in Jerusalem.

That's a true statement. Then he says, today the House of

Israel will restore the Kingdom of my father.

To me. That is a false statement.

So he has a true statement of saying that Mephibosheth is in

Jerusalem, and then the false statement of saying that the

House of Israel that will be restored of my father to me.

So how do we know it's not true? Well, because by the time we get

to chapter 19, Mephibosheth will tell us that Ziba slandered him,

threw him under the bus. If you want to say before the

time being, we're having to read it just as David was receiving

it. You know, David doesn't have the

books written out for them to know the end of the story.

So David's receiving this information.

We know more than David at this point in in the story.

So therefore he says, well, that's quite fascinating.

In other word, in other words, Mephibosheth has now decided

that although myself is King David, I've given him all these

things. I've had somebody watch over him

and care for him. He's eating at my table, looked

after him that now he has decided that he's going to swing

back over to the House of Saul. So what has happened here is

that Ziva has really put in put words in the mouth of

Mephibosheth today, the House of Israel, restore the Kingdom of

my father to to me. In other words, he says, this is

what Mephibosheth is saying to me and I'm I'm telling King

David Now that's not what David wants to hear, Of course.

It's certainly not what he expects.

But what happens is David, based on that information, makes a

snap real quick decision. Look at what David says and he

says, well then, OK, well here all the belongings, all that

belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours.

It's quite amazing. I think David makes a snap

decision. He may have made some snap

decisions in the past we can read about, but this is really

an interesting one to me. It's almost if he says to

myself, you know, man alive, how much more is going to come to

me? You know that my, my kingdom's

falling. I've got my inner counsel who's

now turning aside and going with my son.

He was trying to overtake me. I've got Mephibosheth, who I've

done so many good things for coming against me.

Well, fine, if that's the case, then fine, see, But you can have

all that I gave to him. It's all yours.

Now. If you want to say it's what

David is telling Zeba and Zebra says, well, I'll pay homage and

you bet your life you paid homage.

That's a great deal. Zeba brings in this lie and the

David just turns over all the everything to Zeba.

So of course Zeba would pay homage.

Zeba is certainly an opportunist for sure, for sure.

You know some. I started thinking, I wonder if

Zeba was really kind of a jealous person.

It's not easy to do what David asked Zeba to do, to take care

of somebody to Zeba and his sons and his servants tells them

you're going to till the land all you're going to grow all the

food and you're going to serve King Saul's grandson

Mephibosheth. That's a hard thing to do.

That's a heavy load for somebody serving an invalid and and

working and and that's all you're working for.

I wonder if Zebra maybe was a little jealous and we're not

told that, but something to think about.

It wouldn't be surprising. But he's more of an opportunist

than anything. He's motivated entirely by his

self-interest. And what's interesting is that

David, who on previous occasions has been very, very meticulous

in dealing with encounters like this way back in chapter, the

1st chapter of Second Samuel when he hears about the death of

Saul. David really, I mean, the, the

person who brought the information that King Saul was

dead to David, Dayton presses this guy and presses this guy

and asking question after question after question, wanting

to know the details. But here David just makes a snap

decision of what to do. Kind of interesting to David's

character at this point. But in this instance, I guess he

may be distressed or he's discouraged.

His judgement is off. He makes a snap decision.

So this is not the point of lesson, but the point is just a

point in passing. Let us, let us just be careful

not to make snap decisions when we're under a heavy load, maybe

when things are not going the way we want.

Be careful not to make those snap decisions when life is

turned against us, when we're disheartened, when we're

discouraged. Don't write important letters

then don't change your job. Don't rearrange your

relationships. Don't just keep working.

Keep your head down and keep working.

Trust God. So then from Zeba, who having

benefit benefited from the his deceit, then displays his

homage. And it's kind of creepy when you

really think about it. All this was taking place while

David was beyond the summit, and that's the summit of the Mount

of Olives. And now we pick up the story in

verse 5 when King David became came to Bahiram.

Bahiram is not that far away from Jerusalem.

