Well, this week, many of us saw the horrifying pictures of a Delta airplane upside down, wings and tail torn off, fuselage in one piece, but damage and smoke charred. It's incredible that no one was killed in the crash. Even more incredible that no one was seriously injured in the crash. And images like this of airplanes are always shocking, at least they are to me, because when I see airplanes, they seem so majestic and they seem so strong and they seem so magnificent. And even when I'm around a small plane, I'm just in awe that that thing gets up in the air regularly and carries people to where they are trying to go. And yet, Though accidents are really rare, when they do happen, they remind us of how fragile airplanes actually are. It doesn't take a lot to inflict a lot of damage. That plane simply flipped upside down and was amazing how much damage it took on. doesn't take much to do a lot of damage to an airplane. And likewise, it doesn't take much to do a lot of damage to peace and to unity. They're marvelous, and they're wonderful, but humanity left to ourselves quickly destroy peace and unity. They are fragile, and it takes vigilance not only on our part, but it also takes an act of a sovereign God to bring it about. I've often said this about our church that the fact that we enjoy the unity that we do is most assuredly attributed to the grace of God and his kindness towards us. It is he that ultimately must create it and it is he that ultimately must sustain it. We're going to see in our text this morning how fragile peace and unity is. And we're going to see how it's nearly completely undone by selfish desires and sinful hearts. If it wasn't for God working, it likely would have been undone. So turn with me to 2 Samuel 3.20 as we continue moving in 2 Samuel. I hope you're enjoying our time in this book so far. I've certainly enjoyed it. I have been looking forward to Mondays when I get to kind of look at what the text is and outline it a little bit and then Tuesdays be able to study it. It's been enjoyable for me, fascinating for me. But we're going to pick up in 320, even though we covered these verses last week, because I think it's important that we see a little bit of the context here that we discussed last week. So, pick up in verse 20. 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 has 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 Sarai. 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 Azahel his brother. Afterward, when David heard it, he said, My kingdom and I are guiltless before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father's house. Let there never fail to be in the house of Joab one who has a discharge, or who is a leper, or who leans on a staff, or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread." So Joab and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner because he had killed their brother Azahel at Gibeon in the battle. Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, tear your clothes, gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn for Abner. And King David followed the coffin. So they buried Abner in Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. And the king sang a lament over Abner and said, should Abner die as a fool dies? Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put in fetters. As a man falls before you, wicked men, as a man falls before wicked men, so you fell. Then all the people wept over him again. And when all the people came to persuade David to eat food while it was still day, David took an oath, saying, Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them, since whatever the king did pleased all the people. For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king's intent to kill Abner the son of Ner. Then 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 am weak today, though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too harsh for me. The Lord shall repay the evildoer according to his wickedness. This is God's word and to try to get that to stay down. There we go. Well, last week we saw, as we began chapter three, Abner chasing his desires, his pursuit of power, his pursuit of prestige, prominence, influence, control, all of these things that he wanted. And when it became clear the path with Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, was a dead end to these means, he instead decided to switch allegiances and go with David, hoping that David would give him the things that he wanted. We saw his pride as he touted how much he could make things happen. Essentially, he told David, I'm the man. I can do it. Look at the asset that I can be to you. He was a man who prided himself on his ability and making things happen. And though he had been warring with David for seven and a half years, he suddenly turns to David when he realized it would be beneficial to do so. We saw how Abner was the master manipulator. And yet we saw David make a covenant with him and send him away in peace. David did all of this while maintaining control of Abner and never promising Abner anything. In David's mind, peace and unity in Israel was better than getting even with Abner. Thus, after meeting him in Hebron and making a covenant with him, we read in verse 21 that he sent Abner away and he went in peace. We just have two points to look at this morning. The first one is this, fighting against unity and peace. As soon as Abner leaves David's presence, Joab returns to Hebron. from a raid. And we don't know from where he was coming from, but we know that it would have been one of Israel's enemies. And here he brings much spoil. At this point, before there was an administrative process for delivering, gathering resources, this would have been critical to David's early years for gathering income. And we're then told that Abner is no longer in Hebron, having been sent away by David in peace. And Joab is then told by Abner, or Joab is then told by others that Abner came to David, and David sent him away in peace. We should note here, three times it has been said, David sent