Show Notes
2 Samuel 16:15-17:23
Pastor Christopher Chelpka
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Let's pray.
[00:00:04] O Lord God, we thank you for the mercies that you give to us, the ways in which you come to us, in our foolishness, in our stubbornness, in the sinfulness in which we were born, in the troubles of our families, in the idolatries and the patterns of sin that belong in us, in our world.
[00:00:30] You enter into all of this, into this wreck, into this impurity, and you bring the light of the gospel to open our eyes and allow us to see the mess that we are in, to see the death that is around us, and to look to you for our salvation.
[00:00:56] You allow us not only to see the problem, but you give to us the solution. You enter into our hearts, you change our lives so that our mouths are filled with your praise, so that we can confess your name and hide in you our stronghold and our refuge.
[00:01:16] We ask, Lord, that you would continue to speak this word of Christ in our lives and would do so even now in the reading and preaching of your word.
[00:01:25] We pray this for ourselves, for our sister churches throughout Tucson, Arizona, our presbytery as a whole, and throughout the world.
[00:01:38] We pray for our missionaries in Asia and Eritrea and Haiti and Uganda and other places. We ask that you would guide them and strengthen them as they work, as they seek to minister your word, License candidates for the gospel, encourage the saints, make wise plans for the future.
[00:01:58] In all these things, Lord, we are entirely dependent on you.
[00:02:02] We ask that you would work in our lives and in doing so, that you would make the witness to the gospel, to Christ bright, that many would see and more would come and come to sing and rejoice and praise you now and forever.
[00:02:20] We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:02:24] You may be seated.
[00:02:39] Let's turn to 2nd Samuel, 2nd Samuel, chapter 16.
[00:02:47] I'll start halfway through the chapter 2 Samuel 16, verse 15, and read through a partial chapter of 17.
[00:02:58] So really, all you need to know is 2 Samuel 16, 15 to get to the right starting place.
[00:03:05] And we're reading this portion of this great epic history of the beginning of God's kingdom in Israel, established under his kings, under King David in particular here.
[00:03:20] And we're at this moment when things are very much falling apart. As often happens in this history.
[00:03:28] The Lord has established his king, King David, on his holy hill on Zion.
[00:03:36] But his son Absalom is seeking to run him out of town, and in fact, has done so.
[00:03:43] David has fled Jerusalem. And now we come to this moment when Absalom, his son, is entering into it.
[00:03:52] And we see what happens next. What happens next is Absalom will hear advice from two people, Ahithophel and Hushai.
[00:04:03] What he doesn't realize is that Hushai is actually loyal to David.
[00:04:09] And Hushai speaks in ambiguous ways and gives him bad counsel.
[00:04:15] But ultimately, that's not just Hushai's work, it's the Lord's, which the narrator tells us and reminds us.
[00:04:25] So the point is that Absalom is he's not fighting David, he's not fighting Hushai, he's fighting the Lord.
[00:04:34] And we will see. We're beginning to see the results of that, despite his temporary success.
[00:04:41] 2nd Samuel 16, verse 15.
[00:04:44] Now Absalom and all the people of the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him.
[00:04:51] And when Hushai, the archite, David's friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, long live the king. Long live the king.
[00:05:00] And Absalom said to Hushai, is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend? He's speaking of David. And Hushai said to Absalom, no. For whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen his I will be, and with him I will remain.
[00:05:19] And again, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served before your father, so will I serve you.
[00:05:28] Then Absalom said to excuse me, Ahithophel, give your counsel. What shall we do?
[00:05:35] Ahithophel said to Absalom, go into your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened. So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and Absalom went into his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.
[00:05:58] Now in those days, the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one had consulted the word of God.
[00:06:05] So was all the counsel of Ahithophel, esteemed both by David and by Absalom.
[00:06:10] Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, let me choose 12,000 men, and I will arise and pursue David Tonight I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged, and throw him into a panic. And when all the people who are with him will flee, I will strike down only the king, and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband.
[00:06:36] You seek the life of only one man, and all the people will be at peace.
[00:06:42] And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
[00:06:47] Then Absalom said, call Hushai the archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.
[00:06:52] And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, thus has Ahithophel spoken. Shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.
[00:07:02] Then Hushai said to Absalom, this time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.
[00:07:09] Hushai said, you know that your father and his men are mighty, and they are enraged like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is an expert in war. He will not spend the night with the people. Behold, even now he's hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say there has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.
[00:07:35] Then even the valiant man whose heart is like the heart of a lion will utterly melt with fear. For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and that those who are with him are valiant men.
[00:07:48] But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you from Dan to Beersheba as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to the battle in person.
