A King's Family Legacy

Introduction

Good Morning Church....

Last week we hit something of a turning point in the life of the Great King David. After report after report of epic success David headed down a path that led to a colossal failure. And I don’t know about you, but it was a sobering thought to consider that I might be just 4 terrible steps away from becoming something that I could never image I could become.

And the first step was more about what David didn’t do, than what he did. First of all he...

1. Neglected his Calling

As God’s anointed King his place was to be out leading the men in battle and instead he chose to just lay around the house until his eye caught something that interested him. Unfortunately, that something was the beauty of another man’s wife.

Neglecting what he should have been doing, he found himself giving into temptation to something that he knew was out of bounds and yet … He willfully gave into into his flesh and he...

2. Indulged his Cravings

A short time later, this defiled and disgraced woman sent word to him that she was pregnant and so the King took the power and resources that God gave him to serve and lead God’s people and he instead levaged them to...

3. Attempt a Cover-up

None of us can hide our sin from God, but it doesn’t stop us from trying either.

David tried to cover up the wrong that he had done by ordering this woman’s husband home with the intent of blaming the pregnancy on him. But the man proved more honorable than the King, refusing to go home when he knew his place was on the battlefield.

And instead of this bringing the conviction that it should have, it led him David to take the fourth and final terrible step and...

4. Become the Unconscionable

He sends this honorable man back to the battlefield, but with sealed orders for his commander to take steps to have him killed and make it look like it happened in the line of duty.

David never set out to become a back-stabbing murdering adulterer… but in just four steps he had become this terrible thing he never would have imagined he could have become.

And the most unsettling part of that story was when we all realized that we are capable of these same exact steps… but we didn’t just learn the “bad news” from David’s story. We also saw good news found in the 4 steps that God used to restore David again.

First, God’s prophet Nathan arrived with the Word of God for David and David was convicted by God’s Word. He responded in humble repentance and then submitted to God’s sovereign rule and reign over the rest of his life. Finally God restored David to fulfill the calling that he had neglected at the beginning of all these terrible things.

Tension

David was forgiven and his relationship with God was reconciled and his part in God’s big story was restored… but that does not mean that David had no consequences for his actions. Forgiveness is something that is free given as a gift - you can see that it is right in the middle of the word … but that gift doesn’t make the sin safe.

If you hear nothing else from me today, hear this once again… “FORGIVENESS… does not make sin safe”

Sin is never safe. It has been destroying God’s perfect world since the day Adam and Eve took that first rebellious bite and it’s effect on this now broken world is felt by us each and every day and yet... we so often take it lightly.

Yeah, I know that I probably shouldn’t do that, but “We are all sinners, right? so....” and “God forgives sin, so....”

So… forgiveness does not make our sin safe! Sin still devastates and destroys and since we can’t hop into a time machine… it would be much better to learn this truth from David’s story than to discover the depths of it lived out in our own.

Because the other part of the message that God gave the prophet Nathan to deliver to David was the consequences that would come into his life as a result of his terrible sin.

There were three of them and we saw the first one play out tragically at the end of the message last week when the child born as a result of David’s sin with Bathsheba died.

2 Samuel 12:14 (ESV) 14 ...the child who is born to you shall die.”

The second consequence that Nathan warned David of was that war would be a constant reality in his life and the life of his family...

2 Samuel 12:10 (ESV) 10 ...the sword shall never depart from your house,

We will see this played out in the weeks to come as we finish out the rest of the book of 2nd Samuel.

But it is the third consequence that we will look most closely at today, where God called what David did “evil” and then said:

2 Samuel 12:11 (ESV) 11 ... I will raise up evil against you out of your own house.

In reflection of the evil that David perpetrated upon Uriah when he defiled his wife and took his life… David will experience that kind of evil in his own house.

And as much as we would like to skip over these parts of the Bible that seem to highlight the depths of the depravity of man, we dare not do so. They are there for a reason, to keep us from taking the first steps down such dark and devious paths without even realizing that we have started out in that direction.

So we must not ignore stories like these, we also must not isolate them. Because are just one part of a much bigger story and so they must be read in light of the whole redemptive story of God and the good news that have in our perfect King, King Jesus.

So I promise that as dark as things get in this text, we won’t end with the just the bad news. There is still hope to be found here and we will find it together.

So open up your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapters 13 and 14, page ______ I’ll pray and we will dive into these stories and search for the hope together.

Truth

Up to this point in 2 Samuel we have been told that David has children, but they have not really been active parts of the story. The Bible tells us that David had at least 8 wives 20 sons and one daughter. I have a little picture of his family tree.

