 A sermon title this morning is Absalom at the Gate. Absalom at the Gate. And we're looking this morning together at 2 Samuel chapter 15 verses 1 through 37. And we're looking at the schemes and plots of a traitor in Israel. The schemes and plots of a divisive, rebellious insurrectionist in Israel, David's son Absalom. We see other characters in this plot that are also divisive. And what we need to see is how this applies to us today. As we go through the text, think through the application of this text to the church today. How the church is to conduct itself. How the church is to, with the Lord's help, with the Lord's grace, how the church is to protect itself. How the church is to deal with division in its midst. In this historical account that is set before us in 2 Samuel chapter 15, we're going to be looking at the plot lines, the character profiles, that provide a wicked framework for insurrection and rebellion against God appointed authority. And we're going to look at how that wicked insurrection and that wicked division impact the people of God. Since the fall of man, rebellion is bound up in the heart of man. In 1 Samuel chapter 15, rebellion is said to be as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. In Joshua chapter 22, rebellious people commit treachery. In Psalm chapter 106 verses 24 and 25, rebellious people are grumblers, complainers, and they do not believe God's word. In Psalm chapter 107, they despise the counsel of the most high. In Isaiah chapter 1, rebellion demonstrates ingratitude toward God. In Isaiah chapter 30 verse 1, rebellious people take counsel but not of God. They devise plans but not of God's spirit. In Isaiah chapter 65, rebellious people are those that walk according to their own thoughts. In Daniel chapter 9, they are wicked and depart from God's precepts and judgments. In Zechariah chapter 7, they refuse to heed. They shrug their shoulders and they stop their ears so that they do not hear. In Ezekiel chapter 20, God pours out his fury on them and fulfills his anger against them. Rebellion against God's authority is serious business. Defined, rebellion is a refusal of obedience or order. It describes activity designed to undermine, to destroy, or to take over and establish authority. Here we're speaking about God's authority. That may be authority established in governments. We see that authority, the authority of God established in families. And certainly, we see the authority of God established in churches. If you stop to think about it for a moment, we can all think of examples of how rebellion, rebellion against God appointed authority, has toppled governments, right? We see in our own history, the Revolutionary War, Civil War, we see throughout the world histories and accounts of how rebellion against authority has toppled governments. We can all imagine, can't we, how rebellion against authority topples families. How many families have you seen torn apart? The very fabric of a family ripped apart because of rebellion against God appointed authority in the household. Women who are rebellious toward their husbands, husbands who are rebellious toward their wives, children who are rebellious towards their parents. The very fabric of the family ripped apart. We've also seen it sadly and sinfully in the life of churches, where rebellion against God appointed authority tears the church apart, rips at its very fabric and causes damage to God's people. That authority, that rebellion to authority may destroy a church. Rebellion to authority, to God's appointed authority, is a quintessential view of, look if you will, into the heart of depraved man. It's a front row seat, so to speak, at the inner workings of wicked hearts. In 2 Samuel chapter 15, we're going to witness the fruit of this rebellion in the history of King David and his son Absalom. We will see this account of rebellion, this account of divisiveness, this account of insurrection. We're going to see the people of God made distumble. These are God's people made distumble. We'll see the havoc that rebellion against authority reeks on a nation. We'll see the shameful display of human pride that fuels every act of rebellion against God's authority. We'll see the ingratitude, the disrespect, the defiance, the deceit of those who would rebel. We'll see the wicked plotting of the rebel and how he builds up allies to his cause. And we'll see God's people taking sides against God's authority. We'll see friends lost, we'll see enemies made, and the end of it all, we'll see God's judgment. But in great contrast, for those that are faithful, for those who place their faith in Christ, who follow the Lord by faith, who trust in God's sovereignty, who trust in his providence and all things, who sees the Lord at work at his church, and they simply obey him. They simply follow his word. We see people being brought to a blessed humility. We see the Lord care for them. The Lord answer prayer. We see the Lord protect them. We see the blessings of God's authority in action and God's providential direction over his people that is meant for their good. We'll see new loyalties submitted and we'll see old betrayers judged. And all this from the account of 2 Samuel chapter 15 of Absalom at the gate. Let's begin. We cannot fully begin to comprehend the scope of this account, the scope of this passage without taking a look at the background or the setting for our narrative. We must lay the groundwork explaining how we've arrived at this very critical time in David's history, but a very critical time in Israel's history. At the heart of this developing history is David, the least of the sons of Jesse, the youngest of the sons of Jesse, born in Bethlehem and called by God into authority to be king over Israel. His sordid sin with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah the Hittite, her husband, has left David suffering under the consequences of severe sin. God had said by the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel chapter 12 verse 11, Behold, I will raise up evil against you David out of your own house. That's exactly in this passage what God begins to do as chastening, as discipline over David's sin. Now if you're a Christian here today, the Lord says you're going to face chastening for your