[00:07:58] Shall we come upon him in some place? So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground. And of him all the men with him, not one will be left.
[00:08:12] If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley until not even a pebble is to be found there.
[00:08:22] And Absalom and all the men of Israel, said, the counsel of Hushai the archite, is better than the council of Ahithophel.
[00:08:32] For the Lord, the narrator says, for the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel so that the Lord might bring harm to Absalom.
[00:08:42] Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
[00:08:46] Thus so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel. And thus. And so have I counselled. Now therefore send quickly and tell David, do not stay tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.
[00:09:04] Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at Enrogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city.
[00:09:17] But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at Baharim who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it. And the women took and spread a covering over the well's mouth and scattered grain on it. And nothing was known of it.
[00:09:35] When Absalom's servants came to the woman's house and said, where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, they have gone over the brook of the water.
[00:09:44] And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
[00:09:49] After they had gone out, the men came up out of the well and went and told King David. They said to David, arise and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.
[00:10:02] Then David arose, and all the people who were with him and they crossed the Jordan by daybreak. Not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.
[00:10:12] When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off to all off home to his own city.
[00:10:21] He set his house in order and hanged himself.
[00:10:24] And he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.
[00:10:31] Since the reading of God's word, There are two paths in life.
[00:10:39] There's a path of humility and a path of pride.
[00:10:44] The path of humility is not just, not being prideful, not the true path of humility.
[00:10:51] The true path of humility is faith in God.
[00:10:55] It's humbling oneself. Not just generally, but it's humbling oneself before the Lord, trusting him, looking to him instead of oneself. The path of humility is the path of faith. True humility is a path of faith.
[00:11:13] And then there's the path of pride.
[00:11:16] One is hard, one is easy.
[00:11:18] One walks with God. One walks alone.
[00:11:23] One fights with God. And for God, one fights against God.
[00:11:31] Some of you today may be walking on the path of pride.
[00:11:36] Like Ahithophel was, like Absalom was.
[00:11:40] These were men who were not thinking about the Lord, about his plans, about his priorities, about his loves. They were thinking about what they wanted. And they were using all of the tools at their disposal to get that thing.
[00:11:56] Power for Absalom, strength Ahithophel, maybe even greater power for himself, depending on how we read it.
[00:12:05] These were men who were focused on living their lives according to their own ways, their own priorities, their own plans.
[00:12:13] And there was a measure of success. David, as I mentioned before he left the city. Absalom is taking over. He's rallying great people to him.
[00:12:22] And he even has success early, as Ahithophel counsels to him, to go into his father's concubines and on the top, on this roof where all of Israel could see.
[00:12:35] And the plan was that Israel would see this and rally around Ahithophel, something that was against God's law, against God's word. But they felt it was politically expedient, a good move to strengthen Absalom's rain.
[00:12:59] Sometimes we do this. We live our lives in this way that goes our own way, that seeks to establish things. And for a time, it seems like things are all right.
[00:13:09] But things are not all right.
[00:13:11] And today I want to show you why you should avoid this path of pride, why you should embrace a path of faith, humbling yourself before the Lord and leaning on him.
[00:13:26] The first thing I want to mention is that the path of pride does not live in reality.
[00:13:31] And this comes with all kinds of consequences.
[00:13:35] Absalom and Ahithophel, they're living in reality in a certain sense. They think, well, if we do this, the likely reaction is this. If we do that, the likely event will be this other thing.
[00:13:49] And there's a certain amount of wisdom in that.
[00:13:52] Absalom is calling many counselors into his presence also not a bad idea. He hears the voice of one person, he hears another voice. He's getting different opinions, different ideas. Again, kind of a wise thing to do.
[00:14:06] Absalom does some unwise things too, as we'll see. But the fundamental foolish thing he does is he doesn't take into account this other level of reality, this more foundational level of reality that God has spoken, that God has done things, and God is infinitely more powerful than him.
[00:14:29] What does Absalom know?
[00:14:32] Absalom knows that his father is king.
[00:14:36] Absalom knows that God established his father as king.
[00:14:41] Absalom knows that God established his father as king through a series of extraordinary events in which God won victory after victory after victory. And David, in all kinds of weakness, wins, wins, wins, wins, wins.
[00:14:59] It's in light of that reality, this very obvious, very clear reality, that. That Absalom thinks he can do something that's against, that he thinks he can fight against God. He thinks he can undo God's plans and establish himself as king.
[00:15:21] He does not live in reality, though. He thinks he can test Hushai, right? Hushai comes into his presence. He's like, wait a second. I'm a smart guy.
[00:15:31] I know that you're a friend of David. Friend here probably has a kind of technical meaning as loyal counselor, right? Not just buddy, maybe both.
