 Today, we're looking at Second Samuel. We're going to look at chapter 20 as we continue our verse by verse study through Second Samuel. I have to be honest with you, as we're about to approach this chapter, there are some chapters that seem to leap out when I'm reading and studying, and I say, oh, yes, Lord, that really hits me right between the eyes, that's really, and there are others that I say, Lord, you know, thank you that we'll be able to get through this today. So this is one of those that I'm looking for application because, listen, when I read the Bible, I'm certain you're the same. I'm looking not just for the historical data. I'm looking for application. How does that work in my life? Even though this was written so long ago, Lord, there's something here for me. What is it that you want to show me? And so as we go through this, hopefully we'll find a couple of points of application. So let's begin reading here in Second Samuel chapter 20 at verse one. And I'll read verses one and two, get into our introduction and move into our study. And what we're looking at is Sheva's revolt. That's what you see here in Second Samuel chapter 20. So let's begin at verse one. I'll read to verse two and we'll get into our studying. There happened to be there a rebel whose name was Sheva, the son of Vichri, a Benjaminite, and he blew a trumpet and said, we have no share in David, nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tent, so Israel, so every man of Israel deserted David and followed Sheva, the son of Vichri. But the men of Judah, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, remained loyal to their king. David has been reinstalled as the king of a reunited nation. When his son Absalom had rebelled, Absalom's rebellion had led to the split of the nation of Israel. The majority of the nation of Israel rejected David as king and followed after Absalom. But Absalom had been killed and after Absalom had died, once again David is bringing the nation of Israel together. Now to secure unity, David has replaced his commander Joab with Absalom's military commander, a man by the name of Amasa. Now there was a reason for doing that and one of those reasons is that he believed that by bringing Amasa in as being the commander of the army, that those ten tribes that had been following after his lead in rebellion against David, as well as those who had followed him from Judah, those tribes, the nation, the military, seeing that Amasa was now being in place, being placed in charge of the military, it may have a unifying effect. And also Joab was known, who was David's commander, Joab was known as being a fierce man, an enemy of the tribes. And so David is assuming that Amasa, by being placed in that position, can bring a calmness and help to bring peace. Now David has been recognized as being the king of the nation, but there's still a great deal of antagonism between the ten northern tribes and the tribe of Judah. The northern tribes, as we saw last time, were upset because the tribe of Judah was escorting David from across the Jordan into the city of Jerusalem and they were upset over that. And as we saw last time in verse 42 of chapter 19, rather verse 41 of chapter 19, the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, why have our brother and the men of Judah stolen you away and brought the king his household and all David's men with him across the Jordan? They were upset because the tribe of Judah was accompanying David. Now the tribe of Judah, in response in verse 42, had said because the king is a close relative of ours. And so there was a division there that was taking place between the ten northern tribes and Judah. And so this division is something that is about to be exploited. It's exploited by a man by the name of Sheva. What he's doing is he's trying to draw the people away from David in order that he like Absalom had done in the past that he might bring them to himself. Now there's always by way of application, there's always present a person or a group who will take advantage of differing opinions. There is always a person or a group who does that. We see that even in our political system here in the United States you have one political party that presents one thing, you have another political party who rejects that, they have their problems. It always occurs, we see that, and there are those who will take advantage if possible of that division and sometimes they do so in order to call people unto himself. And that's exactly what is taking place here with Sheva. What he's trying to do is draw people away so that they will follow his leadership. Now that happens in the political world, it also happens even in the church world. It can happen sometimes in churches when some leader will see that there are those within the confines of the church who are discontent about something. And so what they'll do is they begin to rally those people around them. As a result of that they end up with a church split or a division. And it's all because that person saw the discontent of a certain group and said, look it, just follow me, we'll start our own Bible study, we'll start our own church. And you can pull away from that and you come with me and that happens all the time even in the church world and that's what you're seeing here in the kingdom. You're