During David's Flight From Jerusalem: David Part 1

Okay, then. We have been looking at length for

I've lost count of how many weeks at the time

when David was ousted from Jerusalem. David was

the king of all Israel and his son Absalom tried

to become king and he gained a lot of favor amongst

the military and amongst people who are coming

to make petitions or who had problems in Jerusalem.

And then David basically had to flee and leave

his kingship and Absalom became king. Cain. In

that period of time, we have looked at a lot

of people. And today, we begin to look at...

Anybody want to take a wild stab at who it is?

If you've seen your worksheet, you should be

able to guess. Go ahead. David. That's right.

And so, because, as you can imagine, the story

of David is so long and there is so much in it,

I'm going to rely on... Two things. One, I'm

going to rely on your overall Bible knowledge.

So us as a group in this whole room, hopefully

we'll have some Bible knowledge and we can pull

some things out so we won't have to go and look

up all of the things that are on the sheet. And

so I've given you kind of like I give you the

chapter and then you're going to kind of help

me fill in the blanks. Obviously, I do have the

answers, so I'll get us through if it comes to

that. But we're going to fill in the blanks.

And then the other thing we're going to rely

on is what we've studied over the last six to

eight weeks. David's story has intersected with

all these characters that we've been studying.

And you've heard, like last week especially,

we heard about his death. And we're not going

to look at his death today. We're going to go

back in time, look at the time leading up to

Absalom's revolt. But we also saw how he interacted

with a lot of people up until the time that Absalom

revolted. And so hopefully we can do this. And

I do have the answers here. fill in gaps if we

don't know it, but I think we'll be okay. So

we're starting the upper left -hand part of the

page, and you have a reference there. And it's

kind of like there's an anchor in the middle

of it. It's 1 Samuel 16. And 1 Samuel 16 is the

very first time, really, that we see David in

the story. And the high priest Samuel goes and

they're looking for somebody to, he's being led

by God basically to find somebody to be king,

to replace Saul. And he goes to David's household

and he looks at all of his older siblings and

so on. So you remember this story at all? Hopefully

it's not too completely unknown to you. All right.

And so if you look under 1 Samuel 16 there, you

see it says David is what? Finish it. This is

easy. Come on. What? Young. That's right. David

is young. But even though David is young, David

is anointed. That's correct. So to anoint someone

is to pour oil on them, generally speaking. You

can anoint with holy water, too, or blessed water,

pure water, olive oil, that kind of thing. But

basically, they would use holy oil. And they

poured on him and they basically were anointing

him with king. Now, what's the symbolism? When

somebody's being anointed with oil, what is being

symbolized? Yeah, it's not really the blood,

but the Lord, right? The Lord's presence coming

on that individual, the Holy Spirit or God's

presence coming on that individual. All right.

And so I guess you could stretch it to be blood.

I think you could do that. I think I would just

say they didn't have that yet. So I think they

were thinking of God's presence. Okay? Yeah.

Now maybe. Yeah. All right. So now you're going

to go to the right first. Go to the right first.

It says 1 Samuel 17. And then we see the next

big story of David's life. And it's the one that,

like, everybody knows, even people who aren't

Christians, don't go to church, don't know the

Bible, pretty much. Say it again. It is David

versus Goliath. That's correct. All right, is

Alicia in here now? Did we lose Alicia? We lost

her temporarily at least. Okay, that's going

to be a problem. All right, so those of you who

like music, I'm going to rely on you for this

next line. Okay, so David versus Goliath, and

the theme of the story of David versus Goliath

is a song that we sing. Josh will know this one.

It's a song that we sing and it is called, it's

a classic drum song. We almost got to have the

drums. Nope. The battle belongs to the Lord.

The theme of the story between David and Goliath

is the battle belongs to the Lord. And we sing

that song as a worship song now. And we have

other songs that we have that mention the story

of David and Goliath, right? And it is a classic

story in scripture and huge. And it really made

David famous. Okay. So we'll talk briefly about

Goliath. See that next session. I did this kind

of in a fun way. All right. So the Goliath, if

I say nine feet, what is the significance of

that in the story of Goliath? What was nine feet?

Yep. His height. So on the blank you put tall

or height. So he was nine feet tall. Here's a

little bit harder one. If I say 150 pounds, what

two words go on it? I'm giving you the first

two letters. 150 pounds. So he's a big warrior.

Say it again. It's weight. It's not average.

There was really nothing average about that man.

Nope. Oh, he weighed a heck of a lot more than

150 pounds. Nope. It's his armor weight. His

armor weighed 150 pounds. So there's the armor

that that guy was weighing in the story. You

can go and read it. It details it out. The armor

that that guy was wearing weighed more than most

people in that day. Right? Okay. So he was wearing

armor that weighed 150 pounds. Okay. How about

this one? 20 pounds. You want to take a stab

at that? Go ahead. It is the weight of, not his

shield. No. Now, interestingly, he did have a

shield and he did have a sword, but the weight

of neither one of those things is actually in

the story. It was his spear head. Spear head.

