Let's read again from scripture. We'll be reading together from Psalm 133. Psalm 133. It's just three verses, but it's about unity in the body of Christ. Listen to God's word now. A song of ascents of David. Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. It is like the precious oil on the head running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Amen. We're going to see God's mysterious providence in the life of David as we turn to 2 Samuel 3. But let's pray for God's blessing on his word first. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the way that you work in our lives in so many different ways. And we see that you are a God who is in control, and you are a God who does way more, far more than we can ask or imagine. as you brought us to salvation and you caused us to grow in you. We know that right now as we come to your word, this is one of the greatest moments of our growth in the Christian life, as you meet with us and you speak to us and you apply your truth to our hearts. So Lord, we pray that through your spirit you would do that work. We need to hear you. We need to grow. And we pray that you would do this for your glory and our good. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, as I said this evening, our sermon is coming from 2 Samuel 3. It's 2 Samuel 3. I'm going to warn you in advance, this is a long chapter. There's a lot of things that happen here. But here's what I want you to listen for as you listen to the Word being read or follow along in your Bible. Listen for the sin of Abner and Joab. What is it that they do wrong? And then also listen for the righteous response of David. What does he do that was right? So listen for sin and also a righteous response. Let's read God's word together. There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker. And sons were born to David at Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon of Ahinoam of Jezreel, and his second, Chiliab of Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel, and the third, Absalom, the son of Maacah, the daughter of Ptolemy, king of Geshur, and the fourth, Adonijah, the son of Hagith, and the fifth, Shephetiah, the son of Abital, and the sixth, Ithrium of Eglah, David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron. While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ishbosheth said to Abner, Why have you gone into my father's concubine? Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ishbosheth and said, Am I a dog's head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman. God do so to Abner and more also if I do not accomplish for David what the Lord has sworn to him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah from Dan to Beersheba. And Ishbosheth could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him. And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring over all Israel to you. And he said, Good, I will make a covenant with you, but one thing I require of you. That is, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face. Then David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul's son, saying, give me my wife Michal, for whom I paid the bridal price of a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, Paltiel, the son of Laish. But her husband went with her, weeping after, all the way to Baharim. Then Abner said to him, go return. And he returned. And Abner conferred with the elders of Israel, saying, For some time past you have been seeking David as king over you. Now then, bring it about, for the Lord has promised David, saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hands of the Philistines and from the hand of all of their enemies. Abner also spoke to Benjamin. And then Abner went to tell David at Hebron all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin thought good to do. When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. And Abner said to David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your heart desires. So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace. Just then the servants of David arrived with Joab from a raid, bringing much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. When Joab and all the army that was with him came, it was told Joab, Abner the son of Ner came to the king and he has let him go and he has gone in peace. Then Joab went to the king and said, What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you. Why is it that you have sent him away so that he has gone? You know that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you and to know you are going out and you are coming in to know all that you are doing. When Joab came out from David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Seirah. But David did not know about it. And when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him privately. And there he struck him in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother. Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner the son of Ner. May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house. And may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge, or who is leprous, or who holds a spindle, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread. So Joab and Abishai's brother killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon. Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner. And King David followed the beer. They buried Abner at Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. And the king lamented for Abner, saying, Should Abner die as a fool dies? Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. As one falls before the wicked, you have fallen. And all the people wept again over him. Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day. But David swore, saying, God, do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down. And all the people took notice of it. And it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people. So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king's will to put to death Abner the son of Ner. And the king said to his servants, do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? And I was gentle today, though anointed king. These men, the sons of Zeriah, are more severe than I. The Lord repay the evildoer according to his wickedness. All right, do you remember what you were supposed to be listening for? What did Abner and Joab do that was so wrong? And what did David do that was right? I want you to think about these things as we go into this sermon because what is amazing as we look at this passage together is that God is at work in everything, in every action, in every thought to establish his kingdom. Now there are lots of twists and turns in this chapter. God's promise to make David king looks like it's about to be fulfilled through Abner, when Abner comes ready to give Israel into David's hands. And then that promise looks like it's being ruined by Joab just a few hours later, when Joab kills Abner and threatens David's reputation. But God uses the sin of Abner and Joab and the way that David righteously responds to their sin to slowly but surely fulfill his promise to establish his kingdom. That leads us to our main idea that God uses both man's sin and David's righteousness to establish his kingdom. Again, God uses both man's sin and David's righteousness to establish his kingdom. We're going to look at this passage. We're going to see three things this evening. We're going to see first, Abner's sin and David's righteousness. It's really the first half of the passage, verses 1 to 25. Secondly, we're going to see Joab's sin and David's righteousness, verses 26 to 39. And third and finally, we're going to look at man's sin and Christ's righteousness. So first, Abner's sin and David's righteousness. Our passage opens with a contrast in strength. In verse 1, we see that there's a contrast between David and Ish-bosheth. During this long war between their two kingdoms and their two houses, David, year by year, grows stronger, while Ish-bosheth and the kingdom of Saul grows weaker and weaker. The way that God blesses and strengthens David we see in verses 2 to 5. He blesses him with many sons. This contrast between David and Ish-bosheth is not the only contrast. We see another contrast in verses 6-7. It's a contrast between David and Abner. As we compare these two men, we see that there's a contrast in the source of their strength. Ish-bosheth might be getting weaker, but his general Abner is getting stronger and stronger. But the difference is that God strengthens David. It's very clear from verse one, God is doing this work. But then when we run into Abner, we see that Abner sinfully strengthens himself. Verses six to seven, Abner is making himself strong in the house of Saul. And he did this by taking one of Saul's concubines. And when Abner is doing this, he is making a claim to have royal authority. Now this source of strength is important because we see that all that Abner says and does in this passage is driven by sin. Look for instance at Abner's sinful plan. Abner in this passage plans to lead Israel to follow David. Now that plan by itself is not wrong because David is God's king. But Abner's plan is rooted in his sin, and it is carried out sinfully. Look first at how Abner's plan is rooted in sin. Verse 8. Abner comes up with this whole plan to betray Ish-bosheth and to deliver Israel to David. He comes up with this entire plan because he's angry and because he's proud. Abner has been faithful. That's his argument. I've been faithful, but Ish-bosheth. You have not treated me well. Those are the words of an angry, proud man. Abner's plan, then, is rooted in his sinful heart. And as you might guess, his sinful heart is then expressed in sinful actions. But his sin might not be what you first expect, because as we read the rest of this passage, Abner seems to be acting rightly. Notice that he quotes God's promises to David when he first speaks to Ishbosheth, and later when he speaks to the elders of Israel, he's using God's word. Abner is also able to persuade all of Israel to go over to David, who is God's king. And later, David himself welcomes Abner, and he seems to approve of this entire plan. So, what's wrong? What is Abner doing that is so wrong? Well, one of the things that stands out about Abner's actions here is the way that he uses God's word for his own sinful purposes. Look again at how Abner uses God's promises to David, verses 9 through 10. God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the Lord has sworn to him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah from Dan, to bear Sheba. When Abner quotes God's promise to David, and when he swears this oath that he's going to do what God has said, he's actually condemning himself. He's condemning himself for all of his