Oh, Joab went rogue. Joab went rogue. This is not a reflection of David nor his kingdom. Like supporters, like Joab or you or me may go off the agenda, but it's not a reflection of our king, Jesus. If you want to evaluate the kingdom, you got to look to Jesus. because his subjects will often do something foolish that is not a reflection of him just like Joab did. What Joab and Abishai did was not a reflection of David nor David's rule. They went rogue. A lot of times people have trouble with the church because they're looking at the people who go rogue. But if you want to be critical of the kingdom of God, you look to Jesus. And if you can find fault with Him, you got a legitimate cause. But you're not going to find fault with Him. You might find fault with me. You might find fault with you. But you can't find fault with Jesus. Now, David is flawed. That's obvious. He's flawed. But Jesus ain't flawed. Amen. David's going to have a future son that is not flawed. So I got to remember that we can go off and go rogue on things, but it's not an accurate representation of King Jesus. So we want to help people recognize, look, that was a man doing what a man does, but that ain't Jesus. Look at Jesus, what does he do? How did he do it? I did it wrong, Pam, but he won't do it wrong if that makes sense to you. So that's a great picture here of a person who's done that very thing, Joab going off. Abner is another one. He is the season's reason, huh? Yeah, anybody have anything? We're up to what, chapter four and second Samuel? Lot going on, so many application of things we can glean from these that are just circumstantial stuff that is happening that we can learn from for sure. When you're looking at some of these key players, from chapter three and the chapter number four, when you consider David, of course, and then Saul's son, Ishabeth, and Abner, and Joab, and these different ones, and who they are, and their connection with one another, and where they at, and you could look at the patience of David. You figure David had been on the run from Saul for probably up to 15 potential years, and now, He's gonna be over the kingdom of one tribe, Judah, for seven years there in Hebron. He's really annoying it to be king over the entire nation, but still seven years. before seven years, six months, the scripture says, before he actually takes over the whole kingdom. So you see a sense of patience there and you can tie some Psalms in all those things. Like Psalm 27 is one of those that we could look at. Psalm 26 is another. 27 and 26 fits so in harmony with what you're reading right now in regards to how Abner was killed and the beheading of It should bear. everybody could easily point it to David had it done. But David's hands were clean in that. And he writes about it in Psalm 26 about being innocent of those things. So Psalm 26, Psalm 27, Psalm 34, all these are Psalms that fit right in with where we're reading currently in chapter three, four, and moving into chapter number five. But anything that just stood out to Y'all in any of these? Chapter three. Chapter three. Verse 36. Let's see what he says there. 336. All right. Now all the people took note of it and it pleased them since whatever the king did pleased all the people. He had favor. Yeah. Favor. He is now said, and not going to eat until sundown. They tried to feed him something and he wouldn't do it. They took note of it. The people took note of it. And it was something that, it's hard to please some people. You just can't please them at all. But if you do a little something, a kindness, Showing kindness like that will please people faster than words is what I'm trying to say. Yeah, his actions of showing that he was burdened over how Abner died. Right. And there's so many elements involved in this. This is where when you look at Joab as an avenger of a brother, because remember it was Abner who killed his brother. And all these things, no matter how you look at it, this open door for David with Saul dying, now he's anointed king over Judah, Ishabeth still alive, Abner is actually making the decisions. He's really the one in charge. And you have New problems are going to arise when you consider a growing kingdom. New problems are going to happen. For an example, it started off when these guys got together and they fought. You got Joab's men and Abner's men. They sat on each side of the pool, of the pond there, and suggested, well, let's have a little game here. Let's have a little fun. Let these guys fight. And you got these warriors who get out there and fight, and man, people die. It's not just fight. They're fighting with swords, and they're dying. They know how to kill one another. If you notice in the King James, it refers to being stuck under the fifth rib. That's sticking them in the heart is what happened. That's where that's at. Under the fifth rib gets you right into the heart. It'll get you. And it's going to get it. And that's what we're looking at. They knew what to do. And then you have Joab's brother who was swift of foot. He was fast. He was younger, could move, and he's going to go after Abner and Abner told him to turn around and go on home He don't want to fool with him and then Abner takes the blunt end of his spear and sticks it through him that it comes out of his back and he dies now you have two other brothers who are Three of these guys were David's mighty men You got Joab You got Abishai and you have Ashiel, Abishai, you see it in chapter number three in verse number 30. So Joab and Abishai, because he's involved in this, it makes it look like just Joab did it, but it's gonna be some clarity that Joab and Abishai, his brother killed Abner because he killed their brother Ashiel at Gibeon in the battle. Now David's