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may be seated. Please take your
Bible. Turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter
10. 2 Samuel chapter 10. We are continuing
our study of the life of David. We started it quite a while back.
We took a break midway through. We looked at the book of Galatians
and now we are back in 2 Samuel to complete the study of the
life of David. Government policies are basically
divided into two broad categories. There is what we call domestic
policy, and that deals with how a governing agent will deal with
matters within a country's border. And then there is foreign policy,
how the national government will deal in matters beyond the border.
That is matters which involve other nations and their leaders.
And as we are continuing our study in the life of David we
are going to see this morning that David exhibited the same
basic policy in regard to domestic policy and foreign policy. Or at least we would say the
same fundamental characteristic of the life and character that
God has brought about in him shines forth both domestically
and internationally. You see when David determined
to show covenant kindness to Mephibosheth as we saw last time
he was exhibiting kindness domestically to a fellow Israelite. And it
had to do with relationships within the nation of Israel.
And as we turn now the page from chapter 9 to chapter 10 of 2
Samuel we see David showing kindness beyond the border to a foreign
king. A rival king whose kindness was
in fact repudiated as he showed it. But as always, these elements
of David's life not only provide lessons in themselves, they also
point us to Christ Jesus and they point us to ourselves as
his disciples in a typological way. And I'm going to bring that
out as we look through the substance of this chapter but please stand
with me for the reading of the Word of God 2 Samuel chapter
10. After this the king of the Ammonites
died and Hanun his son reigned in his place. And David said
I will deal loyally with Hanun the son of Nahash as his father
dealt loyally with me. So David sent by his servants
to console him concerning his father. And David's servants
came into the land of the Ammonites. But the princes of the Ammonites
said to Hanun their lord, do you think because David has sent
comforters to you that he is honoring your father? Has not
David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy
it out and to overthrow it? So Hanun took David's servants
and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments
in the middle at their hips and sent them away. When it was told
David, he sent to meet them for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, remain at
Jericho until your beards have grown and then return. When the Ammonites saw that they
had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired
Syrians of Beth Rehob and Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers
and the king of Macha with 1,000 men and the men of Tob, 12,000
men. And when David heard of it, he
sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men. And the Ammonites
came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the
gate. And the Syrians of Zobah and
of Rehob and the men of Tob and Machah, they were by themselves
in the open country. And when Joab saw that the battle
was set against him both in front and in the rear, He chose some
of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians.
The rest of his men he put in charge of Abishai his brother
and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. And he said, If the
Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me. But if
the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and
help you. Be of good courage and let us
be courageous for our people and for the cities of our God
and May the Lord do what seems good to him. So Joab and the
people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians
and they fled before him. And when the Ammonites saw that
the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered
the city. Then Joab returned from fighting
against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. But when the Syrians
saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves
together. And Hadadezer sent and brought
out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates. They came to Helam
with Shobak, the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their
head. And when it was told David, he
gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came
to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves
against David and fought with him. And the Syrians fled before
Israel. And David killed the Syrians,
the men of 700 chariots and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded Shobak,
the commander of their army, so that he died there. And when
all the kings who were servants of Hadad Deezer saw that they
had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and
became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to
save the Ammonites anymore. Let's pray together. Lord God,
this is an action-packed chapter of your holy word, and we are
grateful for it. And we're thankful to be able
to read it. And we will be thankful to be able to understand what's
going on here, but also especially how it applies to the way we
think and the way we act and what we do and what's important
to us. And so we pray for mercy this
morning and for the working of your Holy Spirit to give us eyes
to see and ears to hear. Lord, speak clearly to us. And
we also pray for ready hearts to hear ready minds to understand
and absorb and ready wills to obey what you're showing us here. And we pray it in Jesus' name.