It's maybe a couple miles out of the city of Jerusalem to the

east NE a little bit. And Beharim is not the first

time. This is not the first time we

hear in this city either. Beharim is where David went to

get his wife Macau Michael back from pal TL because Saul, out of

a sense of grudging disrespect towards David, gave Michael to

his this guy Paletel. And David shows up and he says I

want Michael back and they're in Beharim.

Palatal comes out and he arrives weeping.

Weeping along the way, of course, is this lady he's been

partnered with is now taken from him.

We can read that in Second Psalm chapter 3.

Psalms 3 · chapter mention

And that was a sad scene, but nothing compared to the scene

that we have here. So now we have not simply David

deceived by Zeba, but now he's cursed by Shimmya.

And I think it's fair to say that Shimmya was not a very

happy guy based on what he does here out of the abundance of his

heart. The mouth speaks.

He's an angry man. He's filled with rage, and he

curses continuously. And his curses are an expression

of his condemnation of David. It says, get out, get out of

here. He calls him a worthless man, a

bloodthirsty man. And of course, the fact that

David was already out of the city.

He was out of Jerusalem. He had already crossed over the

Brook Kidron. He was on his way into the

wilderness of, of the Judean wilderness.

And now this guy Shimmyai, which was an he's an antagonist,

arrives and he speaks in this way.

I want to read again verse 7 and 8 what Shimmyai has to say to

him. It says also Shimmyai said thus

when he cursed. Come out, come out.

You bloodthirsty man, you rogue, the Lord has brought upon you

all the blood of the House of salt and whose place you have

reigned, and the Lord has delivered the Kingdom into the

hand of Absalom, your son. So now you are caught in your

own evil because you are a bloodthirsty man.

Now, as we read this, you will recognize that all those shimmy

eyes words are half wrong. They're also half true in the

same manner. They're half wrong, first of

all, because what he's saying is that David has evil upon him and

that David, David is a worthless man.

And David is a man in blood. And he's as he's responsible for

the deaths and the murders that kept taking place all in the

House of Saul. And we'll have to remember, of

course, that that Joe AB and Abishai, who had another brother

called Assayel, who remember they took a spear and in the

belly when he was running behind his enemy.

And remember that those boys were also involved, involved in

the subsequent murder of Abner. Saul had died.

Jonathan had died. And the rumor at that time was,

is that although David himself may have not actually stuck the

dagger in, he was responsible for the death and he was

actually behind all of that. And the accusation that is

coming from Shimmy Eye, this man is actually true.

And that that is the case. He says you oppose the House of

Saul, you blood on your hands in this relationship to this.

And as a result of that, God has decided that you're done, you're

out of here, you're getting removed from power and Absalom's

coming in behind you. So he's half wrong, but he's

also half right, I believe, because evil has fallen to

David. David is a man of blood, if you

want to say. And the word that had come from

Nathan the prophet to him was Nathan said, I will raise up

evil against you out of your own house.

Second Samuel 12 verse 11. And David knew that because the

2 Samuel 12:11

word of God had been spoken to him.

So this man says to him, you know, evil is upon you, meaning

the accusations regarding the House of Saul.

So David recognizes, you know, you're wrong on that, but you're

actually right because evil has fallen upon me.

You're wrong in saying that I'm that my worthlessness lies and

what I did to the House of Saul. But you're right, because on

that afternoon and that incident that began on the roof, that was

the action of a worthless man engaged in a worthless endeavor

to create a worthless end. Now then, David then as he hears

what this man is saying, is processing kind of things all

along his lines and he's thinking about it.

Abishai comes up to him and he says, why don't we just do what

we're good at doing that? Why don't we just take this

guy's head off and move on the way?

We're good. We're the sons of Zarya.

Let's just take this guy's head off and be done with them.

We don't have to hear him cursing anymore and let's just

move on with life. So the condemnation comes from

the lips of Shimmy eye. The proposed solution comes from

the mouth of Abishai. And the word of correction then

comes from David. At first he says, why are you

sons of Zehariah always interfering, always getting in

the way? What am I supposed to do with

you guys? What have I to do with you?

He says there in verse 10. So instead of retaliating, David

says what we need to recognize is the distinct possibility that

the Lord himself is speaking to me through shimmy eye.

