Decisive Judgment

Prayer

David and his lack of Decisive Judgment

Over the last several weeks as we’ve made our way back into 2 Samuel and the story of King David, we’ve been looking at David’s fall into terrible sin. Two weeks ago it was David adulterous affair with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, which led to David trying all sorts of deceit and manipulation to cover over his sin - which was about to be revealed through Bathsheba’s pregnancy. David finally resorts to murder, using the sword of the Ammonites, who kill Uriah in battle.

Last week, as we looked at 2 Samuel 12, we saw how the Lord rebuked David through his prophet, Nathan. David repents immediately, and the Lord forgives him, but there will still be consequences - serious consequences, including the death of the son born to Bathsheba.

The other consequences that the Lord warns David about has to do with the very sins that he engaged in - his violence and sexual immorality will come back to haunt him - by consuming his own household. And that’s exactly what we begin to see in the part of 2 Samuel 13 & 14, the chapters we’re going to look at today, which involve his children.

As king, David had numerous wives and concubines, and through them, many children. Our story today begins with the oldest son, the crown prince, Amnon - 2 Samuel 13:1-2, In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David. 2 Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.

So Amnon falls deeply in love with his half-sister, a beautiful woman by the name of Tamar. It appears that Amnon becomes obsessed, absolutely infatuated with Tamar, to the point that he becomes ill. Not really sounding like a healthy attraction here, the way you’d want to begin a relationship.

One of Amnon’s advisor, his cousin, Jonadab, is described as a shrewd man - and he notices something is wrong with Amnon and asks him about it. So he tells her about his love for Absalom’s sister, Tamar. So Jonadab works out a plan for Amnon - he is to go to bed and pretend to be ill. Then he is to request that his father, David, send his sister Tamar to come care for him by preparing some food for him to eat.

Which is exactly what Amnon does - he pretends to be sick and at his request David sends Tamar to care for him. She bakes him some bread and as she brings it to him to eat, he requests that she feed him in his bedroom, commanding that everyone else leave. Then this, vv. 10-11, And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. 11 But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”

Tamar pleads with Amnon not to do this - she pulls out all the stops, reminding him how wicked it would be to do this, how she would be thoroughly disgraced, that he would be seen as a wicked fool. She goes as far as to tell him to ask the king to give her to him in marriage - which David likely wouldn’t do, but she’s desperate here. And rightly so - vs. 14, But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.

After the horrific act of sexual violence, Amnon has a telling response, v. 15 - Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!” It shows that Amnon never truly loved her - or if he did, it had since become a twisted lustful obsession. And out of this hatred, he kicks her out of the bedroom. Which is another cruel act - by Israelite law, since he has disgraced her, he should marry her. But again, he refuses to listen to her.

Tamar goes into deep mourning, tearing the ornate robe she was wearing - robe that signified she was a virgin daughter of the king (and therefore under his care and protection - remember he sent her to Amnon to care for him), putting ashes on her head and weeping.

So what comes of this? What do the men in her life do? Essentially nothing. David hears about it and all the text says is, he was furious. No doubt he was really angry - but he doesn’t do anything. He doesn’t confront Amnon, doesn’t punish him. Nothing. Neither does Absalom. Absalom at least tries to offer his sister Amnon some comfort and she moves in with him as. Since she is now disgraced, she will not be given in marriage. This part of the story ends with this, v. 22, And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.

So Absalom sits with his hatred for two years. And after two years of biding his time, he acts. Under the guise of hosting a big party in the midst of sheepshearing season, Absalom invites his father, David, and his attendants to join him. David turns him down, so Absalom asks that Amnon be sent instead - so David sends Amon and the rest of the king’s sons.

Using a tactic his father did, Amnon orders his men to wait until lots of wine has been drunk, then they are to strike Amnon dead at his command. They do so - and all hell breaks loose. The rest of the king’s sons flee in fear - they don’t know if their lives are in danger as well. Reliable news is hard to come by - initially word reaches David that all his sons were killed. But then the news come, only Amnon is dead.