So we will be introduced to some new characters today as well as hear about some that we are familiar with.... with one glaring omission.

Do you know which Bible character is glaringly missing in these two chapters? God.

While God has been an active player in most of what we have read in the books of Samuel, in these two chapters he doesn’t make the playbill. Of course God is always active behind the scenes, but it’s worth noting because the choices and actions of the players in this part of the story can rightly be described as “godless”.

The first of these terrible things that we will look at is how...

Godless “love” (obsession) leads to hateful violence (2 Samuel 13:1-22)

Now you might be wondering how anything called “love” could be considered “godless” but the only reason I use that word here is because the Bible does. But in this story the adjective “godless” is certainly appropriate and the word “obsession” is probably closer to what is described.

2 Samuel 13:1 (ESV)

1 Now Absalom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David’s son, loved her.

Again we have a beautiful woman in the story, which is not a bad thing. God made women to be beautiful… (Amen?! I thought I would give you all another chance).

It is not noticing the beauty that God gave women that is the problem, it is what we do with that observation in mind, heart and body that so often gets us in trouble. This is the case with one of David’s oldest son Amnon.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Amnon ignores that this particular beautiful women is out of bounds for him. And like his father, he too used the power that he had to just take her in the most dishonorable way.

Following the advice of a… terrible friend, Amnon pretends to be sick and asked his father King David to send him his sister Tamar to care for him. David, oblivious of the glaring problem, sends for Tamar and she obeys her father. But when she brought this faker his dinner, Amnon revealed his real intentions. And...

2 Samuel 13:12–14 (ESV)

12 She answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this outrageous thing. 13 As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”

Tamar was innocent in all of this. She pleaded with her brother to not shame her or himself with such a terrible act.

It’s interesting to note that the word translated “outrageous fool” here is the Hebrew word נָבָל Nabal and it also can be translated: “futile, worthless, good for nothing or godless”. Which is a fitting description for this man next move...

14 But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.

I don’t know about you… but few things make me angrier than this. That any man would use the strength that God has given us to do something so evil…

This kind of Godless “love” is not really love at all… it is just selfish obsession. It is indulging a craving, satisfying your appetite with no regard for the other person or the God who fearfully and wonderfully made them.

Obsession is a form of idolatry. It is when you idolize not an actual person or thing, but the picture of that thing that you have formulated in your mind. So much so that when you finally acquire the object of your obsession… there is no way it can live up to your expectations.

What this means is that Tamar’s nightmare is not over yet. The very next verse says:

2 Samuel 13:15–16 (ESV)

15 Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her.

This is the ultimate end of every obsession and it proves the point that “Whatever you idolize you will demonize” and that is how someones “obsessive love” can so quickly turns to “seething hatred”.

And Amnon said to her, “Get up! Go!” 16 But she said to him, “No, my brother, for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me.” But he would not listen to her.

Instead he called for a guard to put her out of his house, treating a daughter of the King like a used up bag of garbage to be left on the curb.

And moving down to verse 21 we get the response of her father King David, this ought to be good because we know what a hot head David can be...

2 Samuel 13:21 (ESV)

21 When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.

That’s it?! That’s all you got David? That is all you got “King”? That is all you got “Dad”? You are just gonna throw some anger at it? How about some action?

But remember we have turned a corner in David’s life and the last time that we saw him get morally outraged it turned out that it was about his own moral compromise. From here on out we don’t see nearly as much of the moral indignation as we once did.

And before we get to hating this neglectful father too much, we have to remember that the just “punishment” for a sin like this against his daughter was for the King to order the execution of his son. I am not saying that makes it right, I am just pointing again to how very unsafe sin is. It leads us down paths that we never should have been on and where we have impossible decisions to make.

But you know who had little trouble sorting it all out? Tamar’s brother Absalom. Remember how we were introduced to Tamar as the sister of Absalom back in verse 1? That is because Amnon was only Tamar’s half brother, but Absalom and Tamar had the same mother and King David as their father.

When Tamar told Absalom what had happened he comforted her and took her into his house to care for her and in no certain terms, Absalom assured her that one day he would find justice for her against Amnon. And in time he did, but

Godless “justice” (revenge) leads to fearful running (2 Samuel 13:23-38)

2 Samuel 13:23 (ESV)

23 After two full years Absalom had sheepshearers at Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.

This was an invitation to an elaborate celebration. Not like when someone invites you over for a “wood cutting party” that is mostly just work and very little party. But this was a big celebration, but remember that David had 20 sons so when Absalom went to invite them all.