previous rebellion against David, the rightful king. Remember, it's Abner who rejected David's rule over Israel, And it's Abner who appointed Ish-vasheth to be king. And it was Abner who attacked David's kingdom. So all the way along, Abner has been resisting God and God's Word. Abner has not suddenly experienced a conversion in chapter 3. He is not repenting of his past rebellion against God's promises. Instead, Abner uses God's Word when it's convenient for him. He refers to God's Word when it serves his own purposes. So that means that while Abner may sound quite godly, he is actually deepening his rebellion by misusing God's Word for his own purposes. Now we see the same pattern repeated again in verses 17 to 18 when Abner speaks to the elders of Israel and quotes God's promises again. He says, What Abner says is right. God really has promised to use David to save Israel from our enemies, but Abner is only mentioning that promise now because it strengthens his own position. It becomes clear that what Abner wants here is to be in control. You can see his desire to be in control in how Abner used God's promises. We just looked at that. but we also see it in how he places himself in God's promises. Look back again at verses 9 to 10. Listen carefully to what Abner says, Notice Abner's emphasis on himself and his role. Abner makes it sound like it is God's work, yes, But really, it's my work to accomplish God's purposes for David. All the way through this passage we see Abner's words and Abner's actions are incredibly prideful. But before we look at how David responds to Abner, we should recognize that we are all like Abner. That's an uncomfortable reality for us. But we all share some of the same sin that we see in Abner's heart. Because if you didn't know Abner very well, he might look very godly in this chapter. But ultimately, he's doing the right thing for all the wrong reasons. And this is sometimes how we act in the church and in the Christian life. We serve in the church, we teach, we preach, or we attend faithfully. If we actually look inside our hearts, we see that we're doing the right thing because we're proud. So what we're saying or doing may be right, but God knows our hearts and He sees the pride that is driving us. As we think about Abner's sin, David's response is even more remarkable. Because David knows a lot of Abner's sin throughout this entire process. He's not stupid. He's not naive. And yet, David still welcomes Abner to Hebron, and he seems to have agreed with Abner's plan, because Abner leaves to go bring Israel to David. It's a small detail, but it's important that three times in these verses, it says that David sent Abner away in peace. Given Abner's rebellious reputation and his obvious pride, this is a stunning response from David. David spares and even blesses one of his greatest enemies. The very practical-minded Joab, he is just flabbergasted by him, by what David has done. Joab thinks that Abner was spying on David. And Joab doesn't say what David should have done, but it's very clear that David should have at least arrested or killed Abner. Why can David do this? Why is he willing to treat Abner, his enemy, so well? A lot of this is because David wants peace for God's people. He wants the unity that God's people should experience. As he says in verse 39, David acknowledges that as God's anointed king, he had the right to condemn Abner for his rebellion. But he didn't take that right. He chose to be gentle and gracious to Abner because Abner's plan promised peace and a unified kingdom. I don't think David is overlooking Abner's sin, especially because Abner never repented. He's never asked David for forgiveness. But I do think that David sees Abner's plan as part of the providence of God. He's trying to respond rightly to what he sees God doing. He knows that God wants his kingdom to be won. He wants the church to be united. David puts such a high value on the unity of God's people. And he sees Abner's plan as a way to accomplish that and for him to be the king that God has promised. David was willing to even work with someone like Abner to bring peace to God's church. Well, that's the sin of Abner and David's righteous response. Secondly, let's look at Joab's sin and David's righteousness, verses 26 to 39. Now, the prospect of peace in Israel and the fulfillment of God's promises to David, it seems to be ruined here when Joab takes matters into his own hands. In verses 26 to 27, Joab deceitfully calls Abner back to Hebron and then he murders him in cold blood. And he does this to avenge the death of Joab's brother Asahel. Think about what Joab is doing. Murder is bad, but Joab is using David's promise of peace to his own sinful advantage, and he carries out this killing as a revenge killing, even though God's law did not allow this kind of justice. Everything that Joab has done is wrong. And it's worse than that because Joab must have understood the significance of his actions, especially for the hope of any kind of peace in Israel. He just killed the one man who may have been able to bring peace by bringing Israel back. But Joab chose to sinfully satisfy himself instead of sacrificially and rightly giving up his hatred for Abner for the sake of peace of God's people. Well, how does David respond to Joab's sin? He responds with curses and mourning. Both of these responses that we see from David are righteous and