In this portion of 2 Samuel 13, we have God's continued chastening of David as threatened in chapter 12, verse 11, with the murder of one of his sons by another of his sons. As the Lord said, the sword would not depart from David's household. Hear now the word of almighty God inspired by his spirit, profitable for us. 2 Samuel 13, starting at verse 21. But when King David heard of all these things, he was very wroth. And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon, neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar. And it came to pass, after two full years, that Absalom had sheep shearers in Baal Hazor, which is beside Ephraim, And Absalom invited all the king's sons. And Absalom came to the king and said, behold now, thy servant hath sheep shearers. Let the king I beseech thee and his servants go with thy servant. And the king said to Absalom, nay, my son, let us not all now go, lest we be chargeable unto thee. And he pressed him, albeit he would not go, but blessed him. Then said Absalom, if not, I pray thee, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said unto him, why should he go with thee? But Absalom pressed him that he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, smite Amnon, then kill him. Fear not, have not I commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant. And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose and every man got him up upon his mule and fled. And it came to pass while they were in the way that tidings came to David saying, Absalom has slain all the king's sons and there is not one of them left. Then the king arose and tear his garments and lay on the earth and all his servants stood by with their clothes rent. And Jonadab, the son of Shimea, David's brother, answered and said, let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men, the king's sons. For Amnon only is dead. For by the appointment of Absalom, this hath been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar. Now therefore, let not my Lord the King take the thing to his heart to think that all the King's sons are dead, for Amnon only is dead. But Absalom fled, and the young man that kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there came much people by the way of the hillside behind him. And Jonadab said unto the king, behold, the king's sons come, as thy servant said, so it is. And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that behold, the king's sons came and lifted up their voice and wept. And the king also and all his servants wept very sore. But Absalom fled and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day. So Absalom fled and went to Geshur and was there three years. And the soul of King David longed to go forth unto Absalom, for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead. Thus far the reading of God's inspired, inerrant, and infallible word. May the Lord bless us in the reading and hearing of it, and now in consideration of it. This entire section is taken up with Absalom's murder of Amnon for raping his sister, Absalom's sister, Tamar. Verse 21. when the king heard of all these things. Now, remember this concerns Amnon and Tamar. He heard about what had happened in that case. And if you think and put yourself in David's shoes, thinking back of the curse God had threatened, of the evils that he had done, you would say to yourself, I'm partly to blame for this, am I not? David is mourning, perhaps even repenting for his sins yet again as they come to his mind. But with this is mixed anger, he was very rough. Now this is not enough. A magistrate with a sword in his hand has a commission to do specific things to people that behave as Amnon did. Did David do his job? Did he execute the wrath of God against rapists and incestuous persons? No. So his anger is somewhat empty, is it not? His wrath should have been God's wrath, the punishment of Amnon in his hands. And by the way, in God's providence, he's orchestrating Absalom as the hero of this story by David sitting upon it and doing nothing. Absalom is going to steal the government from David and possibly you might say, rightly so. What have you done about this, David? At least Absalom does something, though it is not in the right manner. It's the right end, which is the death of Amnon. Absalom would not speak to Amnon because he hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar, verse 22. Thus, he was not indifferent to Amnon when he would not speak good or evil to him. He hated him. He plotted his demise and he figured out how he could murder him. Now he waited two full years, verse 23 tells us. Absalom is premeditating this murder. It did not come to pass out of the passion of a moment they got in a fight and so he kills him. No, that's not what happened. Rather, this is well planned out. Absalom does nothing or speaks nothing good or bad so that it won't be suspected. Absalom intends to kill Amnon. He's calculating, premeditating, with the goal of seeming as if his quarrel with Amnon is over. Led the king, I beseech thee and his servants, go with thy servant. Now just put yourself in David's shoes. It would be unlikely that David would take his entire court, all of his servants, all of his sons, all of his retinue, and go out for a little sheep shearing. No, that doesn't make sense. And David refuses for that purpose. That would be very expensive. And perhaps Absalom knew this. that no, he won't come, so let me invite him and then what will I do? He'll say no, what will I ask for next? Amnon. And he presses and presses when David wonders why, why do you want Amnon? Does it say that he answers his question? No, he does not answer his question. He presses David further. And David says, yes, God blinding David's judgment yet again for his former sins. Nay, my son, let us not all now go, lest we be chargeable unto thee. It's gonna cost you too much. I don't want to tax your estate. David is too generous to do that sort of thing, and Absalom might have suspected this. So he continues to press and requests then Amnon. And David has a good suspicion. Why should he go with thee, he asks. Very good question, isn't it? What's the motivation behind this sudden interest in Amnon being part of your events? Why that? But God, alas, blinds David's minds, and he does not pursue his suspicions any further. Absalom pressed him, and so David caved, as we say. He gave in. He didn't stand his ground and say, no, I'm not letting that happen. Absalom had commanded his servants, we're told, in verse 28. Remember Amnon commanding his servants? So just like Amnon, Absalom has wicked servants, doesn't he? Not