Sermon

During King David's flight from Jerusalem: Ahithophel

New Heights Fellowship Baptist church of East Toledo

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  1. Gitarian music

  2. Holy, holy, holy is he.

  3. Rise against the Lamb who was saved.

  4. Holy, holy, holy is he.

  5. Sing a new song to him who sits on

  6. Heaven's mercy seat.

  7. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

  8. The one that is and is to come.

  9. With all creation I sing praise to the King of Kings.

  10. You are my everything and I will adore you.

  11. Loads of red balls of living color.

  12. Fashions of lightning, walls of thunder.

  13. Blessing and honor stricken, glory empowered we.

  14. To you the only one I need.

  15. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

  16. Who wants and needs and is to come.

  17. With all creation I sing praise to the King of Kings.

  18. You are my everything and I will adore you.

  19. Filled with wonder, all-stripped wonder.

  20. At the mansion of your name.

  21. Jesus, your name is power, breath of living honor.

  22. Such a mountain suffering.

  23. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

  24. Who wants and needs and is to come.

  25. With all creation I sing praise to the King of Kings.

  26. You are my everything and I will adore you.

  27. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

  28. Who wants and needs and is to come.

  29. With all creation I sing praise to the King of Kings.

  30. You are my everything and I will adore you.

  31. All righty, at this time we'll release the children and their leaders into the classroom.

  32. God, your word is a lamp to my feet.

  33. Have the light unto my bones.

  34. When I feel afraid and I think of lost my way.

  35. Send your devil right beside me.

  36. Nothing will appear as long as you are near.

  37. Please be near me until the end.

  38. God, your word is a lamp to my feet.

  39. Have the light unto my bones.

  40. God, your word is a lamp to my feet.

  41. Have the light unto my bones.

  42. I will never forget shows of me and you.

  43. My heart forever is gone and free.

  44. Jesus, be my guide and hold me to your side.

  45. And I will love you until the end.

  46. God, your word is a lamp to my feet.

  47. Have the light unto my bones.

  48. God, your word is a lamp to my feet.

  49. Have the light unto my bones.

  50. God, your word is a lamp to my feet.

  51. God, your word is a lamp to my feet.

  52. God, your word is a lamp to my feet.

  53. God, your word is a lamp to my feet.

  54. right there were there are some very interesting characters it's almost kind

  55. of like a little Peyton place it's almost kind of a little bit like a

  56. little Peyton place as they all are shuffling what yes all right so this is

  57. going to bounce around a little bit and I did that on purpose and I won't use

  58. this same page but I will have it bounce around again next week because there is

  59. a lot of that going on in this story okay so you're gonna see a lot of like

  60. David hears that Absalom's coming and then all these people are like jockeying

  61. for position trying to figure out who the who side they're gonna be on and

  62. that kind of thing and then some of them they come and go from the scene you're

  63. gonna see that going on and I'll try at least with today I'm sure I can relate

  64. the people that we're going to drill down on to the main people in the story

  65. okay so we're right smack in the middle you'll see a square one there okay and

  66. you'll see the word David and Absalom okay as I just want to set the scene for

  67. you so Absalom is David's son and he therefore could potentially be in the

  68. line of David as king okay and Absalom sets himself up as king he goes and gets

  69. a chariot he gets a lot of people to proclaim him as king and so on and he's

  70. on his way to Jerusalem to oust David and David and his people those who are

  71. gonna rain loyal to him have left and they come into Jerusalem and then we

  72. sort of begin in second Samuel 16 now you don't have to go there if you don't

  73. want to in your Bible switch you're welcome to do that and I would and

  74. you're gonna have it on the worksheet so I highly recommend you would take a look

  75. again at it as it goes on okay so see David absolutely that arrow that points

  76. down the first thing that you're gonna write on that arc right there you're

  77. gonna write one of the strangest names you've ever heard in your life was very

  78. strange for me too it's a hithophel and I'll spell it it's I'm gonna spell it on

  79. the arc at the top of the diamond there's it's just a blank right now okay

  80. and it's a H on the arc at the top of the diamond straight down from Absalom I

