As we look at Second Samuel sixteen through eighteen, Psalms three, four, twelve, and thirteen, we'll encounter more of the fourfold consequences that Nathan laid out to David after his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. Not only is David betrayed by his son, he keeps finding out his advisors, leaders, and those he's dealt kindly with are betraying him, too. (We have moved Psalm 28 and 52 to tomorrow's reading.)

Today's Scripture: 2 Samuel 16-18 + Psalm 3, 4, 12, 13

Scripture Read:

Psalm 3

Psalm 4

Matthew 11:28-30

2 Samuel 18

Psalm 13

Psalm 12 included in prayer

Do you feel like you've blown it in your parenting? Can God redeem those mistakes and sins? Yes, He truly can! Entrusted with a Child's Heart can encourage you to embrace the fresh start God has for you. This quick episode explains how this biblical parenting study can guide moms, bless your church, and actually help the leaders! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-again-podcast-for-christian-moms-encouragement-in/id1700555502

Don't forget to check out the Again Podcast! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-again-podcast-for-christian-moms-encouragement-in/id1700555502

Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary, Spurgeon's Treasury of David

This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox.

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As we look at Second Samuel sixteen

through eighteen, Psalms three, four,

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twelve, and thirteen, we'll encounter

more of the fourfold consequences

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that Nathan laid out to David after

his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah.

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Not only is David betrayed by his son,

he keeps finding out his advisors,

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leaders, and those he's dealt

kindly with are betraying him, too.

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As he's fleeing Jerusalem, Ziba

shows up with hundreds of loaves of

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bread and raisins and fruit and wine.

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To any moms caught up in the sourdough

craze, you know how heavy two

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hundred loaves of bread would be.

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So it seems that blessings abound,

but unfortunately, Ziba has bad news.

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In all of the chaos with Absalom,

Mephibosheth is also deciding

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to make a play for the throne.

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How defeating, after all of David's

kindness to him, that his best friend's

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child would betray him as well.

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Then another from the house of Saul,

Shammai, the son of Gera, comes and throws

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stones at David repeatedly and curses him.

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But in a truly Christ-like fashion,

David decides not to defend himself.

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Thankfully, Hushai confirms he'll be

faithful to David in spying on Absalom.

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Absalom, says, "Why are you here?

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I thought you served my father."

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But Hushai reports, " My loyalty

is to the people, and since they've

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picked you, I will serve my country."

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But there's a bit of a tension between him

and Ahithophel, Bathsheba's grandfather.

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Previously everyone, has

listened to Ahithophel.

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But when Hushai says, "I don't

think that's the way to go,"

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all of a sudden Ahithophel knows

Absalom's not following me.

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I don't think he's going to win, and

when David returns, I'll be killed for

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betraying him, and he takes his life

hushai is faithful to David and sends

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a message to him utilizing another

faithful woman willing to hide some spies.

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Still, there are many that have

betrayed David and it's fitting

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that he wrote Psalm 3 at this time.

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O Lord, how many are my foes!

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Many are rising against me.

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Many are saying of my soul, " There

is no salvation for him in God."

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Selah.

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But You, O Lord, are a shield about me,

my glory, and the lifter of my head.

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I cried aloud to the Lord, and He

answered me from His holy hill.

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Selah.

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I lay down and slept.

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I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

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I will not be afraid of many

thousands of people who have set

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themselves against me all around.

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Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!

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For You strike all my enemies on the

cheek; You break the teeth of the wicked.

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Salvation belongs to the Lord;

Your blessing be on Your people.

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Selah.

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The church I grew up in often sang,

"Thou, O Lord, are a shield about me,

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my glory, and the lifter of my head."

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And I understand this a lot more as

an adult than I did as a little girl.

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In those moments when you're

feeling so heavy and weary, can

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you picture Jesus coming tipping

up your chin and lifting your eyes?

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Just as He tells us that His yoke is

easy and His burden is light, sometimes

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we need Him to lift our gaze and fix

our hope on something other than the

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difficulties we see right before us.

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David also wrote Psalm 4,

perhaps at this time, too.

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Answer me when I call, O

God of my righteousness.

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You have given me relief

when I was in distress.

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Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.

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O men, how long shall my

honor be turned into shame?

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How long will you love vain

words and seek after lies?

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Selah.

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But I know that the Lord has set

apart the godly for Himself; the

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Lord hears when I call to Him.

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Be angry, and do not sin.

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Ponder in your own hearts

on your beds, and be silent.

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Selah.

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Offer right sacrifices, and

put your trust in the Lord.

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There are many who say, " Who

will show us some good?"

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Lift up the light of Your

face upon us, O Lord!

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You have put more joy in my

heart than they have when

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their grain and wine abound.

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In peace I will both lie down

and sleep, for you alone, O

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Lord, make me dwell in safety.

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I treasure that phrase, "The Lord

has set apart the godly for himself."

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Speaker 36: I almost missed it, But at

the conclusion of II Samuel 17, three

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unexpected messengers arrive bringing

supplies for David and his army.

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Do you remember how David was trying

to comfort Hanun, when his dad died?

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But Hanun shamed the messengers.

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Well, one of Hanun's brothers is among

these three visitors that brings beds,

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wheat, barley, flour, honey, sheep,

and cheese for David and his people

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to strengthen them and encourage them.

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And it's a beautiful example

of how the Lord leads

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even people who aren't walking with

Him sometimes, to be His hands and feet

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on this earth and strengthen us when

our bodies and our hearts are weary

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Speaker 34: In 2 Samuel 18, David's army

is forced to face Absalom and his army.

