Sound Doctrine

Guest (Male): As we see our nation drift further and further away from God, we see a great price being paid. Here's Pastor Jeff.

Jeff Johnson: This nation has turned against God so this nation is paying in the home. The homes are falling apart. Children's lives are being torn apart. Suicide is at an all-time high rate. And it's entering in to even the Christian families.

So the deterioration of the home is always a look at the nation and the way the nation is going. So David turned his back, disobeyed the Lord. Now it would come upon his home. His son Absalom would be full of bitterness and anger and would come against his father and start a revolution.

Guest (Male): Have you had a bad day lately? We all have them from time to time. Maybe a flat tire or burned meal or an argument with a loved one. Well, today on Sound Doctrine, we're going to begin a study of 2 Samuel chapter 16.

And we're going to see King David having a bad day. Not only is his very own son seeking to get rid of him, he's being pelted with rocks by a bunch of other guys as he flees for safety. Let's just study this predicament and see what happens. Here's Pastor Jeff Johnson.

Jeff Johnson: This morning we're in 2 Samuel chapter 16. The further we go on with this story, the more we're reminded of God's law of sowing and reaping. A law that no one can escape, whether you're a Christian or you're not a Christian. That each one of us is personally responsible for our own actions. And we must take heed to God's word.

David failed to do that. He disobeyed and is now paying the price. In fact, over in 2 Samuel 12 verse 10, it says through the prophet, "Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house because thou hast despised me," says the Lord, "and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife." The sin that David would do would affect his home, would disrupt his home. His home would fall apart all around him.

The sin that this nation has committed in turning its back upon God, doing its own thing, going its own way. We are modern-day Egypt today with all the materialism and all the thoughts that are going on. The many gods throughout this nation. As this nation has turned against God, so this nation is paying in the home.

The homes are falling apart. Children's lives are being torn apart. Suicide is at an all-time high rate and it's entering into even the Christian families. So the deterioration of the home is always a look at the nation and the way the nation is going. So David turned his back, disobeyed the Lord. Now it would come upon his home. His son Absalom would be full of bitterness and anger and would come against his father and start a revolution, which we saw last week.

David leaves Jerusalem, which I think was a very wise thing for David to do. Instead of fighting with his son, instead of saying, "Okay son, you're not going to do this to me, I'm going to come against you," David simply gave it to the Lord and took his hands off and turned his back and walked out. I think that's always best, parents. Instead of getting into it, we need to give it to the Lord.

So David leaves Jerusalem with much grief. He leaves some to tend the house, and others he left in Jerusalem as spies so they could tell him what was going on because his heart really cared for what was going to be happening in these next few months and years that would come up here. As they left, they wept on the Mount of Olives and then continued down towards the Judean wilderness, which is in the area of Jericho, which you hear a lot on the news today.

Jericho is right really over the Mount of Olives into the Judean wilderness. It's desolate from here on out from the Mount of Olives into down into the Dead Sea. From your descent down, you go below sea level. You see this green patch in a desolate area, and that's Jericho. It's just sitting there as an oasis in a very dry place. So they headed towards Jericho.

And as they were marching down towards the wilderness, notice chapter 16 now in verse one. "And when David was a little past the top of the hill," talking about Mount of Olives, "behold Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of asses saddled and upon them were 200 loaves of bread, 100 bunches of raisins, and 100 summer fruits and a bottle of wine."

Ziba, if you remember, was the servant of Jonathan. Remember Jonathan and his father Saul were killed together. David, in 2 Samuel 9, remember when he asked, "Is there anyone alive in the house of Saul that I might seek to help them?" He saw what the home went through. He saw the death and the devastation of a family. His heart went out to them.

Ziba raised his hand and said, "I know of somebody." Ziba, remember, was the servant. He was still alive. He said, "There is Mephibosheth, who is lame in his feet, who is still of the household of Saul." So remember David took Mephibosheth in as his own son, let him eat at his table and feast there, and take the blessings of the king into his own palace. David let him come into his life and embraced him and said, "I want to bless you all the days of your life."

