So let us hear that God's word for a second. Samuel three, beginning of verse 17. Now Abner had communicated with the elders of Israel saying, and time passed, you were seeking for David to be king over you. 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 from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies. Also, or excuse me, and Abner also spoke in the hearing of Benjamin. And Abner also went to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron, all that seemed good to Israel and the whole house of Benjamin. So Abner and 20 men with him came to David at Hebron, and David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. Then Abner said to David, I will arise and go and 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. At that moment, the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David and Hebron, for he had sent him away and he had gone in peace. When Joab and all the troops that were with him had come, they told Joab, saying, Abner, the son of Ner, came to the king, and he sent him away, and he has gone in peace. Then Joab came to the king and said, what have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why is it that you sent him away and he is already gone? Surely you realize that Abner, the son of Ner, came to deceive you, to know you're going out and you're coming in, and to know all that you are doing. And when Joab had gone, From David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sura. But David did not know it. Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of Asahel, his brother." May God add his blessing to the reading and hearing of his holy word. Well, as we have seen here, especially in chapters two and three to this point, the key themes of 2 Samuel thus far has been to God strengthening David, but weakening Ishbosheth. As we saw last time, Ishbosheth angered Abner, who then defected to David. And so Abner then promised David that he would help unite Israel under him. And so David then is pleased because obviously there's no more civil war between fellow Israelites. But David has this condition. He wants Michael, his first wife, returned to him. And as we have seen and talked about, especially at the beginning of the chapter, this is kind of a mixed idea. On the one hand, multiple wives is not good. And yet David restoring Michael to a rightful husband, that's a good thing. And in so doing, David also reminds everybody that he has already entered into this political alliance with Saul by marrying his daughter. Unfortunately, basically nobody lived by that alliance. And so we ended last time with this emotional scene with Paltiel losing his wife and crying as she is taken away. But he should have never agreed to marry a married woman in the first place. Well, the condition that David gave here of Michael has now been met. And so now we turn to Abner's words to fulfill his promises to David. So we pick up now with this part here, verse 17. Now Abner had communicated with the elders of Israel saying, in time past you were seeking for David to be king over you. All right. Now, as we've talked about, obviously, Abner is really the leader of these other tribes, not Ishmael. And so Abner now comes to the elders. Now, literally, the Hebrew presents it this way. It says the word of Abner was with the elders of Israel. Now, you compare that to verse 19, which says that Abner spoke in their hearing. Okay, literally the Hebrew says, spoke in the ears of Benjamin and in the ears of David. That difference suggests to us that in verse 19, he goes personally, but here he sends a message. And so assuming that is correct, Abner then sends a message to these elders throughout each of the tribes, other than of course Judah and Simeon. And so he didn't travel to them, but sent this word. Now note his message, that clearly there were some, maybe even many in the northern tribes who wanted David as their king when David was initially established in Hebron. Now recall that Ishmael only rules for two years and the way the text presents it sounds like Ishmael ends his rule right about this time here. And so that means that for about five and a half years that Israel, the northern tribes, who were not following after David, did not have a leader. And I suggested to us in chapter two, when we talked about these things, that one of the reasons why it took so long is because not only were the Philistines a problem, but these other tribes were debating whom to follow. And in light of Abner's words here, it certainly seems to support that idea, that there were some, maybe even many, in these northern and eastern tribes who wanted to follow after David. But then there were others, and presumably the majority, who wanted to follow after Saul's house. And so here now comes Abner, who likely heard these various arguments. of loyalty to Saul versus loyalty to David. And now, he turns everything around, you might say. Now, we don't know what the numbers would have been. Maybe it was 60-40, maybe it was 52-48, or whatever it was. But Abner now, who was on the Saul side before, now is on the David side. And so, he understands the argument. is appealing to those who