In other words, although he's half wrong, I recognize that

he's half right. And if I'm a paraphrase, I

paraphrase, I can imagine him saying kind of sort of, well,

think about this. In fact, it's in the text.

If we see in verse 11, think about this, my own son is

seeking to kill me is what he's saying.

So why would this be a surprise if Absalom once we did old this

old crazy guy shimmy eye all the stones, all his cursing, that's

nothing compared to what Absalom my son can do to me.

And what has actually happened here is simply that what shimmy

eye implied, which was that David had been guilty of these

blood offenses against the House of Saul.

What Shimmy eye implied is that David heard what he what shimmy

I said when David heard were two different things.

Again, he accused him of something that he didn't do.

And it's simply reinforced in David's mind the reality of what

he actually did do. It's funny how guilt works

sometimes. We may be totally innocent,

innocent of things that may be going on around us or maybe

happening to us or whatever it may be.

But yeah, we feel a little sense of responsibility, what's

happening around us. At the same time, Guilt's funny

like that. Shimmy Eye says you're a

worthless man. David says, I thinks you know I

am chosen by God, but what a worthless act by a worthless man

on a what provided to be a worthless afternoon.

Shimmy Eye then says, your hands are full of blood.

Maybe I can think of David saying, well, I never touched

any of those people. I wasn't responsible for the

death of Saul, but I'm always that responsible for the death

of Uriah. Shimmy Eyes motives are wrong,

his accusations were wrong, and yet God reveals his purpose and

his plan to David through an unlikely source.

And here again at a very important piece of this entire

story, we're at, because now once again, we're dealing with

an intersection between the sovereign purpose of God and the

responsibility of man. And in reality, the reality, the

mystery of the way in which that we said all works and we said

all happens being that which was that is evil in the hand of God

may be brought to good. There's a mystery in that.

We can think of it maybe if you want to think about Joseph with

his brothers, the same issue. He says to them, you intended

for all this evil, but yet God intended it for good.

And for that God was not responsible one piece in any of

the evil acts that happened. And yet here again, once again,

we see the same thing in verse 12.

Listen to the to this from the lips of David.

It says it may be that the Lord will look on my affliction or it

could actually mean look on the wrong done by me and that the

Lord will repay me with good for his cursing this day.

You see, in the midst of all of this, David had a deep seated

confidence in God of Amazing Grace, of God's Amazing Grace.

He understood it, he grasped it, he held on to it.

This is Amazing Grace because he still knows that the word came

from the lips of Nathan. To him it says, God has put away

your sin. It was an expression of the

unguessable grace and mercy of God.

One commentator said, and I thought this was really great.

He said His mercy is so great that he forgives great sins to

great sinners after great leaks of time and gives great

privileges and great favors. That's who God is.

That's who we serve. That's who we follow.

The curses were a response. They were part of the

consequences of his iniquity. But David recognizes that God is

not only able, but God is also willing to look at this guilt

and return it to good. We have, this is a special word

to us who are Christians, Christians who believe that we

have. Maybe we've made a royal mess of

our lives. Maybe we just continue to mess

up, mess up and mess up and do a really good job at it.

You know, we're not talking about unbelievers.

David was a believer. We're believers.

Dave was a friend of God. David was a choice of God.

He made he, but he made an absolute mess of his life with

some of the decisions that he made.

Therefore, despite the fact that you and I may have ignored his

standards, maybe we've denied his word.

Maybe we have rejected his commands.

Maybe we've suffered and suffered miserably as a result

of that. And we say, well, yeah, you

know, I've repented. I've been forgiven.

We all say that. We know that.

But somehow we who have done that have repented and forgiven.

We still kind of feel like maybe we're, we're not on the varsity

team anymore. God, if you want to say maybe

we're just being Christians on the bench.

We're not playing for the A-Team.

You know, we can't see ourselves as maybe really a warrior for

God anymore because of the things that we've done.

But that is not so that can't be so as long as God is God because

he is God. And David tells us who does not,

who does not treat us as our sins deserve, that He puts them

as far from us as the East is from the West, that he buries

them in the sea of his forgetfulness.

God can only forget one thing, and that's our sins.

