All righty, we'll continue on tonight, 2 Samuel chapter three. 2 Samuel chapter three, 13 to 21. And let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, as we come to you now, we thank you for your word. And Father, we pray now that you would teach us from your word We pray, Father, that you would open our understanding, that we might understand the scriptures. We, Father, we pray that you would take this from your word and teach us tonight. We ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen. All right, as we begin tonight, got a few good lessons out of the word of God for us. Verses 13 down to verse 16, There's a situation there, and there's a reason for that. And so what we're going to find is, well, let's just read verse 13 and 14 to get you started in this. And Abner's come. and David's gonna talk here, but then David says this, and he said, well, I will make a league with thee, but one thing I require of thee, that is, thou shalt see, thou shall not see my face, except thou first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face. And David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son saying, deliver me my wife, Michelle, which I espoused to me for 104 skins of the Philistines. And verse 15, and Ishmael sent and took her from her husband, even from Philatel, the son of Laish. Now, what in the world is this all about? Well, first of all, when we go back to 1 Samuel, We went back to 1 Samuel 18, 21. It says that she loved David, this woman, okay? Then in chapter 19, verse 11, she was David's wife, all right? And she saved David's life. She told David, she said, if you don't leave by the time the sun comes up, you'll be dead. And so we find that in chapter 25, verse 44, Saul gave David's wife to this other guy. What's that all about? In doing that, That was a sign, Saul's sign, of totally rejecting David, disinheriting David from the throne, from the position. And it was a disgrace to David, and Saul had done that. And so that meant that David was totally disgraced in the eyes of Israel by Saul, who was the king. But now, what's gonna happen is David is going to have Ish-basheth, Saul's son, to reinstate everything. That's why he said, bring her back. That's one reason. The other was the fact that she loved him and he loved her eight years ago. But what's going to happen when Ish-bosheth does this, what it's going to do, it's going to place David back into this heritage back into this lineage, it's going to restore David. And so that's why David says the very first thing, well, I make a league with thee, but one thing I require, and then he says what that one thing is. And so that one thing was extremely, extremely important. and for David becoming king. And so he was going to reestablish his position. And so for Ish-bosheth to do what he done, I'm sure he had the eight crow, eight gravel, whatever you want to call it, for him to do that. Because what he was saying was, my dad was completely wrong in what he'd done. My dad shouldn't have done that. I'm going to reestablish David for what he is. And so, that's what took place. And as we look at this, we realize that, David, when he went out in 1 Samuel 18, 25 to 27, when they come and told David, if you read that, we're gonna take the time to read it, but you'll find that when he tells Saul, what do you want me to do for her? What do you want me to do? And Saul told him, said, well, I want you to go out and kill 100 Philistines. One of the four skins of 100 Philistines. You read the story, it's kind of funny, David said, well, that ain't no problem. So him and his guys go out and kill 200. But I want y'all to think about something. You know, we looked at, last week we looked at David's age, right? He just turned 30. Now, you gotta realize, when all this was happening, he was in his early 20s. Man, when he was in his 20s, he was a bad dude, wasn't he? I mean, you look at the age of David, and it becomes absolutely amazing. When you realize, look at everything that David done. Look at how old he was when he killed Goliath. I mean, but through all of this, David understood the culture. David understood how things work. David had some character and integrity about him. And that's what amazes me. As a young man, not only did he have tremendous, tremendous ability given to him by God to war and to fight, but he had tremendous wisdom also. He done most of this stuff up front in his 20s. This stuff that you read about in his 20s. And man, he killed Goliath when he was a teenager. And from then on, I mean, for the next 15 years up to the time he was 30, what a life, my soul. And so we find then him understanding this, he wanted his wife back. Well, Abner goes and gets her, verse 16, verse 15 to 16. And Ishmael just sent and took her from her husband, even from Philatel, the son of Laish, verse 16. And her husband, and her husband went with her along, weeping behind her to Baharim. Then said Abner unto him, go, return. And he returned, he went back. When I first read that, I thought to myself, huh. You know, here, she loved David. Saul had sold her to David. Saul was hoping that David would be killed by the Philistines, and that didn't work out. And then here she is, David's wife, and she loved him. And then all of a sudden, her dad takes her and sells her to somebody else. I've thought as I read that, boy, don't you know, that must have been a really tight family relationship. Wonder how it was in that home. I can only imagine she loved David and all of a sudden now she's sold to this other guy. That doesn't sound like they were gonna have a very good close relationship, did it? No. It's amazing. What you see here. But David is gonna take her back. His motive for that's two reasons. One, as I just told you, it's gonna reinstate him in that family situation. But