Amen. You may be seated. Now, as we
have read, there are a number of issues and events going on
here in this chapter, and yet they all seem to coalesce around
a central theme. So I'll put that before you at
the beginning here this morning. As a whole, I would assert that
this chapter points us to the sovereign working of God on behalf
of His King and His people when they are repudiated by the world
with hate and hostility. In other words, when the world
shows the people of God hate and hostility, the Lord is showing
us here a lesson for how we should respond and assurance with which
we should respond. Here's a text which provides
assurance and instruction for the persecuted church. And that
makes it a text which is highly relevant to you and me in this
day and time. Signs and signals are everywhere that the biblical
church is not particularly welcomed in the eyes of the world beyond
the border of the church. And how ought we to respond when
the world shames us and foments hatred against us? answers to
these questions arise as we take this text point by point. But
we could pause for a moment to say one obvious answer is in
the verse we're memorizing and that is that we continue to love
our enemies and display the kindness of God. That's what we see David
doing right here at the beginning of this chapter. Let's start
with kindness extended. I want you to see kindness extended. Chapter 10 here is linked to
chapter 9. The one we looked at last week,
it's linked by its use of the same key word. And the theme
or the key word in chapter 9 is the covenant kindness of King
David. How he reached to Mephibosheth
who was in effect an enemy and an unattractive one at that.
And David reached out to him and showed him kindness. The
Hebrew word is hesed. Now I tell you that not because
I think you're all Hebrew scholars like me, which I'm not either,
but I do know a little bit of Hebrew and I know it enough to
be able to pronounce or at least try to pronounce chesed. And
that same word that's used in chapter 9, it's translated basically
kindness or covenant kindness in chapter 9. is the same word
in chapter 10 that we find in the ESV being translated that
he is going to deal loyally. It's the deal in kindness. Now Mephibosheth offered David
the opportunity to show the kindness of God at home, domestically. And now with the death of a rival
king, Beyond the borders of Israel, David has the opportunity of
showing kindness abroad. And so having received grace,
David is alert to opportunities to show others the same kind
of grace that he's received. So he learns that a rival king,
the king of Ammon, the Ammonite king, that this rival king has
died. Nahash king of the Ammonites
passed away. Now it would appear from the
text that at some point Nahash had apparently done something
for David that David considered a measure of kindness. We don't
exactly know what that was because all we know about Nahash from
the scripture is that he wasn't a very nice guy. And he was not
a very nice guy when it came specifically to the nation of
Israel. He had once attacked the Israelite
village of Jabesh Gilead and he had proposed that he would
let them live if he could gouge out their eyeballs. And so that
was when they sent to Saul for help. But it was the plan of
Nahash to gouge their eyes out and by doing so humiliate the
entire nation of Israel. So this gives you an idea of
who this is that had died. Nahash the Ammonite king. Now
that he was dead his son Hanun reigned in his place and David
determined to show kindness to this man by sending an entourage
of servants to express his condolences." It's as though he was sending
emissaries to attend the funeral or such to say, I'm sorry for
your loss and to give to the Ammonites a gesture of goodwill,
a message of kindness. And so David sets an example
to us of showing kindness to the world beyond our doorstep
and in spite of its hostile reputation. Think about the fact that God
Himself, now what does God do in reference to the world as
a whole? God our Father pours out kindness upon the entire
world. God pours out kindness upon people
who are Christians and people who are not Christians. God pours
out His kindness upon atheists. as well as He does upon His own
people. He is kind to all. He makes it
rain on the just and the unjust. So, it is in that light that
Jesus commands His followers to love even our enemies and
pray even for our persecutors. If we are kind only to those
who are kind to us, well, what of a big deal is that? I mean,
that's what Jesus said. The whole world, you know, if
you're kind to them, generally they will be kind back at least
to some extent. But the evidence of the Lord's
presence and work in our lives as His disciples and as His followers
is that we love even the unlovely and that we love even those who
are mean and hostile and unruly. I believe that the kindness that
David shows Hanun here actually anticipates the great display
of the love of God in sending forth His entourage into the
world with the gospel. to call for people to be made
right with Him. The great commission of Christ
is anticipated here in a type as David sends his servants to
go and speak a consoling word to this king. So Jesus has commissioned
us as disciples to go into the world and speak the consoling
message of the gospel of Him. that we could preach to them
Christ, that they might find peace with God and be forgiven
of their sins and become part of His family. And just think
about how the gospel first came. As Paul makes a good deal about
this in the book of Romans, the gospel came first to the Jews.