men, killed 300 and something of Abner's people. And David only lost 19 men. Now you see up in front, for an example, look in chapter three in the first few verses, you're gonna see that David's kingdom is growing. And Isabeth, Saul's kingdom is what growing weaker and weaker. He says that, but David grew stronger and stronger and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. Now, when you consider that, look in verse number six. Now it was so while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David in a weakening kingdom, what was Abner doing? He was strengthening himself, his hold on the house of Saul. You see, but it was a sinking ship, but he was getting stronger in a sinking ship and it's gonna cost him eventually. Now, there's so many elements involved in all these things. And when I say here's this new open doors, new opportunities are going to create new problems. Anytime you're growing, anytime you're expanding, it's going to create new issues. These are all new issues that are being brought out that wouldn't have been there five years previous. But now because you got a war between David's kingdom and Ishabeth's kingdom, Saul's kingdom, who's Abner's behind now. That's what you wanna remember. Abner is a trained warrior, a commanding general who is Saul's right-hand man. And he's not new to the game. That's the other thing you wanna remember. And he's Saul's family. He's a family member to Saul. Now Saul's dead, but you gotta also keep in mind the character of Abner, the character of Abner. David mourns his death because he was killed wrongly, he says. And that was a reflection of him upon his kingdom, how he was treated. He come under the guise that he was gonna be under David's care. Remember, they made this deal. But Abner is in this all for himself from number one, number one. Abner is a man who knew God's will, but chose not to submit to it. He's a man who knew that God had chose David. But as long as it was advantageous for him to stay with Saul, then to overrule Ishmael, as long as it benefited him, he did it. Because he's going to reveal to us, for an example, look in chapter number three again, and I'll give you just a couple places you can go look and see. But remember, one of the ways he was strengthening himself, he was taking control of that which belonged to King Saul. And one of those was a concubine. Now, when a king follows behind another king, they inherit their concubines, they inherit all this. Now, one of the issues is, is that God's law would condemn a father and the son having the same woman. So even though Rizpah was one of Saul's concubines, legally, morally, from God's perspective, she was to be left alone. She was not to become the concubine of Ishabeth, because that was his daddy's concubine. He was not to lay hands on her. But, Adner had an eye for her. And with him taking her for himself, was also a threat to Isabeth because she didn't belong to Abner. She belonged to the family of Saul. Even though Isabeth was not to lay hands on her, she was to be left alone and taken care of under that harem that he had and her needs would be met, she'd be taken care of. So when Abner does what he does, it's a threat to say that I can do whatever I want and I can take whatever I want. This is my kingdom, not yours. And that's how he was doing. He's strengthening himself, making himself stronger in the eyes of the people that he's the man, not Ishabeth. He's the man that you gotta go through. He's the man that's gonna set it all up. And he tells us that when he deals with David. Look in verse number eight. Verse eight says, then Abner, soon as he was confronted on the issue, which is just mere of the fact that he had not been confronted before, Isabeth never had to confront him, but the first time he confronts him and Questions him. How does he respond to it? He became what very? Like who in the world do you think you are questioning me? What right do you have to question me? This kingdom wouldn't be what it is if it wasn't for me I You're just a boy in a boy's game. You need to sit down and be quiet and shut up and I'll run this show. He was angry that he would even question him. And it says that, am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah? Meaning, in the idea of a dog's head, he said, am I like an old barking scavenger? Because that's how they thought of dogs in that day. There's an old scavenger on the street that was a dog of somebody from Judah. And when I walk by you, is that me? Is that what you're thinking of me? Like some lowlife scavenger that I don't have the right to do what I just did? Today I will show loyalty to the house of Saul, your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you, Ishabah, into the hand of David. As if he's saying, I could have. I could have done, turned you over to David. There wasn't a thing you could have done about it. And you charge me today with fault concerning this woman? May God do so to Abner and more so also if I do not do for David as who? The Lord has sworn to him. You know what he's confessing? I know what God has said. I've done heard it. Matter of fact, I heard Saul say it. We've been knowing this, that it belonged to David. but it was advantageous for me to stick with what I've been doing. But because you now are questioning me and you got a problem with me, I'm gonna go give it to David. I'm gonna give it to David. Matter of fact, look what he says in verse 12. Then Abner sends messages on behalf, on his behalf to David saying, whose is the land? That's saying, who's in control here? Who does all these people follow? It ain't Ishebeth, who is it? It's me. These people follow me. I'm the king over here. It goes as I say it goes. Make your agreement, your covenant with me and indeed my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel who I possess, I'll bring them to you. Give you a couple places. When's the first time Abner seen David? Anybody know? Remember, Abner's been with Saul from day one. Before Goliath, remember when he was playing for him? when God done anointed David, and he took the anointing off of Saul, and somebody said, there's a young boy in the house of Jesse that's a skilled musician, and we brought him in, and he played for King Saul, and the spirit would be comforted when he played, but soon as he was out of David's presence, he'd get the bad spirit again. You see, Abner watched this young boy come in, this young shepherd boy, and then we see, for an example, go over to 1 Samuel 17. Just give you a couple places and we're gonna see. Look in 17, look in verse 55. 