thought differently before. And so Abner doesn't have to start with ground zero to appeal to them to follow David. And so again, note the way this is worded. So then verse 18, it continues, 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 from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies. All right, excuse me, Abner now commands them to follow David. I'm sure there were some of them who were just kind of flabbergasted that this was happening. Here's Abner, who would have been advocating for his cousin, and now he's advocating for David, an about-face going on. But notice how he refers them to the promises that God made to David. The problem here and the somewhat confusing aspect of this is that nowhere are these words specifically recorded of God saying these things to David. However, these words were spoken to the king and certainly the ideas are true and maybe Abner is paraphrasing something or I'm inclined to think that he combined some things that were spoken initially to Saul and now applies them to David. So let's look at this here briefly. If you turn back to 1 Samuel 9, compare the language to what we have just read to this, and this of course is when Saul was chosen, God here leading Samuel in this way. And in 1 Samuel 9, if you look at verse 16, It says, tomorrow about this time, I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin and you shall anoint him commander over my people, Israel, that he may save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon my people because their cry has come to me. Notice that one part there's basically word for word. If you turn back to chapter eight, This is when the people were crying out for the king, and look at verse 20, it says, So there's some more of the language. Even if you turn forward to chapter 13, this Right, you remember in verse one, Saul had only been ruling for a little while, a year or two, and this whole situation with the Philistines coming with their innumerable force, and Saul's afraid, and he can't wait for Samuel, and so he sacrifices and so forth. And in verse 14, it says, Now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart. And the Lord has commanded him to be commander over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. And then of course in chapter 16, David is anointed and so on. So as you put all these ideas together, it seems like what Abner is saying is not God specifically gave a word for David, but Abner is taking these words that were given to the king, chapter eight. chapter 9, and this transition in chapter 13 and chapter 16. And so Abner is taking promises that were given to the king of Israel, you might say, more generally, and now is implying it specifically to David. And this is a very legitimate thing to do, really. It wasn't just Saul who was given these promises, but any of the kings. The difference, of course, is that it's not going to be a descendant of Saul. So I think Abner, you might say, is appropriate to say and to present these words to the elders. All right, now, you notice here in verse 18, it doesn't give us an answer. What was their response? Did they heed Abner's command? But as we'll see in verse 19, there, all seemed good to them. In verse 21, right, Abner comes to David to make a covenant, and then especially in chapter 5, verses 1 and following, then they actually do. So though it doesn't specifically say yes to this command, clearly that's what happens as we go forward. All right, so let's look then at verse 19. And Abner also spoke in the hearing of Benjamin. And Abner also went to speak in the hearing of David and Hebron, all that seemed good to Israel and the whole house of Benjamin. So obviously two parts here. First of all, Abner went personally to the people of Benjamin. And this, of course, is very understandable, isn't it? because Saul was a Benjamite. Abner was a Benjamite. It's very likely that the Benjamites were the ones who insisted that Ishvosheth be king and not follow David. You remember, of course, that Saul's capital was within the tribe of Benjamin at Gibeah. And so there likely was a lot of pride. Our son was the first official king. But also let's remember that Saul's sin was still working. As I just referenced in 1 Samuel 13, Saul had only been king for a couple of years when God said, there would not be one of your children who would follow you. So for about 38 years, Saul defied God's word and told everybody else to do the same thing, more or less. And of course, it was 15 years from David being anointed until he became king in Hebron. And of course, David was well-loved, well-liked by the people of Israel, so Saul had to set a different narrative for David. And so he used the media of the day, as it were, to mix lies with truth regarding David, and the propaganda was very compelling. Abner himself was the one leading the way to try to capture David. Things never change. We see the exact same things happening with our own media today. But notice here, Abner has a lot to overcome. He has to overcome his own behaviors, his own words, plus all of this that I just mentioned in regard to Benjamin. But Abner convinced them. Abner convinced