[00:15:41] Hushai says to him, I know that you're a friend of David. And so he tests him. He just doesn't say. He says, why are you here? Shouldn't you be with him? He has concerns, he has doubts. Hushai, all kinds of flattery, all kinds of language, as I mentioned, some of it kind of vague. He says, long live the king. You kind of wonder, who does he have in his mind when he says, I am loyal to the one whom the Lord sets on the throne. And he means David, right? But. So Hushai's tested, sort of.
[00:16:15] But what does the narrator tell us?
[00:16:18] He tells us in verse 14, the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.
[00:16:30] Once the Lord ordained something, there is nothing that you can do to undo it.
[00:16:37] There's no amount of maneuvering, of spy networks, of armies. Nothing is going to undo it.
[00:16:48] Now, Hushai's advice is funny in the way that he makes these very exaggerated claims.
[00:16:58] First, his advice is that we're going to gather all of Israel together. Everyone's going to go out, we're going to fight, fall on David. This is a strong image, like the dew falls on the grass, right? It's going to be so overwhelming, the force that is coming against David will be so overwhelming, it'll be like the wet blanket of dew in the morning.
[00:17:21] There's no stopping it. In other words.
[00:17:24] So he flees into a city. An objection. Hushai says he's answering this objection ahead of time. What if he flees into a cities? He. He says, it's like he says, we'll bring ropes and we'll pull that city, right, a fortified city, down into the valley so that not a pebble will be left.
[00:17:43] This is bold language, and I think it's appealing to Absalom's pride in a couple ways.
[00:17:55] In all these things. Anyway, one of the things that's happening is we see that Absalom and Ahithophel, they're not living in reality. And it will lead to bad decisions.
[00:18:08] And that's the second reason why this path of pride is not one that you want to take.
[00:18:14] Because it leads to all kinds of bad things, including bad decisions, right? If you think that the best way to mix a cake is with a long handled shovel, you're going to end up with some problems.
[00:18:29] You're going to end up with a glass broken on the floor, you're going to end up with flour everywhere. You're not going to end up with anything mixed properly.
[00:18:38] If you try to dig a hole for your tree with an egg beater, you're going to ruin your egg beater and you're not going to get a very deep hole, at least in our ground around here, right? If you're not living in reality, you're going to do foolish things, you're going to take the wrong advice, you're going to move the wrong trajectory.
[00:19:02] What would have living in reality looked like at this moment for Absalom? It would have looked like repentance, humbling oneself, calling out to David, father, forgive me, please come home, where your obedient servants, you know, like the prodigal son going back to his father, let me be just a servant in your household. Some. A speech like that would have been perfect at this moment.
[00:19:30] But that's not what he does because of pride. Pride leads to bad decisions.
[00:19:35] One of the reasons pride leads to bad decisions is because it we become sensitive, too sensitive to flattery, which is a deceptive thing. It's a trick used by people to manipulate us for them getting what they want.
[00:19:57] And that seems to be what happens here. Ahithophel, when he speaks, it's pretty straightforward, it's pretty specific.
[00:20:06] But there's an interesting difference between the way Ahithophel speaks and the way Hushai speaks when Absalom takes that counsel.
[00:20:12] When Ahithophel speaks, you see a lot of eye language.
[00:20:19] So verse 17, Ahithophel says to Absalom in Ahithophel's plan, I'm sorry, chapter 17, verse one. Let me choose 12,000 men. I will arise and pursue David. Deny. I will come upon him when he is weary and discouraged, throw him into a panic and all the people who are with him will flee. I will strike down the king only I will bring all the people back to you as a bride and et cetera, et cetera.
[00:20:44] You wonder if maybe there was a part of this where Absalom thought, where am I in this picture?
[00:20:52] Aren't I the hero of this story? Why is all of a sudden Ahithophel the hero of this story?
[00:21:00] One reason to think that, as one commentator points out, is the strength of the use of that I language and the way Hushai doesn't do that in Hushai, it's a lot of you and it's a lot of we.
[00:21:14] Hushai goes to him and says to him, this time the counsel that Ahithophel has given you is not good.
[00:21:23] It's a soft way of kind of Moving aside. Right. Says it was good before, but not this time. And then he gives them reasons why. You know that your father and his men are mighty men, your father.
[00:21:37] And he talks about the things that Absalom knows, and Absalom will do so. For example, look at and then together in verse 12, we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him where the dew falls on the ground.
[00:21:56] Maybe this is partly why Absalom says to all the men of Israel, the Council of Ahithushai, the architect is better than the Council of Ahithophel.
