2 Samuel 14

 

1 Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, perceived that the king’s heart was toward Absalom. 2 So Joab sent to Tekoah, and brought a wise woman and said to her, Please pretend to be a mourner, put on mourning clothes, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman that has mourned a long time for the dead: 3 And come to the king, and speak this way to him. So Joab put the words in her mouth. 4 And when the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, bowed, and said, Save, O king. 5 And the king said to her, What troubles you? And she answered, I am a widow woman, and my husband is dead. 6 And your handmaid had two sons, and they fought together in the field, and there was no one to separate them, but the one struck the other and killed him. 7 And, behold, the whole family has risen against your handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that struck his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed; we will destroy the heir also: and by this they will quench my coal that is left, and not leave to my husband either name or remnant on the earth. 8 And the king said to the woman, Go to your house, and I will give charge concerning you. 9 And the woman of Tekoah said to the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father’s house: and the king and his throne be guiltless. 10 And the king said, Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you any more. 11 Then said she, Please let the king remember the LORD your God, that you not allow the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son will fall to the earth.

 

  • The ‘revengers’ is explained in Genesis 9.
  • When a person killed someone else intentionally then the nearest male relative was to kill that person.
  • The nearest able male relative was the revenger or the avenger of blood. God always explains why He commands what He commands.
  • Genesis 9:5 And surely your blood of your lives I will require; at the hand of every beast I will require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
  • Numbers 35:33 So you not pollute the land where you are: for blood it defiles the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him that shed it. 34 Therefore do not defile the land which you will inhabit, in which I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.

 

God makes a way that the banished not be expelled from His presence

 

12 Then the woman said, Let your handmaid please speak one word to my lord the king. And he said, Say on. 13 And the woman said, Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For the king speaks this thing as one that is guilty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished. 14 For we will surely die, and are as water spilt on the ground, that cannot be gathered up again; neither does God respect any person: yet he devises means that his banished be not expelled from him.

 

  • 1Peter 1:18 For you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your empty way of life received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
  • John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

15 Now therefore that I have come to speak of this thing to my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and your handmaid said, I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid. 16 For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.

 

  • God’s eternal inheritance is awesome.
  • Revelation 3:21 To him that overcomes I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
  • Revelation 21:7 He that overcomes will inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

 

17 Then your handmaid said, The word of my lord the king will now be restful: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD your God will be with you. 18 Then the king answered and said to the woman, Please do not hide from me the thing that I ask you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. 19 And the king said, Is the hand of Joab with you in all this? And the woman answered and said, As your soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken: for your servant Joab, he directed me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid: 20 Your servant Joab has done this thing to change the face of the matter: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.

 

  • This verse tells us that angels know all things in the earth.

 

21 And the king said to Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go then and bring back the young man Absalom. 22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, Today your servant knows that I have found grace in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant. 23 So Joab got up and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. 24 And the king said, Let him return to his own house, and he will not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and did not see the king’s face.

  • David had longed for Absalom but did not fully restore him.
  • God has forgiven us completely and has credited righteousness to our account because His Son took our sin as far away from us as is possible.
  • Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
  • James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

 

25 But in all Israel there was not one to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. 26 And when he cut his hair, (for it was at every year’s end that he cut it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he cut it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king’s weight. 27 And to Absalom were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a beautiful countenance.

 

  • Absalom’s sister, raped by Amnon, was also named Tamar.

 

28 So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and did not see the king’s face. 29 Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent the second time, he would not come. 30 Therefore he said to his servants, Look, Joab’s field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.


  • God wants us to wait for His perfect solution to problems.
  • Absalom turned to criminal acts to gain his end rather than waiting on God as David had done.
  • Psalm 37:34 Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
  • Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

 

31 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom to his house and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire? 32 And Absalom answered Joab, Look, I sent to you saying, Come here, that I may send you to the king to say, Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to still be there. Now let me see the king’s face; and if there is any guilt in me, let him kill me. 33 So Joab came to the king, and told him: and he had called for Absalom. And he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.

 

  • 2Corinthians. 13:12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.
  • Romans 4:7 Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

 

                                           2 Samuel 15

 

1 After this Absalom prepared for himself chariots, horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and when any man that had a dispute came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him and said, What city are you from? And he said, Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel. 3 And Absalom said to him, Look, your matters are good and right; but no man is assigned by the king to hear you. 4 Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, then every man who had any dispute or complaint might come to me, and I would do him justice! 5 And when any man came near to him to bow to him, he put out his hand, took him, and kissed him. 6 Absalom did this to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

 

  • In a dispute both persons are not right.
  • Absalom told every person they were right.
  • Absalom promised things that he could not deliver.
  • He was right about the injustice that had been done, but wrong to try to set things right by his own methods.
  • David was God’s anointed ruler, not Absalom. Absalom used gestures of affection for his own purposes.