  81. just realized your paper doesn't have an arrow there my paper has an arrow so if

  82. you draw an arrow down to the diamond then you'll know where you're at okay a

  83. hithophel a H I T H O P H E L a hithophel that's how it's pronounced a

  84. hithophel okay all right and we're beginning in second Samuel 16 verse 20

    2 Samuel 16:20

  85. just listen for a second okay and now I'll tell you what to write next there's

  86. no blanks right now so just just relax okay a hithophel begins verse 1 then

  87. Absalom David's son who's setting himself up as king said to a hithophel

  88. give your advice what shall we do and a hithophel said to Absalom so the the

  89. advisor says back to the would-be king go into your father's concubines whom he

  90. has left to keep the house concubines are like a harem or mistresses extra extra

  91. wives if you will okay and David left ten of them behind when he fled Jerusalem

  92. to keep the house go into your father's concubines whom he has left to keep the

  93. house then all Israel that will hear that you have made yourself odious to

  94. your father so he's gonna go sleep with all the concubines and in so doing now

  95. that's gonna there's no relationship between him and David anymore it says

  96. the hands of all who are with you will also be strengthened so they pitched a

  97. tent for Absalom on the roof so I put a big tent up on the roof why do you think

  98. they did that why do you think would have a tent on the roof to be seen so

  99. everybody can see it right it's one of the tallest building maybe the tallest

  100. building in the city and now you got a tent on the roof and everybody could

  101. look there they can't probably hear but they could look there every night and

  102. know up there is Absalom sleeping with David's concubines okay and so Absalom

  103. went into his father concubines in the sight of all Israel 23 and the advice of

  104. Ahithophel which he gave in those days was as if one inquired of the word of

  105. God so was all the advice of Ahithophel

  106. regarded by both David and Absalom so David as king and his son Absalom both

  107. thought of everything that Ahithophel was advising as as if one had inquired

  108. of the word of God as if that's important okay so right under Ahithophel

  109. right under the curve right concubines

  110. con cu bi nsc bi n yes there we go right under the word Ahithophel that you just

  111. wrote it fells on the top of the diamond concubines goes right under that you

  112. see a little man's face there with the light do you have that no you need to

  113. draw that I have that okay draw a little man's face with a little light bulb over

  114. his head give me just a smiley face that's fine

  115. so there's a little face with a smiley with a with a lightning a light bulb

  116. over his head like he's got a good idea okay now we're going to the left from

  117. here on out you'll have blanks that was hard I know from here on out you'll have

  118. blanks okay so you see the two the number two okay and it says second Samuel and

  119. it's 17 and it's one to four one dash four now if you look in the circle over

  120. on the right hand side I have provided you with all of the numbers for all the

  121. references so you can take your pencil right now and mark off 17 and any one

  122. and any four see it I've given you all the numbers for all the references it's

  123. kind of a little game a couple of them are decoys yes ma'am I did not yet that

  124. come that's like the very last thing we're gonna do and come back full circle

  125. yep okay so second Samuel 17 one to four so now what has happened so far where

  126. we're at this is this I just set the scene for you who's the king in Jerusalem

  127. who's ruling

  128. Absalom right and he is the son of David David has run okay okay here we go

  129. furthermore Ahithophel who's that guy

  130. nope advisor very good furthermore Ahithophel said to Absalom that's David's

  131. son who is now king please let me choose 12,000 men that I may arise and pursue

  132. David tonight and I will come upon him while he is weary and exhausted and will

  133. terrify him so that all the people who are with him will flee then I will

  134. strike down the king alone and I will bring back all the people to you the

  135. return of everyone depends on the man you seek then all the people shall be at

  136. peace so the plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel okay so we're

  137. under second Samuel 17 one to four the first blank is Ahithophel and you

  138. already have the spelling Ahithophel it's like a hit hop HEL and in this case

  139. it's a posture of yes it's a hit the fells GP what do you think it is grand

  140. plan or good plan either one his grand plan or his good plan the plan was he

  141. would take 12,000 men anybody any ideas why you might take 12,000 men exactly