seeing that there's a man by the name of Sheva who is trying to draw people after himself. Now what happens here is the fierce words of Judah result in some very evil results. Notice it said in verse 43, the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. And so these words were tough, they were more firm. The nation's in terrible division. Peaceful words would have brought better results. David had used calming words when he spoke to them and tried to reunite them. David spoke peaceably to them when he was trying to get them back together because according to Proverbs 15 verse 1, a soft answer turns away wrath. But harsh words will stir up anger. And it's always wise to use a softer approach, a gentler way to try and bring reconciliation. And it's not wise to provoke people to getting people's face and all of that. It's always better just to listen to what's being said and to present a calm answer. I've had that happen numerous times in ministry, numerous times when people are upset about one thing or another and I have gently responded to that and I've discovered that a gentle answer will turn away people's wrath. I remember many, many years ago when our church was very young, I was teaching on marriage in the family and I had mentioned the kind of things that I still mention today. I had mentioned to the men we need to be leaders in our home. We need to serve God and be great examples. Just basic things you find in Scripture. I wasn't inventing these things and after the Bible study in between services, I was outside and I was sitting down and one of the guys, one of the men of our fellowship came and he was a good-sized guy and he stood over me. He was towering over me, which pretty much everybody does, even the women in the church. And as he was standing over me like that, he was very upset and a bit red in the face and began to challenge me, why do you do that? I said, why do I do what? Why do you always make us men feel like we're not doing what we're supposed to do? And I said, do I make the men here feel like they're not doing what they're supposed to do? And he said, yeah, you're making the men feel that they're not doing what they're supposed to do. I said, really? I said, are you doing what you're supposed to do? And he goes, yes I am, I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. I said, then if you're doing what you're supposed to do, then why don't you pray for the men in this church who aren't? And he says, okay, and he walks away and I say it by life. You know, sometimes I get upset and I basically just speak gently back to them because it isn't wise to provoke people it never is. It's not wise to provoke a fight. And David knew that. David knew it was wiser just to have a calm answer, a calm way of speaking to them. But here what we're ending up with is the men of Judah who are not using that kind of wisdom. And so they're speaking with tough words, fiercer words, and it gets the men of Israel, these 10 tribes, it gets them upset. And as a result of that, Sheva is about to capitalize on that for himself. Notice it says in verse 1 again in chapter 20, there happened to be there a rebel whose name was Sheva, the son of Vifri, a Benjamite, and he blew a trumpet and said, we have no share in David, nor do we have an inheritance in the son of Jesse, every man to his tent so Israel. And so we're introduced to this man named Sheva. He's an influential leader. He's a member of the tribe of Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin is the tribe that produced the first king of Israel, Saul. And so this is a man here who's beginning to stir up some problems. Notice he's referred to as a rebel. That word rebel literally is a son of Belial. When you're called a son of Belial in the Old Testament, that's another way of saying you are absolutely worthless. And so his character is being revealed to us. This is a man, a rebel, a worthless individual, and he's taken advantage of the anger of the 10 tribes so that he might push his own agenda. Now remember with me that earlier, as we saw, Shemiah had approached David when David was returning to Israel. And with Shemiah were 1,000 men of Benjamin. Sheva may have been one of those men. So as he's hearing the men of Judah speak so fiercely to the men of Israel, he responds with anger. And the men of Israel are now being insulted. They're angry because of the way that they're being spoken to. And he takes advantage of that. Now as he says that, he makes a comment, we have no share in David nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse, every man to his tent so Israel. It's another way of saying, David, who is he? He's no real king. David's not even one of our relatives. We have no share in him. And he's the son of Jesse. His father was a nobody and so is he. And so as he does that, and he calls them to follow him, verse 2, every man of Israel deserted David and followed Sheva, the son of Bikri. But the men of Judah, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, remained loyal to their king. And so those who had come to escort David are now deserting him. And they follow Sheva as their leader, but the men of Judah escort David from the Jordan back to the city of Jerusalem, and they refuse to leave him. Now, verse 3, David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the 