Absalom flees to the king of Geshur, his grandfather on his mother’s side, on the other side of the Jordan River, out of Israel and out of the reach of justice. And chapter 13 ends with this, vv. 38-39, After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there three years. And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon’s death.

So notice again, David doesn’t do anything. He’s conflicted. He’s mourned Amnon’s death - but now he mourns for Absalom, the son who murdered Amnon. Within his household he’s now had horrific sexual sin (his son raping his daughter, betraying him and then casting her off in disgrace), and violence, one son killing another in cold blood - just like the Lord told him would happen.

So, real quick, chapter 14 - Absalom is in Geshur, he’s been there three years. David has done nothing about it, even though he mourns for his son - who is now the crown prince, he’s next in line to take the throne when David dies (since he killed Amnon). Since David does not act, his military commander, Joab, does. He employs a similar strategy as Nathan does - he uses storytelling to get David to see the situation clearly.

Except he doesn’t do it himself, rather he gets an elderly woman who goes to David in mourning. According to her story she is a widow whose two sons got into a fight in a field and the one son killed the other. The rest of the clan wants to bring justice against the remaining son - they want to put him to death. But that would leave this poor widow with nothing - if the remaining son were punished by death, she would be without a husband or a son to care for her - she would have no way to support herself. And her husband’s family lands would go to someone else.

David promises her that he will take care of the situation. She presses him, she wants assurances. So finally David assures her that no harm will come to the remaining son, in spite of his crime. Like Nathan, the woman lowers the boom - she asks why the king has not brought back his own banished son. If he is willing to show mercy to her son, why not his own?

David is wise enough to know that Joab is behind all this so he agrees to let Joab bring Absalom bring. Which Joab does - but then this, 2 Samuel 14:23-24, Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. But the king said, “He must go to his own house; he must not see my face.” So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king.

Then we get these details about how handsome Absalom is, from head to toe, no blemish. And no kidding - his hair, how full and thick it was. This will come into play later, as we’ll see. Anyway, Absalom lives in Jerusalem for two whole years, never getting to see his father. Finally he gets sick of it - so he sends for Joab to send him to the king. Joab ignores him. Does it a second time. Same thing. Finally he sets fire to Joab’s fields, that gets his attention.

Finally, Absalom gets to go see the king - it’s been five years now since he murdered Amnon. And the chapter ends with their reconciliation, v. 33, So Joab went to the king and told him this. Then the king summoned Absalom, and he came in and bowed down with his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom. So it appears all is well - but as we’ll see next week, that’s hardly the case. The mess in David’s house continues.

The Lord, the righteous Judge

What sticks out about this story - besides this being a really messed up family, when the Lord told David that his sin would infect his own household, he wasn’t kidding - but what sticks out about this story is David’s unwillingness to step in and do the right thing. To confront his sons. To judge them, as was his right and duty both as a father and as king.

It’s clear that he simply becomes paralyzed, unwilling to act, likely because of his own conflicted emotions. He loved Amnon. He loved Tamar. He loved Absalom. He himself had engaged in terribly sinful actions - wasn’t this just the punishment the Lord had promised him? Who is he to rebuke them for their sin?

But because he refuses to act - and clearly has no plan to do so, he’s passive in all of this. He gets angry, but doesn’t do anything. It’s Absalom who inflicts his own vengeance on Amnon. It’s Joab who sets things in motion to bring Absalom back. Even then David lets Absalom sit in Jerusalem for two years without letting him know if he’s going to be punished or not. And because he refuses to act, because he’s so indecisive, things just get worse. Ultimately David has let evil stand - in his own family. And in his land, over which he is king.

The Lord, however, is a God of justice. He does not - and will not - let evil stand. And we see throughout the Scriptures where God will enact his justice immediately. He certainly does with David. Adam & Eve, the first to sin, are banished from the garden of Eden. We saw several times God punishing his people in the wilderness when they grumbled against him. Earlier in Samuel we saw God strike down the two men who touched the ark of the covenant when they were transporting it in the cart and the oxen stumbled.