Now apparently Ziba is Mephibosheth's servant. And he comes with all of this provision to give to David, but he has a hidden agenda. He has a reason why he is bringing these things to David. Look at verse two. "And the king said unto Ziba, 'What meanest thou by these?'" And Ziba said, "The asses are for the king's household to ride on and the bread and the summer fruit for the young men to eat and the wine that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink."

"And the king said, 'And where is thy master's son?'" In other words, David was just saying, "Where's Mephibosheth?" And Ziba said unto the king, "Behold, he abides at Jerusalem for he said, 'Today shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.'" Actually, not his father, but his grandfather, if you remember that Mephibosheth was the grandson of Saul.

Saul at one time had the throne. And here as David is saying, "Why are you bringing me these?" He says, "Well, they're for you." And David picks up on, "But wait a minute, where's your master?" "He's back in Jerusalem. And let me tell you what he said. Oh, you're going to be interested in this, David. Do you know what he said? He said he's going to take back the kingdom of his father." Of course, this was a lie. He never said that.

But can you imagine how David felt when he hears that another of his friends is turning against him? One that ate at his table, one that he took as his own son. And now I'm sure David's thinking, "Who's telling the truth here anymore? Everybody's turning against him."

And then in verse four. "Then said the king to Ziba, 'Behold, thine are all that pertain unto Mephibosheth.'" And Ziba said, "I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king." So David gives to Ziba all that was at one time Jonathan's, his inheritance. And now it's Mephibosheth's, and he gives it to Ziba. And Ziba just gratefully receives it and takes it in and says, "Thank you, David."

Now knowing Mephibosheth, he probably wanted to go to David. But due to his lameness, he couldn't because he was left back in Jerusalem. David was going into the wilderness. It was going to be a hard, hard road that he was going to travel. And Mephibosheth chose to stay behind. So David is here deceived again. But we know that this is a part of his reaping because those that were the closest to him would now turn against him.

So David was tricked. And in his haste to leave Jerusalem, he was leaving quickly, he made a wrong decision. And that was that he turned around to Ziba and he said, "You can take all of Mephibosheth's inheritance." It was a wrong decision. You see, we must never jump to conclusions or make decisions when we are in a hurry. Always we need to wait and we need to pray. Don't jump to a conclusion and just make a decision because it can end up blowing up in your face and you can make a wrong decision.

Verse five. "And when King David came to Bahurim, behold thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came forth and cursed still as he came." Bahurim is about four miles from Jerusalem. And as they were on their way down to this city and getting to the city, this guy named Shimei comes out to be a pain in the neck for David.

I mean, here comes another kook to just lay on David his thing. Now Shimei is a very interesting name in that it means a hearer of reports. So this is a guy, when you look at him, he's all ears. Ross Perot, "I'm all ears." And he comes to curse the king. This little big-mouth unknown dares to curse King David as he's coming.

Verse six. "And he cast stones at David and at all the servants of King David." I mean, this guy was nuts. "And all the people and the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And thus said Shimei when he cursed, 'Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial,'" or "you man of Satan or you worthless person." Cursing him.

So after coming out and cursing, he throws stones at David in front of everybody. Not only were they fleeing from Jerusalem, now picture this, put yourself in David's place for a moment. He's leaving being king over all of Israel. His son is taking the throne. His friend Mephibosheth, which he took in as a son, has turned his back on him, he thought. People were deceiving him. People were lying to him. And now he got this guy cursing him and throwing stones at him.

Can it get any worse? And I'm sure David's going, "Oh man, I need to read the book of Job." Ever been there? What else could happen? Verse eight. "And the Lord has returned upon thee, David, all the blood of the house of Saul in whose stead thou hast reigned. And the Lord has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son. And behold thou art taken in thy mischief because thou art a bloody man."