  142. I'm gonna take a stab at that because there are 12 tribes of Israel 1,000 men

  143. for each tribe even though they might not all be from each tribe right the 12

  144. tribes take 1,000 men for each tribe is symbolic so if the fells good plan and

  145. what then he was his good plan was to KD what do you think it kill David he was

  146. gonna kill David and kill David then our TP return the people you kill David

  147. return all the people that went with him so if that 12,000 man set army sets on

  148. them while they're still fleeing and weary and tired and they're not been able

  149. to go to ground somewhere we can knock them out fast surgical strike will kill

  150. David and then we'll bring everybody else back that's his plan but that is

  151. not how it goes okay second Samuel 1623 says this we read it before and the

  152. advice of a hit the fell which he gave in those days was as if one inquired of

  153. the Word of God so was all the advice of a hit the fell regarded by both David

  154. and Absalom but listen to second Samuel 1723 one chapter exactly later 1723 says

  155. this now then a hit the fell saw that his counsel was not followed he saddled

  156. his donkey and arose and went to his home to his city and set his house in

  157. order and strangled himself thus he died and was buried in the grave of his

  158. father something pretty significant happens between 1623 and 1723 doesn't it

  159. I mean this guy is the guy he's the Elon Musk of second Samuel 16 where he's

  160. gonna solve the problem he's the advisor that's gonna tell us what we need to do

  161. blah blah blah right and so 1623 to 1723 something pretty radical seems to have

  162. transpired all right to see what that is and understand it we're gonna look at

  163. the life of another man okay so go to number three okay and his this you have

  164. the name in there I wrote in there for you anybody want to take a stab at

  165. pronouncing it pretty close that would be how we would pronounce it in English

  166. it's who shy II who shy II right now mind you in the Hebrew there are no

  167. vowels so we're doing the best we can right

  168. Hebrew doesn't use vowels or spaces or apostrophes or any kind of punctuation

  169. that's what I'm looking for so none of that is there so we're doing the best we

  170. can to understand exactly how to pronounce Hebrew words right so we're in

  171. second Samuel 17 5 so Absalom said now call who shy II the archite or archite

  172. or archa D also and let us hear what he has to say when who shy II had come to

  173. Absalom Absalom said to him a hit the fell has spoken thus shall we carry out

  174. his plan if not you speak so who shy II said to Absalom this time the advice

  175. that a hit the fell has given is not good moreover who shy II said you know

  176. your father and his men that they are mighty men and they are fierce like a

  177. bear robbed of her cubs in the field and your father is an expert in warfare and

  178. will not spend the night with the people behold he has now hidden himself in one

  179. of the caves or in another place and it will be when he falls on them at the

  180. first attack that whoever hears it will say there has been a slaughter among the

  181. people who follow Absalom so he's saying if a hit the fell takes the 12,000 men

  182. out there David and his mighty men will fall on the 12,000 man will be a huge

  183. slaughter and everyone will think Absalom is weak that's what he's saying

  184. verse 10 even the one who is valiant whose heart is like the heart of a lion

  185. will completely lose heart for all Israel knows that your father is a

  186. mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men but I counsel that all

  187. Israel should be surely gathered to you from Dan even to Beersheba as the land

  188. that is by the sea in abundance and that you personally go into battle so you

  189. say you lead the battle and you lead an army made up of people from every tribe

  190. so we shall come to him in one of the places where he can be found and we will

  191. fall on him as the dew falls on the ground and of him and of all the men who

  192. are with him not even one will be left and if he withdraws into a city then all

  193. Israel shall bring ropes to that city and we will drag it into the valley

  194. until not even a small stone is found there okay so his advice is counter

  195. what had thus far been said and he says instead of doing what instead of doing

  196. what a Hithafel had said we're gonna gather a huge army from all the tribes

  197. of Israel we're gonna fall on them like the dew falls on the ground so his

  198. advice first of all is that the plan was not good and he describes the D is David

  199. can you finish it David and his men and then it's capital M mighty so mighty