On the other hand, there’s plenty of evil happening that doesn’t seem to get punished. It might seem that all too often that the Lord, like David, lets evil stand. There’s that saying - justice delayed is justice denied. And there are a lot of people who have - and are - doing evil things all the time - and seem to get away with it. There’s no shortage of examples of this - unsolved murders. Scammers who’ve cheated others. Just this week I heard a story of a woman who watched helplessly on her ring app as her home in LA - which she had evacuated - was being looted. Likely those guys will never get caught. Where’s the justice?

But we can rest assured that God is no David. Justice may be delayed with the Lord but it will not be denied. He is not indecisive when it comes to judgment, God has not and will not let evil stand. The Lord has always been decisive in his judgment. His good will win out. And we can know this for two reasons.

Unlike David, the Lord has a plan. A plan he has had from the very beginning. He will bring justice. Sin must be atoned for. Punishment must come for justice to exist. But rather than destroy all of his creation - or most of it, like the Lord did with the flood during the time of Noah - God chose to bear the punishment himself.

2 Corinthians 5:21 - God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus, sinless, became sin for us. God condemned that sin in Jesus, as Jesus bore that sin on the cross, paying the penalty of death. Jesus took our sin - we can receive his righteousness, that’s the exchange.

And so all this evil, all the sin ever committed, Jesus took on himself: Amnon’s rape of Tamar - Jesus bore that. Absalom’s murder of Amnon - Jesus bore that. David did nothing, but God moved to enact justice. Of course, it’s not just David and Amnon and Absalom’s sins, but yours and mine, and all the evil we see happening all over, all the time.

But here’s the thing - the Lord did this so that we might be forgiven, while the demands of justice still be satisfied. It’s such a beautiful gift, the gift of grace. A gift, when embraced is a beautiful thing. But the gift, if rejected, means we must bear the consequences of our sin ourselves. That we will face judgment for all that we have done, good and bad. God’s justice will come on us.

Which brings us to the second reason we can know that the Lord is truly a God of justice. David didn’t act because he was conflicted, indecisive. But God’s waiting is not indecision, he waits for a very particular purpose.

Peter, in his second letter, writing to churches that were suffering persecution - and because they were suffering were longing for Jesus’ return. For Jesus to come and bring the fullness of his judgment, his justice. He tells them it’s coming, the Lord will fulfill his promise, but there’s a reason he waits, 2 Peter 3:9...

The Lord is no slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. In other words, when God brings the fulness of his justice, that’s it, the opportunity to repent, to experience his mercy and forgiveness, has passed. So the Lord would rather wait - letting evil go unpunished for a while, delay justice - so that more and more people would recognize the incredible gift of grace that Jesus offers and receive his mercy and forgiveness.

This has always been God’s heart, because he doesn’t want to punish, he wants life for us, for all his people. The Lord would rather we repent - so he warns. And he warns. He sent prophet after prophet to warn his people, time and time again. Why he established his church - so we can proclaim the good news. That we can share with people all that Jesus did for us, and that they can know the gift of eternal life promised in him. So they can repent and believe.

Because that day is coming. Don’t know when. But it will come. God has promised it, and his promises are true. There will the Day, the Day of Judgment. As terrible as it will be, the Lord bringing his fierce anger, his wrath upon the earth, we can rejoice because we know that his justice, his good, will reign. Evil will stand no more. Because the Lord God - unlike David - is decisive in his judgment.

Spiritual Formation - So, what do we do with this? How do we put into practice what Jesus is teaching us today?

To know that the Lord is a God of justice, that he will not let evil stand, means that we are to join in him with this. It speaks to how we are to endure evil. At times, a willingness to stand against evil (Edmund Burke quote - the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing). It means that even as we endure evil, as we see it happening all around, that we endure it with hope - because we know that God’s good will win out. That Jesus will return and establish his kingdom fully. That justice will reign.

That we keep moving towards being a disciple-making church. Keep praying for the names on our list. Because God’s waiting is in order that others might repent and not perish. He’s giving us this time to share the good news of Jesus with others. So let’s continue to lean into that.