the other thing is this, he's getting her back. He's taking her back. where she was taken from him, now he's in a place to get her back. What a thought. I wonder how she felt when she found out she was going back to David, the one she loved, rather than being stuck with Leroy. My goodness. Well, So there's a lot we can study in that. We can go back to 1 Samuel chapter 18, 19, 25, find some things there about this relationship. But pretty much that's what it is. And now let's move on. So he's gonna get her back. But right before I do move on, I want to show you something. I want you to get this tonight as we look at this. Circumstances change, don't they? Circumstances change. And so even though her father done that, David had to wait till the circumstances was right to get her back. And it happened, didn't it? I think one of the lessons I learned out of this was, you know, sometimes you just gotta wait till the right time to do something. And that's very important. Under the leadership of God, you just gotta wait until the right time to do it. All right, now watch this. Now we're gonna start getting into something here that's going to be pretty touchy. And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel saying, ye sought for David in time past to bring, to be king over you. Well, Abner knew that, didn't he? Now watch. Verse 18, now then do it. For the Lord has spoken of David saying, by the hand of my servant David, I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines and out of the hand of all their enemies. In other words, David is the one that's going to lead you to victory. But this has got to be amazing to you and me. Look who's saying it. What happened to Abner? Why did he have this change of mind all of a sudden? Well, the other week we looked at the fact that Abner was going to leave the court of Ish-bosheth and go into the court of David, wasn't he? And he had this change of mind. But I want you all to see something here that's extremely important. You know, sometimes we can have knowledge and know something and not act upon that knowledge until something else happens. And as I look at this, I realize that is exactly what happened with Abner. Here you've got Abner. Look at this, he's been a dreaded enemy of David, hadn't he? For the past eight years. And now, all of a sudden, he's going to recognize God. He got sick and tired of Ish-bosheth, didn't he? I mean, he was disgusted with him and said, I'm gonna give all this to David. I think one of the things, as I look at this passage of scripture tonight, Abner knew this. Abner had this in his head. Abner had this in his heart. Saul knew it, didn't he? That's one of the things that Saul hated was the fact that God had said it. Saul was willing to fight against God, he hated David so much. But now here's Abner. So one of the differences is this. You know, have you ever done something and done something and done something and done something and finally just said, this is stupid, I quit? Right? I mean, Sometimes we just do things. I was working on a lawnmower one time. And you know the screw that holds the blade on? You know the little deal in there that holds the blade on? Well, you know, On some lawnmowers, that thing goes on backwards. It goes different. It's just the opposite, okay? Because that's where the blade turns. So it tightens it up. I was working on that thing. I was pulling on it, pulling on it, pulling on it. I was about ready to stick dynamite under it and just blow it to pieces, you know? Throw it in the garbage, do everything. I mean, I finally just give up, thought, man, I've done everything. Ain't no way in the world I can't get that off. It's not moving. Whatever, right? And just about the time, a bunch of dudes are smiling, but just about the time I said I quit, I went to take the ratchet off, it was kind of stuck, and I shoved it the other way, and as soon as I did, the thing loosened up. And I thought, I have spent an hour and a half here. trying to get this nut off this thing, get this blade off, and all the time I was pushing on it the wrong way. I sat down and just laughed at myself, it's the only thing I could do. The moral of the story is this. Watch this now. When you get to verse 18, "'Now then, do it,' Abner says, "'for the Lord has spoken of David.'" You know what? There's times in your life and in my life we have to accept the fact God has spoken. You know that? Now, I was going to spend the rest of my time tonight On that one topic, God hath spoken. Thus saith the Lord. God has spoken. You know something? We might know God has said something, but you and I as humans, there's one thing you and I need. We need circumstances that'll move us toward, thus saith the Lord. You and I need circumstances that'll take us to this place where God has spoken. We need circumstances that'll bring us to a place to where you and I are willing to yield to the will of God. We might know it, Abner knew it, Saul knew it, But what we see here is this. Finally, Abner got disgusted with the whole situation. And look at this. This is Abner saying this. This is Abner saying this. This is Abner yielding to the Word of God. This is Abner yielding to the will of God. I want you to see something. When a man or woman's mind changes because of the Word of God, you'll find out they will yield to the will of God. Do you hear me? When a man or woman's mind gets to the place to where they recognize the Word of God, they will yield to the will of God. You will, I will. And that's exactly what you see here. A fantastic lesson. on a man that was absolutely an enemy. The Bible says Abner was strong for the family of Saul. And so here he had fought against David for seven and a half years. My goodness. And what now? Lo and behold, he stops, he walks away from And he's going to