  200. men men mighty whatever it is all right they are mighty and were David and his

  201. men mighty yes incredibly so right they were incredible warriors so he's he's

  202. that's truth right that's truth David has people with him who have literally

  203. one man killed a thousand go Jason second Samuel 17 5 to 13 and you can

  204. mark off the numbers in the circle okay so David and his men are mighty all

  205. right and the plan is not good okay so right under there in brackets just put

  206. like a little bracket for yourself there's no blank for this and a little

  207. bracket and put answer to prayer this is an answer to prayer so what it happened

  208. was when a Hithafel stayed in town with Absalom and David heard that a Hithafel

  209. had stayed in town with Absalom David prayed that the advice of a Hithafel

  210. would be brought to no good understand so David prayed and asked God please

  211. that it would be that his advice would fall on deaf ears or it would fall it

  212. would seem foolish that's what David prayed and now Hushai is telling

  213. Absalom it's foolish all right now if you'll notice there's some letters going

  214. up the right hand side there's a C and E and an E it's going up around the curve

  215. on the right so David and his mighty men that's a problem but the truth is you're

  216. always going to have to face that right I mean if you're gonna kill David you

  217. got to take care of David and his mighty men and they're mighty so that was

  218. always going to be a problem and a Hithafel knew that he knew that David

  219. and his mighty men were mighty and what was his solution to them being mighty in

  220. the plan that he gave what was the solution to them being mighty well but

  221. 12,000 men might not be enough David's got 12 mighty men each one of

  222. us probably killed a thousand on his own so what's the solution attack them while

  223. they're tired and fleeing take a mighty guy that's about the only solution there

  224. is get him off guard I'm ambush them take them while they're weak right so

  225. if it's a Hithafel's plan sounds wise and it has something in it but Hushai says

  226. there's a reason why that won't work they're mighty but it won't work because

  227. David is C what do you think now he's courageous for sure in the story he said

  228. they'll try to fall on David but they won't find David because David is

  229. crafty he's crafty he knows that a good strategy might be to come out after him

  230. after that night and also he is EE he's an experienced escapers now somebody

  231. tell me in the story of David's life how do we know for a fact that David is an

  232. experienced escapers yeah he did all that right he caught his beard caught a

  233. piece of his robe with all those things saw right so Saul hunted him with armies

  234. for days months years Saul hunted him with armies for years and David always

  235. escaped David is an experienced escapers so who Shia says you sounds like a good

  236. plan on the surface what's gonna happen is you're gonna go out after him and

  237. he's not gonna be with the men he's gonna be in a cave somewhere and

  238. everybody knows in Israel there are how many caves in that part thousands so

  239. what cave are you gonna check all of them how are you gonna check all of them

  240. in the night with 12,000 men it's gonna be a nightmare to try to find David

  241. right and half of them probably and he won't be dressed normally he's not gonna

  242. wear a robe and a crown right he's not gonna look like himself it's gonna turn

  243. into a manhunt in a place where you can't conduct a manhunt and so he says

  244. David is crafty and he's an experienced escapers and so the response then is

  245. Absalom in acts who Shia's plan okay and in that same circle on the top we've

  246. come around to the top now you see the GP and what's the same as before it's a

  247. good plan but it's a good plan for a different reason so if they had enacted

  248. the other plan it hit the fells plan it was based on moving quickly catching

  249. them while they're weary and tired before they can escape before you can go

  250. to ground whatever right this is a good plan for David because this date this

  251. plan and when I want to finish it GDT the D is David I'll give you that what

  252. does this plan do it gives David time tactically it gives him time and they

  253. do and what winds up happening in the story is they all escape across the

  254. Jordan out of reach of the armies that are coming for them okay so this is a

  255. good plan and we know if you other parts of the story that who Shia is sort of

  256. loyal to David he doesn't want to see day at one point in time Absalom

  257. questions him and he says why would you come and serve me you served my father

  258. so faithfully and he says well I will serve the one who God has given to reign

  259. in the land and I will always serve the one who God has given to reign in the