righteous servants, not godly servants. He being a wicked prince, what kind of servants is he going to gather to himself? Wicked servants. He commanded his servants to do evil. Marking now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine. By the way, this is demonstrated to us as the weakness of Absalom. If a man wants to kill another man, should he do it while he's sober or drunk? Well, if you want a fair fight, you do it when he's sober, right? Does Absalom want a fair fight? No. He wants to take advantage. In fact, he doesn't even want to do it. He tells other people to do his dirty work for him. So Absalom commands them and says, kill him, fear not, have not I commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant. He encourages his inferiors to sin. And not only so, he puts the source of their courage in himself. Have not I commanded thee? This sounds very similar to what God says, doesn't it? Remember what he said to Joshua? Have not I commanded thee? Be very courageous and do my commandments. You see what Absalom thinks about himself? I'm God. I am mighty. I can command you. My will is law. The servants then obey this lawless order. They slew Amnon, and the rest of the king's sons fled, each man on his mule. It's interesting, mules are not permitted to be bred under the Mosaic law, but they were used. Verse 30, while they were in the way, tidings came to David saying, what? You ever heard a gossip train? One person tells one person, one person tells the next. That's how they used to get messages around, right? What happens to the story? Okay, one's dead. Now, by the time the story is done, how many of the king's sons are dead? Every last one of them dead, David. So the story flies and gathers up corruption as it goes. The king arose, he tear his garment and lay on the earth in sign of mourning, humbling himself, recognizing God's hand of judgment, looking back to his own sin as the fountain and cause of all this mischief and misery, and considering also that both by his sin and punishment, he had given occasion to God's enemies to blaspheme, the Westminster annotations say. David is being humbled again and again for his former sins. And when the Lord chastens us, when he corrects us, when he judges us for our sins, let us learn with David to humble ourselves. That's what he's doing. Lying down upon the earth, being sorrowful for the wicked that we have done. Our tendency, unfortunately, is not to humble ourselves, Why are you doing these things to me, God? Why am I suffering this way? You see, I'm a good person. Why are bad things happening to me? What is David saying? I'm a bad person. I deserve these things. Let me humble myself before God. Now notice, Jonadab, you remember that rascal from the earlier part of the chapter. You remember he advised Amnon how to compass his lawless scheme with wicked means of deceit, right? Guess who else he talked to? On the very day of the rape, what did he do? He went and talked to Absalom and he found out that Absalom was planning to kill Amnon and he knew it. What a wicked conniving friend he was. Amnon only is dead, for by the appointment of Absalom, this hath been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar. Notice, does he blush when he says this? I suppose not. Does he have no shame? Who was it that counseled Amnon to do this vile deed he just mentioned casually? He did. The impudent snake, shameless. He doesn't even reveal his hand. Oh yeah, by the way, David, I advised your son to do this. Does he say that? Does he confess his wicked deed? And he plays both sides of the fence, doesn't he? I'm on Amnon's team. I'll tell him what to do. Then I'm on Absalom's team and he'll tell me all of his plans. Because this word appointment means the mouth of Absalom. He heard it from Absalom's lips that he was going to kill this man. And notice what he's doing. He's ingratiating himself to David. Be careful of people currying favor, of flatterers and liars as Jonadab. Friends who will advise you to do what is evil. You don't need such friends, trust me. You do not need them. Beware of wicked friends. They will as soon destroy you as to advise you to do wickedly. He knew he was gonna kill Amnon. You know Amnon, his friend? He knew he was gonna kill him. Did he warn Amnon? No. Stabbed him in the back and let him die. Wicked friends will do this very thing to your face. You ever heard the song? They'll smile in your face all the time. They wanna take your place. Backstabbers, that's what he was. Behold, the king's sons come, as thy servants said, so it is. See, I'm on your team, David. I'm all about helping out around here. That's just what I do, Jonadab says. The king's sons come in. As Jonadab finishes speaking, they weep with David and his court. And Absalom fled and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. This is Absalom's maternal grandfather. He finds refuge there for three years. Now, by the way, although David was friends with the king of Geshur, God did not permit him to marry heathen people, did he? And yet he marries the daughter of a heathen king. And what sort of son comes out of that marriage? Absalom, the vain, the wicked, and the mutinous Absalom. David mourned for his son every day. Now remember, Amnon was his first born. He's the next king in line. What's happened to him? He's dead. Now there is one son, Chileab, but before you get to Absalom, it went Amnon, Chileab, Absalom. Absalom is now one step closer to becoming king. He's knocked off the top dog and David mourns for him, but here he moves himself up a notch in the royal descent, you might say. So David mourns for Amnon. And the soul of David longed, verse 39 tells us, to go forth unto Absalom. David will be ensnared by this desire for Absalom. Do you recall, as we will read in Absalom's Rebellion, David wants Absalom to live and everybody else to die. That's what Joab says. Stop whining about your son Absalom, he says. You wish all of us were dead and Absalom were alive. What is it? Indulgence on David's part. This paternal indulgence extended to an extreme and what he thought of as love for his son Absalom as for his son Amnon was actually hatred. Matthew Henry comments, instead of loathing him as a murderer, he longs to go forth to him. At first he could not find in his heart to do justice on him. Now he can almost find it in his heart to take him into his favor again. This was David's infirmity. Let us learn to honor God supremely, to seek his ways. And as the old Puritan said, let justice be done though heaven fall. and thus far the exposition of 2 Samuel 13 verses 21 to the end of the chapter.