David thought this would be too much to burden Absalom with so he politely declined the invitation.

2 Samuel 13:26–27 (ESV)

26 Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” (why indeed!) 27 But Absalom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.

For two years Absalom had waited for this moment, and he was not going to waste it...

2 Samuel 13:28–30 (ESV)

28 Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.” 29 So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and each mounted his mule and fled.

And so Absalom got “justice” for his sister Tamar… or did he? If this was truly what was good right and holy then why wait two years and plot it all out in secret? Why not engage the system of justice that God laid out and confront your brother in front of your father the King right after the wrong was done?

Because this wasn’t about justice. It wasn’t really about Tamar. It was about Absalom. Amnon was the first born son and if he thought he could treat someone from Absalom’s side of the family in such a disgraceful way... No way Absalom was going to let that happen and not answer.

This wasn’t really justice, it was revenge. And the end result was the that son of the King is on the run. All of the other sons fled back to David in Jerusalem…

2 Samuel 13:37 (ESV)

37 But Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son day after day.

Godless “love” (obsession) leads to hateful violence (2 Samuel 13:1-22)

Godless “justice” (revenge) leads to fearful running (2 Samuel 13:23-38)

And lastly...

Godless “mercy” (apathy) leads to imperfect reconciliation (2 Samuel 13:39-14:33)

I am not going to spend a lot of time on the long story of the woman of Tekoa from chapter 14, except to say that David’s chief military general Joab recognizes that David’s strained relationship with his son threatened the stability of the royal dynasty. So he sent this actress-type woman to tell David a story. This one about two brothers who had a fight and one ended up killing the other… gee I wonder where this is going.

This woman is not a prophet sent by God, like Nathan, so when she turns the table on David he easily figures out that it was his general Joab that put her up to it.

But David does call in Joab and agrees to allow Absalom to return, but only under certain conditions.

2 Samuel 14:23–24 (ESV)

23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. 24 And the king said, “Let him dwell apart in his own house; he is not to come into my presence.” So Absalom lived apart in his own house and did not come into the king’s presence.

The King was making it clear that although his son was allowed back into the boundaries of the Kingdom, he is not welcomed back into the life of the King.

For two years Absalom seems to thrive living apart from his father. He is described a really good looking guy with long and lush hair - a little foreshadowing there - and while back in Jerusalem he is blessed with 3 sons and one beautiful daughter who he honors with the name Tamar.

But after a while Absalom saw a ceiling to his success and he wanted to be closer to the King. He sent for his former advocate General Joab to try and get an audience with his father the King. But after many attempts, Joab would not respond. So Absalom set fire to his Joab’s barley field… I guess that is one way to get his attention…

2 Samuel 14:31–33 (ESV)

31 Then Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?”

32 Absalom answered Joab, “Behold, I sent word to you, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to ask, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still.” Now therefore let me go into the presence of the king, and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.’ ”

This may sound noble, but we can’t help but wonder if Absalom wasn’t counting on the fact that David cannot justly punish him for his sins without it revealing that he did nothing in response to the sins of Amnon.

33 Then Joab went to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.

Well all is well that ends well, I guess.... not exactly.

All you have to do is read the title heading for our chapter for next week and you will see that this “reconciliation” is not as complete as this throne room display tries to say.

Gospel Application

So that is a lot of dark and a lot of drama, but I promised that I would not leave us just wallowing in the bad news found in these text.

As God promised, “...evil has risen up out of David’s own house” and of the kind that David perpetrated on others. But in the middle of these dark stories there is a hint of the message of hope found in the voice of the one innocent player in all this.

Tamar asked a very profound question when she said,

2 Samuel 13:13a (ESV) 13 As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel.

This is such a profound description of the consequences of Sin in our world, both when we are sinned against, as Tamar was, and when we ourselves are the sinners.

Romans 3:23 makes it plain that

23 ...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

The good news, however, is that we don’t have to rely on counterfeit godless versions of love, justice and mercy to see things be made right in our world. These were things that were perpetrated by the corrupt “Sons of David”.

But in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant, God has sent us a better “Son of David”, one who can and has carried all of our sin and our shame to the cross.

His name is Jesus, the anointed one, the Christ.

Romans 5:8 (ESV)

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

That is what we put up against even the grave darkness of these kinds of stories. When we are the sinners or when we have been sinned against. For we cry out with the blind beggar on the road so long ago...

Luke 18:38 (ESV)

38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

And in the cross we know that He has.

Landing

This is what we will celebrate together this morning in the something that we call The Lord’s Supper...