 

7 Now at the end of forty years Absalom said to the king, Please let me go and pay my vow that I have vowed to the LORD in Hebron. 8 For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Geshur in Syria saying, If the LORD brings me to Jerusalem again, then I will serve the LORD. 9 And the king said to him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron. 10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, Absalom reigns in Hebron.

 

  • Absalom may have vowed, but now used it his own purpose.
  • This is a good example of taking the name of God in vain.
  • Exodus 20:7 forbids this.
  • Hebron was the city where his father David began his reign over Judah.

 

11 And with Absalom two hundred men went out of Jerusalem, who were called to go with him; they went along innocently, and they did not know any thing. 12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people with Absalom increased continually.

 

  • Absalom, like Satan, tried to take the kingdom for himself. David waited for God to give the kingdom to him.

 

God allowed David to reap what he sowed

 

13 And a messenger came to David saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are following after Absalom. 14 And David said to all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Get up, let’s flee. Or we will not escape from Absalom: leave quickly, so he not overtake us suddenly, thrust evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.

 

  • David was God’s son.
  • He revolted against God’s perfect provision by taking another man’s wife, Bathsheba.
  • Then his son revolted against him.
  • All the women in the world won’t fill the need of a man whose heart is far from God.
  • Solomon proved that with his 700 wives and 300 concubines.
  • Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that is what he will reap.
  • Jeremiah 2:19 Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will reprove you: know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, that you have forsaken the LORD your God, and that my fear is not in you, says the Lord GOD of hosts.

 

15 And the king’s servants said to the king, Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses. 16 So the king departed with all of his household behind him. But the king left ten women who were concubines to keep the house.

 

  • Ten concubines were left.
  • We are never told how many concubines David had.

 

17 And the king went out, and all the people after him, and stayed in a place far off. 18 And all his servants passed on beside him; all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men that followed him from Gath, passed on before the king. 19 Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why are you also going with us? Return to your place, and stay with the king: for you are a foreigner, and also an exile. 20 You just came yesterday. Should I make you wander about with us today and I don’t know where I am going. Return, and take your brothers back: and mercy and truth be with you. 21 But Ittai answered the king and said, As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely where my lord the king is, whether in death or life, that is where your servant also will be.

 

  • Ittai was devoted to David like Ruth was to Naomi.
  • Ruth 1:16 And Ruth said, Do not ask me to leave you, or to stop following you: for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge: your people will be my people, and your God my God:

 

22 And David said to Ittai, Go, cross over. And Ittai the Gittite crossed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him. 23 And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people crossed over: the king himself also crossed over the brook Kidron, and all the people crossed over toward the way of the wilderness. 24 And behold Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God: they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had finished passing out of the city. 25 And the king said to Zadok, Carry the ark of God back into the city: if I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his dwelling: 26 But if he says, I have no delight in you; behold, here I am, let him do to me as seems good to him.

 

  • David had faith in God during the crisis that he’d created with his lust. God does what pleases Him.
  • Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
  • Psalm 135:6 Whatever the LORD pleased, that is what he did in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

 

27 The king said also to Zadok the priest, Are you not a seer? Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. 28 Look, I will stay in the plain of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me. 29 So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem: and they stayed there. 30 And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that were with him, every man covered his head, and they went up weeping as they went up.

 

God is a very present help in time of need


31 And someone told David saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I beg you, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. 32 And when David came to the top of the mount, where he worshipped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn, and dirt on his head: 33 David said to him, If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me: 34 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; as I served your father, now, I will serve you: then you may defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. 35 Do you not have there with you Zadok and Abiathar the priests? So whatever you hear out of the king’s house, you tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 36 Look, they have their two sons there with them, Zadok’s son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar’s son Jonathan,; by them you will send to me everything that you hear. 37 So Hushai, David’s friend, came into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.

 

  • By Hushai, God answered David’s prayer to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
  • We see the marvel of God’s grace when we remember that David brought this on himself by his choices, but God forgave him and was still with him.
  • The weeping, head covered, barefoot, torn clothes, and dirt on the head were the custom of mourning. David sent Ahithophel back to the palace as his undercover agent.
  • Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY: 2 Samuel 14-15

 

  • God makes a way that the banished not be expelled from His presence
  • God allowed David to reap what he'd sowed
  • He is a very present help in time of need