10 women, his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them. But he did not go in to them. Another way of saying he had no physical relationships with these women. So they were shut up to the day of their death living in widowhood. Absalom had been with them. Therefore, they were no longer part of David's harem. He didn't abandon them. He did support them, but he no longer had any kind of physical relation with them. Now, as this is taking place, verse 4, the king said to Amasah, assemble the men of Judah for me within three days and be present here yourself. So Amasah went to assemble the men of Judah, but he delayed longer than the set time which David had appointed him. Now, the men of Judah make some sense that within three days he would have been able to go and get them. Not too many of them were gone and they didn't go too far, and it would seem that within a three-day timeline so that he could have brought them together, but he didn't. He hesitated for some reason. Now, remember that David had replaced Joab with Amasah, and that's why he tells him to go assemble the men of Judah. Now, he didn't do it. And the question has to be asked, why? Why wasn't he able to do this? Why didn't the troops get assembled in order that they might pursue after Shava? There are various answers that are provided. One, it may be that Amasah really was on Shava's side and really delayed simply to give Shava some opportunity to get his troops assembled to come against David. It may be that he was simply lazy and he didn't want to do the task, which is probably not so. And then finally, it could be that the men of Judah were simply unwilling to follow after him. This is a man who had been leading Absalom's troops and they were coming against David and those who had remained loyal to him from that area. And it may be that the men of Judah, just because they were loyal to David, were not about to follow after Amasah. It's really not said. It's not really clear. But the fact is, within three days, he hasn't accomplished the task. Now, David knew it's important for him to move before Shava had a time to grow strong. But it's in his desire to move quickly that he makes a mistake. Notice with me what he does. In verse six, David said to Abashai, now Shava, the son of victory, will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your Lord's servants and pursue him, lest he find for himself fortified cities and escape us. So what does David do? David not wanting to wait for Amasah decides to move quickly and he sends Abashai to pursue and defeat Shava. He knew it was time for him to do that because again, Shava had time to grow strong if he didn't move quickly. But the problem is, he appointed Abashai, Joab's brother, to pursue Shava and when he did that, he now slights Joab. Abashai is Joab's younger brother. David has already slighted Joab by replacing him with Amasah and now he slights him again by appointing his younger brother as commander over the military. And he did so, I believe, impulsively. In Proverbs 14, verse 29, it says, he who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly. David was upset with Joab because Joab had done things that got him angry. Remember, Saul had a general by the name of Abner and Joab was upset at Abner because Abner had killed his brother and so Joab killed Abner and when he did that, David was greatly upset at Joab for doing that. Later on, David had told Joab to deal gently with Absalon, David's son. He said, deal gently with the young man, Absalom, but he didn't deal gently with him at all. It was Joab who took those spikes and plunged him into the center of Absalom and then his guard are the ones who killed and made sure that Absalon was put to death. David was upset about that and not only that, but it was Joab who had recently come when David was mourning over Absalom. It was Joab who had come and had actually rebuked him in a way that got David upset. The way that he spoke to him, he disrespected him and confronted him over his mourning about his son. So David is not happy with this man. On the other hand, when you think of Joab, this was a man who was a faithful man to David. This is a man who in the past had supported him. This is a man who was of tremendous help to him because he had skilled in war. He was a strong leader and he had a strong personality. And as a matter of fact, he's the one who had just defeated Absalom, led by Amassa, these troops that were led by Amassa and he's the one who saved the kingdom. And when he was speaking to David, that's what he said in 2 Samuel 19, verse five. He said, you disgraced all your servants who today have saved your life, the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of the wives and the lives of your concubines. And so Joab was somebody who actually was a fierce warrior who at one time had been loyal to David and David is now slighting him because David is upset with him for the things that he's done. And so he puts Abishai in charge even though Joab was really the natural leader. Well, in verse seven, it says, Joab's men with the kerathites and pelithites and all the mighty men went out after him and they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheva, the son of victory. Notice how it says, Joab's men. And so what that does is it gives us an insight