The head of his spear weighed 20 pounds. That's

crazy. Okay. Now, this one's kind of funny. Seven

and a half. To seven and three quarters feet.

Okay, it's his height. It's height. Height of

what? Or finish it. Height? Nope. It is an A.

Nope. He was nine feet when he fought David.

I know where you're going with that, though.

Height at death. He was seven and a half to seven

and three quarters feet. Height at death. Why?

Why was he so short? Because he lost his head.

That's right. You're making the chop off head

motion. Yeah. David took out his head. Did you

know, by the way, that the average person, the

height of your head is one -seventh to one -eighth

of your total body height? Just an interesting

fact. And he was nine feet tall, so that meant,

it doesn't say that he was seven and a half to

seven and three -quarters feet tall in the story,

but if his head height was anywhere in the ranges,

he dropped about a foot and a half. Okay? Alright?

The next one is his attitude. His attitude when

he faced David. L and C. You want to take a stab

at it? No, although I know where you're going

with that. He was loud. So the L is loud and...

Guarantee I would not use that word. I couldn't

even spell that word without looking it up. Nope.

You could say clear, but he was loud and confident.

So you could go so far as to say arrogant. Because

remember, he had a shield man. And why did he

go down? He took a stone to the forehead. So

if he hadn't told his shield man to go away,

he wouldn't have got hit. Most likely, right?

So he was loud and confident. He was calling

out to the battle lines and asking them to come

and fight and so on. Okay. The next one. Says

sword. Go ahead. David used to kill. That's right.

Interestingly enough, we won't study it today.

But later when David does not have a sword, he

goes to the priest and gets, goes to a priest

and that priest gives him Goliath's sword. And

so we believe that David carried Goliath's sword

for quite a while later on in his life. And he

said, that's a good sword. David said that about

Goliath's sword. That's a good sword. I'll take

it. Okay. Before we go any further, you'll see

it says the next line starts with David, but

before you go there, go past the sling, past

the anchor with the little clock on it, and you

see a puzzle. It's just words. Letters, I should

say. There is a single word in there that describes

David. Don't color them all in. You just want

to color in the letters. It's scrambled. It has

six letters. Anybody have puzzle masters in the

room? There's a single scrambled word of six

letters in that mess. Can anybody pick it out?

The clue is David was this. Six letters. Going

once. Going twice. Correct. That is correct.

At the last second. Chosen is correct. There's

blanks on the left -hand side. You can write

it on the blanks. Chosen. C is in the middle.

Then up is H. Back down to the right is O. Over

to the left is S. Up in the top row is E. In

the bottom right corner is N. Chosen. Chosen

is correct. Okay, so now we have David is chosen.

Now this is interesting. Before we go any further,

I want you to understand. David was chosen by

God to be the king of his people. And because

God knows the future and is kind of already there,

He knows how this story is going to turn out.

So that means he knows what David is going to

do with Bathsheba. He knows what's going to happen

with Absalom. He knows all the things that we've

been studying and all the lives of all the people.

That doesn't mean they weren't free to act however

they wanted, but he knew based on how they would

act what they were going to do. Now he's chosen.

So when David defeats Goliath, he defeated Goliath

because he was chosen. Now, David was allowed

to go out and face Goliath. He argued with Saul

and said, please, I'll go out and face him, right?

And he offered him his sword, offered him his

armor. He's like, oh, it's too big for me. I

can't do it, but I have a sling. I fought the

bear. I fought the lion. He argued, right? He

argued based on being smart. He argued based

on being strong. But why did he defeat Goliath?

Yep, that's true. Because the battle belongs

to the Lord. The story of David and Goliath is

all about the battle belongs to the Lord. And

as Trina was just pointing out, he was chosen.

So when he goes into that battle, he's going

to win because he's chosen. Is that fair? Yeah.

I mean, God is just. So we want to argue sometimes

and say, I saw somebody on the internet arguing

that they thought God was kind of unfair because

he wouldn't let Adam and Eve eat of the tree

and gain the knowledge of good and evil. And

he was keeping them, the person said, he was

keeping them in the garden naked and stupid.

I'm like, no, not stupid, innocent. There's a

big difference. And they were naked because they

were unashamed. They didn't need clothes. That

was not a need. And then they were forced to

need them, which then they were made out of animals,

which was the first sacrifice, right? Which was

pointing to Jesus in the way that God had made.

My point is this. It happens the way it happens

because God made it happen that way. Not because

he's smart, not because he's strong, not because

he fought lions and bears before, or even because

he's courageous. I know we want to think like

that, but if we think like that, then when we

get to the point where he takes Bathsheba and

has Uriah the Hittite killed, we're going to

have a moral quandary. We're going to have a

problem. Because if he defeated Goliath because

he was courageous, then why didn't he just say

no to Bathsheba because he was courageous? If

he defeated Goliath because he was smart, then

why didn't he just say no to Bathsheba because

he was smart? Right? So if it's about his character,

then his sin basically makes it so that God is

unjust. Right? That God did something wrong.