And that's not because he that he's a forgetful God, but that's

because he chooses to forget. And if you meditate on that

concept for a long time, it really is amazing what God has

done for us. He's got to see into the depths

of the sea. We'll cast all of our sins.

If you throw something into the sea, you're not finding it.

There was a time where we went on vacation one time and me and

the girls were out snorkeling in the ocean.

That was probably a good 15 foot deep water.

It was Clearwater, but the bottom of the scent of the where

we were at was sandy and it had rocks all the same time, kind of

speckled all over the place. And we're out there, you know,

snorkeling and everything. And all of a sudden, I don't

know what is about salt water, but it makes your skin shrink a

little bit. On my my ring was loose enough

to where my ring, my wedding ring slipped off of my finger

and it sank. We got waves and everything else

and I just go into panic mode. It's gone forever.

Well, Emma, the fish as she is, she somehow or another dove and

able to see a glimmer of my ring and she went all the way down to

the bottom 15 feet deep and picked that thing up.

I don't know how she did it, but she found it.

But when you cast something into the sea, you don't ever see it

again. And that's what it says here.

God will cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea.

What an amazing concept if we've succumbed to that devil's lie.

If I did this, I did that. I did the next thing about the

whole thing up, you know now we just now what do we do if the

devil has got that line our mind We just tell that evil 1 tell

the devil go back to where he belongs because I take my stand

with the unguessable grace of God, the God who and despite the

fact that David was in the story and it is in this predicament.

Yet it is to him and through him that Christ will be born in

Bethlehem and that the nations will hear the voice of the words

of the Lord. That response on the part of

David did not bring an end, of course, to the cursing.

It's not the a major point, but I think it's an important point

for us to notice. And sometimes I think when we

say, you know, once we kind of understand the Scripture and

we've got everything resolved, once we're prepared to

acknowledge that God is in control and so on and let him

know, then we'll be able to proceed accordingly and all is

well. I want to make sure that we

notice in that in verse 13 says it says that David and his men

went along and as they went along shimmy, I kept up the same

old stuff, throwing rocks and cursing him and flinging dust in

the air. And so we're told as David and

his company kept going on, having continued to receive that

abuse, it just kept coming at them, coming them.

And they they arrived weary, which was no surprise.

And they refreshed themselves arriving at the Jordan River.

And there he and all this company refresh themselves.

And presumably he said, well, maybe since I got all this stuff

from Zebra here now, maybe this is a good spot to eat all this

good food that was brought to us.

The scene switches then to meanwhile back in Jerusalem,

because back in Jerusalem, while this is, while David's getting

out of town, Absalom has made his way back into Jerusalem.

And the way in which his entry there has been described to us

gives us the notion that, and it's an accurate notion that all

the balance of power is now on the side of Absalom and all the

people, the memory of Israel and they came into Jerusalem.

So it's looking pretty good for Absalom at this point, it seems

like. So David having been deceived by

Ziva, having been cursed by Shimmy Eye, we're now going to

find him supported by his friend, who shy and of course

opposed by his one time counsellor, Ahithophel.

And as we come to the self, we have to keep reminding ourselves

to keep, you know, our bearings and where we're at all the time.

We've got to see kind of where we're headed in the story.

And remember, David has been unsettled by the news of a

Hippophel's defection. And as a result of that, David

of course prayed the prayer that he prays that the Hippophiles

council will will would be overturned, that God would

overturn that council. He has at the same time

dispatched Hushai, the archetype to whom we were are reintroduced

now. He sent him back into Jerusalem

to be a spy, to be a double agent, if you want to say.

And he sent him back in the hope that he will be able to become

the answer to David's prayer. And in somehow or another,

through the actions of Hushai, the counsel of a hipophile will

be defeated. Oh, God, defeat the counsel of

the hipophile. And then he says, who should I

go up to Jerusalem and fulfill the role of a spy?

Now earlier we said, and it's almost obvious from this vantage

point that all of the balance of power and significance and

influence had been found at this point on the side of Absalom.

And indeed, if Who Shy is not a successful in fulfilling this

spy mission, then the prayer of David may not be answered.