them. Now, let me add another point of speculation. Everything I've just said is, you might say, very reasonable expansion on what the text says. What I'm going to say now is a bit further away, but maybe part of what happened. Let's turn to Judges chapter 1 here a moment, and you recall Here in Judges 1, this is when the conquest is over. Now the different tribes are to settle into their territories and drive out any remaining Canaanites. And if you look at verse 21 of Judges 1, it says, the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem. So the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. Well, with that in mind, We know and we'll see in chapter five here in 2 Samuel that one of the first things David does after he has all of this agreement is he has the covenant with all the tribes and he calls on everyone to defeat the Jebusites, which they do. And then David establishes his throne in Jerusalem, Mount Zion, the city of David. Now, here's the speculative point. It may be that Abner, in negotiating with the Benjamites over this, said, well, maybe David will defeat the Jebusites for us. We don't know. But the way it plays out, it certainly could be the case. Jebus, of course, is in Benjaminite territory, as we just read. And you recall, after Solomon, when you have Rehoboam and Jeroboam and the splitting of the north and the southern kingdoms after Solomon, that Benjamin stays with Judah, which is very striking compared to what's been happening prior to all these things that we've seen here. And so, excuse me, again, I'm speculating. I don't know if this is true or not. But it is, I think, somewhat reasonable that this could have been the case. What is clear is that Abner spoke in their ears. He went to them personally. This may have been a long drawn out congregational meeting as it were, but he was successful and they agreed. And so now Abner goes to David and note speaks in the ears of David in his hearing in Hebron. Remember back in verse 12, he sent messengers initially, but now he comes in person. And he comes with the message simply that all the remaining tribes, including Benjamin, have agreed to join David and have him as their king. All right. Well, for all the questions, and we wish there was more in the text, the overall point is very straightforward and it's the same theme and same message we have seen now for these last couple chapters especially and that is God is with David. His promises are coming to pass specifically now to establish him as king over Israel. David had been waiting for 15 years for this promise from David and You could say it's over 40, maybe even 45 years since God first gave that word through Samuel to Saul saying, it's not going to be one of your children that's going to be the next king. And so God's promises sometimes take many years to be fulfilled, but it's being fulfilled. And notice that no enemy can overcome God's plans. In this case, he uses Abner himself to make it come about. And so God's will will be done always. This is true in David's day. It's true for us even today. And so rest in this truth. Don't just stick it in your head. Rest in this truth. God will keep his promises for his people and nothing is going to thwart that. And so, as we have seen in Sunday school here with this video of the essential church, as they're trying to silence the truth and silence churches and so forth, God's gonna keep his promises to us. It may be difficult for a while. It may not be what we expect, maybe, in certain ways, but God will keep his promises to us. When the globalists continue to try to plan our lives by eliminating fossil fuels and get us to eat bugs instead of meat. When they try to get rid of private ownership, privacy, freedom, and reduce the world population by up to six billion people, some are advocating for. God is still in control of everything. And he will fulfill his promises to his people. David, of course, was running for years, and even as he's established as king, it's not over all Israel, and this went on for many years. But God now is bringing it about for David, and he will, God will and does do this for his people throughout history, including today. Now let me develop here just briefly the point I made a moment ago, and that is not even Abner, is outside of God's rather amazing plan. Abner, the one who literally was the one chasing David, now becomes the one to establish David. Abner is the one that stood with Saul for all of those years defying God. As I just mentioned, it was 38 years, and then even more with Ishvosheth. It is Abner who established Ishvosheth as king, defying many in Israel who wanted David as their king. And of course, he's the one who killed David's nephew. And yet it's Abner that God uses to bring about his promises. I mean, this is just amazing, isn't it? And somewhat funny. But God does this, doesn't he? He uses evil to bring about his promises, his purposes. So you think of Balaam as one example where God used this pagan prophet to bring about blessing for Israel there at the time of the conquest. The epitome of this, of course, is Judas. God used Judas to bring about our salvation. You think of the