tell him, I'm giving everything to David. Why? Because what you find here, when you look in verse 17 and 18, verse 17, and Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying he sought for David in time past to be king over you. Now, listen, there's something here I want you to see. I'm gonna bring it out in a minute, but it's gonna say Abner, Abner, Abner, Abner, Abner, Abner. Abner said this, and Abner done this, and Abner done this, all right? I want you to see it's Abner doing this. It's Abner doing this. Man, when he went after to get the job done, he was gonna get the job done. He told David what he was going to do, and now he's doing it. That's what's amazing to me. You see, when somebody sets their mind to do the right thing, It's amazing how motivated we can be. I want you to know, I've seen people wishy-washy, flaky as a snowstorm, flaky as a bad head of dandruff, and lo and behold, guess what? Then all of a sudden, truth gets a hold of them, the Word of God gets a hold of them, and they become so motivated For that, it's just amazing. It's almost like a transformation in their life. I look at Abner, verse 17, and Abner had communication with the elders of Israel. Man, he was doing it. Saying, you sought for David in time past to be king over you. Look what he said now. Now then do it. Now then do it. How do you like that? Man, don't you know they were shocked at that. But you see, the reality of it is this. Let's see why he's telling them to do it. Let's see why we tell people to do it. Why do we do it? Why do we tell people, do it, go for it. Serve God, commit your life to God, believe in God, trust God, live by faith, do it. Put God first in your life, do it. Why do we do that? Listen, if we have a scriptural purpose for that, if we have a scriptural foundation for that, if we have a biblical foundation for that, it's motivating. Watch this. Now do it. For the Lord hath spoken of David. Hey, this is Abner talking. Adner is now recognizing what the Lord had said about David. Saul didn't want to recognize that, did he? Adner fought against it, but finally a circumstance brought it about. Ladies and gentlemen, now Abner says with this change of mind, for the Lord hath spoken of David. Listen. You gotta understand, let's talk about the emotional situation here. This is Abner and David. Man, for the past seven and a half years, they've been doing their best to try to kill one another, haven't they? As you would say, man, there's a lot of bad blood in this situation, huh? You see? Well, I want you to know, for the Lord has spoken of David. When you and I yield to the Word of God, when you and I yield to the will of God, we will begin to do the right thing. You know that? That is so important for you and me. For the Lord has spoken of David. Well, when you and I find what the Lord hath spoken of, then it says, saying by the hand of my servant David, will I save my people Israel, out of the hand of the Philistines and out of the hand of all their enemies." In other words, victory. Victory. Victory. Victory. You hear that? Now, listen to me. If you want victory in your life, if you want to have a victorious life, One of the things you've got to do is to recognize, for the Lord hath spoken. Well, what has the Lord spoken about? What has the Lord said? We might say the Lord hath spoken of David. The Lord hath spoken of Jesus Christ. The Lord hath spoken. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare unto you that if you and I want victory in our life, we're going to have to do it based upon those few words, for the Lord hath spoken. Right? Now, listen to me. When we can make our decisions, based upon what the Lord has said, then our actions, we will begin to do the right thing. We will begin to say the right thing. We will begin to think the right thing. Look how that one statement changed Abner. That one statement changed Abner. For the Lord has spoken of David. Man, that changed Abner's thinking toward David, didn't it? That changed Abner's thinking toward David's kingship. That changed Abner's thinking, period, about David. I'm going to show you something here in just a second that amazed me about this. You see, so David was going to be the one that was going to bring victory to Israel. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare unto you what you and I need to do is to look for the Lord has spoken. Well, whatever the Lord has spoken about, spoken of, that's got to be the foundation of our next action. That's got to be the foundation of our action. Abner's view of David was going to change. Abner's hatred of David was going to change. Abner was not going to try to kill David anymore. Everything was going to change all because of that one statement. I want you to know, if you'll let the Word of God speak to you, you'll find out there's going to be times there's going to be just a word, just a statement, two or three words that'll absolutely change your life. There'll be things, boy, right at the time when you're on the brink of disaster. Man, God'll give you a verse. God'll give you a word. Right when you need something, God'll give you something. Ever so important, remember this. For the Lord hath spoken. What's the subject? Of David. What's the subject? Of morality. Of righteousness. of God's service. For the Lord has spoken of what? Of marriage, of men, of women, of children. You could drop David's name from that and put everything else in there, couldn't you? You see, the fact of it is this. What the Lord has spoken of is the very foundation of Christian action. It's the very heartbeat of what you and I should do. The Word of God, the Lord has spoken. That settles it. Some people say, well, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. The main difference is whether you believe it or not. It's