And then Christ sent His disciples to the ends of the earth with
that gospel. And we are to bring the gospel
message to the entire planet. And we're not to stop bringing
that gospel to the entire planet so long as there are more people
who need to hear. And until Jesus comes there's
always going to be more people who need to hear. But in His
great mercy to the world, Christ has commissioned us to go with
the message of peace through His cross. And He has commissioned
us to proclaim forgiveness from God for all who will trust in
the Lord, turn to Him in repentance and trust in what Jesus has done
in His life, His death, His resurrection from the dead. This is the foreign
policy with which God governs His kingdom. He sends out messengers
to call the world to repentance and call the world to peace with
Him. But how does the world receive this call? Well, not everyone
receives warmly the kindness of the Lord, do they? In fact,
many respond with hostility and belligerence. And don't bother
me with your God stuff. Leave me alone and let me live
my life my own way. I'm thinking for one of maybe
some of you might not know who I'm talking about. If you're
younger you may not know. But when I say the name Jim Elliott
hopefully your mind goes to the to the man a missionary who went
with some other brothers to a group of Ecuadorian Indians to bring
the gospel to them. They had to learn their language.
They knew that they were reputed to be cannibals. But they gave
them gifts and they spent a long time from a plane above dropping
off things. Then they finally got to meet
some of them and thought they were going to be friendly. But
what happened the next day? Representatives from the tribe
came with spears and took their lives. And sometimes the world
behaves towards the gospel messengers in just that way. The emissaries of David know
what that's like to a certain extent. The emissaries of David
reached the land of the Ammonites. Now they were not stabbed and
killed, but they were humiliated. Hanun shaved off half of their
beards. and cut off their clothes exposing
their private parts. And this was absolutely humiliating
for those men as it would be for you and me. There they were
trying to extend kindness and they were defamed for it. It
was an insult so egregious it spoke loudly of absolute rejection
and hatred and repudiation of David's extension of kindness. Well, the world often speaks
the same way today to those who bear the gospel. It depicts sincere
Christians and those who are eager to share the gospel as
shameful people who trouble the peace and who are intolerant
and who ought to be ashamed because they are crazy. I've seen the looks on the faces
of people when you try to even give them a track when they're
walking by. Their hearts are hard. They suspect
that you are either arrogant and think you're better than
they are, or they suspect that you're just stupid and believe
that fairytale nonsense about God and Jesus. And sometimes
they make you feel, and they want to make you feel, ashamed.
That you would trouble them with such irrelevant concerns. This is the world in which we
live. But we can't let their disinterest keep us from reaching
out. We can't let their disinterest
keep us from sharing Christ because, for one thing, Christ is worthy
of being shared, but also because their very well-being eternally
and their happiness, the well-being of their souls is what is at
stake. And so we see kindness extended. And when we see David extending
this kindness, let us be encouraged that we would extend kindness
the same way to the world in which we live. Even though there's
a reputation that the world doesn't want what you've got to give. Let's turn next to shame resolved.
Shame resolved. The men whom David sent were
obviously embarrassed and humiliated. They came to show kindness on
behalf of David and now their beards were half off and they
only had half the clothes and that covered only the upper part
of their body. And so to have shown up in David's court in
that condition would have only increased their humiliation.
So David sent, he heard and learned about the situation and he told
the men to stay put and he went to where they were. And then
mixing and mingling with them he told them to stay there in
Jericho until their beards grew back. And, you know, I don't
think that that would be such a bother for us today, but for
them it was a big deal to have your beard half gone. Of course,
you know, I got mine all gone. and a lot of us do that so we
could you know okay it's no problem but for them this was this was
a sign of their manliness their manhood and their strength as
men and so David really showed sensitivity and care and love
for them and appreciation for his men by letting them stay
in a place where they could remain until as long as it took until
their beards returned I'm sure he took a change of clothes with
them for each one as well but You know, think about what David
could have done. He could have said, how dare, how did you let
this happen to you guys? Or he could have disregarded
their feelings and just said, you know, I need you in court
right now. Just, just get over it. But rather David felt for
them and he reached out and he consoled them personally and
he gave them time to heal. He covered their shame so that
no one else would see it. He was kind and sensitive and
merciful. Well, when you think about David
as an example in that way, what does that say about you in comparison? God's Word tells us that the
fruit of the Spirit includes gentleness and kindness. The shame of others is an opportunity
for us to display patience and care and tenderness. To do that,
you have to step into their shoes and be mindful of how they feel. And maybe it is that someone
comes to you. They've personally offended you.
They've harmed you. And they're sorry. And in coming
to you to be willing to admit that, they're coming with shame.