  260. land and he was telling the truth he wasn't talking about Absalom he's

  261. talking about David okay but Absalom took it they was talking about him all

  262. right so that finishes the you should have the whole circle number three

  263. filled in got it okay now we're going up to number four and the upper left hand

  264. side so so far we're looking for what happened between second Samuel 16 23 and

  265. second Samuel 17 23 that was the end if you will of a Hithafel okay so now we

  266. have another guy up here in number four we're in circle number four in the upper

  267. left okay the reference is second Samuel 16 I think I have five to fourteen

  268. let me double check myself yes that's right second Samuel 16 5-14 if you want

  269. you can mark off the numbers in the bottom right circle just for fun that's

  270. a for fun thing so this guy sorry

  271. that would be weird I have no idea what that was and is that all amber alert

  272. maybe if so watch out your phone might go off okay second Samuel 16 5-14 so

  273. this guy's a man that's easy right he's a man all right listen to what he does 16

  274. 5-14 here we go are you all right over there when King David came to Behurum

  275. behold there came out from there a man of the family the house of Saul whose

  276. name was Shimei or Shimei the son of Gera he came out cursing continually as

  277. he came and he threw stones at David and all the servants of King David and all

  278. the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and it is left so

  279. David's got all these people around and warriors mighty warriors and this guy is

  280. throwing stones and cursing David and thus Shimei said when he cursed

  281. get out get out you man of bloodshed and worthless fellow that's what he said to

  282. King David the Lord has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of

  283. Saul in whose place you have reigned and the Lord has given the kingdom into the

  284. hand of your son Absalom and behold you are taken in your own evil if you are a

  285. man of bloodshed then Abishai the son of Zorai Zoriah there you go said to the

  286. king why should this dead dog curse my lord the king let me go over now and cut

  287. off his head but the king said what have I to do with you oh son of Zorai Zoriah

  288. if he curses and if the Lord has told him curse David then who shall say why

  289. have you done so then David said to Abishai to all his friends behold my

  290. son who came out from me seeks my life how much more now this benjamite so he's

  291. saying when my own son wants to kill me then why would this guy not be against

  292. me let him alone and let him curse for the Lord has told him perhaps the Lord

  293. will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this

  294. day so David and his men went on the way and Shimei went along on the hillside

  295. parallel with him and as he went he cursed and he cast stones and he threw

  296. dust at him and the king and all the people who were with him arrived weary

  297. and he refreshed himself there okay so we have a man on that left part it is a

  298. man of that's right Bahurim close enough anyway it's all coming out of the Hebrew

  299. so all right David's response to this man cursing was what sh

  300. his response was spare him the guy said why should he be allowed to do that curse

  301. you like that just let's kill him and David said no spare him okay and then

  302. David said God what what was David's expectation as this man was cursing him

  303. mrg I OH God may return return good I instead sorry instead of his curse so

  304. this is what happens when good men are cursed by bad men God defends the good

  305. man that's the reality of it Genesis 1 through Revelation end okay so David was

  306. aware of that and he said maybe God will send good for me instead of this man's

  307. curse right but notice he said David was a man of bloodshed right so he was a

  308. blood-soaked man was that true was he lying who else said David was a

  309. blood-soaked man eventually not yet but eventually God God called David that

  310. that's why David was not allowed to build the temple remember your son will

  311. build the temple David only could prepare for him to do that God said your

  312. you shed too much blood right so you wouldn't so he what he was saying was

  313. true in a sense right but he didn't hunt down and kill all of Saul's household

  314. but this man couldn't have known that that makes sense alright so David spare

  315. him God may return God good instead of his curse up on the right hand side

  316. you'll see there are three blanks there they are what this man did to David they

  317. are what cursed him through stones at him and through dust at him so FYI

  318. somebody curses me throw stones at me or throws dust at me I don't like that

  319. right I might respond poorly to that right but David says spare him God may

  320. yet return good instead of his curse over to box five okay so we're gonna now

  321. see what this guy this is the same guy when David a little later as David is

  322. coming back into power second Samuel chapter 19 we're gonna see how this guy