settled. You see, ladies and gentlemen, I don't care what your situation is. There's an answer for it somewhere in the Word of God. You know that? Now, watch this. Let's see what he does. Now, go down to verse 19. And Abner... Now, notice this, see? And Abner, Abner, Abner. And Abner also spake in the ears of Benjamin. And Abner went also to speak in the ears of David, in Hebrew. all that seemed good to Israel, and it seemed good to the whole house of Benjamin. In other words, Abner now was motivated to move everything toward David. Just think, Abner, one statement, for the Lord has spoken of David. Now Abner, rather than being this adversary of David, has now yielded to what the Word of God has had to say about David. And look at him. Man, he's talking to everybody. Things have changed. I want you to know something. We can read the Word of God, read the Word of God, read the Word of God, But if the Word of God never speaks to us, it'll never change us. That's why lost people can read the Word of God, and study the Word of God, and read the Word of God, and it never changed. It does nothing for them. But a saved person. Oh, different story there now. The Bible says that the Word of God is spiritually discerned. So when the Word of God begins to speak to a spiritually based person, it's going to change them. So now Abner, all of a sudden now, Abner, the Word of God got a hold of Abner and he's doing all the talking. Man, he's talking to the leaders of Israel, he's talking to the leaders of Benjamin, he's talking, man, he's talking, isn't he? You see, ladies and gentlemen, if the Word of God will get a hold of you and me, we will find a motivation that we've never experienced before. If the Word of God We'll grab our hearts and our minds, we'll find a motivation that we've never even experienced before. I can remember a fella, this guy, let me tell you about a couple of people. One fella, He couldn't talk too well, stuttered some. But he was trying to read his Bible one day and he got into the book of Luke. And the rich man died and went to hell. That stuttered boy got a hold of that and read that and read that and read that and read that. And he kind of like Walt, he went and got him about a thousand tracks. And buddy, everywhere he went, he put out tracks. But you ask him, why do you do that? And through his stuttering voice, he'd tell you, somebody's going to go to hell, but maybe somebody will read this track and God will use it and they won't go to hell. And he tried to talk. He's the guy that I might've mentioned to you. He's the one that, that he stuck a track on a Mercedes. And the guy come out and said, don't you put your trash on my car. And he, he was stuttered. And he turned around and looked at that guy telling him, mister, mister, your car's temple. The word of God's eternal. I didn't put something, in his stuttering way, he said, I didn't put trash on your car. I put something that's eternal on your piece of trash. See, the reality of it, the Word of God got a hold of him. This preacher was telling me, boy, what happened to him? A little statement study to show thyself approved unto God of work. He said, man, he said, I had sermon books after sermon books. He said, I'd just go pick me a sermon out of a sermon book. And he said, but one day I read the Word of God. And the Word of God told me to study. And he said, God used that to change my life. Listen, read the Word of God. Because what you'll find in the Word of God is a verse that'll change your life. Watch this now. Verse 19, and Abner also spake in the ears of Benjamin, and Abner went also to speak in the ears of David and Hebron, all that seemed good to Israel, and it seemed good to the whole house of Benjamin. Man, he was out doing some talking, wasn't he? Things had changed. Verse 20, so Abner came to David, to Hebron, and 20 men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast that spoke volumes about the integrity of David. The war was over. A lot of people wouldn't have done that. But David did that. The war was over. You know something? A great lesson for me and you to learn in this, and that's this. If the war was over, it's over. That's it. There's no sense in carrying it on, is there? No, no, no, no, no. David didn't do that, he made a feast and Abner said unto David, look at this now. I mean, Abner's doing all this talking, isn't he? Abner's doing all this coordinating, isn't he? Abner's doing all this, come on, get under David thing. I mean, look what Abner's doing, he's doing it all. And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go and will gather all Israel unto my Lord the King. What? You've been trying to kill my Lord the King for the past seven and a half years? What happened to you? That's like asking Paul. Paul, no wonder Paul caused so much havoc. All of a sudden, Paul has this encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Next thing you know, Ananias prays over him. The next thing you know in scripture, Paul's in the synagogue preaching Christ. The Bible says, boy, the Jews were all confused. Why? Because the guy that was persecuting the church is now preaching the church. You see, ladies and gentlemen, When we encounter the Word of God, when we encounter God, when we have an encounter with the Son of God, when the Holy Spirit takes the Son of God and God the Father and the Word of God and causes us to have an encounter with that, It's a life-changing thing. It'll change how we think. It'll change how we see the Word of God. It'll change everything for you and me. The importance of you and I having an encounter with the Word of God. Seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read, the Bible says. To the lost person, it's just religion. But to the saved person, it's food for the soul. To the saved person, it tells