God Exalts the Humble
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The Prayer of Hannah
The Prayer of Hannah
3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 4 The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. 5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. 6 The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. 7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. 8 He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world. 9 “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. 10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
1 Sam 2:
3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
4 The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.
6 The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world.
1 Samuel 2:3-8
2 Samuel 2:3
Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
The Author intentionally puts this prayer at the beginning of the book to establish the major themes of the book.
God is opposed to the proud and exalts the humble
We see this illustrated throughout the stories of 1,2 Samuel
David & Goliath
The strong warrior proudly opposing Israel
Confident in his own abilities
The humble shepherd relies on God’s strength
David & Saul
Saul
Consumed with desire for self Glory
Relies on his own judgment rather than seeking God
Jealous of David because he wanted the glory and fame
unwilling to humbly repent
God brought him Low
David
Relies on God, unwilling to strike down Saul
seeks God in his decisions
He was exalted by God to be king
But then David faltered and God will bring him low
unlike Saul, David will be genuinely humbled
And God will once again restore him when he is humbled
David & Absalom
Absalom is immensely proud
God will use Absalom to humble David
Absalom will be destroyed for his pride
Absalom’s Conspiracy
Absalom’s Conspiracy
Last week David had allowed Absalom to return to Jerusalem and after 2 years finally saw Absalom and extended him full pardon.
Absalom was not humbled from his time in exile.
We are not going to see the extent of his pride.
1 After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” 3 Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.” 4 Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” 5 And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
2 Sam 15:1-
In his pride, Absalom has determined that he is more fit to be King than his Father
He gets what he needs to look like a king
Horse and chariot
Runners
He made sure he was seen
Rise early and stand where everyone traveling to the city would see him.
Exalts himself
Claims that he has the wisdom to fairly judge any case
He never actually does anything
It is all showy pretense
He tells everyone coming through that they are in the right.
If two men had a dispute and one came walked by in the morning and the other in the afternoon he would have told both of them that they are right.
He only told people what they wanted to hear to become popular
Compare this to David when Saul was king
() Absalom continued doing this for 4 years
after the four years Absalom went to Hebron to start the overthrow of his father.
He makes up a story about a vow to get permission from David to go to Hebron
Hebron was the City that David was crowned king before moving his capital to Jerusalem
Absalom gathered his supporters and also tricked many of David’s officials into coming with him.
The people at Hebron declare Absalom King and simultaneously Absalom’s people spread the news throughout the country.
()
Shortly after this David receives word from his messengers of What Absalom has done
The news is not good, the messenger says that “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom”
meaning Israel supports Absalom as king
David is caught off Guard and not prepared to fight Absalom who has been preparing for years.
the decision is immediately made for David and his loyal servants to run away.
God is using Absalom to humble David, and it works.
God is using Absalom to humble David, and it works.
David is forced to flee
14 Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” 15 And the king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” 16 So the king went out, and all his household after him. And the king left ten concubines to keep the house.
David had spent many years “Fleeing Saul”
He had since be crowned king and defeated all the surrounding hostile nations
He might have hoped that his days of “running away” where over.
24 And Abiathar came up, and behold, Zadok came also with all the Levites, bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city.
David does not presume upon God that he will return as King.
This is in total contrast to the men of Israel that marched the Ark into battle against the philistines
God was against them for their pride and presumption
David leaves himself in God’s hands willing to accept whatever outcome God decides
30 But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went.
2 Sam 15:30
David, his family, and servants are mourning the circumstances of their departure
David shows weakness rather than strength
His Head is covered
not something a man or king would generally do except for mourning
Barefoot
Not only is king not riding a donkey, he is not even wearing shoes
David is visibly brought low before his people and God
5 When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually. 6 And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
2 Sam 16:5-6,9-
9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” 10 But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ” 11 And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. 12 It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.” 13 So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust.
2 Samuel 16:
He was a very wise and knowledgeable counselor
Lets look at the picture of whats going on here.
David is forced to flee Jerusalem in haste
David and his people are immensely sad over their departure
They look something like a funeral procession or a defeated army
and now they have Shimei rubbing it in as he taunts and curses David
Have you ever done something super embarrassing or wrong that you were so ashamed you just wanted to hide in a corner?
Flunked a test
caused your team to lose a game
that is how David and his people are?
Now imagine you are already feeling bad and someone decides to come and rub it in your face
That is what is happening, David and his men are absolutely miserable and this Guy is yelling at them essentially “ha ha you deserve this”
Abishai wants to kill this guy
David knows that what Shimei is doing is evil, but humbly leaves it to God
Can it get any worse for David?
It does actually
Absalom and his men enter Jerusalem and we get the idea that they arrive just as David and his group have gone past the mount of Olives and out of site of the city.
A narrow escape.
Once entering the City Absalom asks Ahithophel for advice on what to do next
Ahithophel was among David’s top officials and his betrayal is no small thing.
Now David had left behind 10 of his concubines to “keep the house”
keeping house is essentially what Mom’s do in your houses
I would like to point out that David figured it would take 10 women to do that job
David figured that the work your moms do is the work of about 10 people
Does that make sense Claudia
Anyway, David left 10 concubines to “keep the house” and David’s wisest and most respected advisor is going to tell Absalom what to do.
20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel. What shall we do?” 21 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.” 22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”
1 Sam 16:
As is things couldn’t get worse for David this thing happens
Not only did David’s own son rape David’s concubines, he did it publicly so that everyone would know it.
All Israel would know
Neighboring nations and rulers would hear what happened
This is what was prophesied by Nathan the prophet
11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’ ”
2 Sam 12:11-12
All that is happening is the consequence of his sin with Bathsheba
God is disciplining David out of love, he will guard and protect David through this ordeals
9 “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. 10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
1 Sam 2
We see that
We see that despite all the evil that is happening to David, David is a faithful man that has humbled himself and repented. God will guard and restore him.
God Frustrates the Good council of Ahithophel
Ahithophel councils Absalom to immediately take the army he has gathered and pursue David and his men while they are still tired and disorganized from fleeing.
Absalom also asks Hushai for advice
Hushai is loyal to David, and was left behind to be a spy against Absalom
Hushai advises that David and the men with him are mighty and it would be foolhardy to attack with anything but the entire army of Israel. He advised to gather the entire army first then go into battle, which would also give David time to organize.
14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.
2 Sam 17:
It is the Lord that defeats his adversaries, and we see that here as God protects David from the advice of Ahithophel which surely would have destroyed David and his men. z
23 When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. He set his house in order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.
2
Ahithophel was
1 Then David mustered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 And David sent out the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, “I myself will also go out with you.” 3 But the men said, “You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that you send us help from the city.” 4 The king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood at the side of the gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands. 5 And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.
Because God had defeated the good Council of Ahithophel David was able to organized his men
2 Sam 18:6-
6 So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. 7 And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.