that these are the ones who are loyal to him, his armor bearers and others. And they more than likely would not have followed anyone but Joab. He had the kerathites and pelithites who were David's personal bodyguard. These mighty men referred here to our experienced soldiers and so off they go and they're gonna pursue Sheva. Well, verse eight, when they were all at the large stone which is in Gibeon, about five miles northwest of Jerusalem, Amasa came before them. Now, Joab was dressed in battle armor. On it was a belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hips. And as he was going forward, it fell out. Joab said to Amasa, are you in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab's hand. And he struck him with it in the stomach and his entrails poured out on the ground. And he did not strike him again, thus he died. Then Joab and Abishai's brother pursued Sheva, the son of Bikri. Meanwhile, one of Joab's men stood near Amasa and said, whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab. But Amasa wallowed in his blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he moved Amasa from the highway to the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came upon him halted. When he was removed from the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheva, the son of Bikri. And so here comes Joab dressed in his armor and as he comes walking up, his sword drops off of his belt. Now that word sword there speaks of that which could also be translated a short sword or a dagger. During the time of David, the soldiers normally would use their right hand when they would hold a weapon. And so that's why it's interesting to note that in verse nine when Joab is speaking to Amasa and asks if he's in health, that's why it's interesting it says that he took him by the right hand, the beard by the right hand. Now in doing that, what he's doing is distracting Amasa because this hand here demonstrates it has no weapon. Now we Americans understand that in a different way because have you ever noticed that we don't shake hands when men or women when we meet? We don't shake hands with our left hand, do we? We use our right hand. That goes all the way back to the time when people would carry a weapon in the right hand. And the reason you shake hands with an open hand is to reveal that there's no weapon in your hand. So at that time when he took his hand and touched his beard, it was a way of distracting him because he had the sword in his left hand. And it was with his left hand that he plunged it into the man's belly and eviscerated him. He disemboweled him. And when he hit him and sliced him open and his intestines spill out, Amasa falls on the ground and begins to wallow in his own blood. And as he's wallowing in his own blood, Joab says, let's go and leaves him there. Now as he does that, one of Joab's followers is standing there and notice what he says in verse 11. One of Joab's men stood near Amasa and said, whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab. Now notice he didn't say anything about Joab's brother there. He didn't say whoever is in favor of Abishai. He said whoever is in favor of Joab and notice he says and or follower of David. And in essence, what he's saying here is to follow Joab is equivalent to being loyal to David. And so what he's doing here is he's usurping the authority of his own brother in order that he might go out and do the work that he wants to do, showing us something again of this man in the way that he is. Now as the people are passing by, they see this one who is just writhing on the ground, dying a slow death. And so the soldiers naturally are stopping saying how shocking this is. And so this man sees that and he drags him off the side of the road, puts something over him in a field, leaves him there. And then it says in verse 13, when he was removed from the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba, the son of Bishri. And so he leaves him there to die in a field on the side of the road, unburied and dying in such a way. Well in verse 14, he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth-Makkah and all the Baraites. So they were gathered together and also went after Sheba. And then they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-Makkah and they cast up a siege mound against the city and it stood by the rampart. And all the people who were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down. Then a wise woman cried out from the city, here, here, please say to Joab, come nearby that I may speak with you. When he had come near to her, the woman said, are you Joab? He answered, I am. Then she said to him, hear the words of your maid servant. And he answered, I'm listening. So she spoke saying, they used to talk in former times saying, they shall surely seek guidance at Abel. And so they would end disputes. I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord? And Joab answered and said, far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy. And so here they come. And I want to, this is going to be a point of application this is something I think that can be of help to us as believers, I want to show you something. They come to the city. And as they come to the city, they're pursuing Sheba. Sheba has gone to the city that is located in the north. If you were looking