    2 Samuel 19 chapter mention

  323. responds it's 19 16 to 23 second Samuel 19 16 to 23 now that this is after a

  324. Hithafel has already killed himself so I understand that but the attitude is the

  325. is why it happens okay the way David treated that man who cursed him through

  326. stones at him and through dust at him the way David was intending to treat him

  327. that's why it's one of the reasons why it hit the fell winds up in the grave so

  328. watch what happens here second Samuel 19 16 to 23 okay then Shimei the son of

  329. Gera the benjamite so this is the same guy you follow the story this is the

  330. same guy who cursed him through dust that if through stones at him the son of

  331. Gera the benjamite who was from Bahurim hurried and came down with the men of

  332. Judah to meet King David so he rushes down to meet King David and there was a

  333. thousand men of Benjamin with him with Ziba the servant of the house of Saul

  334. and his 15 sons and his 20 servants with him and they rushed to the Jordan

  335. before the king then they kept crossing the Ford to bring over the king's

  336. household and did what was good in his sight and Shimei the son of Gera fell

  337. down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan so as David himself is

  338. coming across now he falls down before the king so he said to the king let not

  339. my lord consider me guilty nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day

  340. when my lord the king came out from Jerusalem so he's saying please forget

  341. what I did please don't consider me guilty so that the king should take it

  342. to heart for your servant knows that I have sinned therefore behold I have come

  343. today the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the

  344. king okay so he comes up and he says please don't remember please forgive it

  345. I realize I have sinned but Abishai the son of Zorah Zorah answered and said

  346. should not Shimei be put to death for this because he cursed the Lord's

  347. anointed David then said what have I to do with you Oh sons of Zorah that you

  348. should this day be an adversary to me now notice he's counting that man who

  349. would go and kill Shimei as an enemy he says why what have I to do with you

  350. that you would be an adversary to me should any man be put to death in Israel

  351. today or do I not know that I am king over Israel today and the king said to

  352. Shimei you shall not die thus the king swore to him okay so the first thing

  353. that we see so this is how to come back to the king after you've betrayed the

  354. king in a sense all right so the first thing that we see is what CIF the story

  355. began 16 anybody remember from the beginning I read too much at one time

  356. kind of no I know what you're going for there but so it says he can't he was

  357. from Beirut hurried came down with men of Judah to meet the king David and

  358. there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him with Ziba the servant of the

  359. house of Saul and his 15 sons and 20 servants with them and they rushed to the

  360. Jordan before the king came in force all right so when you come back to the king

  361. after cursing the king you bring it all you bring your sons you bring your

  362. soldiers you bring your resources right so he came in force and it says that

  363. they were helping the house of David across the river remember that and so the

  364. next thing is BTS before they ever come before the king began to serve he began

  365. to serve immediately in fact it says he did everything that was good in his eyes

  366. he began to serve and then his appeal was made this way FYSKT for your servant

  367. knows that I have sinned David's response was most of it's there what have I to

  368. prove why do I need to kill this guy who cursed me or through dust at me or or

  369. through stones at me or whatever why would I need to do that I have nothing

  370. I have nothing to prove I am king and so when the servant comes and says I know

  371. that I have sinned why would Jesus crush you why would the God of heaven crush

  372. you if you know they've sinned and come in repentance for example if this is how

  373. the kingdom works if you know what that you've done wrong and you repent and

  374. turn back to God God is God doesn't have to prove anything he doesn't have to

  375. crush you to prove in fact it proves more if he forgives right so he says what

  376. have I to prove and then David proclaims in the very last he says you shall not

  377. die good stuff right okay so the question we were asking was why are the

  378. people in this story behaving the way they are behaving including a Hithafel

  379. went home and hanged himself okay and you see the little grave there and now

  380. we're over to circle number six the final circle okay and the first reference

  381. there is Proverbs 26 to Proverbs 26 to almost done Proverbs 26 to says is it

  382. supposed to be Psalms oops sorry Psalm 26 to my bad try again do well

  383. it's not the right reference it is Proverbs but that's not the right

  384. reference what is the right reference oh okay here I just looked at the wrong one