How are you going to respond? Yeah, right, you really did hurt
me. Would be one way you could respond. But if you respond according
to David's example, you would rather see that you
have the opportunity of covering their shame by forgiving them
and telling no one else. Proverbs 10, 12 says, hatred
stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. Peter exhorts his
readers, above all, keep loving one another earnestly since love
covers a multitude of sins. Well, David's visit to these
humiliated servants points us to the compassion and forgiveness
and cleansing work preeminently of Jesus. Before sin came into
the world, Adam and Eve, they had not a stitch of clothes and
they were unashamed. Of course, when sin came, then
came shame. They got the fig leaves and started sewing together
and found that they suddenly became a seamstress and a seamster
and may close the cover because with sin comes the awareness
of our nakedness and shame. But what did God do? God replaced
the fig leaves with garments made of animal skin. sending
the message that without the shedding of blood there is no
remission of sin. The lesson finds its point in
that Christ Jesus became a curse for sinners and bore our shame
so that we might enter His kingdom without shame. Think about when
we're going to come back to Jerusalem or for us when we're going to
go to the New Jerusalem. We won't go as though having
only half a beard and unclothed we will be joining Him clothed
in His righteousness with all that God provides for us because
Jesus was a merciful priest to take our place, to suffer our
curse and bear our shame so that we could enter His kingdom without
shame. Listen, Jesus, listen to what
Jesus did for us and it's talked about here in Isaiah 50 verse
6 which describes the servant of the Lord Jesus this way as
speaking himself and he says, I gave my back to those who strike
and I gave my cheeks to those who pull out the beard I hid
not my face from disgrace and spitting." They spat on me, they
pulled my hair out, they beat me, but I did that. I took it. On the cross our Savior hung
bearing the shame and nakedness and scoffing and He did it so
that our shame could be covered. So that we could put on glorious
robes of His righteousness forever to dwell with Him without any
hint of being inadequate to be in the presence of God. He is
faithful to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, one of
the indicators that God is drawing you to Himself is shame. You experience shame when you
become acutely aware of your sin against God. As you become aware that you've
broken His law over and over and over, you see that it's not
just a couple of instances, but you bear a heart that has been
at cosmic enmity with God, and you are exposed. Your wickedness
has been taken away. I mean, the cover of your wickedness
that you wear to think you're not such a bad person is taken
away, and you feel exposed when you wonder then where can you
find cover is there any place any refuge you can go whereby
your shame can be hidden well that's why Christ Jesus died
he died to cover and cleanse all who come to him by faith
and take refuge in them it says that old hymn says rock of ages
by the way you know y'all y'all know that you always love it
when I talk about my grandkids And I've mentioned to you before,
surely, that Titus' favorite song is Holy, Holy, Holy. But
Becca's song, her put-me-to-sleep song is Rock of Ages. And so, Rock of Ages has a great
line in it that says this, Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to
thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress. Helpless look to thee for grace. Foul I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die." Or
I die is the sense of being ashamed and having no covering. But joy is the sense of this.
Foul I fly to the fountain, but I'm washed in the blood of Jesus.
And He's cleansed me from all my sin. And I can stand before
Him with confidence of being accepted, loved and received
into the new Jerusalem and the new heaven and the new earth
despite who I was. It's because He has resolved
my Shame. We must move on. We've seen kindness
extended and shame resolved. Next, we need to observe courage
displayed. Courage displayed. It dawned
upon the Ammonites that they had behaved in such a way as
to have greatly aggravated King David, the king of Israel. And in fact, you do become a
stench to a king when you treat his envoys like they treated
David's. You provoke that leader. And
when the world mistreats the servants of the Lord, it's a
stench to him. It provokes him. I don't even
want to imagine the judgment that will ultimately fall upon
the wicked and especially those who treat the servants of the
Lord Jesus Christ with hateful hostility and persecution. The
Ammonites surely could have come to their senses realizing that
they were a stench and made themselves a stench in David's nostrils. How much better it would have
been if they would have sent their own envoys to David in
repentance to apologize and to admit that they had made a grave
mistake. Would he please forgive them? But instead, in hardness
of heart, they just went ahead and began marshalling for war.