And that's not the case. Because God is doing

something here that is a much bigger picture,

right? I don't want to get too far ahead, but

what is God actually doing through David? We

know he'll make a great nation. David makes a

great king. He wins a lot. But what is he really

doing? What's the plan that God is working through

David? Redemption. It's the birth of Christ.

David is an ancestor to Jesus, right? And so

ultimately we'll see on this very page that that

promise comes and then is fulfilled much, much

later, 500 plus years later, right? Oh no, that's

a lot longer than that, sorry. Don't quote that

number. Okay, it's a lot longer than that. All

right, here we go. So we're gonna, now we're

right where it says David. This is right after

he defeated Goliath. And so Saul was super excited

that David defeated Goliath. And so David was...

Say it again. Nope, you're overthinking it. Say

it again. A little. Nope, a little. You're kind

of running on ahead. He does become revered.

He does become renowned. But actually on that

day, a lot of the people probably were like...

Not so excited with him. But Saul was sure excited

with him. And so David was rewarded. That's right.

He was rewarded. And he was rewarded with two

primary things that really kind of started off

on the governmental side. He has the anointing

of God and is chosen already. But now on the

governmental side, the first thing is he becomes

Saul's... No, look at the paper. It's an S. Actually,

you almost can't fail to guess the word. Son

-in -law. He becomes Saul's son -in -law. Saul

gives him one of his daughters and he becomes

his son -in -law. And then also he becomes the

military leader. Now somebody mentioned he was

a musician and that is true. He was a stellar

musician. And before he fights Goliath, he already

had some time in Saul's court. But interestingly

enough, when he goes in to volunteer to fight

Goliath, Saul doesn't recognize him. Even though

he was the one playing the harp. That's pretty

interesting, right? So that tells you how self

-absorbed he was. That the guy that would play

the harp for him was not even on his radar. And

that happens a lot with people who have a lot

of wealth. So David was rewarded, became the

son -in -law and the military leader. But then

he does a great job at it. And you'll notice

in the middle there it says Saul grows jealous.

Does anybody remember why exactly? I mean, obviously

there's an evil spirit involved, but what was

the sparking event of why he became jealous?

The songs that they sung. They sung songs about

Saul, and they said, Saul has killed his thousands,

but David has killed his ten thousands, right?

So the king is mighty, but the hero is mightier

than that. And that was the songs that they sung.

And Saul was embarrassed by those songs. And

he didn't like it. And he already had a problem

with evil spirit. And so he began to hate David

and be jealous of David's position. But there

was another person in Saul's court. And his name

really attaches to the word there that I gave

you. Loyal. So if I say loyal in Saul's court,

then I'm talking about who? Jonathan is loyal

to David. So Jonathan was Saul's son. And Jonathan

was to be king. He was the heir. Jonathan would

be king. So Jonathan finds out that David has

been anointed king in Saul's place. You get this?

So if you're Jonathan and you're going to be

king, and you find out that someone else is going

to get it instead of you, are you going to be

loyal to that person? What's that? Say it again.

Probably not, right? That's a rough spot to be

in. Now, obviously, if you're loyal to God and

God has chosen somebody else, what do you do?

I mean, you're kind of stuck. You're just like,

okay, well, it is what it is. I'm stuck. I don't

want to not be king, but he was more than that.

He was loyal to David, even to the point of protecting

David, conspiring with David to protect David

from Saul. And one time when Saul was out to

kill him and probably would have got him, Jonathan

went out and warned David and David escaped.

Okay, so Jonathan is a hero in his own right.

We're not studying Jonathan. He's not present

in the story at the time of the revolt of Absalom,

but he's a great... In fact, if you feel like

you're trying to accomplish something in life

and you're struggling, Jonathan is a great person

to look at because you can learn in his story

about how... He is not chosen to be king of Israel.

He's not chosen for Jesus to be one of his descendants.

But nonetheless, he is a man accomplishing things.

He does some great things. And one of the great

things that he does, is he's loyal to David.

And you can read about that in chapter 18 through

20. Okay, now we're going down the left -hand

side. Because Saul grows jealous, Jonathan warns

David, remains loyal to David, even though he's

in his father's house, he remains loyal to David.

And so then going down there, you have David,

what? Becomes a, no, fugitive, right? Because

Saul, Wants to kill him. David leaves. There's

really nothing wrong with saying he runs. He

runs. And then when he's in trouble again, he

runs some more. And then he runs some more. And

then he runs some more. Even though in a one

-on -one battle, he'd have taken Saul five times

easily, right? Even though he defeated Goliath,

etc. But there is something about Saul. that

David understands. Even though Saul is dealing

with evil spirit, he's kind of nuts off his rocker,

and he's hunting him all across the country,

there's something about Saul. Okay? So first

of all, David becomes a fugitive, and the next

line is, Saul hunts David. That's right. Notice

the order. David is first a fugitive, and then

Saul hunts him. Because the first time he tried

to kill him, he literally tried to kill him in

his own living room, or whatever, where they

were sitting there eating. I think David was

playing the harp, and he got up and threw a spear

at him to try to kill him. And then he left,

and then he was invited back to dinner, and he's

like, I don't think I want to go back to dinner.