at a map of Israel, you see the Sea of Galilee, about 25 miles to the north of that, off a little bit to the west, is where the location is of this particular city. It's an old city that is there. And Sheba has gone into the city to seek refuge. Now as the army has arrived, they begin to besiege that city. They're laying siege to it. And as they're doing so because they're about to destroy the city to get to Sheba, there's a woman there that is referred to as being a wise woman. Now the reason she's referred to in verse 16 as a wise woman is because she may have been a judge in the city and therefore was an honored woman and she begins to speak to him. She asks him why he would desire to destroy an important city in the nation. You see when she says in verse 19, you seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. When you first read that, you might be thinking that she's referring not only to herself but also to all the women who are there in this particular city. And she could be saying, why are you gonna besiege this city and slaughter all of us? We're innocent but that's not what she's saying. When she speaks in that way, you seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. She's saying this city is a very important city. That's why she spoke concerning the fact in verse 18 that they used to talk in former times saying they shall surely seek guidance at Abel. This is an important city. But I wanna develop this with you for just a moment when she says in verse 19, why would you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord? What is she doing? What she is doing at this time is she's actually alluding to scripture. The way she is going to save the city is she is alluding to scriptural principles. How do you end a conflict? How do you deal with a problem? I wanna speak with you for a moment about that. How do you deal with a problem when you've got a problem? How do you deal with it scripturally? Well, first let me say this to you. When she's saying you're gonna destroy this major city and you're doing it wrongly, she's actually referring to Deuteronomy chapter 20. Because in Deuteronomy chapter 20 verses 10 through 13, the law of God says when you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you and serve you. Now, if the city will not make peace with you but makes war against you, then you shall be siege it. And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. She was applying a scriptural principle to end a conflict. And that's always the wisest thing. Joab would be aware as the commander of what the law said in Deuteronomy as it relates to laying siege to a city. That's why she's saying, why are you gonna swallow up the inheritance of the Lord? Why are you gonna destroy a city? You haven't gone about it, right? Because there are rules in scripture, there are rules of war and you're ignoring them. So in order to end the conflict, she applies a scriptural principle that Joab is familiar with. And if we, in other words, in our day, were to use scriptural principles when we're having conflict with somebody, we probably could find ways to have peace without conflict. We have to learn to use the scriptures when it comes to dealing with things that we don't like. I mean, let's face it, you can have conflict with people and on the job side, in the neighborhood, you can have conflict with people in your own home. You can have conflicts if you're a husband or a wife with one another. Of course, conflicts do occur and we have to find a way to deal with those conflicts. How do you deal with them? How do you deal with it when somebody is doing something that is wrong and it's creating such a stress that it's threatening to destroy a relationship? How do you deal with that? Well, you use the scripture, you learn the principles of the word of God and you apply them. That's how Valentine's Day. I'm not one of these men who's really like, oh, wow, it's Valentine's Day, by candy and flowers. I just have never been that way, never have been that way. When Marie and I were first married, even when we were first dating, I didn't buy her cards or anything. I said, are you kidding? Because I said, this is just something that's been contrived to rip us off, to have to go out and buy cards and candy. Listen, if you don't know I love you, what's this candy and this card and these flowers gonna do anyway? Now I thought that made sense. Apparently it didn't. I can still remember a Valentine's Day that occurred early in our marriage, very early in our marriage. I really did believe that there's no point in this. I just think this is something made up by Hallmark and others to rip us off. So I came home and when I came home, it was Valentine's Day and I walked in and the kitchen had a tough day at work and all I came into the kitchen and Marie was making dinner and she said something kind of like, it's Valentine's Day, honey. Yeah, yeah. In other words, anything for me? No. Now where's my dinner? You didn't give me anything? Why? I mean, it just like, why? Why would I do that? Well, she wasn't happy. I can't imagine why, I mean, was wrong with her. No, she wasn't happy. So I got angry. I climbed in the car, I drove to the mall, I went into one of the stores, I bought some perfume, brought it back, walked into the kitchen. She was not happy. I took the