Introduction

The Story of Absalom

Rise & Fall of Samuel, Saul, David… and now David’s son Absalom.

Chapter 13

• Amnon raped and rejected Tamar.
• Absalom told her to be quiet about it, hates Amnon.
• He hatches this 2 year scheme whereby he lures Amnon away from the palace, gets him drunk andthen murders him.
  • This is not about her–it’s not about herhealing or her restoration (if it had been about those things he wouldhave acted differently)–this is about Absalom and his honor.
• Flees the country for 3 years, goes to live with Grandma & Grandpa in Geshur.

Chapter 14

• A woman comes in and tells David this story about having two sons whogot in an argument when one of them accidentally killed the other one. He had to flee for his life; but then he repented and wanted to come back home but the community wouldn’t let him, and now she has no sons and no heir to take care of her in her old age.

• David doesn’t realize she’s telling another one of those stories that is really about him. The woman then says, “You are the man in this story” and David is like, “Dang it, I fell for it again!”

• So, David says, “Let’s bring Absalom home.” And they do. But David refuses to talk to Absalom, he’s still so angry. So Absalom doesn’t even see his face for 2 more years. That makes 5 years since Absalomhas spoken to his dad.

• Eventually, 14:31, Absalom sets a field on fire trying to get his dad’s attention—literally sets a field on fire, the ultimate “kid acting out to get dad’s attention” story. David finally agrees to see him and gives him the official ceremonial kiss, a ceremonial restoration of their relationship—but there’s no real reconciliation.

• And so, Absalom spends the next 4 years systematically trying to overthrow his father’s throne.

A few things about Absalom:

1. He was tall and really good looking, with a head of hair that would make even the ladies jealous. He’d get it cut once a year, and it would weigh 5 pounds, donated it to Locks of Love.
2. He was very politically shrewd. Chapter 15 explains how he would stand outside of his father’s palace and whenever people would bring their cases to the king, he’d go up to them and put his arm around them and say, “Wow, you’ve got a real issue there. Unfortunately, Dad’s too busy to give you justice. But if I were judge of Israel, though, I would make sure you got justice.”
   • When they realized who he was, they would bow down, but he’d pick them up, put his arm around them, and say, “Brother, don’t bow down to me. We’re the same, you and me.”

Chapter 15

So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

2 Samuel 15:6

• And then, when the time was right, Absalom staged a coup. He mounts a rebellion and drives David out of the palace.
• And then, as a show of power, he sets up a pavilion on the roof and sleeps with some of David’s wives, which was intended to be a public humiliation of his dad to let everyone know he had stolen his dad’s kingdom. No turning back from that.
• David hears that “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David prays that God would “turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
• No sooner did he say “Amen”, he meets a loyal adviser named Hushai. David tells him to go back to Jerusalem, offer his services to Absalom, and send messengers with his plans. In other words, Hushai is a double agent.
• That’s how C15 ends: Absalom has stolen David’s house, his kingdom and his wives. And the irony is that Absalom is doing all this from the roof of the palace, the place from which David’s original sin began. The sins of the father have multiplied in the son.

Chapter 17

Ahithophel propses a 12,000 man, targeted assassination attempt.

Hushai has a counter argument: David’s a might warrior, you’ve never been into battle. As soon as the casualties start, everybody will panic. Instead, wait a little bit, mobilize the entire army, and destroy David & all his followers.

He’s giving David more time, because Ahithophel’s advice was better, would’ve worked.

Since the Lord had decreed that Ahithophel’s good advice be undermined in order to bring about Absalom’s ruin, Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel’s advice.”

2 Samuel 17:14

Chapter 18

The king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” All the people heard the king’s orders to all the commanders about Absalom.

2 Samuel 18:5

Battle raged, 20,000 soldiers died, more by the forest than sword.

Absalom’s hair gets caught in the branches, leaving him hanging.

JOAB: “Why didn’t you kill him? I would’ve given you 10 pieces of silver!” SOLDIER:* “I wouldn’t have done it for 1,000 pieces. You’ll throw me under the bus.”* JOAB: *“I’m not going to waste time with you!”*Stabbed him with three spears.

Who will tell him? Not good news.

The king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber above the city gate and wept. As he walked, he cried, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!”

2 Samuel 18:33

Application

Probably struggled with this section more than any other.

1. The sins of the father are multiplied in the children.

The Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

Exodus 34:6–7

Parents, if you worship…

• the idol of success
• no way anyone could be happy unless they look a certain way.

How many of you have dealt with the sins of your parents/grandparents in your own life, seen it in the life of your kids.

This scares me! It breaks my heart when I see my idols replicated in my children. And I see it all the time—things that have always been a little too important to me that start to manifest in them.

Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap

Galatians 6:7

2. If you don’t deal with your problems, your problems will deal with you.

I can’t help but wonder what might have happened if…

• David stepped in and cared for Tamar, pursued justice on her behalf, brought her into his home instead of her having to live desolate and alone
• comforted Absalom and calmed him down and taught him what godly justice looked like. That might have kept Absalom from going on this murderous rage, which ended with his banishment and then a murderous coup.
• had David reconciled with Absalom instead of stonewalling him for 5 years.

We can’t know for sure–but the silence of David is deafening in these chapters.

==If you don’t deal with your problems,
your problems will deal with you.==

Psalm 3 inscription: “A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom.”

He describes the situation honestly:

Lord, how my foes increase!
There are many who attack me.
Many say about me,
“There is no help for him in God.”

Psalm 3:1-2

1. Have Good Theology

But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.

Psalm 3:3-4

With a multitude of enemies—a world of foes—David was in danger of becoming despondent by keeping his vision firmly fixed on them. What he needed most was to see God again.