Now that's what was in their heart already. That's why they
had done what they had done and now they're living out their
nature as they draw up forces and assemble an army to fight
against David who simply sent messengers to say, I'm sorry
for your loss. So they hired several groups
of Syrians to bolster their force and then David heard of it and
he dispatched his mighty men headed by Joab and Abishai as
we read in the text here. And when Joab saw that the enemy
armies were coming at the armies of David from not just one side
but two, it was obvious that this battle
was going to be a little more complicated than he might have
thought. No doubt his adrenaline took
a level of sudden surge. He would have to adjust the battle
plan. And so he looked to his brother
Abishai Some of the best men he kept for himself and the rest
he placed under his brother Abishai, under his command. And then Joab
gave Abishai a rousing pre-battle speech. It is marked by a strategy. It is marked by a call for courage.
And it's marked by an expression of faith. This is maybe some
of the most concentrated theological expressions coming out of this
chapter. It's what Joab said to Abishai here. Strategy, courage,
faith. Well, what was the strategy?
To Abishai, Joab said this, "'If the Syrians are too strong for
me, "'then you shall help me. "'And if the Ammonites are too
strong for you, "'then I will come and help you.'" That's the
strategy. We're in this thing on two fronts,
but it's one battle, one war. And we're going to be there for
each other. If you need me, I'll come running. And if I need you,
you come running. I'll help you. You help me. Essentially,
that's what he was saying. I'm going to fight on my front.
You lead your men on your front. But we have each other's back. We'll come and help each other.
in desperate situations. Here was not two separate and
unrelated battles, but one. And each man had his own assignment
of responsibility, yet they were in it together and were ready
to come to the aid of one another. Now when we look at the Old Testament,
and particularly warfare in the Old Testament, I think the Lord
is often providing instruction for us about our warfare in the
New Testament. The key difference is in the
nature of our warfare. Israel had to fight physical
battles against enemy combatants with physical weapons. What do New Covenant disciples
of Christ do? We fight battles, but not with
physical weapons. Paul reminds us a couple of times
in the New Testament that new covenant warfare is not fleshly,
but spiritual in nature. We should know these well. 2
Corinthians 10 3, for though we walk in the flesh, we're not
waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not of the flesh, but have divine power. also Ephesians
6.12 Paul asserts we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against
the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over
this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly places. If we open up our Bible to Revelation
12 we find an image of a dragon and a woman And the dragon is
after the woman, and the dragon is after the child she bears,
and the dragon is after the descendants to whom she gives birth. It depicts history as a war between
this satanic dragon and the descendants of the woman. It's an image of
Satan at war with the church. So it's not fleshly, but it is
still warfare. Joab provides an important strategy
in the context of fleshly warfare that is equally crucial for spiritual
warfare as well. What's that strategy? Well, in
this world, the church will face attack. We will face attack on
all sides. We do face attack. It is constant
attack. It comes from both directions
or all directions. It may come in different forms
however. It may come in the form of persecution,
literal physical attack. It may come in the form of our
own afflictions. It may come and will come in
the form of temptation to sin. It comes in the form of false
teaching invading the church. We have to be on the alert on
all sides. And the strategy is this. Take your area of assignment
and fulfill it and run to the aid of those who are struggling. So each of us in the church has
our own area of assignment. We have our gifting, our place
in the body. But we all need to be ready to
help each other. We must have each other's backs.
We're in this together. It's big war, lots of battles,
and all of us are fighting them. And the health of the body depends
upon all of us fighting where we are. And yet we must have
each other's backs and be ready to help one another. This church,
the church, is a body of believers a body of believers by Christ's
design. And we must draw from one another.
He's gifted the body with various gifts and various offices so
that the body will be strong when each one is engaged healthily,
loving, serving, and following and growing in Christ. So you
can't live the Christian life. You can't live the life The disciple
of Christ is called to live without the church. That is what it's
here for, having each other's backs, having each other's interests
together engaged in the battle that satanic influences are bringing
against us at all times. So what do you do? Well, you'd
be devoted to the church. You be interested in the church.
You be committed to the church. Alert and serving in the church.