It's hard to see that David's Kingdom can continue any further

if Who Shy does not successfully help answer the prayer that

David prayed. So what we have here is a group

that are in a far a country outside of Jerusalem that needed

refreshment. Absalom a hippophil and his

company company dually installed in Jerusalem with all the odds

of victory of course on Absalom side at this point.

But who shy was David's friend we see in verse 16 and we knew

what his part was to play. And as we read these, we need to

remind ourselves that Absalom has no idea of the conversation

between Who Shy and David. Absalom's oblivious to what

David has set in place as far as who Shy being a spy.

This is taking place without Absalom's knowledge.

Therefore, when when who side Who Shy shows up and encounters

Absalom in this setting? Absalom doesn't know the

background to it all, and it's not surprising that he presses

him and really in the way that he does.

The presumption on the part, the presumption that is part and

parcel of Absalom psyche. Remember, Absent thinks he's the

greatest there is. He really thinks highly of

himself. He's very self-centered man and

he's really stuck on himself. And this really makes it

possible. It makes it distinctly possible

for Hushai to be able to con him in the way that he does.

If Absalom was any different from who he was, it wouldn't be

any as easy as it turns out to be that we can read about.

For example, he says who shy says Long live the king, Long

live the king and immediately Absalom cells says, well that's

nice. This guy's already saying Long

live the king because Absalom absolute assumes that it's a

reference to himself. He thinks who shy saying Long

live the king, long the king about Absalom after all, Maybe,

maybe Absalom says, well, he knows that the Trump of declared

him king in Hebron in chapter 15.

And Absalom must have been saying self.

Well, that's very wonderful, isn't it?

Now, now I got I've got one of David's really good friends now

saying that I'm the king and and he feels like he's in a really

good spot about that. And then he says, Absalom says,

let me just ask you about this, though, Is this how you show

loyalty to your friend? Why are you here with me rather

than there with him? Well, who should I said to

Absalom? No.

For whom the Lord and his, this people and all the men of Israel

choose. His I will be, and with him I

will remain. Who should I is doing a pretty

good job, right? Because who should I hasn't said

anybody's name yet. He hasn't attributed it to

David. He hasn't assigned it to

Absalom. No, he says, the one that the

Lord has chosen, I will be with him, and with him I will remain.

Once again, in Absalom's mind, this is clearly a reference to

him. And so apparently he's beginning

to convince himself that Hushai will actually be loyal to him.

Now, this is the very reason, of course, because because Hushai

is going to be used to overturn the Council of the Hippophel.

And the ambiguity. Ambiguity.

Guilty. I can't say the word ambiguity.

I don't know, say it. Ambiguity.

There it is. Ambiguity of Hushai's words

really allow Absalom to conclude that what Hushai saying is

really about him. And of course, the wonderful

thing is that Hushai is David's friend and that Hushai is

actually the friend of a king. Few weeks ago we sing what a

friend we have in Jesus and it reminded us about that amazing

truth that we become a friend of the king.

It's a great song. But I want to remind us quickly

about the relationship to Jesus and his disciples that we see in

John chapter 15 where Jesus speaking to his followers and he

John 15 · chapter mention

says to them, this is my commandment, that you love one

another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than

this, than to lay one's life down for his friends.

You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.

No longer do I call you servants, for your servants does

not, for a servant does not know what his master's doing.

But I have called you friends for this, for all things that I

have heard from my father, I've made known to you.

And we need to understand that to be a friend of the king as

who I was, who I was to David. It's not a symmetrical thing.

The relationship between king and whoever was the friend of

the king was a relationship that was disproportionate, if you

want to say so that it was entirely legitimate, if you want

to say for King David to say who should I is my friend, but it's

not legitimate for who should I to say King David is my friend.

And what I mean by this is that while we're very happy to sing

that song, what a friend we have in Jesus.

You know, we sang that a few weeks ago.

Like I said, Jesus looks upon us.

He says Jack, Cindy, Virgil, Brent, you are my friend and

Jack and Cindy and Virgil and Brent respond and Jesus, you are

my king. You see the relationship is not

symmetrical. Jesus is king and we will extol

him and the fact that he calls us friends is a miracle of his

grace and thanks be to God for that.