1. God is our shield.

He is our protector.

Every word of God is pure;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Proverbs 30:5

2. God is our glory.

This statement is stunning when you consider the situation it was first said. David was the king of Israel but had been driven from his throne. In a flash, it seems he’d lost everything—the crown, his calling, his influence, his glory.

But here, we learn he’s not lost it all because he still had God, and God was his glory. His glory didn’t lie in what he’d done as king or his position as king, but in God!

What an important step for us to take each day! What will give us significance today? God. He is our glory. Through Christ, we have him, and he has us. He is our glory.

3. God is the one who lifts up our heads.

It seems almost universal that the lowered head signifies loss and shame, defeat and pain, or suffering and stress.

David was climbing the slope of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he ascended. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot.

2 Samuel 15:30

Think about the lowest points in your life—times when your foes felt impossible to number. What was God doing during those times? Protecting you like a shield. Showing you your true significance is found in him. And lifting up your head by steadily restoring and encouraging you.

Like David, we are flawed. Some might even whisper that God is done with us. But, as he did for David, God helps us from his holy hill (4). Through the cross of Mt. Calvary, God pushes past our shame to deliver us his grace.

• He is our shield—and when Jesus died for us, he protected us from God’s judgment.
• He is our glory—and because Jesus died for us, God can be the best and most important part of our lives.
• He is the lifter of our heads—and when Jesus died for us, he made it possible for us to regain what we lost through sin.

2. Drink in God’s Good Results

I lie down and sleep;
I wake again because the Lord sustains me.
I will not be afraid of thousands of people
who have taken their stand against me on every side.

Psalm 3:5-6

Sleep

In a sense, sleeping was the most dangerous thing David could do. The advice given to Absalom was to descend upon David while his camp slept. But in another sense, this was all he could do. He had to trust that God would defend him in the night. He needed the rest, so he slept.

In a sense, sleeping was the most dangerous thing David could do. The advice given to Absalom was to descend upon David while his camp slept. But in another sense, this was all he could do. He had to trust that God would defend him in the night. He needed the rest, so he slept.

By going to sleep, David was affirming that it was the Lord who sustained him. His own ingenuity or war skills were not enough to keep him against such numbers. The multitudes were with Absalom, and it put David in another David versus Goliath situation. And, as he had done during the Goliath episode, David decided to trust God again, and his trust would be evidenced by going to bed.

Not counting sheep, remembering that you are a sheep, and He is the Good Shepherd.

Sustained

It’s as if, when David’s eyes opened each morning, once he knew he was still alive and had not been killed in his sleep, he was jolted with a fresh realization that God had sustained him.

Sustained

Invigorated by the sleep God gave him, refreshed in God’s sustaining work, David was prepared to face whatever life threw at him. God had erased all his fear. And the cross of Christ should produce a fearlessness in us as well.

3. Make A Good Confession

By that, I mean say correct things about God.

Rise up, Lord!
Save me, my God!
You strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
Salvation belongs to the Lord;
may your blessing be on your people.

Psalm 3:7-8

First, David confessed that God defends. He thought back to all the times God had helped him in the past, times God had struck his enemies in the teeth and broken the teeth of the wicked.

David may or may not be praying for this to happen again, but he is certainly recounting what God had done for him in the past.

• His father’s ill-treatment wouldn’t stop him.
• His brothers’ ridicule didn’t slow him.
• Goliath’s taunts didn’t paralyze him.
• Saul’s attacks didn’t kill him.
• And surely Absalom’s rebellion wouldn’t end him.

God had always defended him, so David expected more of the same.

Second, David confessed that God saves. His enemies said there was no salvation for him in God, but David disagreed. He has salvation because he has God, and salvation belongs to God (8). He is the initiator of salvation, but he also keeps it going. He has saved. He does save. And he will save. It belongs to him.

Finally, David confessed that God blesses. For David, to ask for God to put his blessing upon his people was not mere jargon. He wasn’t scrambling for a good lyric to use to end his song. Instead, he was landing in the exact opposite place the song began. It starts with a multitude of foes cursing David, but it ends with the singular God blessing his people.

“The slope of the Mount of Olives” would later be renamed “TheGarden of Gethsemane”… and years later another son of David would walk that same path—weeping, sweating great drops of blood.

This future Son of David would also be rejected as King. But unlike David, it was not his own sin that drove him out of Jerusalem; it was ours. And he walked up that same ascent to the Mount of Olives so that he could die for our sin. Make sure you see this: Jesus walked David’s same path of shame so he could redeem David, put back together his Kingdom.

He was surrounded by all the enemies of spiritual darkness, and on the cross, he heard people tell him he had no salvation in God.

He looked to the Father to protect him from the permanence of the grave, trusting that he would regain the glory he had before the incarnation. He knew God would lift his head.

In this story, David laments, “Oh my son Absalom, how I would gladly have died instead of you!” David wanted to die for his son’s sins, but he couldn’t. Jesus actually could, and did.

And see, that’s good news–not just for David; it’s also good news for Tamar, too. In this story Tamar seems all but forgotten. She is literally forgotten by David. But see, she wasn’t forgotten by Jesus. Jesus walked up that hill of brokenness and shame and failed kingdoms so he could bring healing to her, too.

He breaks the power of canceled sin—he didn’t just die to pay its penalty, he died to release us from its power—so he sets the prisoner free! I am not captive to any sin of the past—whether mine or someone else’s.

And after his death, Jesus, like David, lay down and slept, waking again in his glorious resurrection.

So, whether you are a David looking to break the cycle in yourself or a Tamar looking to escape the devastating effects of sins committed against you, Jesus walked up that hill for you. His cross reconciles your past and his resurrection recreates your future.