For example, when the terrorists struck the Trade Towers in New York City, and the Pentagon, on Sept. 11, 2001, the pundits put their heads together and tried to make sense of why anyone would want to kill thousands of innocent people.
They could only reach the conclusion that Osama Bin Laden and his gang were so evil, that only he would do something like that.
We who know the Lord understand about evil. We know that the Devil is active in this world, and uses people who will submit to him to fulfill his evil deeds.
This is the same thing that happens in the church. Sometimes people will viciously attack God’s man, God’s ministry, or Christian church members.
• THEY MAY DO IT IN AN EFFORT TO TRY TO DESTROY THE WORK OF GOD
• THEY MAY DO IT FOR REVENGE, OR BECAUSE OF JEALOUSY
They may not even realize that they are doing what the Devil wants them to do, but nevertheless they do it!
As we see these things take place, they MAKE NO SENSE! The only explanation that makes sense, is that the Devil, who is evil to the core, has influenced some people, and he uses them to try and destroy the work of God and hurt the people of God.
Jesus said, in John 10:10, “The thief(Satan) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Jesus has come to bless our lives, but make no mistake about it, Satan wants to hurt us every way he can.
I am sure that David sat down and tried to make sense of the situation he faced, BUT IT MADE NO SENSE. His own son, Absalom, went behind his father’s back, and made an all out effort to overthrow him.
Look how Absalom carried out this evil act.
A. HE WAS AN ATTRACTIVE PERSON
In 2 Sam. 14:25, we read, “But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for HIS BEAUTY: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.”
The scriptures indicate that when it comes to looks, he was the perfect man.
Illus: Have you noticed that some folks are a perfect ten, but once you get to know them and look beyond their outward beauty, you see they are ugly from within?
One of the mistakes that many make in selecting a mate, is that they look at outward appearances alone. Sometimes after they marry someone who looks like the perfect HUNK, they soon decide that they are the perfect JERK!
Anytime we judge people on outward appearance alone, we generally are later surprised. Absalom was a handsome fellow on the outside, but he was rotten to the core on the inside.
B. HE WAS A CONVINCING PERSON
Look at 2 Samuel 15:1-6, “And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.”
This man knew how to PROMOTE HIMSELF.
Look at some of the things he did:
• When he arrived in town in his chariot, he had fifty men run before him so that people would think someone important was coming to town.
• He would get out of his chariot, and talk to those who were going to court for justice, and ask them where they were from, and why they were here. They would tell him where they were from, and about some injustice that had been done to them, and say that they were taking this person to court for justice. He then would say, “Too bad this has happened to you, and too bad my dad (King David) will not help you, but if I was king I would help you get justice.”
In the beginning, His dad had no idea that Absalom was trying to overthrow him behind his back.
HE WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL IN RECRUITING OTHERS TO FOLLOW HIM.
Look at 2 Samuel 15:13, “And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.”
Can you imagine how ridiculous this must have felt to David as he fought this battle? His own son was doing this to him. But David was on the throne because God had placed him there.
Let’s see what happens to a man who tries to overthrow the plans of God almighty.
CAN HE BE SUCCESSFUL? No. It may seem that he is for a while, but when the dust settles, we will see what a fool he has been.
Let me show you three things in Psalm 3. First, we see that -
I. DAVID WAS A TROUBLED MAN
In 3:1-2, we read, “A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.”
Verse 2 closes with the word “Selah”. The word “Selah” is pronounced as seh'-law, and it means to pause.
Illus: For example, when we are singing a song and come to a rest note in the music, we pause. When we pause, we think about the words we are singing.
In this psalm, David says “Selah”. He is saying, “Pause, and think about this.”
THINK ABOUT THIS: there are times when we are so surrounded by those who want to hurt us, we cannot see all those who love us.
David had reached that place in his life. He said, “Many are they that rise up against me.” He does not mention the devoted men and women who would die for him. All he could think about were the many that “…Rise up against me.”
• Now it is good that David recognized that there were men and women who came together to destroy him
• We must know who our friends are, and also we must know who our enemies are
WHY WOULD THEY DO SUCH A THING? It was not because he was a bad king. David goes down in history as the greatest king that ever reigned on the throne of Israel.
Look how they sought to destroy the Lord Jesus while He was on earth, and He was perfect. No wonder he told the disciples that if men treat Him this way, being perfect, they certainly could expect men to treat them this way also.
WAS DAVID PERFECT? No, he made some terrible blunders. But nevertheless he was considered then and today, to be the greatest king that ever reigned on the throne of Israel.
If he was the worst, and they had some bad ones, you could see why he would be attacked, but he was the best they ever had, and David said, “LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me.”
Let’s put it in perspective, WHY WERE THEY ATTACKING HIM? Because He was God’s anointed. The Bible records this about David; he was a man after God’s own heart. This man loved the Lord, and God placed him there to lead the people in the right direction.
Anytime someone like this is chosen by God, he can expect the relentless attacks of Satan. David is acknowledging these “nonsense attacks” that were being made on him.
DAVID WAS A TROUBLED MAN and …
II. DAVID WAS A TRUSTING MAN
Look at verses 3-5, we read, “But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. He triumphs over his fears, and gives God the glory, and takes to himself the comfort I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.”
When we talk to people, it is not difficult to see who is trusting in the Lord. Likewise, when you read of the life of David, it is also easy to see that this man was trusting the Lord. Look at-
A. HIS SHIELD
Look at verse 3, “But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me…” Look at the word “Shield.” This is the word “magen”, (pronounced maw-gane) which means A PROTECTOR. It also means “SCALY HIDE”.