Abner, his enemy, away in peace. The author of 2 Samuel wants us to see David pursuing peace. He sends him away in peace. David here is not fighting for what is best for him. David is not fighting for his desires. He is not fighting for his agendas. He is not holding on to bitterness. He is not living for himself. David, despite being wronged by Abner, sends him away in peace. He sought peace because he knew that's what God wanted and he knew that was best for Israel in this situation. And here we should not forget how much Abner had wronged David. Remember, Abner from the beginning knew that David was to be king in Israel and he fought against it for seven and a half years with everything in him. At the time that Abner could have made David's life easier, he instead made it even more complicated and even more difficult when he put Ish-bosheth on the throne instead of supporting David. He then wars against David. And then, as we saw last week, he kills one of David's best men. Abner is not an easy man to love and be at peace with. And yet, David, as he's waiting on the Lord, seeks peace. Friends, we would be wise to pause here and consider how fervently we must fight for peace. Whether that's in our home or at our workplace, and especially in the church. Peace originates in God himself. This is why he is called the God of Peace. The God of Peace. As Paul is wrapping up this great and majestic book of Romans, he refers to God twice as the God of peace. Romans 15.33. Now may the God of peace be with you all. Amen. And then he says again in the next chapter, 1620, and the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Now what is the great demonstration that God is the God of peace? Why in this incredible book of Romans would Paul be wrapping the book up twice stating this is the God of peace? Well we, prior to salvation, were enemies of God. We were abners to God. We were fighting against God. We were fighting for our way. We were fighting with one another. We were fighting for prestige and honor and prominence and influence and status and pleasure, all of that that we saw, as I read earlier in Titus 3. We were warring against him. We were not submitting to his rule. In Romans 3, we read this, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God sent forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness. Because in His forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate at the presence of time His righteousness. that he might be the just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. And so God sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins and to appease God's righteous wrath against sin. And Paul then in chapter 5 would write, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have what? peace, peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We who were God's enemies, we who were the abners, God sent Christ for, choosing to overlook our sin because Christ paid the price for him. And because Christ paid the price, we have peace with God. It's interesting to note here, Abner sends David away in peace and God draws us to himself in peace. And so we stand in this peace, Paul says, we stand in this grace and we rejoice, he says, in the reality of being a part of God's glory and drawn into God's glory. You see, when we talk about peace with one another, the gospel is the foundation of peace. It's a piece that we have with God through Christ, and because we have peace with God through Christ, we can then pursue peace with one another. This is why Paul exhorts us later in Romans, if it is possible, Romans 12, 18, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Why? Because we have peace with God. Then later, two chapters later, he says this again. Therefore, let us pursue the things which make for peace. In other words, don't pursue the things that make for disunity and division. Pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. And notice what he says, do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. Don't destroy the work of God. Peace and unity for the sake of food. And we think here If we are to pursue peace, even with such a small thing as food and what we eat, how much more so with the rest of life? Joab, though, cannot grasp this concept of peace that David is talking about. This peace that David's pursuing, he can't understand it. As we saw two weeks ago, Joab is also a man who pursues his desires. He's also a man who pursues what he wants. He's a man who does what seems best, as we saw two weeks ago, in his own eyes. But there's another thing at work in Joab's life as well. And it's bitterness. When things go wrong with Joab, he gets bitter. Lou Prioli, as he's written on marriage, defines bitterness in this way, bitterness is the result of responding improperly to a hurt. Bitterness comes when we spin a situation over and over in our mind and we dwell on it and we justify ourselves in it. And we see this over and over again in 2 Samuel, cross Joab and die. Cross Joab and you will receive his wrath. He will lash out at you either verbally or with the sword. And Joab's first response to hearing that David sent Abner out in peace is to verbally lash out at David. What have you done? He says, why did you send him away? He then essentially calls David an idiot for sending Abner out, insinuating that if David had half a brain, he would have known what Abner was up to. The way in which Joab talks to David is shocking. The king, Joab, speaks like this to King David. But this is what pursuing self does. It lashes out at people. It demeans them and speaks down on them to shame them. And Joab's pride here has made him unafraid to lash out at the king. But his pride has resulted in another thing that often happens as well. Joab assumes he knows what's going on in Abner's heart. He assumes he knows Abner's motives. And he tells David, Abner came to deceive you and he came to spy you out. I know what was going on in his heart. Friends, be oh so careful in assuming you know what's going on in someone's heart. Be on guard against assuming