  385. the last time it's Proverbs 26 to okay is Proverbs 26 to like a sparrow in its

  386. flitting like a swallow and it's flying so a curse without cause does not light

  387. and song I'm confused give me one second to clear my confusion I have it in my

  388. notes on my phone so I have a backup here it is yeah according to this it is

  389. Proverbs 28 one I copied over the wrong reference when I did it so I'm gonna

  390. look at that yeah there we go the wicked flee when no one is pursuing all right

  391. so it is it is Proverbs 28 one my bad Proverbs 28 one that's gonna mess up

  392. your thing in the bottom right hand corner but it's okay you can fix it all

  393. right so simply put it says the wicked flee when no one is pursuing but the

  394. righteous are bold as a lion and so if you'll notice right there it is F you so

  395. it's flee unpursued okay and I'll come back to that thought in one second and

  396. then if you see that little arrow down to the right there says RB and that is

  397. the righteous are bold so it's flee unpursued and then the little arrow down

  398. the right is righteous bold okay so how does what does that mean when I say the

  399. wicked flee when no one is pursuing them so how does that relate to what a

  400. hippofel did they didn't take his advice he ran home got his house in order and

  401. hung himself or strangled himself say again he was not righteous remember that

  402. it said that David and Absalom saw his advice as very good advice almost as if

  403. it was from the Word of God almost as if it was from the Word of God where does

  404. David get his advice from God right and the Word of God always lines up with

  405. that so they took a hit the fell and they said man he his advice is really

  406. good almost as if he was getting it from the Word of God but a hithafel knew he

  407. was not getting it from the Word of God he also believed that let's say Absalom

  408. does not enact his plan to get back date to get David while David is weary and

  409. what is the outcome David escapes what is the ultimate outcome of David

  410. escaping ultimately he's back in Jerusalem as King because he's God's

  411. King and Absalom is not and a hithafel knew that and so he goes home and he

  412. says okay you're not gonna catch him now you're not gonna catch him ever if you

  413. don't catch him he's eventually back here as King if he's back here as King

  414. that that's bad for me and did he have to strangle himself because it was bad

  415. for him no it's probably a bunch of other alternatives right but the wicked

  416. flee when no one pursues who was pursuing him who was forcing him to go

  417. strangle himself no one no one was right but he was wicked he was broken in his

  418. heart and even though he was a wise man in the ways of the world he could

  419. provide good military strategy and so on he was not able to stand when his advice

  420. was not accepted by Absalom Proverbs 28 13 then says it's the one right under

  421. that he who conceals his transgressions will not prosper but he who confesses

  422. and forsakes them will find compassion so a hithafel we already determined was

  423. wicked he wasn't truly following God following the Word of God right and he

  424. was concealing that and ultimately knows that he would be find out in fact he

  425. thinks well he has been found out and so he goes home gets his house in order and

  426. strangles himself all right and under Proverbs 28 13 the C is conceals the T

  427. is transgressions not prosper then the alternative is confess and forsake and

  428. find compassion okay now this is not only the way God works in this story but

  429. it's also the way David works pretty cool then isn't it that David would

  430. later be called a man after God's own heart but you know who was not a man

  431. after God's own heart Absalom yep a hithafel they were not men after God's

  432. own heart now Absalom you know maybe genuinely thinks he can be king and

  433. maybe do a good job or what that way it's obvious he's pretty dark right it

  434. might be it might be culturally acceptable in every other part of the

  435. world and all over that part of the world to sleep with the ten concubines

  436. of the former king to prove that you have taken his role or whatever like

  437. that but it ain't godly it's not what God would have you do right it may have

  438. proved that he was the ruler and David stead but it did not is not what God

  439. would have you to do okay and then the Proverbs 26 2 verse that I read I told

  440. you it was the very last thing it's right up there in the top David could

  441. endure all of this and even the cursings of that man and not hold him accountable

  442. because like a sparrow in its flitting like a swallow in its flying so a

  443. curse without cause does not alight in other words when someone

  444. comes against you and has only bad to say you don't have to respond you know