[00:22:07] There's something about it that's a little more pleasing.
[00:22:10] Maybe he likes it because he's a little more involved, it's a little more bold, it's a little more destructive, it's a little more get him where he's at. It's and. And powerful, which is what he's after.
[00:22:25] Hushai. It seems it was his aim to undo the counsel of Ahithophel. And. And he does it. And he does it by flattery.
[00:22:34] He does it by appealing to Ahithophel's baser senses. And it is successful ultimately, of course, because the Lord had ordained it to be so.
[00:22:48] When we are on a path of pride, we're prone to things like flattery.
[00:22:53] We're prone to people to manipulate us, who will lift us up and say, I'm in your corner and I want to do these things for you.
[00:23:02] When we're actually being tricked, it messes up our reasoning. It causes us to over trust other people, and it causes us to over trust ourselves.
[00:23:15] When we think that we're the center of the story, when we think it's all about us and we can do our own way and choose our own paths, our own priorities.
[00:23:26] We trust, of course, ourselves, our own counsel, our own ways.
[00:23:31] But when you think about your own life, you think about the mistakes you've made, the foolish decisions, the ways in which you've gotten yourself stuck in various places. When you humble yourself, you quickly find all kinds of reasons not to over trust yourself.
[00:23:48] Reasons to have good counselors and reasons, most importantly to rely on God and his Word.
[00:23:55] Because God doesn't flatter, God doesn't speak in unwise or foolish ways.
[00:24:05] God always does what is right and decides what is right. We can depend on Him.
[00:24:13] The other thing pride does in leading us into bad things, besides bad decisions, bad counsel, bad reasoning, it also leads us into a kind of debt with God, a moral debt with God.
[00:24:26] It's not like you Know people in this world, we can kind of decide sometimes, well, I'll let them go their way, I'll go my way. We'll sort of do our separate thing. You can't do that with God.
[00:24:38] You can never go your own way because he's everywhere at all times, intimately involved in every aspect of creation, always.
[00:24:50] He doesn't live this kind of separate existence which has nothing to do with you. Now, he is separate in, of course, many great ways. He's entirely distinct from us. But in terms of our ability to separate from ourselves, ourselves from him, and live isolated from him, it's impossible.
[00:25:12] So that means that when we sin and when we do things against his law, it matters.
[00:25:20] It creates a relationship problem. It creates a debt with him that has to be paid.
[00:25:27] Absalom going his own way isn't just going his own way. It's accumulating moral debt. It's accumulating sins.
[00:25:37] It's further breaking and breaking and breaking his relationship with the Lord.
[00:25:44] Ahithophel is doing exactly the same thing in all of his actions, which is why this is the last thing I'll mention.
[00:25:53] And the various bad things pride leads us to, it's despair.
[00:25:59] There's this thing in pride where there's this point which it feels great.
[00:26:04] You're leading by your own light, you're walking according to your own glory. You're making your own decisions, you're doing your own thing. And it all feels right until all of these problems that I'm talking about become a reality. And it comes crashing down around you when reality hits you like a ton of bricks, which it always does, eventually.
[00:26:29] And then you find yourself in this place of despair.
[00:26:32] Why? Because you've been leaning on yourself, relying on yourself this whole time. And now guess who you've got in your moment of trouble?
[00:26:41] Yourself.
[00:26:43] Because in your pride, you're still clinging on to the one person that you thought could save you, the one person that really matters to you.
[00:26:53] You.
[00:26:55] And so the only option that's left for you at that point, your prideful way of thinking and my prideful. Our prideful way of thinking is despair. And that's what happens to Ahithophel.
[00:27:07] It's a sad ending that we finished with, isn't it?
[00:27:11] Right?
[00:27:12] His king, Ahithophel's king, fake king Absalom. He takes Hushai's advice.
[00:27:20] He knows it's not going to work.
[00:27:24] And he knows that when the king comes back, well, he's got two options. One, it doesn't work. And Hushai gets elevated instead of him. So that won't be good for Ahithophel in his understanding. The other option is David is killed.
[00:27:44] I'm sorry, is not killed. He comes back and of course, he's a dead man.
[00:27:50] And so, seeing that his plans for strength, for power, to be this counselor, whatever it is, he wanted to see it undone, to see it falling apart. He recognizes this. And so when David is across that Jordan, we read, then Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed.
[00:28:11] This is the language of despair. He saddled his donkey, went off to his home, to his own city, so set his house in order and hanged himself.
[00:28:22] It's the same language of Judas.
[00:28:25] Judas had his plans.
[00:28:28] Judas was going to defeat the Messiah.
[00:28:31] Judas was going to get the money. Judas was going to get whatever else he wanted. He got it, it was working.
