Suffering and Deliverance (Part 21) – David is Delivered from Saul Absalom

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1.      David from Absalom

1. Absalom was David’s third son (2Sa 3:3).
   1. He was a very handsome man who was praised by many (2Sa 14:25).
   2. He would let his hair grow long for an entire year without cutting it (2Sa 14:26).
   3. This is evidence of his ungodly and rebellious nature (1Co 11:14).
2. David did not discipline his children well (1Ki 1:5-6).
3. David loved Absalom and longed for him even after he killed his brother Amnon (David’s son) (2Sa 13:28-29 c/w 2Sa 13:37-39; 2Sa 14:1).
4. Absalom was a rebel who stole the hearts of the men of Israel with his slick tongue (2Sa 15:1-6).
5. He was able to deceive the men of Israel into making him their king (2Sa 15:7-12).
6. When David got word of it he fled for his life (2Sa 15:13-14).
7. David’s counselor Ahithophel was among the conspirators, and David prayed that the LORD would turn his counsel into foolishness (2Sa 15:31).
   1. While David was worshiping God, his friend Hushai the Archite came to him, and David told him to go to Absalom and feign himself as Absalom’s servant that me might defeat the counsel of Ahithophel (2Sa 15:32-34).
   2. This was an act of godly deception which God blessed.
8. Ahithophel’s counsel was as if a man enquired at the oracle of God (2Sa 16:23).
9. After Ahithophel’s counsel was followed by Absalom (2Sa 16:20-22), he gave him additional counsel which might have caused David’s death (2Sa 17:1-4).
   1. Hushai then gave opposing, inferior advice to Absalom (2Sa 17:5-13).
   2. Absalom accepted the counsel of Hushai over the good counsel of Ahithophel because the LORD had appointed him to do so that He might destroy him (2Sa 17:14).
   3. Hushai then passed along the plan to David so that he would not be where Absalom thought he was supposed to be (2Sa 17:15-16).
   4. David got the message and escaped (2Sa 17:22).
   5. Ahithophel committed suicide when he saw that his counsel was not followed (2Sa 17:23).
10. When Absalom went to battle against David on his mule, his head got caught in an oak tree where he hanged until Joab killed him (2Sa 18:9, 14-17).
11. David was again delivered from death by God (2Sa 22:2-4).
12. There are some lessons we can learn from this.
    1. God will often allow close family members to afflict us (Mat 10:21; Mat 10:34-36).
    2. If you don’t discipline your children, they will be a source of suffering in your life (Pro 10:1; Pro 17:21; Pro 17:25; Pro 19:13; Pro 29:15).
    3. Showing favor and sympathy to rebellious children will only make them worse and will come back to bite you.
    4. Your friends will sometimes turn on you, but God will never forsake you (2Ti 4:16-17).
    5. God can make our wicked, oppressive leaders listen to foolish advice which will thwart their evil plans and destroy them (2Th 2:11-12).
    6. God can take the wise in their own craftiness (Job 5:13) and defeat the worldly wisdom of the wicked (1Co 1:19-20; Isa 19:11).
    7. Our enemies will reap what they sow and will be judged according to their works (Gal 6:7-8; Job 4:8).
    8. God can save us from enemies and destroy them even when we don’t have enough sense to desire it.