perfume, slammed it on the counter. Happy Valentine's Day. You ladies love me, don't you? Happy Valentine's Day. She looks at me like, what? I said, you want it, you got it, okay? Off my back. I thought that was being a man. It was. A dumb man. She took that perfume back and got a refund and brought it back. It's your gift. Thanks, I appreciate that. I had a lot of learning to do, ladies. A lot, I mean, I really believed, I was being a man of integrity, I was telling you the truth. And the bottom line is that I was not taken into consideration what was valuable to her. I just wasn't, I just didn't think that way. I really did think it was some kind of con. I really did think that, and look at it, if you don't know I love you every day, what does it matter? If I go out and buy you a card and I go out and buy you flowers, if I go out and buy you candy, and it's just because it's Valentine's Day, it's just some artificial day, what does it matter? It doesn't matter if I do that on Valentine's Day, it doesn't matter if I do that on Mother's Day, it doesn't matter. I used to tell Marie, it's Mother's Day, she'd say, I say, yeah, you're not my mother. Yeah, yeah, I have a lot of learning. You guys don't like me much now, I don't really care. No, that's what used to get me in trouble with my wife. No, you know what? And God had to break me, because I really believed it. It wasn't being mean, I wasn't trying to be mean. I was just trying to be real. I was just trying to be me. And I don't buy into that. And you don't have to buy me anything. The same thing we'd go out shopping. We'd go in, that's purgatory for any man, to take me into a mall, and take me into sit in a woman's shop, and they have those little timeout benches for all the husbands you see them, and we all sit there, why? Why do I have to do this? And then Marie would try something on and walk out, how do I look? I'm telling you, when we were first married, I'd look at her, I'd say, what does it matter? You're wearing it, I'm not wearing that. You like the dress, buy it, let's get out of here. I mean, that was the husband I was. You like that? Buy it, because I tell her, look it, I don't go and bring you to, I put on a pair of Levi's, how do they look? I don't, I just put them on, I get out, let's go, you know? I mean, and that's the way most men, many men are, those who like to go shopping, I'll do a special service for you. But the rest of us, we just don't, men don't like it. That's not what we do. It's really painful, it hurts, and I had to learn. I had, I had to learn. The reason she was asking me how she looks is because her beauty was reserved for me and she wanted me to say, you look beautiful because it meant something to her. I didn't see that. When she got her hair done, how do you like it? I'd say, do you? Because I don't come back from the barber shop saying, how does it look? And you put a hat on, who cares? I had so much, so many lessons to learn about what's valuable, how to communicate, why you have to be softer with your approach to things. See, Proverbs 15.1, I quoted earlier, is a heart verse that I've learned 30 some years ago. A soft answer because I didn't know how to speak the truth in love, I didn't know how to do that. And now I've learned some things over the years. I've learned that to give her a card means that she's knowing, I took time out of my day to think of her, to give her something that matters to her. And therefore, I do those things now. I'll buy her the flowers or I'll do those things, not because I'm, you know, thinking, oh, she's gonna be mad. No, I've never been afraid that she'd be mad at me. That's never been a problem I've ever had. What I've been concerned about is that she knows I love her. And I had to learn the language of love and I discovered that by reading my Bible and applying the things that I learned. Greater love has no man than this that a man laid down his life for his friends. Husbands love your wives. Bible says cherish them. The Bible says that we should treat them as the weaker vessel. Now that didn't make me a weak man. That made me a man who was in tune with my wife and her needs and that came from Scripture. And so, yes, I had no problem speaking the truth, but was I speaking it in love? Was I really considering her as my partner in life? Was I treating her with the gentleness that she deserves? And I wasn't. And so I really do believe, very strongly, that this one little Scripture here, when she asks that question, why do you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord? That is, there's a scriptural principle that she's using to bring peace to end a conflict. And in applying that Deuteronomy 20 passage to Joab's consciousness, he as a commander over the army knows you are not the lace age to a city without first giving them terms of peace. And what he was about to do is destroy a city and he was violating God's word. Then the conflict that ensued would result in the death of many. And this woman wisely, that's why she's referred to as a wise woman, wisely applied a scriptural principle to this commander and was able to save a city. Sometimes people think, you know, how's my life gonna be changed? How is your life gonna be changed by taking heed to the word of God? By actually saying there are things here, there are principles here