you know what people's motives are. When we function in pride and in selfishness, we plant motives and intentions in the hearts of others that oftentimes are just not there. Joab does this, gives David a verbal lashing and storms out. We can imagine him slamming a door if there is a door to be slammed. And his disgust and his scorn. And then he sends messengers after Abner to bring him back to Hebron. The author is clear though in verse 26, David did not know it. Though Abner is already two and a half miles away, he returns, assuming David wanted him back. And as he comes back to the city, there is Joab lurking in the shadows of the gate. Joab, pretending he wants to talk to Abner, pulls him aside and drives a knife or a sword into his stomach, leaving him to die in the dark shadow of the gate. Ironically, the very thing Joab accused Abner of doing, being deceitful, is what Joab himself does. Joab deceives David and then he deceives Abner. What Joab expressed his shock at, he himself did. Something we often do as well. We then read, Joab killed him because Abner killed his brother Asahel, which we looked at last week. Joab rejected David's pursuit of peace, choosing instead to take matters into his own hands. He saw pursuing peace with Abner as foolish and stupid. Why would you do that? Look at all Abner has done. Look at what a pain he has been. Look at what a thorn he has been in your side, David. It's better to kill him. It's also likely that Joab saw Abner as a threat to his position as commander in the army. Some believe this is actually the primary reason that Joab kills Abner, hiding behind the excuse of the fact that Abner killed his brother. thus seeming to justify the killing. Job is a man who wants to be alone at the top. And he probably assumed that if Abner came on board with David, that he'd be given a prominent role in the army as he was a commander of Saul's army. And this is a fair assumption because later when David tries to replace Joab as commander of the army with Amasa, what does Joab do? He deceives Amasa and kills him. just as he killed Abner. Like Abner, Joab wants prominence, he wants status, he wants power, he wants influence. Now we read what David does when he hears about the matter. Verse 28, Afterward when David heard it, he said, My kingdom and I are guiltless before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner, the son of Ner. He indicates that Joab acted on his own initiative. It wasn't David's initiative. It wasn't what Israel as a whole wanted. David, we read, then proclaims a curse on Joab and his family, including Abishai. And we learn now that Abishai was a part of the plot as well. Verse 30. So Joab and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner because he had killed their brother Azahel at Gibeon in the battle. Now a couple of things that are worth noting here. First, Joab defends killing Abner and it says right in his mind because Abner killed his brother, Azahel. In his mind, his sinful action was not sinful and was justifiable because Abner had killed his brother. Now this would be even more true or possibly more true had Abner killed Azahel in cold-blooded murder. But this was not justified in God's eyes because Abner killed Azahel in self-defense. And he tried twice to turn Azahel away and send him home. It was a time of battle and a time of war. And in God's eyes, it was sinful and wrong to avenge one's death that took place in the time of war. It's mentioned here again at the end of verse 30, he had killed their brother Azahel at Gibeon in the battle. And that's significant. It signifies Joab was wrong. And David understood this, because he charges his son Solomon, as David is dying and is parting words to Solomon, and he, Joab, shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his weight, and on his sandals that were on his feet. David understood Abner was not to be murdered because he killed Azahel in battle. But secondly, another thing of interest here is Hebron was a city designated by God as a city of refuge. Now what does that mean? That means that even if Abner had murdered Azahel in cold-blooded murder, Abner was to be safe in Hebron because it was a city of refuge, meaning that one who was charged of murder could flee to a city of refuge and be safe there from retaliation and be safe there from being killed until a full trial was done and the person was sentenced to death. Thus, it was a city of peace and God strictly prohibited acts of vengeance in cities of peace. We see this progression in Numbers 35 verses 11 and 12. And then later in Joshua we read that Hebron was one of those cities. To the children of Aaron the priest, they gave Hebron with its common land, a city of refuge for the slayer." Joab would have known this and yet he disregards it. Thirdly, Joab was unwilling to submit to David, his king. We'll see this progression all through 2 Samuel. Joab submits to David when he likes what David's doing, and when he doesn't like what David's doing, he will not submit to David, and he does what he wants to do. He takes matters into his own hands. Here we see great pride and selfishness in Joab. He likely said, you need to submit to the king. And he would, unless he didn't like what the king was doing or what the king proposed. However, this is ultimately reflective of Joab's lack of trust in God and his unwillingness to submit to God. Here we're reminded that when we don't submit to those over us, it reflects our lack of trust in God and our failure to submit to him. and his plans. But then lastly, this is a very fragile time in Israel. Israel has been at civil war for seven and a half years. That's a long time. And David is trying to unify the nation and bring peace to the nation. And things were just being established. And peace was just beginning to get going. He sends Abner in peace. And it looked like the long war was going to be over. And Israel would be once again unified and there would be peace again in the land. But it's very fragile. And Joab, consumed with himself, his hurts, his bitterness, his