1755, this would be after that fact. There ain't nothing Saul did that Abner didn't know about. Put that away. Whatever Saul had his hand in, Abner had his hand in. Whatever King Saul was doing, Abner was doing. He was his confidant. He was his commanding general. Verse 55, when Saul saw David going out against the Philistines, he said to who? Abner, the commander of the army. Abner, whose boy is that? And Abner said, as your soul lives, O king, I don't know. We know him, but we don't know him. Verse 56. So the king said, inquire whose son this young man is. Now we talked about this Sunday. This is Saul is operating just as a natural man. And you want to keep that in mind. Why? Because Saul and Abner of the same breed, they're the same person. They're the same person. That's why Abner does what he does. That's why Abner could know what he knows and still do what he does. because he's no different than Saul. He says in verse 57, then as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistines, who took him? Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistines in his hand. And Saul said to him, whose son are you, young man? So David answered, I am the son of your servant, Jesse, the Bethlehemite. So Abner has been around from the beginning. And he knew, he knew, he knew. Let's go over to chapter 24, 1 Samuel 24. There's a few other places in this, but remember when David could have took Saul's life, but he didn't, you know who was there? Abner was there. Verse eight, let's just say, so David arose after it and went out of the cave and called out to Saul saying, my Lord, the King. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth and bowed down. David always in a submissive position. And David said to Saul, why do you listen to the words of men who say indeed David seeks your home? Look this day with your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave and someone urged me to kill you, but my eyes spared you. And I said, I will not stretch out my hand against my Lord for he is the Lord's what anointing. So verse 16, I mean, we're not gonna read all these things, but verse 16. So it was when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, is this your voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. Then he said to David, you are more what? Righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. And you have shown this day how you have dealt with me, for when the Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not what? For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? Therefore the Lord rewards you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now I know indeed that you shall surely be who? And that the kingdom Israel shall be established in your hey Abner heard that he knew this. He knew this, but he didn't act on it. He didn't act on it. Why? It wasn't advantageous for him. He just kept doing what he was doing. Because as long as he was being taken care of by Saul, he was content to do the things Saul was doing, even though he knew, even from his own king, that David was to be the king over Israel. He knew it. That's why he could say to Ishmael, I'm going to give the kingdom to David because the Lord said the kingdom belonged to him. He knew it. He had heard it. He had heard it. He knew, he knew, he knew. Go back to 18 real quick. Look back in 18, chapter 18. Notice, look in verse 28. This goes back to that daughter. Remember when David went and did the 204 scans of the Philistines to buy? And we see that in 2 Samuel when he told Abner, look, if you come over here, this is what you need to bring with you. You need to bring my wife with you when you come. That's dealing with that. Verse 28, the Saul saw and Saul knew that the Lord was with who? and that his daughter loved him. And Saul was still more afraid of David, so Saul became David's enemy, what? So that meant Abner became his enemy. Why? Abner did whatever Saul wanted him to do. Abner knew the Lord was with David. Saul knew the Lord was with David. Abner knew it belonged to David, but Abner kept living Abner's life even though he knew what God had decreed. Man, he sounds like a lot of people, don't he? He's just like Saul. Go look in 26. I imagine this would get to him here. 1 Samuel 26. Verse 17, then Saul knew David's voice and said, is that your voice, my son, David? And David said, it is my voice. Verse 18, why does my Lord thus pursue his servant for what have I done or what evil is in my hand? And he goes on to say. Verse 21, then Saul said, I have sinned, return my son for I will harm you no more because my life was precious in your sight. And David answered and said, here's the king spear. Let one of the young men come over here and get it. May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness for the Lord delivered you into my hand, but I did not stretch out my hand. to touch you and indeed your life was valued much this day in my eyes so let my