Caring for one another in the church. That's a key element
of strategy in spiritual warfare. And it was anticipated all the
way back when Joab gave these instructions to Abishai. God
knows we need each other. In addition to strategy though,
Joab called for courage. His words, find them there. He said, Joab said to Abishai, be of good
courage and let us be courageous for our people and for the cities
of our God. Here's what courage is in a short
word. Courage is that that doesn't
flee when there's a threat because it knows that what it stands
for is worth dying for. Courage does not flee when there
is a threat because it stands for that which is worth dying
for. That was a fight for the people
of God in this case. The people of God are worth dying
for. That's true in fleshly battles
then and it's true in spiritual battles now. We need courage. We need to hang in there and
not flee when there is a threat because what we've been called
to do in the body is so important it is worth dying for. fight
for the people of God and the cities of God. And the price
of their lives was worth paying if necessary. What was at stake?
Demanded courage. It demanded an all-out effort.
This idea of courage means, brother, we are going to fight with all
our might and we're not going to let up because of what is
at stake. This was an all-out effort that
was demanded. Well, the warfare in today's
church in which today's church is engaged, the warfare that
we're engaged in demands the same. We need men of courage
leading our families in our church. We need women of courage teaching
our children and exhorting one another. We need courageous voices
being lifted up in the public square. We need courage for facing
challenging illnesses and difficult circumstances in life. Courage
is required to do the main thing that Christ has called us to
do, which is to make disciples of all the nations. We need courage
for that, especially when you know you're marching off into
an arena of hostility where people's hearts are already set by nature
against the Lord and His Christ. But we need courage. In Deuteronomy
31 verse 6, Moses called upon Joshua to have courage as he
was going to be leading in his stead. Moses is about to depart.
The Lord has shown him his days are at hand. The end of his days
are at hand. And so Moses is commissioning
the Israelites to cross the Jordan and to go into Canaan with courage. And he said, Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of
them for it is the Lord who goes with you. He will not leave you
or forsake you. So not only did Moses tell him
be strong and courageous, He gave them the reason why they
had to be courageous. It is because the Lord is with
you and He will not leave you or forsake you. Didn't Jesus
say something much the same as He was about to ascend and go
be with the Father? When He commissioned us as His
disciples, those present then and us now with this commission
to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations.
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded
you, and then what? And behold, I am with you sometimes. No. I am with you always, even
to the end of the age. Our courage... our courage depends
upon the realization that what we are called to do has eternal
consequences and upon the fact that Christ is with His people
and will never leave us. Men and women let us call upon
the Lord for courage and let us be mindful that He is ever
present with His people and let us live boldly and fight our
spiritual battles with confidence and determination and power through
the Spirit so that we will not succumb to the desires of the
flesh And so that we will glorify the name and fulfill the purpose
of our Lord and Savior. So there was a strategy. There was a call for courage.
And now Joab's call for courage was complemented by his expression
of faith. His final words, Joab's final
words to Abishai before the battle began were these. And may the
Lord do what seems good to him. Joab recognized that God is sovereign
and holy. And while he and the armies would
display courage and engage mightily in battle, the outcome was in
the hands of Yahweh. The outcome was in the hands
of the Lord. Joab is mindful that the Lord
is present and involved and that the ultimate outcome of the thing
they're engaged in is up to Him. The Lord is there with them. He has not abandoned them. Now
I think that what Joab says indicates that he knew that didn't guarantee
that the Israelite army would win the battle right then. Nevertheless, he knew what his
responsibility was and he was willing to trust God to do what
is good and appropriate and right in his own eyes while he did
what he knew God called him to do. Joab was relying generally
on the promises of God even though he did not have an absolute particular
promise or word from God that he would be victorious in this
particular battle or even that he would survive it. But what
he did have was faith that the Lord would do what seems good
to the Lord. And this is an important lesson
for all of us. You know, we face circumstances
that put us in the same predicament or same kind of predicament as
that in which the Israelite army found themselves. We get a threatening
disease, for example. We would like the Lord to heal
us. We pray for healing. We go to the doctor. We take
treatments. We watch our overall health. We take supplements, try to be
as healthy as we can to fight this disease. We do what we can,
but we lack knowledge of what the Lord's will is in this particular
situation. Will He heal us? Generally speaking,
we do not know. Most situations in which most
of us are in like this, we do not know. But what we do know
are the promises generally that God has made. We do have God's general promises,
and these assure us that He will do what He deems best, and that
is the best. Even if it's perplexing. Even
if it's disappointing. Even if it's not what we were
hoping for. So we trust Him. We commit our
way to Him. We rest in Him because His ways
are good. His ways are best for His people.