sin, right? In Hebrews chapter 12 it says, If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate and not sons. How many of you have faced the disciplining, chastening hand of God for your sin? Even in that discipline, even in that chastening though, there is the grace of God to you because this is the chastening that yields, as the Bible says, the peaceable fruit of righteousness. We have a gracious Heavenly Father who disciplines us for good that we may share in His holiness. It is the grace of God even in the consequences of our own sin. The Lord still on the believer sheds grace and conforming us into the image of Christ, sheds grace in cleansing us from sin, purging us from sin. We might live for Him more like Christ. Here David is facing the consequences of his sin and the consequences are serious. In chastening David for sin, God takes the life of his son with Bathsheba, takes his son's life, and we see the account of David's sin and the account of David's repentance throughout the Psalms. David, in genuine repentance before the Lord, accounts his sin and accounts of his repentance before the people in public. One example of this is Psalm 32 verse 1 where David begins, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Can you say amen with David to that fact? If you're here today and you're in Christ, you are pardoned of your sin. You are forgiven of your sin. You are cleansed even now. The serious sins that David has committed, David stands here now in 2 Samuel 15 facing the consequences for sin as a forgiven man. Pardoned from all iniquity because the Lord has forgiven him. And in genuine repentance David stands forgiven. You Christian, if you are faithful to confess your sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. What a glorious blessing from God. We can be forgiven. We can be restored. Listen to what he goes on to say verse 2, blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. He felt the weight of God's hand and the weight of his sin heavy upon him while he was in his sin. Verse 4, for day and night your hand Lord was heavy upon me. My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin to you Lord and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and what does the Lord do? You forgave me, he says, the iniquity of my sin. Praise God for forgiveness. We have a glorious gospel. A glorious gospel. You can't use David as an excuse for your sin. The Bible doesn't give you an excuse anywhere for sin. Cover to cover, there is no excuse for sin. But if you will turn from your sin, put your faith in Christ, you too can be forgiven. David, as much as he has a testimony of this sin in his life, David is a testimony of the grace and mercy of God in forgiveness. And we can have forgiveness in Christ. It goes on for David though. In 2 Samuel 13 his difficulties don't end. Two of David's sons, Absalom and Amnon, enter the account with the incestuous rape of Tamar by her half-brother Amnon. And the Lord's discipline and the Lord's pronouncement through Nathan the prophet comes home. It starts to take its toll. Absalom begins to plot his vengeance against Amnon, two sons of David. In 2 Samuel 13 verse 21, the Bible says that when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry. But David had responsibility. David had responsibility as a parent with his two sons, right? David also had responsibility for the nation. David was king over Israel. So let me ask you, his two sons, one now having raped his half-sister, the other now plotting vengeance against his half-brother. And what does David do? It says he was very angry. David did nothing to punish Amnon. David did nothing. After two years, Absalom then takes matters into his own hands. Possibly due in part because of the failure of David to take action and to secure justice, Absalom has Amnon killed. After killing Amnon, Absalom flees the guesser. What did David, father and king, what did David do? David did nothing. David did nothing. He took no action to bring him back. He took no action to pursue him. He did nothing to punish Absalom for having murdered his brother. So Absalom spends the next three years in guesser. He flees the guesser having no city refuge in Israel to flee to because they would not give him refuge having committed premeditated murder. Absalom flees the guesser having no consequences for sin, having no justice enacted for his sin. And so what does Absalom do in guesser? Absalom grows bitter. Absalom grows resentful. Absalom grows hateful toward his father David. And Absalom spends three years in guesser plotting to overtake the kingdom. He builds up resentment, builds up bitterness, and plots the demise of David. It begs the question at this point. What happens to a church? What happens to a family? What happens to a government? What happens to you individually when you fail to deal biblically with sin? We see the same pattern repeated today, don't we? We see it repeated all day long before us, every day, day in and day out. This pattern of not dealing with sin. What happens when the law of God is not esteemed in the church? And when a church fails to deal with sin appropriately? What happens when the law of God is ignored in the church? What happens when there is no fear of God in the eyes of the people of the church? They fail to take action. What happens when a church fails to biblically practice church discipline, which we are called by God to do? Sin, in that event, in that case, takes root and gets worse. We can see that certainly in our day and age today. Governments must deal with the transgressions of its people. If the government doesn't deal with the sins of its people, anarchy breaks loose. Families must deal with sin in the household. How many families have you seen torn apart by sin? And churches, churches, to be the body of Christ, to be the bride of Christ, to be conformed into the image of Christ, to be without spot and without wrinkle, churches must deal with sin faithfully in the body. And if a church fails to deal with sin, and sin breaks out in the church, takes root and gets worse, leavens the whole lump, and that church forfeits the right to call itself a church. We must faithfully deal with sin. We must faithfully deal with sin individually. And we must faithfully deal