selfishness, sees only himself and cannot see the well-being of Israel as a whole and he disregards it. and seeing only himself leads to nearly destroying the fragile unity and peace that is there at this moment in Israel. In fact, aside from the sovereign hand of God here, it seems likely that the whole thing would have collapsed. Friends, how often is unity and peace in a church damaged because someone can only see themselves? Can only see what they want. their hurts, their desires. Richard Phillips in his commentary on this section of 2 Samuel 3 says this, Joab wanted to advance his own cause and thought little of David's concern for the unity of the entire nation. The same source of discord appears commonly within churches. David and looking for the good of the nation was willing to die to himself and pursue peace, but not Joab. Friends, we must always be on our guard to fight for unity and peace because they're fragile. And it takes a lot of work. Psalm 34, as I was reading through the Psalms this week, says this. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. We talked about this at the members meeting on Sunday night. Unity and peace doesn't just happen. We don't just trip into it. God has to establish it. God has to maintain it. And we have to fight for it or it will fall apart. Paul in Ephesians 4, as he's exhorting the Ephesians, he says, The prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you are called with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring. To keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, because it takes work. That's why he says. The keys to unity. Is first the gospel. walking worthy of the calling with which you are called. And then it's lowliness, which is humility, and then it's gentleness, being kind, and then it's long suffering, which is being patient. And then he almost repeats himself, bearing with one another, endeavoring, striving, working, laboring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Well, now we see the opposite. We see fighting for unity and peace. David, we will see here, is going to do what is within his power to fight for peace and for unity. And so he says here in verse 31, to Joab and those who were with him. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner. And all the people wept And the king sang a lament over Abner and said, should Abner die as a fool dies, your hands were not bound, nor your feet put into fetters as a man falls before wicked men. So you fell. Then all the people wept over him again. His burial in Hebron is significant. To be buried in Hebron was to be given honor. Hebron was where Abraham was buried. It was where many of the patriarchs were buried. And David here commands Joab and those who had been a part of this plot, tear their clothes, wear sackcloth and mourn. And David follows this coffin through Hebron, mourning. And it's interesting to note, this is the first time David is actually called King David. King David. Not because he drove forward and did. What it took to get the throne, no. Because he humbled himself. And he mourned for an enemy. You then read of this lament that he wrote. He laments that Abner died as if he was a common criminal. When he was a commander of an army. And he says here, as a man falls before wicked men, so you fell, indicating that Joab and those who carried this out were wicked men. And what they did was a wicked deed. It's a heartfelt lament resulting in all the people weeping again. And we see David continue to express his mourning through fasting. He will not eat through the rest of the day. And we read that this public expression of grief and mourning on David's part was seen by Israel as a good thing. And they conclude David indeed was not responsible for Abner's death. And then he says in verse 38, do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? Once again, we see this graciousness of David, setting aside himself to pursue peace. How easy it would have been to do little in Abner's death and be like, oh well. And yet, David takes so many steps here to fight for peace. It would have been so easy for David to just rebuke Joab publicly and then send Abner's body off to be buried somewhere. After all, Abner had made David's life extremely difficult these last seven and a half years. And David knew him to be a prideful, selfish, self-centered, manipulative man who wanted what he wanted and would strive to almost any means to get it. How easy it would have been for David in his mind to think good riddance. Thank you, God, for getting him out of the way. Instead, David honors him just as he had honored Saul and Saul's death, who was his enemy as well. He knew Abner's deep faults, and yet he could appreciate all that Abner had done for Israel throughout Saul's reigns. All of the way when Saul was reigning, Abner was his commander and Abner fought well and risked his life continually to unify Israel and to finally bring peace to Israel for the first time in centuries. And David saw Abner, though an enemy, as a great warrior. And saw all he had done good for Israel. And thus he calls him a prince, which is the word translated here, prince, in our translation in the New King James. But the word simply means a great commander. David is lamenting and saying a great commander of Israel's armies has died this day in Israel. Died as a common criminal instead of as a great warrior he was. We then read of David's exasperation, verse 39, and I am weak today, though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too harsh for me. That's Joab and Abishai. The Lord shall repay the evildoer according to the wickedness. It's interesting, three times in 2 Samuel, David says this, these sons of Zeruiah are too harsh for me. Three times he says it. And here he says, God will repay them according to their wickedness. Now, it's possible here that with the fragile state of Israel, David determines it's better to not do anything about this and overlook it. So as to not further jeopardize unity and peace in Israel. but it seems more likely that