Apostle Paul before his conversion. God used him to spread the church, to spread the gospel there in Acts. And here now is Abner. God is using him. Now was Abner converted like Paul was? I don't know. I do not expect to see Saul in heaven. I'm not so sure about Abner. Is his change here a true change of heart or is he just being opportunistic and choosing the right side because now this is the winning side and for his benefit? I don't know. Abner was an evil man. Maybe he still is. But God uses these evil things to accomplish His purposes, and He does the same thing for us today. I mentioned Judas a moment ago. We've been talking about being thankful for things here on Friday, and of course this week with Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for Judas, and Pilate, and the religious leaders, and even Satan, because God used them to bruise the heel of Christ so that we can be saved. These evil men helped to bring about our salvation and helped to bring about the establishment of the true King, Jesus himself. Now that of course is the epitome of this idea but God does these kinds of things on a daily basis for us too and sometimes we're not even aware of it that God uses evil people or evil things to help his people and to fulfill his promises and I'm sure we can think of some scenarios where that has been the case. All right, well, as always, we could say much. But let's continue now. And in verse 20, the next subsection here. So Abner and 20 men with him came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. Obviously, verse 20 elaborates on the rest of verse 19. And it says that Abner comes with 20 men. Now it doesn't say this specifically. It says the elders in verse 17. It just says men here, but it is likely the case that Abner brings 20 of the elders of the other tribes in Israel. Now again, you think of Judah and Simeon together. So you have 10 remaining tribes. And so again, likely Abner brings two from each of these remaining tribes to meet with David. Yeah, we're speculating, but seems quite reasonable. And so David then holds a feast, and this isn't just a meal. This is really a covenant meal, a meal for the parties of the covenant. David and Abner, yes, but now also the elders of Israel, who may have been in part witnesses to this covenant. but everybody is coming together here in this way. Now, of course, the actual coronation didn't happen until chapter five, but this is where they make their agreement. So verse 21, and Abner said to David, I'll rise and go and 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 Abner said, excuse me, so David sent Abner away and he went in peace. So as I just said, right, This is the initial agreement among the leaders and now the fullness is going to happen at a later time. So you might say in November we make our votes for political leaders but they're not, can I say, crowned until a couple months later or something to that effect. So a similar idea. Well, at some point, Abner says, it's time to go. And maybe we're talking hours, maybe even a few days, we don't know. It doesn't say that, but he needs to leave and prepare for David's coronation over all Israel. And so this covenant, as he mentions, must be formally ratified in front of everyone. And we'll see that in chapter five, especially verse three. But notice how the author now is telling us something, and note the repetition. Here at the end of verse 21, David sent Abner away in peace. All right, now, let's hold that thought for a moment. These couple verses are very straightforward, aren't they? Everything's going well. Abner has kept his promises and David has received Michael and they all come together. Everything is great. Everything looks very promising, very hopeful. The civil war is over. David is going to be established. Saul's sin is overcome and all Israel is going to accept the one that God chose to be king. This is great. But as we know, this is not the whole story. We have a Grinch, as it were, that shows up. A wet blanket, so to speak. So verse 22. At that moment, the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. All right, so Joab is out raiding. It doesn't say with whom. Was it Philistines? Was it other Israelites? Was it the Amalekites or others? We don't know, but he's out raiding like David had done before. And now he returns with much spoil. And of course, when that happens, everybody's happy. But then we were told Abner had already left. And he had left in peace. Note the second time it tells us that. And it wasn't that long before. New King James says at that moment, maybe it's, you know, an hour or something, but it wasn't very long. And so notice then verse 23, when Joab and all the troops that were with him had come, they told Joab saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king and he sent him away and has gone in peace. Oh, there's that phrase again for the third time, he went in peace. Here in this verse, obviously, Joab is informed of what happened. He had no clue up to this point. Maybe Joab knew about some of this. But the way he speaks here in the next couple of verses, it sounds like the messengers that came from Abner, the whole