with sin corporately. Or else sin hardens, sin deceives, and sin defiles, and then sin finally will leaven the whole lump. The church is to be a pure body. We all have responsibility for that. That's not exclusively the responsibility of your leadership. It's not the exclusively responsibility of me or any of the guys. We all have responsibility for that. We must faithfully deal with sin in our body. When a brother or sister is in sin, you go to that brother and sister in accord with Matthew 18, sometimes we have to take the tactic of 1 Corinthians 5 and put someone immediately out. Sometimes we're dealing with divisiveness, and we have to follow the instructions given to us in Romans chapter 16, or in Titus chapter 3. But a church, both corporately and individually, must be faithful to deal with sin in our body. Here, basically, Absalom, he just leaves the first Baptist church of Jerusalem in sin, and he runs down the road to the first Baptist church of Geshe that he knew would take him in and welcome him in and be pleased to have him in. He wasn't going to find safety in those cities of refuge because they were going to obey the Lord. They weren't going to let him in because of his premeditated murder. So he ran off to Geshe where they would be happy to take him in. And Geshe Baptist church certainly wasn't going to deal with his sin when he got there. So he was allowed to sit there, welcome in Geshe, and while he held on to his bitterness, while he held on to his rebellious plots, and while he continued his plan against David. Unless biblical discipline stops the divisive or rebellious man and puts him all the way out of the church, they will keep going. They are self-serving. They are self-willed. They are wicked men who will continue to work their wicked plans according to their own wicked pride. Their divisiveness will escalate. Their deceitfulness will spread. They will continue to press, continue to stir up controversy, continue to disrupt, continue to divide, continue to work their wicked plans unless they are dealt with according to Scripture. We've seen that, haven't we? They will apply their wicked practice of winning hearts and winning allies to their cause. If there's no one to stop them, they will wreak havoc in the church, winning the hearts and minds of the simple. We see that exemplified for us in 2 Samuel chapter 15 with Absalom. Because of the failure of churches to biblically practice church discipline, the wicked, rebellious, and divisive man runs down the road, finds a city of refuge, and continues in his sin. When justice fails, rebellion to authority is encouraged. It is a rare jewel indeed to find a church that will lovingly practice the doctrine of church discipline. It is not rare at all to find guessers everywhere that will readily accept rebels into fellowship. Guesser has accepted Absalom. After three years, Absalom then, at the request of the king, comes back to Jerusalem. It's very interesting to note here that David refused an audience to Absalom for two years. There's going to be an attempted reconciliation that goes on. But because there was never a genuine repentance on the part of Absalom, like there was on the part of David, Absalom continues his schemes. Now he continues his schemes in Jerusalem, in shadow of the king. No way had Absalom repented. He simply took his word for it without the fruit. So by that time, the dais cast. The plot has been written and the stage was set for outright revolt. And we pick up this account now in 2 Samuel 15, beginning at verse 1. Here the Bible says after this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses and 50 men to run before him. Now Absalom would rise early and he'd stand beside the way to the gate. And so it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, what city are you from? And he would say, your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel. Then Absalom would say to him, look, your case is good and right. But there is no deputy of the king to hear you. Moreover, Absalom would say, oh that I were made judge in the land and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me and I would give him justice. And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out of his hand and take him and kiss him. And in this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. And so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. And so according to the old business model we're going to win friends and influence people. Absalom begins winning friends and influencing people and his goal standing at the gate and judging the people his goal is to steal the hearts of the men of Israel. Absalom just got away with murder and nothing happened. And so why not take the kingdom? And that's what his plan is to do. He pushes forward with this plot and he knows that in order to obtain his desire, in order to overthrow David to gain a foothold in the kingdom he's going to have to win allies. He's going to have to build allies to his case, build allies to his cause. And at the same time he's building allies to his cause Absalom has to do something else. He has to undermine the king in the eyes of the people. He's going to be fighting for allies, building his case, building allies and at the same time undermining God appointed authority in the process. David is God appointed authority in Israel. And so Absalom to persuade people away will have to build allies to his case and undermine their affections, undermine their trust toward his father the king. This is the way that divisiveness works. The divisive man builds allies to his cause, allies to his cause and draws away disciples unto himself. At the same time he is building allies to his cause, drawing disciples away to himself, he is undermining the authority that God appointed, undermining the authority of the church, undermining the authority of God's word, undermining biblical authority. This is the way it works. That is why when you have a divisive, rebellious insurrectionist beast of a man, you must put him all the way out to stop his divisive conduct. You must cut them off. This plan of Absalom is not going to be difficult. It's not going to be hard and it's not going to be difficult for a few reasons. One, Absalom is described as a very good-looking