Last time I was there, he tried to kill me. And

then they said, well, if he is going to kill

me, let me know, and I won't go back. It was

kind of a difficult, it was like a soap opera

thing going on there, but with murder involved.

So Saul hunts David then. And I'm just going

to give you the next part in the interest of

time. Three times David refused to harm Saul.

That's in chapters 21 through 27. And here is

where we should stop and say, what is it about

Saul that David won't hurt him? Because he's

the anointed one. Remember Saul was anointed

to be king of Israel. And so if you're the chosen

replacement for the chosen, here's what you can't

do. Kill the chosen. You can't do that. You don't

become the king by killing the king before you.

If you're chosen to be king, God will do it.

God will do it in his time when he's ready. And

David realizes he cannot strike against God's

anointed one and he refuses to harm Saul. Even

though Saul's hunting him, they had him pinned.

David's in a cave and Saul comes in to go to

the bathroom. David sneaks up, cuts off a piece

of his cloak, and then they go out and have a

conversation outside. And Saul's like, I'm going

to kill you. And David's like, well, I could

have killed you, and I didn't. And he shows him

the piece of his cloak that he cut off. And Saul's

basically repentant, and he says, oh, I'm so

sorry. You're a much better man than I am. And

he leaves, right? But he continues to want David

dead. He doesn't stop hunting David or having

his men hunt David. But ultimately, God does

deal with Saul, and Saul... Well, yes, but much

more extreme than that. He dies. Saul dies in

chapters 28 to 30. And so in theory, it's automatic,

right? They already have a replacement king.

He's already anointed. And chapters 1 to 6 of

2 Samuel, which is where we have spent most of

our time, so you know now we're getting close

to the era in question. So chapters 1 to 6 of

2 Samuel, we read about... Grief. Whose grief?

Whose mourning? Who's sad? What's he sad about?

Say it again. His king died. Yeah, Saul's dead.

He's sad that Saul's dead. He mourns Saul. That's

something. The guy that's trying to kill him,

or was, and now he's dead. And so he spends some

time in grief over the loss of Saul. Then there's

war, quite a bit of it, in fact, years of it.

He becomes king of Judah first, and then king

of all 12 tribes. So he is the king king. He's

the only king. The only king there is. So now

he's on the throne. And we're in chapter 7. And

this is... Huge. In fact, in the life of David,

it is the most significant passage of scripture

of everything. There's tons of it, right? There's

tons of really good stuff in there, but this

is huge. In chapter 7, the capital G is God,

the Sunday school answer. What? Say it again.

Yeah, but it's promises, right? He just makes

him a promise. It's not a prophecy like he sent

a prophet. It is like he's telling the future.

So in that sense, it's a prophecy. So God promises

David an eternal throne. And the reference is

there. Chapter 7, verse 16. And we're in 2 Samuel.

So I'm going to go there real quick just so you

can hear it once in your ear on top of us talking

about it. 2 Samuel 7, 16 says, And your house

and your kingdom shall endure before me forever.

Your throne shall be established. Forever. And

the word forever means exactly what you think

it means. Forever. Not a long time, not a century,

not a millennium, not thousands of generations,

right? So if it's going to be established forever,

you're going to need either a king after a king

after a king after a king until the stars themselves

burn out, right? Or you're going to need somebody

that can be king, Forever. Okay? And whoever

that person is has to be in the line of David.

Then we continue on. The promise. What? It's

an R. And it's a verb. Nope. Nope. It repeats.

The promise repeats. So we're going to see that

in a second. But the promise repeats until...

Now you've got to think. If you're going to have

any chance of getting this, you're going to have

to think big picture. When does the promise stop

repeating that David will have a descendant on

the throne forever? Say it again. Yeah, so it

repeats until found at Jesus' conception. That's

significant. It's found at Jesus' conception.

So first, before we talk about the conception

passage, I've given you some lists here, and

I'd like you to check the boxes that apply to

this promise. Was the promise made to David?

That's an easy one. Check the box. We just said

that. We even read it. 2 Samuel 7, verse 16.

2 Samuel 7:16

Was the promise made to Solomon? David's son?

Yes. I heard someone say yes. Check the box.

Is the promise in the book of Psalms? Yes, it

is. In many places, in fact. Did the prophet

Amos give us the promise? He did. Check the box.

Isaiah? Definitely Isaiah, right? Micah? You

know, but Micah is the famous one because out

of Bethlehem. That's Micah. So yes, Micah. Jeremiah.