And this is the assurance that bolsters the children of God
when the battles are their fiercest. It's stated well by the old hymn
written by Fanny Crosby. And I have to say, the way this
came to me was meditating upon these truths this week, woke
up in the middle of the night, and the words of this hymn were
just on my mind. And it suddenly dawned on me and said, that is
exactly the message of faith, the faith of Joab. Here's that
song, All the Way My Savior Leads Me. What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy,
who through life has been my guide? Heavenly peace, divinest
comfort, hereby faith in Him to dwell. For I know, whatever
befalls me, Jesus doeth all things well. For I know, whatever befalls
me, Jesus doeth all things well. all the way my Savior leads me,
cheers, each winding path I tread, gives me grace for every trial,
feeds me with the living bread. Though my weary steps may falter
and my soul a thirst may be, gushing from the rock before
me low, a spring of joy I see." Gushing from the rock, that's
Jesus by the way if you didn't know that, that's what she's
talking about. Gushing from the rock before me low, spring of
joy I see. All the way my Savior leads me.
Oh, the fullness of His love. Perfect rest to me is promised
in my Father's house above. When my spirit, clothed immortal,
wings its flight to realms of day, this my song through endless
ages, Jesus led me all the way. This my song through endless
ages, Jesus led me all the way. Well back to Joab and Abishai,
the Lord saw fit to grant victory and a temporary reprieve so they
could return to Jerusalem and many times the Lord will in effect
do the same for others of His children. However, there will
be the day when all battles will be over and we will ascend to
the New Jerusalem in our Father's house above Hold fast to that
hope when it doesn't look like what's going on the short term
is what you wanted. Because what you want is guaranteed
in the future. Now finally this morning we need
to see dominion asserted. Dominion asserted. The armies
of the Syrians and the Ammonites came together against the armies
of Israel in a united rejection of King David. However, both
armies saw that they were being defeated and they fled. Now to
Joab and Abishai it must have seemed too easy. Kind of like
me when I went through the equivalent of the TSA in Geneva the other
day ready to come home. I took off my belt. I didn't
have to take off my shoes. I didn't have to do hardly anything
else. I walked through a metal detector and I said, what's next?
That's it. We didn't have to stand there
like this and, you know, take off your every, you know, everything
you can and make sure your clothes are all in the right spot and
all that stuff. It was easy. Well, it made that,
that just, I had, this has boggled my mind. The battle that Abishai
and Joab engaged in was easy, it seems, as well. Like, where
is the battle? They started fighting and the
two armies fled. They ran away. But the battle wasn't over. And
that's just a reminder. You know, sometimes the devil
will come at you through the flesh, through the world, attack. And then he runs. And then he
waits until you think he's not going to fight you anymore. And
he comes back and he blasts you. He'll do that. What happened here was though
they quit fighting for a while and went running for their lives,
the Syrians were all the more infuriated and determined that
they were going to fight some more. And so they got a bigger
army. Hades gathered together what would seem a formidable
force of many more Syrians even from beyond the river Euphrates.
God's anointed king, David, now himself, gathers all Israel together
and comes to meet those enemies who have drawn up in the array
of battle. And the text says, it's just
a powerful picture, these enemy armies, they arrayed themselves
against David and fought with him. Now, that may just sound
a matter of fact, but when you think who David is, And when
you think of who he stands for, you will think, wow, who are these guys that think
they can fight against the Lord's anointed? Here was a climactic showdown
and a sudden decimation. The Syrians were decimated. As
a whole, they fled. Many were killed. The commander
who led their enemy army was mortally wounded and died. I'm
so thankful that the guy who's leading the enemy army of those
who oppose the Lord, Satan himself, is one day going to perish and
be forever. His power will be mortally wounded. But as it came here, that was
it for the Samaritans, for the Syrians. The remaining ones made
peace with Israel and became subject and were afraid to help
the Ammonites ever again. It was a final battle. It was
a final type of battle. And what we have in this section
of the text is the living out of God's Word in Psalm 2. Psalm 2 needs to be one of those
Psalms that you go to again and again. I need to read portions
of it to you very quickly. It says this, Why do the nations
rage and the peoples plot in vain. The kings of the earth
set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against
the Lord and against His anointed saying, Let us burst their bonds
apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in heaven
laughs and the Lord holds them in derision. Then He will speak
to them in His wrath and terrify them in His fury saying, As for
me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. And to that king, to that king
that he has set on his throne, the Lord says, ask of me and
I will give you, I will make the nations your heritage and
the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod
of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise.
Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. But, are all who take refuge
in Him. 2 Samuel 10, in this chapter, the
nations rage. They despise even the kindest
overtures from the Lord's anointed. They array themselves in battle
against the Lord's anointed. They display their hatred towards
Him, but the Lord of Heaven laughs. It seems from when you have the
knowledge, it is preposterous. It's a scoffing laugh. It is
a laugh because there are those who can't do a thing to accomplish
their objective who've gathered up in such an array as to say,
we can do anything we want to, but they can't. And so that's
why the Lord laughs. He has set His King in Zion and
He will make these people the possession of that King. You
either take refuge in Him or you perish in the way. Either
become His servant or be crushed by Him. It was a reality that
day. And that day anticipates the
greater day when the greater David The Lord Jesus Christ comes
against the armies of the earth arrayed against him. Reflected
in Revelation 19, heaven opens up and the King of kings appears
on a white horse. He comes with the armies which
are in heaven. He treads the winepress of the
fierce wrath of God the Almighty. His enemies are utterly defeated
and thrown into the lake of fire. But of course, blessed are those
who have taken refuge in Him. I think they are part of the
armies that come. This assurance here is why Christ's followers
can get up and live with courage and faith in the midst of this
chaotic world filled with its lies and hate and misery and
deception and the persecution of the people of God. So Christ
has commissioned us to show His kindness in the world beyond
the borders of the church to a world out there that needs
to hear the gospel. And that's mainly how we do it.
Live out and share the gospel. And in this way, the Lord Jesus
Christ, having commissioned us, offers to the world consolation.
Many times that consolation, many times that kindness will
be greeted with hostility and animosity. The world will seek
to shame you. Many are the enemies we will
face. Many are the baddest that must be fought, and the Lord
will do as He sees fit. But praise God, the war was won
when Jesus died for our sin and rose from the dead. God the Father
has set His King on Zion, His holy hill. And the nation's rage
and the people's plot, but only in vain. He who sits in heaven
laughs. One climactic battle remains
to be fought. Jesus will then lead his people
to eternal victory and eternal rest. Let that assurance fuel
your will to fight and your courage to stand and your faith to persevere
with hope. Or, if you know you're not on
his side, now would be a good day to change sides and to leave
the side of Satan and self and sin. To make a wise
choice that was not made by the army and go to the Lord and say,
I've sinned against you and I'm unworthy to be yours. But I've
heard your gospel. that you call even people who
are your enemies to be your friends and your family if they will
but trust in your Son. Today is the day of salvation.
The day when you should embrace the Lord Jesus Christ and leave
the company that will ultimately entirely be doomed. and join
in the heavenly throng of those who love and adore Creator God,
who loved sinners so to such an extent that He sent His own
Son to die, to live, die, and be raised from the dead for them.
So they can become welcomed into the border from
the outside to the New Jerusalem forever to live in the fellowship
and joy of their Creator. Let's pray. Our Lord God, first of all, we
thank you so much that you loved us and sent your Son, whom you
love, love with a love that we cannot fathom, but that you are
willing to sacrifice Him to pay the price, to cleanse us from
our shame and sin and misery, to bring us home. And Lord, we
do pray for any in this room who have not yet come out of
Satan's kingdom, out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom
of your beloved Son. We pray that today would be a
day in which by your power through the work of the Holy Spirit they
are brought forth and set free from the tyranny of wickedness
and brought into the freedom of the kingdom of righteousness
to be assured that their sin is covered. And their hope is
heaven. And their hope is sanctification
and living a life of obedience to a glorious and wonderful God.
And though for us, Lord, who belong, we are reminded this
morning of your kindness that you are exhibiting to sinners.
And you've chosen us to be the messengers of that kindness.
And we pray that we would be faithful We pray that you would
help us with the strategy to do our part and be courageous,
keeping our faith in you. And you would do great and mighty
things through us. And when the world turns against us, to bear
in mind the hope that we have of all eternity and to keep on
serving you because it's worth it. It's more than worth it. And we pray it all in Christ
Jesus' name.
Kindness Beyond the Border
Series The Life of David
| Sermon ID | 916241611197947 |
| Duration | 59:12 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | 2 Samuel 10 |
| Language | English |
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