"David," he says, "you're just getting what you deserve, that's all. You sowed corruption and so you're now reaping corruption." But really, when you look at Shimei's interpretation of what was going on, he was wrong. He was dead wrong. You see, David didn't overthrow Saul. God did. David really had nothing to do with it. David tried to stay out of it, didn't he?

It was God's work. But Shimei, and here's, again, those people that listen to gossip. It's trash, man. Don't listen to it. Don't let the enemy get you to listen to great little pieces of news that are twisted. Always those that listen to gossip are wrong and they're misinformed and they're wrong in what their interpretation is of the situation. And this is exactly where Shimei is.

And God says this, "In the standard that you judge, so shall you be judged." So in what you give out, you can be guaranteed it's coming back. That's something to think about, isn't it? And then Jesus really gave a group of guys something to think about when he looked at them and he said, "He that is without sin, you cast the first stone," as they're coming like this. And as he said that, he began to kneel down and probably write their individual sins in the sand.

And they just, one by one, threw their stone and walked away. You see, stone casting is a very serious business, isn't it? And we must be very, very careful when you lash out. In fact, I was thinking about the song that we sing so much, "God, you are love and you show mercy." Remember that song? "You are love and you show mercy." So should we be just like him. And that's the song, "I want to be like you." So then we need to be love and show mercy and not throw rocks.

Verse nine. "Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, 'Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and just take off his head.'" Now Abishai was one of David's generals. He was a tough guy. He's seen a lot of blood. He's seen a lot of death. And he looked at this guy and he says, "This guy bugs me. He's a punk. David, just let me lop his head off. And we'll be done with him. We can move along. We don't have to hear him any longer."

Now does he have the right to do this? Well, it does say in Exodus chapter 22 in verse 28, "Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people." And then over in Ecclesiastes chapter 10 and verse 20, it says, "Curse not the king, no not in thy thought." So I don't know if it was worthy of taking his head off, but it was definitely something to get shook about. And I think he would have killed him right on the spot without even blinking an eye.

There's some guys that are just like that, especially when they've had a lot of war and they have a lot of blood on their hands. And it's the same way with David. David had a lot of blood on his hands. He was a man of war. He's seen a lot of battle. But this guy Abishai, man, he's something else. It reminded me of a time when we were in Ghana when Jerry Rawlings just took over the country of Ghana.

And we landed there not knowing everything that was coming down. And we got out of the plane and as soon as you get out of the plane, there's a tank looking at us. And then we got down on the tarmac and they searched us and we knew something was going on. Then we got in the airport and it was total chaos. And we thought, oh man, this country is coming unglued.

By the time we got in there, we were holding some crusades which went on great and the Lord protected us and was with us and hundreds of thousands were coming and getting saved. Hundreds were coming forward after the crusade. During the day we decided to go around and drive through the city. And as we were gringos, we're just visiting this country, we don't know what's going on. We're taking pictures and we're in the back seat of the car, window rolled down, leaning out, taking pictures of everything.

And come to find out, these guys pull us over. We go, "What's the problem?" And these guys are just young kids, part of the militia or the army. And they didn't have a uniform, they just had regular clothes and machine guns and .45s. They pull us over, get us on the sidewalk and start to interrogate us and tell us, "Hey, you're in a restricted area. You've just broken the law. Give us your cameras."

Now I just bought my camera. And I said, "I just bought this, I'm not going to give it to you." And then the guy pushes the gun in my side. "Oh, how about the film? You want the film? Is that what you really want? How about if we give you," I just said, "Everyone of us will give you the film because that's what you really want, right? You don't want us to take these pictures."

Okay, and then we start taking the film out and one of the pastors gets a little nervous and he gets his film out and he unwinds the whole thing. And they go, "That's it, you guys are spies. Get in the car." And we went, "What is going on?" So I'm in the back seat with one gun here and one gun here. I'm looking at them and I'm trying to talk to them. And they say, "Shut up," and this one guy looked me in the eye and said, "You're a dead man. I'm going to kill you."