Yep. And Zechariah. So you're right. They're

all checked. Look at that. So check all the boxes.

Check all the boxes. All right. And so now, if

we're talking about the promise goes until the

New Testament, until the conception of Jesus,

the next line is the book. What book is it? Incorrect.

Now the promise is there, sort of. The promise

of the descendant. Of David. No, it's New Testament.

Yep, conception. It's Luke. Luke chapter 1. Listen

Luke 1 · chapter mention

to this. Very clear. Okay? And the angel said

to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have

found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive

in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name

him Jesus. He will be great and will be called

the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will

give him the throne of his father David. And

he will reign over the house of Jacob forever,

and his kingdom will have no end. That's very,

very much the promise that God just gave to David

in 2 Samuel 7, 16. Right? Now, obviously it is

in the other Gospels, right, that Jesus was born.

And I can't guarantee that everyone says that

he's a descendant of David, but I think it does.

Okay? Alright, almost done. Luke 1, 30 -33. Alright,

so now we're down in chapters 8, 9, and 10 of

2 Samuel. And they talk about David. And they

talk about his... They told me they had a limited

amount of time. Military victories. Or many.

I'll give you many. Either one. Many or military

victories. And then you see a reference there.

2 Samuel 8 .6. I'm almost there. 8 .6 says, Then

David put... put garrisons among the Arameans

in Damascus. The Arameans became servants to

David, bringing tribute. And the Lord helped

David wherever he went. And so basically everywhere

David went, God took care of it. Over and over

again. Okay? Seems kind of like that's not the

case with Absalom though, right? So things have

changed by then. And in here, in 2 Samuel, really

kind of like 11, we know why. And the story is

D &B. David and Bathsheba. Okay? So from David

and Goliath, well, from David and Samuel, all

the way through David and Bathsheba, almost everything

that David has touched has turned to gold. He's

got the Midas touch. God has been with him. He's

been doing things. It's been constant. Even Saul

trying to kill him. Saul was never able to kill

him. Saul pursued him with armies that were far

large enough to find him and destroy all of his

men and him, theoretically, and never was able

to do it. Okay? And so all throughout all of

that, he really never suffered loss. Except he

grieved the loss of his greatest enemy, right?

Which was Saul. Okay. So here we go. Then comes...

In 2 Samuel 12, 10 -12, that's the reference

on the bottom there. What? A terrible prophecy.

The prophet Nathan comes to correct David after

he has had the time of his life with Bathsheba

and killed off her husband and kept it all a

secret. By the way, who did he have arrange the

death of Uriah the Hittite? Joab, that's right.

So we still have a little bit of knowledge from

our past lessons, don't we? Okay, so terrible

prophecy. The reference is 2 Samuel 12, 10 to

12. Understand that this prophecy does not reverse

God's promise. David has sinned with Bathsheba,

sinned in arranging the murder of Uriah, but

he does not reverse his promise. He does not

say you will now not have somebody on the throne

forever. Instead, gives him a whole other set

of consequences. Okay, and they are essentially

the revolt of Absalom. And it says this, it says,

now therefore the sword shall never depart from

your house because you have despised me and have

taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your

wife. Thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise

up evil against you from your own household.

There's Absalom in the prophecy. and others for

that matter. I will even take your wives before

your eyes. Remember what Absalom first did when

he was in Jerusalem, slept with all ten of David's

concubines. And give them to your companion,

and he shall lie with your wives in broad daylight.

Indeed, you did it secretly. In other words,

he stole another man's wife in private. But I

will do this thing before all Israel and under

the sun. And so David now... As we approach the

moment in time of Absalom's revolt, we see that

Absalom's revolt was a direct result of God's

chastisement. God said, this is what's going

to happen now because of what you've done. In

fact, it's very correlated when you see David

took Bathsheba in secret. God allowed Absalom

to take all of his wives and not in secret. It

would be possible to do that kind of secretly,

to go into the concubines and not make it a public

thing. But Ahithophel's advice was pitch a tent

on the roof and take them all publicly in front

of all Jerusalem because everyone will know that

David is no longer king and Absalom is. See that?

It's a pretty big deal. So God did all of that.

And then in the day of Absalom, which we've already

studied, the part we've already studied, David

flees Jerusalem because Absalom comes in and

takes over and we have the interactions on the...

Brooke Kidron, where he's leaving and the priest

come out and he sends the priest back with the

Ark of the Covenant. We studied that. Then there's

some other people that come out there, right?

Mephibosheth's servant, people like that. We

see the guy that was shouting curses at him,

right? So there's all those that we studied all

of that. But what we want to look at right now

is David in the day. of Absalom's revolt. And

that's the last section that we have. So we have

two places where we see God's provision and David's

reaction. They're both Psalms. If you look closely,

you might be able to figure out what Psalms there

are. You might already know. 32 and 51. Okay,

so we're going to look at Psalm 32 first. So

David wrote this Psalm probably in response to...

what happened to him, what was happening to him,

what he had done with Bathsheba and Uriah. And

then we're going to fill in these blanks. You

can listen for the blanks and try to get them

as I read. How blessed is he whose transgression

is forgiven, whose sin is covered. How blessed

is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity.