situation with Michael, and everything in verses 20 and 21, Joab knew nothing of it. It sounds like. Now, who knows how long he was out on the raid, but again, that's what's suggested here. And obviously, Joab is not happy. So in verse 24, then Joab came to the king and said, what have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why is it you sent him away and he is already gone? Joab's beside himself. At least here in the New King James, they smooth it out a little bit. The Hebrew, I've seen more, if you will, blunt and awkward Hebrew. because people are so upset or excited or whatever, they can't hardly put a sentence together. That's kind of what's going on here. Job, he just can't even put it into words. He's so flabbergasted by all of this. And so then in verse 25, surely you realize that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you, to know you're going out and you're coming in and to know all that you are doing. Obviously, Job's position is clear. Abner can't be trusted. And you know, Job's probably not alone. As I've said here a little bit ago, for 38 years, Saul and Abner defied God. And for seven and a half years, Abner and Ishbosheth and the tribes in the north were defying God's choice of David. And you can understand and likely there were other people that thought, at least in this way, similarly to Joab. Joab, of course, is not going to give Abner a chance. And that's because Abner killed Joab's brother, Asahel, as we saw in chapter 2 there in verses 18 to 23. And remember, though, that the author is very intent on saying that Abner defended himself. Remember a number of times he told Asahel, stop, turn aside. And so Abner was not in the wrong in that way. Now either Joab did not know this or he didn't care. Hey, he killed my brother and that's enough. Now add to that though. Not only the obvious, years and years of Abner being on the wrong side, add to that not only this interpersonal beef that Joab has, but Abner, of course, would have been a threat to Joab. Because Joab is the leader of David's army, Abner was the leader of Saul's army. So they're the same level, same position, as it were, and what's going to happen to Joab if Abner joins with David? So there's selfishness in that way too, on Joab's part. All right, well, verse 26. And when Joab had gone from David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it. All right, again, it's pretty straightforward here. This well of Sirah, seen anywhere from mile and a half to two and a half miles north of Hebron. We don't know specifically where it was, but not that far. So if you look at verses 21 to 26 then, all of these events probably happened over the course of an hour or two. And so Jud sends after Abner, but David does not know. And here again, is a theme we have seen even back in the first Samuel. The author again is defending David. David is not the problem. David sought a diplomatic solution with no more dead Israelites. David is willing to work with his enemies. David has entered into a covenant three times. He's at peace with Abner. David had nothing to do with Abner's death. Surely the 20 men who were with Abner knew of David's, if you will, good intentions here. Now note, conversely, Joab, he defied his king. It's one thing to share your opinion and to say, I think you're nuts, king. But David said, look, I'm at peace with Abner. And Joab said, I don't care. And so he rebukes David, and then he acts without David's authority. Joab acts unjustly even in that matter, even if he hadn't killed Abner. So verse 27, now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach so that he died for the blood of Asahel, his brother. Joab can't do this publicly. Joab can't do it, can you say, honestly? But he does it by tricking Abner, and he does it in private. Where were the 20 men with Abner? Did they say it to well? Did they come back? We're not told. But surely Joab's murderous deed here was done out of the sight of everyone. Now, when we think of a gate, we might think of, you know, something for our pasture or, you know, whatever is pretty open and so on. imagine a gate here with lots of things surrounding it. So there are all kinds of rooms or alcoves or whatever that could be used here in this private setting. And so as Abner stabbed Asahel in the stomach, so Joab does the same. Likely quite intentional on his part. And so Joab paid Abner back. He took vengeance. Now we have seen on a number of occasions that punishing the evildoer, repaying someone an eye for an eye, this is a biblical theme. In principle, in the abstract, there's not anything wrong with what Joab did in that sense. The problem is, the author has been telling us that Abner was not to blame for the death of Asahel. It was Asahel's problem. It was his fault. Abner is not the evildoer. He was defending himself. Joab would only be permitted to kill Abner as a kinsman redeemer or something like that once the courts would rule in his favor. That never happened. Joab is acting as a vigilante. Notice that Abner obviously has his guard down. Three times, right? David's at peace. He's assuming that the head of David's army would act according to