Illus: A crocodile has a scaly hide that protects him. God has given him a hide that is so tough that it makes it virtually impossible to hurt him.
David is surround by people that want to literally destroy him. But the Lord is his shield, and He will protect him from the many darts that Satan hurls at him.
They made life rough for David, but when all the dust was settled, many of them were defeated and buried, while David went on to be the greatest king that ever reigned.
David recognized Who his Protector was. He said, “But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me…”
Illus: Sometimes the rich and famous have bodyguards to protect them. If anyone causes them a problem, they let their bodyguards take care of the situation.
In this passage, David is acknowledging that God is his bodyguard.
WHO COULD WE GET THAT WOULD BE BETTER TO PROTECT US? Absolutely no one!
B. HIS SORROW
Look at verse 4, we read, “I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.”
We see another “Selah” here. He wants us to stop and think about this statement.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO PAUSE AND THINK ABOUT? We need to think about David. He said, “I cried unto the Lord…”
It is good to have a friend whose shoulder we can cry on, but it is much better when we recognize that we can cry unto the Lord.
It is better because all our family and friends can do for us most of the time is sympathize with us. But they cannot help us. So often when we pour our hearts out to them, we leave them, feeling worse than when we came to them, because we realize they cannot help us.
But we can cry out to the Lord and say as David said, “and he heard me out of his holy hill”
David was surrounded by the voices of his enemies, but David cried unto the Lord, and he said, “He heard me”.
Illus: There is a song called, “Just a little talk with Jesus,” that tells us that a conversation with Him will make things right. (Look at the chorus)
“Now let us have a little talk with Jesus,
Let us tell Him all about our troubles,
He will hear our faintest cry,
And He will answer by and by”
It concludes by saying, “You will find a little talk with Jesus makes it right!”
C. HIS SLEEP
Notice what he said in verse 5, “I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.”
One of the ways you can tell that you are trusting in the Lord is that you can SLEEP at night. You can put your problems in the Lord’s hands and say, “Lord, you never slumber nor sleep, so there is no need for the both of us to stay up all night. You take these problems in your hands, because I am going to sleep tonight.”
DAVID WAS A TROUBLED MAN and DAVID WAS A TRUSTING MAN. But notice something else-
III. DAVID WAS A TRIUMPHANT MAN
Look at verses 6-8, we read, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.”
We come to our third “Selah” in this psalm. David wants us to “pause” and think about something else. Think about…
A. GOD’S STRENGTH
Verse 6 says, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.”
If David would have said, “I will not be afraid of ten people,” that would have been impressive. But notice, he said, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people…”
Why did David tell the lord he would not be afraid if ten thousand turned against him? Because he knew if he stayed right with the Lord, God COULD and WOULD take care of him.
Illus: Did you know that if everyone on the face of the earth were to turn against you for serving the Lord, they would be no match for you and God? Any time God chooses to do so, he can bring them all down to their knees.
Because David knew His God was that big and powerful, he said, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about,” because he knew God could pull the plug on all of these anytime He chose to.”
B. GOD’S STRIKING
Look at verse 7, we read, “Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.”
Notice, David has put his trust in the Lord to take care of his enemies, and now it seems like God is beginning to deal with his enemies. This is past tense, “…For thou hast smitten all mine enemies.”
He points out two ways God has dealt with them.
(1) GOD HAS THROWN THE SUCCESSFUL PUNCH
“For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone.”
Illus: If you watch boxing, you know that every boxer puts his arms up so he can protect his face. Every boxer knows that to get his opponent to drop his guard, he throws body punches. And soon, if he can crack a rib, the boxer will use his arms to protect his ribs. Once he drops his arms to protect his ribs, that leaves his face open for the opposition to draw back and land one on the cheek bone. When they do this, it rattles the brain so much that they are temporarily knocked out.
Many of the enemies of God have attacked the work of God, and it looks like they have won the fight. They might have won a few rounds, but one day when God is ready, God will throw the knockout punch, and they will never know what hit them.
(2) GOD HAS THROWN THE SHAMING PUNCH
God not only throws the knockout punch on the cheek bone, He also throws the punch that knocks their teeth out. Now when you see someone with their teeth knocked out, you know someone has gotten hold of them and dealt very firmly with them.
The phrase “broken the teeth” simply means He rendered them powerless.
Illus: A friend of mine had a relative up in Nova Scotia who had a little Chihuahua dog that was as mean as a snake. Every time it got a chance, it would sneak up on my friend and bite his ankles. That sounds worse than it really was, because the dog was so old it didn’t have any teeth left in it’s mouth! It was powerless to hurt him.
When God breaks the teeth of our enemies, they become powerless to hurt us.
Look at verse 8, we read, “Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.”
Conclusion:
It must have been a painful experience for David to have his own son rise up against him. But God is no “respecter” of persons. Whoever rises up against God’s man, doing God’s work, is rising up against God almighty.
Look at how God dealt with this nice-looking, conniving, back stabbing young man.
It looked like everything was going his way for a long time. It looked like he was the winner. But the story does not end here, it ends under an old oak tree.
Look at 2 Sam. 18:9-15, we read, “Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away. And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak. And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? And I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle. And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the young man Absalom. Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me. Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him.”
• ABSALOM DIED IN DISGRACE
• DAVID DIED TRUSTING THE LORD
…….HOW WILL YOU DIE?
I. DAVID WAS A TROUBLED MAN
II. DAVID WAS A TRUSTING MAN
III. DAVID WAS A TRIUMPHANT MAN