To impute is like to put it on them. And in whose

spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent

about my sin, My body wasted away through my

groaning all day long. For day and night thy

hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was drained

away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.

I acknowledge my sin to thee, and my iniquity

I did not hide. I said I will confess my transgressions

to the Lord, and thou didst forgive the guilt

of my sin. Selah. Therefore let everyone who

is godly pray to thee in a time when thou mayst

be found. Surely in a flood of great waters they

shall not reach him. Thou art my hiding place.

Thou dost preserve me from trouble. Thou dost

surround me with songs of deliverance. We sing

that song too, by the way. I will instruct you

and teach you in the way which you should go.

I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not

be as the horse or the mule. which have no understanding,

whose trappings include bit and bridle, to hold

them in check, otherwise they will not come near

you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but

he who trusts in the Lord, loving kindness shall

surround him. Or another translation says steadfast

kindness there. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice.

I'm sorry, steadfast love is what it actually

says. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous

ones. and shout for joy all you who are upright

in heart. So this is David's position in the

moment that he's going into Absalom's rebellion,

knowing that he's happening to him because he

sinned. This is his position. So right under

where it's Psalm 32, it says, C -I -N. Anybody

want to take a stab at that? The psalm was about

David telling God that he had sinned. admitting.

What do we call that when we do that? Confession.

So David is saying confession is necessary. In

other words, if you have done wrong and you aren't

owning it, you aren't admitting it, you're not

confessing it to God, you're not openly admitting

it, you have a problem. David said, when I kept

my mouth shut about my sin, it was eating me

up from the inside. That's what he said. I'm

paraphrasing. So confession is necessary. Then

follow it up to the right before we do the bottom.

You'll see a C, a P, and a B, F. So the top one

is, easy, confess. This is what David says we

are supposed to do. We are supposed to confess.

Also, he says we are supposed to, super easy,

pray. He said pray. He said it a couple of times.

Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to

thee in a time when thou mayest be found. We

must pray. Confess and pray. And confessing and

praying, then, we must be... I gave you the B.

It's B. Nope. That comes later. Say it again.

Forgiven. Yeah, we must be forgiven. And God

will do that. If you would confess to God and

pray to God and you're not forgiven, that's on

you at that point. God always forgives when people

confess and pray. Now, mind you, we do it in

the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the reason

that's true is because Jesus paid for our sins.

So if a lost person who doesn't know God at all

just says, God, I know I'm a liar or sinner.

I'm sure sorry about that, but I'm not really

going to stop doing it, so hey. You know, you're

just going to have to forgive me. That's no prayer

at all. That doesn't mean anything. It doesn't

do anything. That's nothing. And if you say,

God, I'm sorry. Or you go to your dad and you

say, Dad, I'm sorry. I won't do that again. And

then you just keep right on doing what you said

you won't do. That's no prayer, really. It's

just basically like lying. And so David was saying,

you have to confess to God. You have to pray.

And you have to be forgiven. And God will forgive.

And he does that through Jesus. He does that

because David says, Okay, hold on. Before we

go to the left, we've got to get the words right.

So BG, if you're forgiven, you will be grateful

or glad. Right? That's what he said. Be glad.

Or be grateful. Okay? Then we go to the left.

The reason that we can confess, pray, be forgiven,

and be glad is because of God's... Say it again.

Kind of. Say it again. Kind of. Many are the

sowers of the wicked, but he who trusts in the

Lord, this translation says, loving kindness

shall surround him. Another translation says,

steadfast love. And the answer is steadfast love.

What does steadfast mean? Perfect. Never wavering.

Will not run out. Eternal. God is love, Peter

said. God is love. And so, God is not going to

fail to forgive you if you come to Him when He

is available, which is to say through the Lord

Jesus Christ, and admit what you have done. He

is not going to refuse you. Did you know that

Jeffrey Dahmer, I don't know if you know who

he is or not, accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and

Savior by his profession his last week on the

earth. I don't know how many people he ate, but

I know you're not supposed to eat people. especially

not against their will, which I don't know how

you could ever do it any other way. Which is

what he did. He ate people against their will.

And his last week on the earth, he confessed,

he prayed, he said he accepted Jesus Christ as

Lord and Savior, and people said they saw a complete

change in him. Up until that moment in time,

he was like he was demon -possessed, and from

that moment in time, he was a completely different

person. Less than a week later, they took his

life. You understand that if you will not confess,

pray, and be forgiven, you will not receive forgiveness

because there is only one way you can be forgiven

and that is through the God of heaven, through

his son Jesus Christ. That is the only way. Jesus

said, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father but through me.

