Trusting God In An Unjust World Series

2 Sam 15:1-12 TRUSTING GOD IN AN UNJUST WORLD ES 5 Feb 17 1667

Life in a sinful world will not be neat and tidy, because sin and sinful people are present. That includes us, before we know Christ.

• Over the course of the last few chapters (2 Samuel), we have seen the innocent abused, the guilty went unpunished, the decent driven to commit murder, and the one who has the power to do something good, remained silent.

• Life in a sinful world is messy. It is unsightly when we look at things from a surface level. We need to look at life from a spiritual perspective.

God is around, throughout these chapters. We know it because we have the privilege of reading history from hindsight.

• If we pay attention to what God said earlier (through prophet Nathan to David) in 2 Sam 12:10-11, “Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.' 11"This is what the LORD says: `Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you…”

• God has declared His judgement or discipline for David’s sin and it would come from within his household. God expected this. The calamity was part of God’s plan.

God is in control even in the mess we are facing in life. He will work through the darkness and lead us to the light, if we cling on to Him.

• And when we reach the light (at the end of the tunnel), we will gain a deeper understanding of God. We will come to know Him, through His dealings with us.

• Ultimately, the purpose is not a simple “remove evil” or “eradicate sin”. It is to help us see Him, know Him and therefore trust Him.

Sadly, Absalom was not able to trust God for all that was happening in his life.

• For a start, he knew little about God. Looking at the environment he was raised in, he hardly knows the God of his father David.

• Even if he has glimpses of God, this picture has been badly marred by human sin. He saw little righteousness and much injustice.

His half-brother Amnon raped his sister Tamar, and his father, the King, did nothing about it.

• Tamar came to live with him. Everyone pretended that nothing has happened, but Absalom could see “injustice” (his distraught sister) every day, in his house.

• As expected, he would eventually killed Amnon two years later, when given the chance (2 Sam 13B).

This was his way of getting justice. Someone needs to right the wrong, and he has to do it. Frankly a second wrong will not make the first one right.

• With that murder, Absalom had to flee and he fled to Geshur, his grandfather Talmai’s place.

• 13:38 says he stayed there for three years, in exile. David did not connect with him.

• Joab, the commander of David’s army and his nephew, urged him to allow Absalom to come back. He did return but…

• 14:28 “Absalom lived two years in Jerusalem without seeing the king's face.” He was not allowed into the palace and they did not interact for another two years.

When they finally met, at the end of chapter 14, after five years, the damage had been done. It wasn’t a meeting between a loving father and his forgiven son.

• Noticed throughout the account, Absalom never addresses his father as father, but the King. It was a relationship of the King and his subject.

This set the context for what happens next – 2 Sam 15:1-6. Absalom’s Conspiracy.

1 In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. 2 He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, "What town are you from?" He would answer, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel." 3 Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you." 4 And Absalom would add, "If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice."

5 Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.