life be valued before yours." Well see the setting there go back a minute to verse 13 we know what happened but listen what David says, he had his jug of water had his spear and Verse 13, now David went over to the other side, stood on top of the hill afar off, and a great distance between them. And David called out and said, hey, Abner, the son of Ner. Do you not answer Abner? Then Abner answered and said, who are you calling out to the king? So David said to Abner, are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded the Lord, your King? For one of the people came in to destroy the Lord, the King. This thing that you have done is what? As the Lord lives, you deserve Abner to what? Because you have not guarded your master, the Lord's anointed and now see where the King spear is and the jug of water that was by his head. David just called Abner out. and told him you deserve to die because you didn't do what you were supposed to do. So Abner and David have a long history, don't they? There's a lot there. And Abner don't line himself up with David until it was gonna benefit him. He's just like Saul, no different. That's why he was able to serve Saul for so long. So when you consider all that, and then you consider the fact that you take Abner, what caused Abner's death ultimately? What was it? I think it was number one, I think that he put too much confidence in himself is what it boiled down to. He put just too much confidence in himself. He trusted in himself. So when he makes this agreement with, and he, because he understands loyalty, because he was loyal to Saul, he understands loyalty with the other commander, Joab, that look, David has shown me favor for my benefit. There's no way Joab will lay his hand on me. There's no way he'll do it. And if he did, I'll be able to tell what he was gonna do before he done it because I've done this so long I can read people. I trust my instincts. Not only do I trust my instincts, but I trust my skills. There ain't no one man gonna take me down. I've been doing this way too long. He's done proven himself again and again that he can fight and that he's dangerous and that he knows people and he knows loyal people. And he knows Joab is loyal to David and if David doesn't put a hit on me, Joab will never lay his hand on me. But he forgot the value of a relationship. And that Joab is the avenger of a brother. Abner done killed his brother. And when Joab came back and he found out that Abner had met with David and David let him come in and didn't do anything about it, What does he do? He goes and tracks him down and then calls him aside saying, come talk to me. And because he put enough confidence, trust in himself, and then he trusted another man's loyalty and the other man's loyalty, Joab took advantage of Abner's understanding of loyalty and stuck him in the heart with a, with a blade. and killed him right there. Now instantly, this is where you gotta go back to David. David can easily be accused of having it done. Because one, Abner's been an enemy. Two, Abner killed his nephew. You see, Zariah, if that's how you would pronounce her name, that is Joab and Abishai and Ashiel, that's David's sister. So these three mighty men that governed these military men for David was his nephews. Now David was the youngest of seven boys and he had two older sisters. So Joab, his nephew actually could have been older than him. Stephanie's daddy was the youngest of a big clan and he had brothers that had done, went off and fought in the war When they come home, that's the first time they ever seen him or met him. Here's this little bitty wee boy out in the yard. They've been out at battle. He's got, Stephanie had cousins that were more like uncles because they were the same age as her daddy. Some of them even older, that's right. So he had uncle, I mean, he had nephews that were older than him. So very similar, I believe, like potentially with David, with these guys like Joab and all. But David knew also that the world around them would have thought that he made the hit because Joab would never do anything without authorizing it first. And that's where Joab was wounded in his heart that David didn't authorize him to do this. He wanted to kill Abner, but he wanted David's approval to kill him. He also saw the tactic that they used. They tricked him. They tricked him. It wasn't like they went into battle with one another. They manipulated him, they tricked him and pulled him in and he says they killed him like he was a fool. And here's a prince, a royal family member of the house of Saul, who has respect all over, even though he's like Saul, He's still in a commonwealth of people. David is grieved over how he was handled and how he was treated. And therefore, he says, even in that, brother Shannon, if you go back to 2 Samuel chapter number three, again, notice what he says about these nephews of his. Look in 39. David said he was weak in the knee that day. And he says, but my sister's sons, what are they? They are too, what's 339 say? They're too what? They're too harsh for me. They're too harsh for me. The Lord shall repay the evildoer according to his wickedness. They're too harsh for me. It's what he said about these boys who had vengeance in their heart. They're too harsh. They're just too harsh. for me. Now, David, don't forget this. David's son, Solomon, when he comes on the throne, David's gonna whisper in his ear before he dies and says, don't forget what Joab did to Abner. Kill him. David didn't, but he told Solomon, kill him. He deserves to die. For how he dealt with that situation, he dealt with it wrongly. He didn't do it right. So there's so many things that we can glean out of all this stuff, all this stuff. Old Joab went rogue. I jotted down this