There is one way. Which means, if you don't do

it that one way, and if Jeffrey Dahmer did, and

I understand that's an if, but if he did, he'll

be in heaven and you won't. So let's get it straight.

David says, confess, pray, be forgiven. And then

he says, Because of God's steadfast love, he

will always give you reason to be glad. There's

another glad. Okay? One left. We're almost done.

I told you David was going to be tough. He's

got a lot. Alright? So Psalm 51. This psalm is

heartbreaking. Fair warning you. Especially because

it could be any one of us writing or speaking

this psalm. In Psalm 51, this is what David wrote.

He said, Be gracious to me, O God, according

to thy loving kindness, according to the greatness

of thy compassion. Blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse

me from my sin. For I know my transgressions

and my sin is ever before me. You ever felt like

that? Like the things that you're doing wrong,

they're always there. You realize it. You know

it all the time. And he's saying, God can and

will cleanse. Not based on what you do right

or wrong, but based on his loving kindness. Verse

4 says, Against thee, thee only have I sinned,

and done what is evil in thy sight, so that thou

art justified when thou dost speak, and blameless

when thou dost judge. Behold, I was brought forth

in iniquity. Or in other words, he was born in

sin. And in sin, my mother conceived me. So like

when she conceived his birth, when it began,

already sin was present. Behold, thou dost desire

truth in the innermost being and in the hidden

part thou wilt make me no wisdom. Purify me with

hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall

be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and

gladness. Let the bones which thou hast broken

rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins and blot

out all my iniquities. Holy cow. Create in me

a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit

within me. Do not cast me away from thy presence,

and do not take thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore

to me the joy of thy salvation. See what he had

lost? And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then

I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners

will be converted to thee. Deliver me from blood

guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation.

Then my tongue will joyfully sing of thy righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare

thy praise. For thou dost not delight in sacrifice,

otherwise I would give it. Thou art not pleased

with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are

a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart.

O God, thou wilt not despise. I want to read

that one again. The sacrifices of God are a broken

spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God,

thou wilt not despise. By thy favor do good to

Zion, build the walls of Jerusalem, then thou

wilt delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt

offering and whole burnt offering, then young

bulls will be offered on thine altar. We have

two things left to do. One is to fill this out.

The other is to understand what we just read.

It's a journey, okay? All right, so the first

thing is Psalm 51. is a... Nope. I wish it was

a prophecy. He wished it was a prophecy. It was

a prayer for mercy. It's a prayer for mercy.

Also, a prayer for confession. He's admitting.

He knows his sin. He knows it's not... I mean,

we trick ourselves, don't we? We pretend. That

what we did really wasn't that bad. But it really

was. But David's saying, I'm not playing that

game. I'm going to own it. I know I screwed up.

Right? Also, he says he was, I'm going to go

fast, I apologize, born in sin. That's the next

thing. And then it says he was reborn, delivered,

which means brought out, Washed. And why all

that was accomplished was to give him the one

thing that God really wants so he can give it

back to God. And that is a classic answer. A

broken and contrite heart. So what is a broken

and contrite heart? Does anybody know what it

means to be contrite without looking up the definition?

Okay, that's pretty good. Vulnerability and humility.

And that's what a broken and contrite heart is.

We realize we cannot do it ourselves. We have

come to the end of our strength, the end of our

ability. We must rely on God. And because you

can rely on God because of his loving kindness,

you do so. And when you rely on God like that,

God shows up. God does what God does. Okay? So

the one thing that we can give God is a broken

and contrite heart. And you notice that there's

kind of like a little swoop on the bottom there.

It goes to a sign on the left that asks you the

question, answer me now, what sacrifice can you

give God? So if you think you can give God your

money, you are sadly mistaken. If you think you

can give God your time, you are sadly mistaken.

By the way, when you give God your money or your

time, what does God do with it? We had this sermon

about two months ago, if anybody remembers, on

Sunday morning. What's that? It is His. And when

God gives it to you and you give it back to Him,

He stores it up in the family storehouses. Revelation

says that when the saints come into heaven, their

good works follow them. Between the D and the

A. Okay, we're going to, yeah, all right. So

if you look there, there's a scroll that we didn't

fill out up above DA, and it just says Israel

becomes a great nation. And that is the story

of David as far as most people are concerned.

God said the borders of the nation of Israel

and under David and later Solomon, they get as

close as they ever get to really controlling

the land that God said they would have. And they

get as close maybe as they would ever get to

really being the people that they're supposed

to be. But there's still idolatry. There's still

issues. Obviously, David sinned. There's revolts.