me how to live. To the saved person, it tells me about God. You see, you read the Word of God, you'll learn about the attributes of God. I thought I've changed any experience. Verse 21, and Abner said unto David, I will arise and go and will gather all Israel unto my Lord the king. You know what? You'll find out. When the Word of God touches your heart and mind, you'll recognize who is the Lord and King. You know that? The Bible says of Jesus Christ, He's the Lord of lords and the King of kings. You read the Word of God, you'll find out you're not, He is. You read the Word of God, you'll find out they're not, but He is. You read the Word of God, listen, listen to me. The importance of you and I being affected by the Word of God, it'll change us. Why do we pass it out? Because it changes people. It's the living Word of God. Like the old Russian fella that I was in school with in Göttingen, Germany. That Russian guy, man, he spoke perfect French, perfect Spanish, Oxford English. He'd done all of his writing in Hebrew, Greek. When he was in England, I asked him, I said, when you were in England, did you go to the museum and see the scriptures? And he told me, he said, yes. I said, were you supposed to? He said, no. He said, but I had to. I said, well, what did you think about that? And he said, it's alive. It's alive. Here that was a guy was a card carrying communist from the Soviet Union. But he looked at the word of God and he said, it's alive. It's alive. Listen, I want you to know for him to say that was telling me, I don't care how long he lives, he'll never get away from that. You know that? Never. Watch this now. We're down in verse 21. Abner just called David, my Lord, the king. The Word of God will lead us to recognize its authority. Watch this now, that they may make a league with thee, that thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth. And David sent Abner away, and he went in peace. Listen, the outcome, the outcome of recognizing the Word of God, the outcome of recognizing what the Lord is saying, you know what it'll do? It'll bring peace to you. to recognize the Word of God. Abner recognized the Word of God. The Lord hath spoken of David. That was the beginning of the change of Abner. And so you see, ladies and gentlemen, when the Word of God begins to speak and the word of God begins to move in your life, you're going to find one of the things it's going to do is to bring peace to you. Let me give you an example. Over in West Kentucky, I knew a lady that was terrified of death. Absolutely terrified. She wasn't gonna go to no funeral. She didn't care whose funeral it was, she wasn't going. I mean, you talk about death to her, she would just turn white as a page of paper and almost pass out. I mean, man, she was terrified of death. And I asked her, I said, well, if you get saved, all that'll change. And she started telling me, I'm saved. I said, no, you're not. You're not saved. I said, if you were saved, you'd read your Bible and you'd understand something. Look at Paul's view of death. Paul said, hey, to be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord, I'd rather be with him than you, but for your sake, I'm here. I said, if you'd read the word of God, if you were saved, you'd understand death is deliverance for the saved people. to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord. The Bible says, perfect love casteth out fear, and you're living in constant fear. You see, ladies and gentlemen, the Word of God has the ability to take your fear away from you. The Word of God has the ability to bring peace to your soul. The Word of God. Like this morning, refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul, the Bible says. But the very next verse says, God's my refuge, I'll go to him. You see that? In other words, no man cared for my soul, but God did. And I'm satisfied with that. You see, I want you to know something. It's not just you carrying a Bible. When you realize that the Bible is a living book, when you realize that the word of God has the ability to bring peace to you, look at the war that's going on between Abner and David, but now it said he went in peace. You know something? You can war, you can war, and you can war with the people of this life. But ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you something. There's going to be a time when you have an encounter with the Word of God. And guess what? All of that, that has brought toil and turmoil into your life and stresses and stuff, you'll find, boy, to read the Word of God, to learn the attributes of God, to learn about God and Christ and sin and forgiveness and cleansing, I want you to know something. It'll bring peace to your soul. Peace. Peace. Everything around you can be in turmoil. You might say, well, this one don't like me, that one don't like me, these people don't care about me, whatever it is. But you'll be satisfied, listen to me now, you'll be satisfied with God. Refuge, favor, no man cared for my soul. But the very next verse says, God is my refuge. Doesn't it? That's what it says in that verse. You see, when you learn that, you'll have a peace that passes all understanding. When you learn that, you'll learn to trust God in all things in life. Now, man, there'll be things in life that just broadside you. But you'll find out. Through it all, you can trust God. What a blessed thought that is, isn't it? What a glorious thing that is. Abner's chain started off with the word of God. In this lesson here, it ends in peace. That's the way it ends. You see that? But next week we'll learn about revenge. We'll look at the difference between the two. Listen. Let the peace that passeth all understanding Bring comfort to your soul. Amen. Time is gone. The hour is gone. Poof, gone. Let's all stand, if you would, please.