note before we go tonight, something for us to all remember. Joab went rogue. This is not a reflection of David nor his kingdom. supporters like Joab or you or me may go off the agenda but it's not a reflection of our King Jesus. If you want to evaluate the kingdom you got to look to Jesus because His subjects will often do something foolish that is not a reflection of Him just like Joab did. What Joab and Abishai did was not a reflection of David, nor David's rule. They went rogue. A lot of times people have trouble with the church because they looking at the people who go rogue. But if you want to be critical of the kingdom of God, you look to Jesus. And if you can find fault with him, you got a legitimate cause, but you're not going to find fault with him. You might find fault with me, you might find fault with you, but you can't find fault with Jesus. Now David is flawed, that's obvious. He's flawed, but Jesus ain't flawed, amen. David's gonna have a future son that is not flawed. So I gotta remember that, we can go off and go rogue on things, but it's not an accurate representation of King Jesus. So we want to help people recognize, look, that was a man doing what a man does, but that ain't Jesus. Look at Jesus. What does he do? How did he do it? I did it wrong, Pam, but he won't do it wrong if that makes sense to you. So that's a great picture here of a person who's done that very thing, Joab going off. Abner is another one. We can just keep picking these things up. So I mentioned Psalm 26. I mentioned Psalm 34. I mentioned Psalm 27. And also Psalm 143. We talked about 143 in Sunday school, Sunday morning, we'll walk through it. But the occasion of David inquiring of the Lord. Another place you might want to write down and go look at is 1 Chronicles 10. 1 Chronicles 10 gives us three or four reasons why God killed Saul. And he tells us that he did that. 1 Chronicles 10, around verse 13, 13 and 14. Hosea 13 11 I think it is God says I gave you a king in my anger because remember they asked for a king but he said in my wrath I took him away and God specifically says he killed Saul and he gives us like four reasons why he killed him four reasons in first chronicles 10 1 Chronicles 10. Chronicles will chronicle the event that took place, but it also gives you the spiritual emphasis behind it. And it says that Saul simply chose not to obey the Lord, chose to do his own thing, and then he sought other people out for answers and solutions in life, and therefore God killed him. God killed. It's a great advice for you and me, is the point I'm making, of why all these things take place and happen the way that they do. These things help us in everyday life, everyday living, on dealing with people, looking under the Lord, and walking in faithfulness with Him. Amen? Walking in faithfulness with Him. David's making some bad choices up front. Y'all see all them wives he's got? Deuteronomy 17, God told him that his king, when his kings come on the throne at that time, they're not to go to other places and multiply their weapons of warfare. They're not to go to other places and multiply their silver, their wealth, and they're definitely not to multiply their wives. it's gonna be a snare for him. And that's exactly what David was doing. If you don't, if you probably saw it, but in chapter three, it says that he married a woman and had a son by the name of Absalom. And that boy, Absalom's granddaddy is a king of another nation. And Absalom's gonna go stay with his grandpa, the king. And he's gonna stay with him for three years. And when he comes back, he comes back to tell his daddy, that I want your kingdom from you. I got royal blood in me from my grandpa to you, and you've mistreated me, and I'm the only one of all your sons that's got royal blood on both sides. I'm gonna overthrow you. Who been pumping him up in his head all night? You see, you gotta remember the other side of the family. You know, you gotta remember all that. It's gonna bite him, it's gonna bite him, it's gonna bite him. So all these things are just great tools for us, right? And this is the guy who's been asking God to teach him and show him his will, huh? Teach me your word, show me your word. Well, Deuteronomy says pretty clear, don't have a bunch of wives. The king don't have a bunch of wives. The king's not gonna get hooked on wine and whiskey. The king's not gonna fight for wealth. Don't multiply silver for yourself. Now what we gotta remember is he's made us a kingdom of kings and priests, amen? So what applied to them, we gotta then take it on ourselves in Christ and recognize the same thing. And we're gonna be sold out for Jesus, amen? Father, we bless you. We thank you. Thank you for this time. Thank you for these truths. Thank you for your light, for we know that at the unfolding of your revelation, we have light, and it's in your light we get to see light. So help us with these things. Help us in every day to walk with you. We need you, and I just want to remind myself As I come before you tonight and thank you for delivering us out of all our distresses, out of all our adversities, thank you for walking us through and leading us through it. And we're gonna praise you for it in Jesus' name, amen. Love y'all, y'all have a good night. Good stuff. Good stuff. Chapter four, he said it. Verse number nine, he said the Lord delivered him out of all of his adversity. Psalm 34, he said, many of the afflictions are the righteous, but the Lord delivers through them all. And then at his death, when he's dying, he's gonna tell Bathsheba that the Lord's delivered him out of all his distress. So you see it in the front part, you see it in the middle, and you see it at the end, the same testimony. It's just a great tool. Love y'all.