what we see here is David being willing to say this is wrong, but unwilling to take any action. As king, he would have been God's appointed means to deal with the wickedness of Joab and Abishai. David is right to declare that God would repay them, but he likely should have realized that he was the means of God's justice here. As king, it was his responsibility to uphold God's law. It was his responsibility to protect and to bring justice when murder took place in a city of refuge. So in a sense, this would be like a murderer before a judge in our day, and the judge saying, I'm not gonna deal with you, I'm gonna let you go. God will deal with you. And we would be like, but it's your job to deal with him. It seems to be what's happening right here. Because throughout David's life, he failed to control Joab. And he knew it. And he tasked his son Solomon with Joab for killing Abner. Instead of he himself doing what should have been done, he tells his son to do it. In 1 Kings 2, 5-6, speaking to Solomon, David says, you know what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me. And what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel. This seems to be a continual problem for David. Not properly dealing with those he was responsible for. When his son rapes his daughter, David does nothing. When Absalom rebels and starts to steal the hearts of the people, David does nothing. When Joab kills Amasa, later on murders him in cold blood, David does nothing. David seemed to be a man who avoided confrontation and conflict with those he was closest to that he was over. And here we're reminded of our responsibility to lead well those who are under our care. We are to lovingly address sin and the lives of those whom we lead and not avoid it for fear of what might happen. David fails to do this, just hoping things are going to turn out okay in the cycle of life. And much heartache comes into his kingdom because of his failure to deal with sin in those under his charge. And thus, we see that David, though God's chosen king, is still a flawed man. Though David fights for peace and unity, peace and unity are going to break down in Israel. under David himself because he fails to deal with serious sin, especially with his sons. And in this, we're pointed ahead to our need for a greater king, one of the themes of Second Samuel. That greater king being Christ Jesus, the king. He has taken the throne and he does rule with perfect justice and he does rule with perfect rulings. He's the prince of peace, the king of peace, and the peace that Jesus brings comes not just because Jesus is kind, which is true, but because he is just, which is also true. Jesus brings peace because he perfectly judges. I mean, just think about this. You can't have peace without perfect judgment. We examined this on Wednesday night. where we saw Paul state this in 2 Corinthians 5, 9-10, Jesus seeks peace and Jesus seeks unity. And one of the means this is brought about is the righteous judgment of Christ. We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and our lives will be laid bare and we will give an account for how we have lived our lives. This is not a judgment of condemnation, but a judgment of evaluation and reward. We will be laid bare. And the motive of every thought, every word, every action, every feeling will be laid bare before our just judge, the Lord Jesus Christ. And at that time, there will be no justifying, no excusing of our sin. All we will be able to do is say all that you have declared, Lord Jesus, is true and it is right. And our hope in that moment will not be in our works. Our hope in that moment will be the work of Christ on our behalf. On the cross that has brought peace. Then we will see all that we have truly been forgiven for. And we will see how astonishing it is that we have peace with God. Right now, we only see a sliver of our sin and we praise God for His salvation. But on that day when we are before the throne of Christ, and Paul here is talking to believers, and everything is laid bare, we will see the fullness of our sin and we will praise our Lord and Savior all the more because we will see how much we have been forgiven and how astonishing the reality is that we have peace with God. You see. That moment, we will not be driven to despair, but to worship. For we will see how much like Abner we are, how much like Joab we are. And yet this king loved us, sought us out. And treated us with perfect justice. paying for every single one of our sins. We will see that justice has been perfectly served, resulting in peace, and we will worship. We will join those already saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing worthy is a lamb who is slain, who brings peace. Let's pray. Father God, we give you thanks that though we are sinners. Though, as the Bible describes us, we were your enemies. We were children of wrath. We were warring against you. You sent Christ. To pay the penalty for our sins. And thus our sins have been perfectly dealt with. Perfect justice has been executed on our account. But it's justice we don't deserve. In order that we might have peace with God. We might have peace with you. This is an astounding thing. May it drive us to labor hard. For peace with one another. As we track that progression in Romans. Father, please be at work among us. We praise you for the unity and the peace that we have here. We ask that you would guard it and protect it and help us to labor for it. And Lord, help us to live lives rejoicing in the fact that we have peace with you because we have experienced perfect justice. And on that day, when we stand before the throne of Christ and everything in our heart is laid bare before you, we will see how perfect this justice is and how incredible, astounding and undeserving we will be to have peace with you. So we thank you for these things. Please grow us in our thing, in these things, that we might better understand them and better live them out and grow in loving you and each other. And we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.