godly. First, we see David's curse. We see it in verse 28 to 29 and then at the end in verse 39. Let's look at the first curse on Joab. When David heard of it, he said, I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner the son of Ner. May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge or who is leprous or who holds a spindle or who falls by the sword or who lacks bread. This is a very significant curse. David asks God to judge Joab and Joab's relatives and descendants for Joab's sin. May there always be someone who experiences misfortune or suffering because of Joab's sin. Now, we might rightly wonder why David doesn't go further and condemn Joab to death for the murder of Abner. And that might be what we expect from God's law. And that certainly was David's right and maybe even his responsibility as the king of Israel. But I think it's important that God doesn't comment on David's actions here. God does not condemn David for what he doesn't do. What we do have recorded and what we should focus on is that David's curse in and of itself is a significant punishment on Joab. David essentially is handing Joab over to the righteous Lord. As David says in the last verse, the Lord repaid the evildoer according to his wickedness. I think we can rest assured that God heard David's prayer and he acted justly to judge Joab's house. And Joab himself in just a very, well, in a few years when Solomon comes to the throne, he himself is executed for his sins. So to see David's curses on Joab, we're seeing that these are righteous calls for God's justice on evildoers. David also acts righteously in mourning for Abner himself and in leading all the people in mourning for Abner. David buries Abner in a place of honor in Hebron. He walks behind Abner's body. He weeps over Abner. He laments over his death. He even fasts beyond the normal expectations. And we might be tempted cynically to say that David is putting on a show. And we might say that especially because we see the good results of his actions in verses 36 to 37. All the people took notice of it and it pleased them as everything that the king did pleased all the people. So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king's will to put to death Abner the son of Ner. What's the response? Judah loved David. And both Judah and Israel understood that David was innocent. Those are great outcomes. They greatly strengthen David's position. But David here, as he mourns for Abner, he is not acting like a politician or a leader who has a photo op, who puts on a show just to attract more popular support. David really grieves over Abner. See, when he praises Abner in verse 38, he calls him a prince and a great man. David means that. Israel has lost a great leader and David is sad. Now, we've seen this before in David's life. David's ability to praise Abner and to grieve over him, even though Abner was his enemy, reminds us of how David does the same thing when he hears about the death of Saul. David praised Saul and he grieved over him. When we are godly like David, we are able to mourn over losses like these in God's church, even when we don't condone the sin that led to these losses. David never says that what Abner has done is right, but he is able to mourn that God's church has lost a great leader. As we get to the end of this passage, we see that David's expectations for how God might fulfill his promises haven't been met. And you can easily imagine the emotional and spiritual turmoil David has experienced. Most of this chapter looks like it's just happened in one or two days between Abner's visit to David and his funeral. Within two days, the kingdom seemed so close to finally being David's. And then through Joab's sin, just a few hours later, the kingdom seems to be taken right out of his hands. But God was teaching David, and he's teaching us a lesson. God will fulfill his promises, and he does this in ways that we might never expect. See, we simply might want to control God's promises like Abner, and God often thwarts those efforts. He won't let us do that, because he's going to be God and we won't. But God also works through prideful sin like Abner's. Think about it. He used Abner's sin to remind the elders of Israel about God's promises to David, and to prepare them to receive David as their king in chapter 5. And we may also believe that our sin may prevent God's promises. I mean, it would be tempting to think that Joab's sin derailed God's plan. But that's not so. God's promises to David stand firm. And God enables David to respond to Joab's sin in such a way that God's promises are actually accomplished. Because both Judah and Israel recognize that David is the godly king that they need. Now these lessons from this chapter, they apply directly into our lives as we wait for God to fulfill so many of his promises to us. It is so encouraging to realize that you cannot sinfully control or sinfully prevent God accomplishing His plan in your life. Neither can anybody else. I mean, that doesn't make our sin right. Hear me clearly, that doesn't make our sin right. But it is encouraging to know that God really is sovereign and you cannot control or stop God. So these lessons apply to our Christian life. But they apply to our Christian life because they apply in such a bigger way. This passage is a much larger lesson for us because we see an important pattern being laid out in this passage about our