There's war or killing each other, wiping out

tribes. You know, it's never right. David's story

is not really about making Israel a great nation

in the sense of political. or army size. And

David later counts the army. That's one of the

things he does. And Joab confronts him about

counting the army toward the end when he's about

done. We studied that when we studied Joab. It's

not about any of that. David's story is not about

numbers. It's not about money. It's not about

kingship. It's all about redemption. It's all

about it. And so at the moment in time in which

Absalom is on the throne and David has fled,

David writes Psalm 39 and Psalm 51, and those

psalms were all about confession, prayer, and

being forgiven. He even went so far as to say,

no one can sacrifice anything to you. Bowls and

rams, it doesn't do anything. You're not pleased

with that. But then he goes on to say at the

end of Psalm 51 that they will do that. They

will still. When Jerusalem is restored, they'll

still sacrifice. What was the sacrifice representing?

The ultimate sacrifice of Jesus. So all of that

was meant to point to Jesus being the ultimate

sacrifice. There's no sacrifice now. You can't

sacrifice anything to God. The only thing God

wants is a broken and contrite heart. He wants

you to want him. He wants you to be willing to

admit that you're a screwed up sinner and that

God can make you better. In this lifetime, I

would not even say perfect. I think we work closer

and closer to perfect, but I would say perfect

in the form of complete. He can make you whole.

And that's what he does when we admit that only

he can do it. If you're going to do it on your

own, you can't have it. If you refuse to spend

time with the Lord, then you'll be like David

and you'll feel distant from him. And he said,

when I wouldn't confess, I was being torn up

inside. And he said, I've lost the joy of my

salvation. And the feeling of God's presence.

That's what happens when you sin against God

after you're saved, after you've experienced

him, is you lose the joy of your salvation and

the presence of God. It's still there, but you

can't feel it. You're distanced from it. There's

a barrier that you have erected, which is your

sin. And then, yes, that doesn't mean you're

unsaved. It doesn't mean you're lost. It does

mean that you will feel lost. You will feel unsaved.

You will feel desperate. And that's what the

whole story of David during the time of Absalom's

revolt is about. Notice when David comes back

into Jerusalem, which we studied this before,

not as part of David's story. When he comes back

into Jerusalem, there were those there that he

could have punished. He could have killed. The

man that cursed him, he could have killed him.

And David said, God's making me king. I have

everything that God wants me to have. I'm in

exactly the place God wants me to be. Why would

I want to do anything to anyone? And he didn't.

He didn't punish them. Now when he's dying, not

to get ahead of the story, but when he's dying,

we studied last week, he does tell Solomon to

clean up the mess. And Solomon does. Okay? Alright.

So I'm going to ask some quick questions and

throw candy at teenagers. If you can answer the

questions. Okay. Alright. I have bags of gummies

as well. I don't know how good they are. They

don't have an expiration date, so that means

they're perfect, right? They're good forever.

Yep, they're good forever. Here we go. What is

that? All right, here we go, here we go, here

we go. All right, so... Because Saul grew jealous

of David's many victories and the song's son

about him, David became a what? Kishon. Incorrect.

Jason. David became a what? He became a fugitive.

Do you like gummies? Nice catch. They're big

enough you can catch them. See how that works?

Okay. The prophecy about Jesus being a descendant

of David was last repeated in this book of the

Bible that we read. Haley. Luke is correct. You

like these? Okay, wait. Hold on. These ones are

sour neon. Okay. I can't guarantee they're yummy.

I can only throw them. Okay. All right. True

or false? The baby conceived between David and

Bathsheba the night that, while she was still

married to Uriah the Hittite, was named Solomon.

That is incorrect. That means the next person

gets it. All right. Sorry, buddy. The baby died.

Solomon was the second child. All right. That

would have been a previous lesson, so it wasn't

on this page. Okay. David received these two

rewards for killing Goliath. I only see Jason.

Go, Jason. That is correct. Hold on, I'm coming.

Ready? Okay. All right. David defeated Goliath

and was basically victorious in all of his military

bouts up until his time with Bathsheba for this

reason, because he was Chosen is correct. Do

you like gummies? Okay. Now you know. If no teenagers

raise their hand, I will take whoever does raise

their hand. All right. Aha. Test the math in

the house. According to this worksheet, the height

of Goliath's head. Careful. the height of his

head was approximately this tall. Solo. That's

incorrect. Haley. You can't do the math. RJ,

go. Say 18 inches. I'll give it to you. One and

a quarter, one and a half feet. You've got to

be able to subtract 7 1⁄2 or 7 3⁄4 from 9 feet.

Sorry. You were right. Okay, I see. You like

gummies? Oh, she's got them in her pocket. Okay,

here we go. Three times. David could have hurt

Saul, and he chose not to because Saul was Haley.

Anointed is correct. All right, last one. Okay,

this will be the last one, and it'll be easy

for the second person. When Samuel was looking

to anoint a new king to replace Saul, he interviewed

a bunch of brothers. He interviewed all of David's

older brothers and also David's younger brother.

True or false? Kishon. Ready? All right, we're

going to close in prayer and we'll be done. So

next week, we'll look at the time where he's

actually gone out of Jerusalem and forward. If

I can get it all on one worksheet, we'll go up

until his death, which much of his death we already

looked at, so we don't really need that again.

So I can really abbreviate that.