that can help me to live at peace if I just begin to apply them. Not every conflict is necessary for me to win. I had a long time ago to learn that there are some things that are just not worth having an argument over. Save your energy. Save the energy and the emotionality and all the hurt because it's just not worth fighting over little things. It's not worth it. There are some things that are important enough to say, honey, look, we've got to talk about this. Or kids, we've got to talk about this. They're important enough to do that. But how you do that, you do it in love. How you do that, you do it with patience. You don't want to exasperate your children. You don't want to cause them to have painful upbringings and terrible memories because you were such a lord over them that they ended up just feeling like their whole lives were being ruled by somebody who didn't understand them. And so I had to learn a long time ago and I'm still learning a long time ago and now how to take the scriptural principle and apply it in my life. So if I have a neighbor who's causing conflict with me, I don't have to go and get in their face. I simply have to apply the word where God says, love thy neighbor. How do I go about this, Lord? How do I do this? And so you get on your face. David made a mistake. David is making some quick decisions. We saw that earlier. And I believe that it is required of me to not make quick decisions, especially over the things that matter the most. And to ask the Lord, give me some wisdom and give me some scripture, give me some principles, give me something that I might cling to so I know I'm doing the right thing here, Lord. Because I don't want to do the wrong thing and I've been doing that for some time now. God help me because I want to end conflict, not start it. So this woman is applying a principle. And so when she gives that to him, notice again in verse 20, Job answered and said, far be it for me that I should swallow up or destroy. That's not so. But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, Sheva, the son of Vichri by name, has raised his hand against the king, against David, deliver him only and I'll depart from the city. So the woman said to Job, watch. His head will be thrown to you over the wall. Then the woman in her wisdom went to all the people and they cut off the head of Sheva, the son of Vichri, and threw it out to Job. So there is more than one way to get ahead. I said that first service. I've repeated that all three. I think it's funny. I'm sorry. Then he blew a trumpet and they withdrew from the city, every man to his tent. So Job returned to the king at Jerusalem. And so what she did is she said, it is better to give up the life of one man so that the city might be saved. That's an interesting principle because later on in the Gospel of John, on an occasion the priests were arguing concerning Jesus and they were saying, if we leave him alone, everybody's gonna follow after him. The high priest who was speaking that day without even realizing that he was speaking into the unction of the spirit, said it's more profitable that one man should lose his life than the entire nation. That's a principle you actually find here. It was better that one man should be the loss of his life to save the entire city. And the city was saved through the loss of one man's life. But in the spiritual way, you and I were saved because one man gave up his life when Jesus laid his down for us. And that's a principle that you see here in the Old Testament. So that's what they did. They satisfied the anger of the military and as a result, well, they blew a trumpet, withdrew from the city, every man to his tent, meaning Shava's rebels just dispersed and went home. And Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem. I wonder how David felt when Joab came back. I'm certain that David was very upset. Joab had usurped the authority of his brother Abishai. Joab had killed Amasa. Joab had laid siege to a city. But David couldn't do anything at that time because the army was once again following after Joab. It would simply have been an unwise thing for David to deal with him. And finally, you see in verse 23 through 26, David's cabinet. Joab was over all the army of Israel. Ben-Yah, the son of Joaoida, was over the carithites and the pelithites, which is David's personal bodyguard. Adoram was in charge of revenue, meaning that he was the one who supervised those who were put into forced labor. And you have Jehoshaphat, who's in charge of the state records. And Sheva, who is the secretary, Zedek and Abiyathar are the priests. And finally, you have Ira the Jairite, who was the chief minister, meaning he was his prime minister. He was his confidant. He was his spiritual advisor. And so once again, David is trying to bring the nation into unity. And we're gonna be seeing as we go through how that really does work out. Bottom line, let us be careful not to be hasty or impetuous in the decisions that we make. Let us seek the word of the Lord when it comes to dealing with conflict. And let us be careful to move only when the Holy Spirit really is actively moving us. Let's be careful because that's where we can begin to save ourselves an awful lot of pain if we just wait on the Lord so that we might renew our strength and he might direct our footsteps.