Now the reason that all of this is so important is because it's

paving the way for the fact that in verse five of the next

chapter, Absalom says completely out of the blue, he says call

who shy the archive and let us hear what he has to say.

And it's a pivotal moment and that would not have happened if

the dialogue that we just talked about had not unfolded in the

way that it did. And the the Absalom taking the

words from who shy in a selfish way, he received those words

thinking that who shy was talking about himself, created

with himself, maybe him thinking, well, who shy?

I can count on who shy now because he's talking about me.

He said long with the king, he's going to follow the king and so

on. So Absalom really kind of feels

like who shy is on his side at this point, unbeknownst to him

that Hushai was actually still acting as a spy.

And of course, they're parts of the advice that is coming this

way that will change things entirely.

Now then, that gives us enough on the matter of the advice of

the spy and how we in turn, finally we're going to turn to

the traitor of Ahithophel, which he is absolutely a traitor.

And I mentioned. Earlier that Ahithophel is the

Old Testament equivalent to Judas Iscariot, even as he was a

traitor of Jesus the King. So Ahithophel is a traitor to

King David. Fascinatingly, it says Absalom

says to to Ahithophel give advice as to what we should do.

Well, you need to be careful who you ask advice from.

I think it's what we need to learn from this.

It's not unusual for David to have inquired, but I think when

we read the Old Testament in the story of David, David inquired

of the Lord. That's who David went to for

information. And here Absalom inquires of a

hippophile. And we know of course, that a

council, that this council stated in verse 23, the council

that a hippophile gave was as if was consulted of the word of

God. Now there's something very

dangerous, I think about that and I'll show it, hopefully show

it in a moment or two as we conclude that this, there's

something very wonderful about it as well.

And the danger is that that going to people who give counsel

who are so definitive on things that when they say they kind of

pass themselves off as they were actually counseling you on the

word of God. Make sure that when we go and

ask advice from anybody that they do it with an open Bible.

Make sure that they're counseling you out of the clear

instruction of Scripture, not out of the wisdom of the

Scripture, but scripture itself. Because there are a hippophiles

out there and we got to make sure that we go to the right

people for guidance. And of course, a hippophile is

as clear as he is concise. What shall we do?

A hippophiles said to Absalom, he said go into your father's

concubines who he who he has left to keep the house.

And remember that we said in a previous study in chapter 15

that David had decided when they left Jerusalem that he was going

to leave the 10 concubines in Jerusalem behind.

We said that in passing that it was going to prove a significant

decision on his part. And we're going to see the

answer here. It is.

It says sleep with the King's concubines in the sight of all

Israel. Or if you would like, if you

want to put in a contemporary words, sleep with the King's

concubines and make sure it goes out on every single social media

platform. That's what the advice from a

hip tell was. It doesn't mean that everybody

in Israel is going to watch the story, this sorry spectacle

occur. It just means that it was going

to be public knowledge. And he says, if you do this, it

will be really foundational for your kingship because it will be

obvious to everybody that you have entirely burned your

bridges with your father and the possibility of any

reconciliation with him in the future.

And it'll it'll put a stamp that you have taken over the Kingdom

of Israel. Because in ancient E at that

time there was when there was a transition from one king to

another, all the material, all the physical, and also all the

social dimensions of that Kingdom were transferred over to

the new kingship. And in so in one sense, Absalom

is simply just doing what would normally be done, if you want to

say. But what is being described here

as being done is something so beyond the realm of ordinary and

a hippothel, you know, as we learn what a guy, huh?

He says to him, Well, we'll get things organized for you.

Why don't we, since we, you know, we want to make clear that

every your stands what this is, why don't we pitch a tent on the

roof on the top of the house? And if you know the story, you

know that same rooftop, it's the same place, it's very same roof,

the same roof that David had been lounging on and we're told

stood up and gazed out into to find Bathsheba bathing.

And what then followed in that incident was hidden from public

view. And what follows now is

unashamedly displayed for public knowledge.

It's really a sorry picture. It's really a sorry part of

Scripture. When Absalom went in and he went

in, we see that there can be great danger in the gifts of God

to us. You can ask ourselves, well, how

can there be great danger of them?