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They organize the men into

hundreds and thousands, and David's

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determined to go out with his men.

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But they refuse, reminding him that

he's worth ten thousand of them,

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and they desire to protect him.

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He listens to their counsel

and waits by the gate.

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But before the army marches out,

he orders, " Deal kindly for my

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sake with the young man Absalom."

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And all the people heard when

the king gave orders to all

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the commanders about Absalom.

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So the army went out into the field

against Israel, and the battle was

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fought in the forest of Ephraim.

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And the men of Israel were defeated

there by the servants of David,

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and the loss there was great on

that day, twenty thousand men.

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The battle spread over the face of all

the country, and the forest devoured

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more people that day than the sword.

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And Absalom happened to

meet the servants of David.

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Absalom was riding on his mule, and

the mule went under the thick branches

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of a great oak, and his head caught

fast in the oak, and he was suspended

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between heaven and earth, while the

mule that was under him went on.

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And a certain man saw it and told Joab,

" Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak."

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Joab said to the man who

told him, "What, you saw him?

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Why then did you not strike

him there to the ground?

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I would have been glad to give you

ten pieces of silver and a belt."

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But the man said to Joab Even if I felt

in my hand the weight of a thousand

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pieces of silver, I would not reach

out my hand against the king's son.

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For in our hearing, the king commanded

you and Abishai and Ittai, " for my

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sake, protect the young man Absalom."

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On the other hand, if I had dealt

treacherously against his life, and there

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is nothing hidden from the king, then

you yourself would have stood aloof.

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Joab said, "I will not waste

time like this with you."

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And he took three javelins in his hand

and thrust them into the heart of Absalom

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while he was still alive in the oak.

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And ten young men, Joab's

armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom

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and struck him and killed him.

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just to make sure it's clear, this

might be the worst hair day in history.

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That thick head of hair that we read

about, Absalom is now actually caught

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in a tree by his hair and hanging there,

and that leads to the end of his life.

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Once again, God's sovereignty plays

out that the forest actually killed

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more men in the battle than the sword.

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Throughout these biblical battles,

God has often used creation or natural

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disasters to bring about His purposes.

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I've cautioned throughout that David's

many wives would lead to many problems.

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He didn't have the capacity

to disciple his kids the way

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the Lord would have had him.

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Of course, we don't know what Absalom

would have turned out like if he would

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have had his father's attention, but

we can be warned to not let things

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build up in our kids' hearts, even

when it seems like a small thing to us.

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Do they know they can come to

us and trust that we'll do our

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best to help them resolve the

things that are important to them?

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Absalom was rightfully frustrated with his

father's inaction when Tamar was defiled.

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And perhaps if David would have

handled this more wisely, his son

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wouldn't have turned against him.

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Joab, David's key military leader, has

disobeyed his order, and Absalom is dead.

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His army flees.

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David's men want to carry the news to him.

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The first messenger reports that they've

won the battle, but all David cares

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about is the well-being of his son.

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And the second messenger says, " Good

news for my lord the king, for the Lord

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has delivered you this day from the

hand of all who rose up against you

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And the king said to the Cushite, " Is

it well with the young man Absalom?"

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And the Cushite answered, " May

the armies of my lord the king

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and all who rise up against you

for evil be like that young man."

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And the king was deeply moved and went

up to the chamber over the gate and wept.

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And as he went, he said, " O my son

Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!

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Would I had died instead of you.

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O Absalom, my son, my son!"

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As Betty points out in the Entrusted with

a Child's Heart study, there's a clear

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difference in the way that David grieves

Absalom's death and the way he grieved

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the loss of his son with Bathsheba.

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Absalom was threatening to

take the kingdom but David

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grieves deeply over his loss.

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It seems to indicate that David didn't

have hope that he would see his son again.

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Absalom died in rebellion and sin, and

David doesn't have the hope of eternity

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that he had when his infant son died.

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Can you imagine if one of your

children betrayed you in this way?

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It would be crushing, yet you would

care more about their eternal state.

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, This was certainly one of the most

difficult moments of David's life.

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Thankfully, he has a pattern of crying

out to the Lord in all circumstances.

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And Psalm 13

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is one of those.

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" How long, O Lord?

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Will you forget me forever?

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How long will you hide your face from me?

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How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

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How long shall my enemy

be exalted over me?

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Consider and answer me, O Lord my God.

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Light up my eyes, lest I sleep the

sleep of death; lest my enemy say,

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'I have prevailed over him'; lest

my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

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But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

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I will sing to the Lord, because

he has dealt bountifully with me."

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And let's close praying

a portion of Psalm 12.

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Heavenly Father, thank you that you

are the lifter of our head, give

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us hope even when we're overwhelmed,

tired, or feeling defeated.

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We're truly grateful that you set

apart the godly for yourself And

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that you've allowed us to be your

portion and your inheritance.

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As we look out at the ways of the world,

it seems that the faithful are few, and

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we're humbled that you've chosen us.

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Speaker 35: We pray that you would protect

our families from speaking with flattering

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lips or boasting with their tongues.

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We thank you that you rise up

for the needy and the poor, and

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that you place us in safety.

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We ask that you would keep us and

guard us, protecting us spiritually,

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physically, and even relationally.

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And we pray for our relationship

with our kids, that you would

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help us to keep their hearts.

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But most of all, we pray for their

eternity and that it would be with you.

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In the name of Jesus, we pray.

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Amen