salvation. God accomplishes his promises through man's sin and his king's righteousness. This pattern is ultimately fulfilled in Christ and His Church. And because it's fulfilled there, it's also fulfilled in your life. Let me show you this as we look at man's sin and Christ's righteousness. In the Old Testament, God repeatedly promised to establish His kingdom through His promised King. We've been seeing this in the Gospel of Mark. We've been seeing those promises coming true as Jesus is shown to be that promised King. And when we see God bringing His kingdom through Jesus Christ, we see that man's sin leads directly to that result. It leads to His kingdom being established and to our salvation. Because God used the murder of Christ to bring salvation. Peter says this in Acts chapter 2, This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed, by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." What we see there is that God in His sovereign plan allowed men to crucify and kill Jesus. He allowed men to sin in this way against Jesus Christ. But Jesus' death and resurrection These were the exact way that God brought salvation, because Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He was raised for our justification. He is now seated at God's right hand as our mediator. So God used man's sinful efforts to kill Christ, but he also used Christ's righteous obedience and willingness to die. to accomplish those very same things, because Christ obeyed to the point of death. He was willing to do that. And God acknowledged that righteousness and established Christ's kingdom. And now Christ, the righteous, risen King, is on His throne. But as we've said before in the Gospel of Mark, and I'll say it again here, we're still waiting for so many of God's promises about His kingdom and His King to be completely fulfilled. God's Kingdom hasn't yet come in its complete fullness, because Jesus is not universally acknowledged as King, and His enemies are not yet completely defeated. This will all happen when Jesus returns. So that means we are in a period of waiting, and as we wait, God works. And God works to build His Kingdom, and He does it in the same way that he worked to establish his kingdom in Jesus Christ. God actually uses man's sin for the good of his church. Think about it. He promises that man's sin and even Satan's attacks, they cannot destroy the church ever. And so often what we see in the Bible, we see in church history, we see in our own lives, is that God uses sin to strengthen, spread, and refine his church. Just think about an example from church history. How many times has the church been persecuted? So many, all over the world. And yet so often God uses that very persecution, man's sin, trying to crush Christ's church. God uses that for good, for the growth of his church. So God uses man's sin for His Church and God also uses Jesus' righteousness, the righteousness of King Jesus, to build His Church. You are saved and you are sanctified. You are built up because the work of Jesus Christ is applied to you by His Spirit. And even more than that, God works to build His kingdom through your righteousness that you have in Jesus Christ now. Your work matters now. That's why we preach. That's why we share the good news. That's why we obey. Because God has promised to even use you to build His kingdom. And even more than that, the promise is that Jesus Christ is making you righteous like Himself. His goal is to make His church to be a spotless bride for Himself. So God uses man's sin even to build His Church, and He certainly uses Christ's righteousness applied to you and worked in you to build His Church as well. So that means that as we wait for God to accomplish all of His promises about His Kingdom, we wait with great confidence. We don't know when Jesus is going to return, but we do know what God has promised, and we can see what God has already done in establishing the Kingdom, And we can see right now what He is doing to build His kingdom in and through us. Really, the big takeaway of this passage is very simple to say, but it is life-changing that God accomplishes His promises. He accomplishes His promises in His way and in His time. We have to trust Him. He promises to bring His kingdom. We need to trust Him to do it the right way, and at the right time. And as we trust him, as we see what he has done and what he is doing now, we know that each one of us can wait with complete confidence in faith. Our God keeps his promises. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for the blessing that you gave to David and this passage that we just looked at that you reminded him that you are the one who brings the kingdom. and that you were going to do it perfectly, and that nobody could stand in your way, and that you also used him and his righteousness. We thank you that that's true for us as well, that in Christ you have established your church, you are building your church, and that we can be confident that no matter what happens, your kingdom will come and your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We pray, Lord, that we would be faithful as we wait, that you would even use us to build your kingdom. But we thank you that we can trust you, that you keep your promises. Every single promise is yes and amen in our Savior, Jesus Christ. And we thank you for this confidence, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.