Then they take us out and an hour into the jungle into this military camp. We have no passports, we have nothing. And there's about six of us. Some of the pastors thought this is it, we're gone. And I said, "Listen, you guys, be careful." And they started arguing amongst themselves what to do with us. And then finally they just let us go. And they kicked us in the rear end as we were going to our car and started pushing us. And we got in the car and we got out of there. And we went, "Oh, thank you Lord." And God brought confusion. But I looked at that guy's eyes and I saw in his eyes that he's killed many people.

And to kill me was nothing for him. And I just saw Abishai as this same type of guy. Just snuff somebody just like that, drop of a hat, no big deal. Now notice this in verse 10. "And the king said, 'What have I to do with you,' talking to Abishai, 'you sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because the Lord has said unto him, 'Curse David.' Who shall then say, 'Wherefore hast thou done so?'''

What happens here, and let me ask you a question, how good are you at putting up with put-downs? How good are you at being criticized? Because right here, David handled this criticism in a very unique way. And I think we need to look at it a little bit closer because I think we can learn from it.

David, first of all, restrained Abishai to not do anything with this man Shimei. And he says, "Just let him curse." Now remember David and Abishai go way back. In fact, they go back to the valley of Ziph where they were caught in the cave with Saul. Saul came in the cave. Abishai was with David. David was kind of apprehensive and he was just waiting on the Lord for whatever the Lord would have him to do.

And Abishai said, "David, this is it. Can't you see God has set up our enemy? There's Saul. Go in and just take him out. In fact, David, let me do it. I'll do it for you. Just give me one strike and he's out of here and our enemy's dead." And remember what David's answer was to him? "No. He's the Lord's anointed, man. Don't touch him."

And so here David looks at his general again and says, "What am I going to do with you, man? No. You're not going to cut his head off. I've told you before this is not how we handle things here." David learned a number of things through this criticism. Number one, he looked up. Notice here in verse 10, it says that God has allowed this. "This is God's chastening hand."

And David realized and he was learning that God is involved in every area of his life. He's involved in every area of our lives. And whatever is allowed into our lives has been allowed of God, if we are in the Lord. And so David said, "This is God." Now David used to be a killer. I mean, he used to be a guy that would come unglued real easy. In fact, if you remember over in 1 Samuel chapter 25, Nabal and Abigail.

Do you remember the story of Nabal when David went and had his men go try to get supplies from Nabal? Nabal was a very rich man, had a lot of cattle, a lot of flocks. They came to him and Nabal said, "Who is this David? Who does he think he is that he can just come to me, ask me for supplies? Forget it." Now it came word back to David that this Nabal had said this.

David was upset. He got together 400 of his best men and said, "Guys, we're going to do this guy right now." Imagine 400 to one. Great going, David. But he was upset and he was just going to kill him. And Abigail, remember who loved her husband, ran and met David before David got to Nabal and said to David, "David, you got to realize my husband's name is Nabal. It means fool."

"He's a fool, David. Leave him alone. He's a little nutty. He's off a little bit. Just let him alone. You don't want to touch this guy. He doesn't know what he's talking about. He didn't know what he was saying when he turned you down." And she kept talking to David, kept ministering to David. Finally David said, "I can't believe this girl. All right, I'll leave him alone." And just left him alone.

But you know what I see here with David? That he has now submitted himself to God's will. He has totally said, "Lord, you've allowed this to come into my life for a reason." Just like with Job, there was a purpose and a reason for what God was doing. God was seeking to use this criticism to minister to David and to teach him. So we're not to really reject criticism like we're so quick to do. But really I see here that we're to embrace it. We're to say, "Lord, there's a reason why it's coming into my life. Show me what you're trying to teach me."

Guest (Male): It's a tough thing to do, but Pastor Jeff Johnson just reminded us of how important it is to receive criticism with the right attitude. This is Sound Doctrine, and you just heard a study from 2 Samuel chapter 16. We house all of our 2 Samuel studies at sounddoctrineradio.org.

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