David's wishes. Maybe we'd say Abner should have had his guard up more, but he didn't. Add to this, they just talked about a covenant. Right? Remember, it's a bond in blood. If you don't keep the promises, you'll be executed. So Abner has this in his mind. And maybe he has in mind that Hebron was a city of refuge. So even if Abner were at fault here, and it was not self-defense, he's in a city of refuge. If he's going to be put to death, it has to be through the court system. It can't be done in this vigilante kind of way. But as we've seen, Abner did justly by defending himself. Maybe he should have been living in the city of refuge, but Joab doesn't track him down and kill Abner at the well. He brings him back to the city of refuge to kill him. It's just totally a contradiction of what it should have been like. And so once again, the author, not just in chapter two, but now here in chapter three, is intent to show Joab's blame and proclaim David's innocence. Well, do you see how things have changed in such a hurry? In verse 21, everything looked wonderful. Good news, right? Everything is coming together the way it should be. And within a matter of an hour or two, it's all about to be destroyed. Joab's sin could have undone everything. And from a human perspective, you might wonder why it didn't. Our efforts to be godly are often undermined by other people's sin. But God rules and overrules, as I've talked about already. Well, let's sit on this thought here for just a moment. Here you have godly David, and at least in this way, a godly Abner. And Joab is trying to undermine that godliness with his sin. I'm sure we've all experienced this in one way or another. Maybe we're witnessing to somebody and somebody else comes into the room and blows it all up and the conversation is over. Maybe we're trying to be kind to someone and somebody else takes offense to it and starts saying that we're mean or evil in some way. As we're trying to raise our children, All right, there's sin all around. The undermining efforts of the wicked are seemingly in every sphere, on every corner, trying to bring down our efforts to raise our children and grandchildren in the ways of the Lord. Sometimes it's even well-meaning people who do this. I think you could make the case that Job thought he was doing something for David's benefit. ignore the vengeance aspect and, you know, maybe Abner's going to take my position. But what he says to David is, David, I'm trying to protect you. You can't trust this man. And so there's clearly times where people do evil to try to stymie what is good, and yet they think what they're doing is good. I've mentioned this before, it's been a while, but when I was in seminary, we read a book called Well-Intentioned Dragons. And there are a lot of them in the church. People think they are doing what is right, they're well-meaning, but they're actually creating problems. And certainly that's true with Joe Abbott. And I'm sure we've all experienced this in one way or another. But back to our main point. No scheming, no jealousy, no sin, whether ours or others, can thwart God's plans. We are left here with the rest of chapter three wondering, what is going to happen? Is everything going to fall apart? But because God is in control, no, it doesn't. God overrules a very, very tenuous situation, and he brings about his promises and his good plans. But as we've seen a number of times here, Just because God does this doesn't mean there aren't hard things and challenges for us to face. And here now is David. He's going to have to manage this situation. And so that is what we'll look at here next time. All right, well, let's pray together. Our Father and God, we are so thankful that you are God in control of everything, that you rule and overrule the affairs of men and that there is no evil that can stymie your plans. For this, Lord, we are grateful. And we're thankful for your word to teach us this, because when we look around us and the events of everyday life, it often doesn't seem that way at all. But we are thankful, Lord, for this story to remind us of these truths. As we learn more about Abner and Joab and David and so forth, we are reminded yet again that you are in control, even as we read this morning about your providence. You rule over all things, especially for the things regarding your people and your church. And we see that here with David and with Israel, and we see it even in our own lives today, and we thank you for it. And so, Lord, we pray then that you would continue to work out your promises, that you would fulfill your word to us, even today. and that you would help us to persevere in righteousness even when people oppose it. And again, Lord, we are so thankful that we can rest in you in the midst of sin and evil things. And we thank you again, most of all, then, for doing this very thing to save us, raising up Judas and Pilate and the rest, Satan even, to bring about our salvation. And so, Lord, this gives us confidence that you can and will do the same, even today, for all that we need. And so, Lord, we pray all these things then, in the name of Christ, and give you thanks and praise. Amen.