Well, unless they're sanctified, they those gifts can be a real

problem because Speaking of David, from the sole of his foot

to the crown of his head, there was no blemish in him.

That's talking about David's physical appearance, but now

we're talking about his character.

His outward appearance was such that he was a married by all and

he was coveted by all and surely, surely coveted by maybe

the female population. But his character was something

different from his outward appearance in a hit the fell.

He was so powerful who shy. We don't know what's going to

happen with him from here now, but in actual fact, we're told

in the conclusion of this incident, the conclusion that

we're going to see here is actually the key and we want to

remember that we said it's a dangerous word, but it's

actually a wonderful word. In the same time, it says now in

those days that the council that a hip fell gay was as if one had

inquired at the Oracle of God. So think about it.

What was the word of God? What was the Oracle of God?

If you want to say look at second Samuel 12, verse 11 says,

2 Samuel 12:11

thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against you

out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your

eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall live with

your wives in the sight of the sun.

And then verse 12 reads, for you did it in secretly, but I will

do this thing before all of Israel before the sun.

God, it means exactly what he says.

He's going to do exactly what he says.

He says this 5 chapters ago. God speaking through the prophet

Nathan telling David, and God does it.

It's pretty remarkable. In other words, the evil that

Ahithophel conveyed in the activity in which Absalom

engaged in that activity was under the provision of a

sovereign God, that Absalom, by his own willpower, did what

Ahithophel in such contemptible and wicked way advised him to

do. And of course, the mystery is

this, that the evil act was at the same time the Lord's doing

something to really think upon. Listen, evil never ever, ever

forts God's good purpose. Ever.

It can't. It doesn't.

Neither is evil ever justified because it is used by God for

good. There's no situational ethics

here. There's no there's no way that

it that evil transmutes into good evil.

This evil lies or lies, sins and sin.

But the mystery of it all in the words of the Hippophel, I mean

notes to him, he's actually setting forward what God had

said through the prophet before. Well, let's end with the apostle

Peter at Pentecost, Acts 2 verse 22 and 23 men of Israel hear

Acts 2:22

these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man

attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and

signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves

know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan

and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by the

hands of lawless men. That there that scene there at

the very cross of Christ, the very central point at which the

devil thought that he had had it taken care of, that he's getting

rid of Jesus. This is my world now the devil

thinks he's going to have victory over God and and and

he's at that point and it said and Peter filled with the Holy

Spirit. He's given a grasp and an

insight maybe that he previously not had is able to preach so

greatly and make the point to the Jews that had previously

missed it missed it that the goodness of God's great plan

will always defeat evil every time It's pretty fantastic.

There's a song that's out right now it's called his mercy is

more. I want to read the words to

this. What love could remember no

wrongs we have done Omniscient all knowing He counts not their

Son thrown into a sea without bottom or shore or sins they are

many, His mercy is more. What patients would wait as we

constantly roam. What Father so tender is calling

us home? He welcomes the weakest, the

vilest, the poor. Our sins there are many.

His mercy is more Praise the Lord.

His mercy is more stronger than darkness knew evermore.

Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more what riches of

kindness He lavished on us. His blood was the payment, His

life was the cost. We stood neither debt we

couldn't ever afford our sins there are many, His mercy is

more. Praise the Lord, His mercy is

more stronger than darkness new evermore our sins there are

many, His mercy is more. Do you believe that?

I hope you do hope all of us do Gospel plan of salvation.

Hear, believe, repent, confess and be baptized.

Romans 10/17 So then faith come by hearing, and hearing by the

word of God. Hebrews 11/6 says, but without

the faith is impossible to believe him, it is impossible to

please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is.

Acts 238 And then Peter said, repent and let everyone of you

be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of

sins. Acts 83036 and 37 where the

Ethiopian eunuch God baptized he.

He confessed that he believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of

God by his lips. And then Mark 1616.

We're taught that he who believes and is baptized will be

saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Is there 1 here who needs to follow those steps?

Is there 1 here who needs just the prayers of the church or

needs to make a public confession in any way?

We ask you to please do so as we stand and as we see.