  445. if I would come against you right now and call you a liar you know what impact

  446. that would have on you other than maybe like betraying our trust you know what

  447. impact that would have on you if you're not a liar it should have none if you're

  448. not a liar it should have no impact whatsoever because it will not come you

  449. know when it comes to light when it settles on you either a if you are a

  450. liar or be what if what 26 2 so if if somebody calls you a liar

  451. and you know you're not a liar when does that really become a problem say it

  452. again no if you're not a liar and they call you a liar then when you stand

  453. before God it'll just be gone when you react badly right so you punch them in

  454. the face because they called you something that you're not or you cuss

  455. them out you blow them up on social media because they called you something

  456. that you're not right so there's only two ways it can go down if they call you

  457. something that you're not you have to not let that affect you because it's a

  458. curse that does not light just like David did not allow that man to affect

  459. him with his curses his stones and his dust and ultimately what happens to that

  460. man he comes back pledges his loyalty to David confesses his sin is forgiven and

  461. goes on to be a loyal servant of David at length you cannot win somebody who

  462. calls you a name that you don't like and then you strike at them then a month

  463. later six months later six years later they're still going to hate you that's

  464. that's the reality you punch them or you hurt them right they're not gonna go now

  465. you could go back to them and and ask them to forgive you and try to make

  466. amends right so I'm so sorry I punched you when you called me that name that I'm

  467. not you could try to do that but that's not an easy road to go down right what

  468. is an easy road to go down according to scripture is when somebody comes against

  469. you with curses or stones or dust or whatever if you don't deserve it then you

  470. don't let it affect you because an undeserved curse does not settle and

  471. that's what David did all throughout this thing and it is what a Hithaphal

  472. could not do and it led him to an early grave taking his own life and so I

  473. submit to you do not be a wicked person if you are you know you're in sin repent

  474. and turn to God he is compassionate he will forgive through Jesus Christ he was

  475. making an arrangement even David was forgiven through Jesus you can even say

  476. if he if he stayed faithful to the Lord that Shimei was forgiven through Jesus

  477. that's how it's possible and so that's what we need to do but a Hithaphal knew

  478. he didn't have that he did not have righteousness and the curses they were

  479. actually do him all right and he took his own life now no one should ever do

  480. that no one should ever take their own life and God willing you should never

  481. take the what life of another human being ever even in self-defense if you

  482. can help it right you're better off than ever do that because if that other

  483. person goes to hell because you shot them they're in hell for eternity you

  484. know now men or parents or whatever you are required by by God's justice to

  485. protect your family it's you got to do what you got to do right they come for

  486. our little kids we've got to do what we've got to do and if they get killed

  487. in the process that'll be terrible but right but if they just shout names or

  488. throw stones or they just say you're a bad person whatever you just got to let

  489. that bounce right off as long as you know it's not true and if it is true then

  490. you repent and turn back to the Lord because there are two ways this ends one

  491. you shall not die the other you're essentially taking your own life

  492. spiritually or physically that's terrible and so we choose the way that

  493. shimmy I chose which was to come back in force to begin to serve to admit to God

  494. that we know that we have sinned and then in being saved you can say when

  495. somebody else comes against you say well I have what do I have to prove they're

  496. calling me a liar they call me a thief what do I have to prove I'm a child of

  497. the King I'm saved I'm going to heaven when I die I don't have anything to

  498. prove to you you don't like me it's okay I prefer you just go and leave me alone

  499. but if you ever want to know about Jesus come back and we'll talk right that

  500. makes sense all right so this is a tumultuous time tumultuous yes

  501. tumultuous time there are a couple of other really interesting characters in

  502. here that are in play there's a couple of high priests and their sons and

  503. there's Joab who was the leader leader of the army but throughout this period

  504. time as he comes but he is faithful and loyal to David to the very end almost

  505. and he loses his being the leader of the Lord's army during this time he'll never

  506. be the leader again after this and so it's pretty pretty entertaining story

  507. pretty interesting thing to study and we'll study it for at least a couple

  508. more weeks okay any questions any concerns