[00:28:38] Until all of a sudden, in his conscience, he realized that this was not going to work, that he had sinned against God. But instead of trusting in the Savior that he'd heard about, instead of trusting and putting his hope in Christ, the Messiah king who comes to save, not only in power generally, but the power of grace as well, he gave up. Because he continued, even in the moment of his despair, to rely on himself, Judas also took his own life.
[00:29:21] The path of pride is a dangerous one, and we must not follow it. Because it leads to all these bad things. It doesn't live in reality.
[00:29:29] And because the path of humility and the path of faith leads to really good things.
[00:29:40] When we it leads to good decisions.
[00:29:43] Because instead of fighting against God and his world, we work with him, it leads to strength. Not because all of a sudden we are, in ourselves, stronger. Although that might be true in a sense, but mostly because, like we saying earlier, rock of ages, cleft for me Let me hide myself in thee. We're protected in Christ Instead of out on our own, living exposed, fighting against God.
[00:30:12] We are protected by God when we humble ourselves before him, when we turn away from our sins and we say, lord, forgive me for being your enemy. Please save me from myself, save me from my pride and be my king.
[00:30:31] It's a position of strength. And we know this to be true. Because Jesus, even in his crucifixion and even in his death, even in the betrayal by men like Judas, he was gaining the victory over these things.
[00:30:47] He was offering himself as a perfect sacrifice for sins. He was gaining victory over sin, over Satan, over the world.
[00:30:57] All of that proven beyond the shadow of a doubt when he rose from the dead.
[00:31:04] Right now in the storyline With David, it seems like David's not going to win. Until, of course, he comes back into Jerusalem.
[00:31:13] And then we knew. Then we are.
[00:31:16] It is proven what was true all along.
[00:31:19] Same with Christ.
[00:31:21] When Christ rises from the dead, the nature of his victory is proven, which was always, always true.
[00:31:30] And in the strength of that victory, we live. When we hide ourselves in him, when we rest in Him.
[00:31:37] And part of that is forgiveness.
[00:31:40] Instead of accumulating in our pride more and more debt, the debt of sin which must be repaid. Our debts are forgiven when we humble ourselves and give ourselves over to Christ, when we put ourselves in his care and in his trust, instead of fighting against Him. He says, I forgive your sins.
[00:32:03] I'll protect you. I will welcome you. And instead of despair, faith gives us what?
[00:32:11] Hope.
[00:32:14] Hope which will not be put to shame.
[00:32:17] Hope which is certain. Hope which is sealed by the very blood of Christ, hope which is promised to us, hope which was guaranteed before the ages began, has been accomplished in time. And for everyone who dies in the Lord, every single one will have confidence that they will be with Him.
[00:32:41] So even when this world is difficult and there are family problems and challenges and difficulties, and we feel like, I do not have the resources and means, the wits or the wisdom to get through this thing, we don't give up.
[00:32:59] Because our hope is not in ourselves.
[00:33:01] Because we're not walking a path of pride. We're not walking a path of isolation. We're not walking a path of fighting against God. We're walking a path of faith, trusting in him to support us, to lead us, to guide us, to protect us, to provide for us, and to bring us all the way to the end.
[00:33:23] So as you examine your life, as you think about the place in which God has placed you, the place in his story, the place in his world, ask yourself, are you going to walk against him, fighting him, or will you trust him for the things that he promises to graciously give you and pour out on you in this life?
[00:33:50] My encouragement, surprise, surprise, is to trust him to believe in him because he is who he says he is.
[00:34:00] When we humble ourselves before the Lord, he gives to us what we cannot give ourselves. He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He earns for us what we cannot earn for ourselves.
[00:34:15] He forgives us for our sin, and he promises to be with us to the very end.
[00:34:21] Put your faith in Him.
[00:34:23] Humble yourselves before the Lord.
[00:34:26] Let's pray.
[00:34:28] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are our refuge and our strength.
[00:34:32] Help us to turn away from our sin and unto you, for the promises in Christ are great.
[00:34:41] Help us not to walk according to the glory of our own eyes, but the glory of God that is revealed in the Gospel.
[00:34:50] Help us to believe this great news that has been proclaimed in all the earth, that Jesus is king, and that he has brought salvation for his enemies, salvation for sinners, and that all who turn to him will be forgiven, will be blessed, will be lifted up.
[00:35:12] Help us to persevere in him through all the trials of this world and never to give up knowing who it is who keeps us.
[00:35:21] Lord, imprint these things on our lives and in our hearts, for it is impossible for us to do this ourselves.
[00:35:30] We look to you for everything we need, and we pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
