Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro: Today we’re continuing in our journey through the life of king David, His rise, his reign, and his hardships…and in this chapter he finds himself in a hardship of epic preparations....His Son has led a uprising against him and his followers and driven them out into the wilderness near the forrest of Ephraim, David’s survival has only been by the protective hand of God, and because of Good friends willing to risk it all to honor the king

Last week recap:

Ahithophel (The most brilliant counselor at the time) came up with a plan to snuff out David in the wilderness…and tactically speaking, it would have been the right plan to go with essentally the plan was strike now while he’s weakened…But instead Absalom chose to listen to the counsel of Hushai (Essentally sent by David) who came up with another plan…lets mount one grand attack and then all will know how powerful Absalom really is…Absalom listened to Hushai and and this led to the escape of David and his people to safety and an opportunity to plan a counter attack

And I think this is why Ahithophel took his life, because he knew that David would now have an opportunity to regroup…and mount a counter attack that would work and he would be tried for his treason…so he took his life

(Prop) So what we’re see today is the battle between David’s Army and Absalom’s Army....this is a passage about war, yet in the midst of this passage, there are pictures of Jesus that we will highlight at the end

Outline: Today we’re walk-though the battle, and then we’re gonna highlight some things that remind us of our champion in the midst of the battle Jesus

Walk-though the passage

David organizes his army v.1-2

2 sam

So David and his Men are in Mahanaim, and they are beginning to mount a counter attack against Absalom...

Notice a few things with me:

General Observation - Notice that David even though he was driven into the wilderness, did not just go into hiding, but mounted a counter attack…this speaks of perseverance to me - He could have easily said “you know i’ve lost ground, he’s gaining popularity…I probably should surrender” but he doesn’t, he begins to plan a counter attack

App: In that same way, their are some of you here today, who have lost some ground to the enemy, maybe you’ve taken some damage, maybe things are getting tougher…not easier…and you’re saying “what should to I do?”

He could have easily said “you know i’ve lost ground, he’s gaining popularity…I probably should surrender” but he doesn’t, he begins to plan a counter attack

Here’s the Word for you - It’s always too soon to give up

Don’t quite…fight back...

Don’t scatter…unify...

Don’t retreat…Attack

With the promises of God

With the power of the Holy spirit

With a choice today to Honor God…thats your counter attack

Notice that He organized his army - And if you notice he organized them into 4 levels

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.

V.1a

He set commanders over hundreds

V.1b

He set commanders over thousands

V. 2 He set 3 commanders over the whole army

V. 2b He set himself over all of it

App: Illustration - Some christians think that organization is somehow unspiritual, And it’s somehow untrusting to plan things....

Look though God can move outside of our organized boundaries at times…we see in scripture divine Organization

Illustration - Some christians think that organization is somehow unspiritual…and it but though God can move outside of that at times…we see in scripture divine Organization

God’s redemptive plan

God’s vision for Marriage

We’ll just talk about one…the Body of Christ

The Body of Christ

God’s redemptive plan was organized

1 cro 12:1

God’s church is organized organism

1 cor

Organization is good thing

Notice the ones David put over the army

Joab - He’s complicated…but a nephew of Davids...

Abishai - He’s “Lives to fight guy”…But he’s Joab’s brother and a nephew of David

Ittai the Gittite - Now he’s a little more interesting…He’s not related to David…in fact He came from a the philistines… and most likely began to follow David when David found his way into Gath…when he was running from Saul…this was a bad time for David

Yet Good things can come out of God places…This guys Ittai showed tremendous Loyalty to David in one of his lowest times…He’s fleeing Jerusalem because of Absalom and look at the conversation they have

2 SAM

2 sam 15:

And now David has made him one of his Generals...

This speaks to us about 2 things:

App: The same way David honored the faithfulness of Ittai…Jesus will honor those who are faithful to him

matt 10:3

Talk about the Student ministry last Thursday...

Everything functions

App: God has a way of bringing good things out of broken places…This was a broken place for David…but David repented, he returned, and Now Ittai is a trophy of God’s restorative work

Now in these verses we read that David wanted to lead the army himself…and this brings us to the next thing we’re gonna see

David gets corrected v.3-5

2 sam

So David had a desire to lead the Army out in the war…and can i just say that this was a good desire…it just wasn’t the best choice given the circumstance, remember these men do not know that Ahithophel had killed himself, and they knew his eye was focused solely on David…so his men say “You shall not go out” because we get taken down, the fight can continue, but if you get taken out…we lose

A couple of things here...

David’s men knew that not all positions are created equal…and there are some that need to be tightly secured then others

Leaders…The enemies sight is on you

Husbands…The enemies sight is on you

Perants…The enemies sights are on you

So be carful where you go, and be carful what you do....

David was good leader because he was able to take counsel and even correction from others...

App: It is wise not just buy into your own opinion on things, but be able to take counsel from others…because you might be wrong

So it’s great to have advisors, but there is one caveat to that as well…It’s not just about having people to ask…it’s about having the right people to ask

David got counsel from the right guys…men of war

Having a multitude of advisors won’t help you one bit if their all Foolish

having a multitude of advisors won’t help you one bit if their all dumb

Be willing to heed wisdom…but put yourself around the wise…especially those who are wise in the things of the Lord

So David stays in the city…but then he says this to all of his men

2

Here we have a glimpse into the heart of David’s heart for his son…Absalom was both guilty....and loved…we’ll talk about that at the end....

David’s army defeat Absalom’s army v.6-8

So the battle begins, Now Absalom would have had quite a numerical advantage at in the battle, but there were 2 things that David did to turn the tide on Absalom’s men

First He divided them v.8 The battle spread over the face of all the country - this helped minimize the numerical advantage that Israel had

Secondly also chose the location v.6 the battle took place in the forrest of Ephraim and v.8 and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword

v.8and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.

and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.

In some way David used the environment as a weapon against Israel

App: I think thats a pretty good tactic for God’s people as we battle against satan and sin together…

I think about the advantages that we have in this day and age that other ages didn’t have

Apps for your phone

Social Media

Social Media

Church organizational apps

Some say...”those things are evil”…no those things are tools…you are the one who’s evil

If you use those things in redeemed ways to glorify God…they be apart of how we get an upper hand in the battle

This phrase implies that God fought for David in unusual ways.

Soldiers loyal to Absalom seemed to be “swallowed up” by the woods.

There’s also a suggestion here that God fought for David in unusual ways.

Soldiers loyal to Absalom seemed to be “swallowed up” by the woods.

“Perishing not only by the sword, but among the thick oaks and tangled briers of the wood, which concealed fearful precipices and great caverns, into which the rebels plunged in their wild fright when the rout set in.” (Spurgeon)

Notice that No victory is mentioned…only loss - 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 - I find it sad, but a fitting description…why?

because this was essentally Israel vs Israel…and when devision arises amoungst people that that should have been fighting on the same side…there is no winner

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.

This leads us to the last chunk of scripture we’re gonna look at today...