guy. It's a good-looking guy. And people today very prone to put their trust in appearance, right? Man looks at appearance. God looks at the heart. We look at appearance. So here comes this good-looking Absalom. Absalom was said to have a big, bushy, fancy hairdo. I mean, good-looking hair too. So good-looking guy, good-looking hair, said from the sole of his foot to the top of his head, no blemish. So he's a good-looking guy. His popularity then was grounded in his appearance. Now we can see divisive people, divisive men, who are popular for other reasons. A divisive man may gain popularity through kindness. May gain popularity through wealth. May gain popularity through a sense of humor. May gain popularity through his teaching of the word of God. May gain popularity through his twisting of Scripture. He may be powerful. He may be funny, kind, smart, zealous. All kinds of ways of gaining popularity with simple people. Amen. And we all have a propensity to be simple people. Here, Absalom was good-looking. However, if you're going to steal someone's heart away, you can't do it with looks alone. If you're going to undermine the king's authority, it's not simply going to be on the basis of your good looks. It's going to take more than that. So let's look at a couple of techniques that Absalom employed here from verses one to six. The first, Absalom gained popularity, gained a following to his cause because of his position. He set himself up as an authority, set himself up in opposition to God-appointed authority. Look at verse one. This is the presidential motorcade here. He provides for himself chariots and horses and 50 men to run before him. After all, he's the king's son, isn't he? He's the king's son. But he sets himself up position. He positions himself as someone who holds authority in the eyes of the people. Someone comes along. They're going to build allies to their case, and so they set themselves up in front of the people of God as one who has authority. And as one who has authority, one who has position, he draws disciples away to himself. He places himself, not only that, he places himself in the position of judge with people at the gate. Do you have questions? Do you have concerns? Come talk to me. I've got answers for you. Don't bother with going to the king. He doesn't have a deputy there to hear you. Come to me. Come to me, and I'll answer your questions. Come to me, I'll help you with your concerns. He sets himself up as judge for the people at the gate. Now understand, this position of judge at the gate was for the king alone. The king was to be the judge, and the people were to go to the king. The people knew they were to go to the king, and the king expected the people to come to him. David had no knowledge that Absalom, for four years here, was judging in the gate on his behalf and winning people to his side. People would have been coming. They would have been coming through that gate for an audience with a king, or an audience with a king's emissary. And so Absalom, being very zealous for his cause, rose early, got himself there before anyone else, and set himself up to judge God's people and in judging God's people with the intent of undermining their God-appointed biblical authority. People should have been listening to David. They ended up listening to Absalom, the traitor. Absalom, the insurrectionist, won their heart. He was the king's son after all. You can almost see why they were duped. You can almost see why they were deceived. You can almost see why they were so gullible. Almost. These were people that should have known better. They should have known better, and they were suckered in by Absalom at the gate. How did he do that? How did he do it? How did he win the hearts of the men of Israel? Win the hearts of those that were faithful to the king. Number two, he did it with persuasion. With persuasion. One, he set this up with his position. Two, he persuaded them. Because he was up early to get to it. He was very zealous, very fervent. Verse two also says that he was friendly. Hey, buddy, where are you from? I'm from this or that tribe, right? Engendering himself with the people. Making them feel like he cared. Did he really care for them? No. If he cared for them, he would have been pointing them to their God-appointed authority. He wouldn't be undermining that to them. If he cared for them, he would have judged righteously. He didn't even do that. But Absalom didn't care for the people. He was only interested in duping the people, deceiving the people into believing his lies. If he cared for them, he would have pointed them to righteousness. But he would just sit there. Absalom would sit there from early in the morning to late in the day. And he would listen to their concerns. He would hear their concerns as they came through. Who should have been listening to their concerns? David, the king. God-appointed authority. Who should they have been going to with their concerns? David. They should have been going to David. Can you see dual responsibility in this? Verse 3, Absalom would say to him, Look, your case is good and right. But there is no deputy of the king to hear you. Very persuasively, very deceptively, in one brief sentence, both sins against them, if you will, and undermines the authority of the king in one sentence. He undermines true authority. Why is it that Absalom cannot know at this point whether their case is good or right or not? He's only heard their side of the case. He hasn't heard both sides of the story yet. Proverbs 18-13 says, If one gives an answer before he hears it, it is his folly and shame. Proverbs 18 says, The one who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him. This is so simple, right? So simple. Very clear from Scripture. Very easy to understand. The one who pleads his case first seems right until the other one comes and examines him. If you give an answer before you hear both sides, it's a folly and shame. This is so simple that Proverbs 18 also says, A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. A wise man would take time to get both sides of the case. This person is a fool. They don't seek full understanding. They only seek one side of the story. I've known a lot of fools who have no interest in understanding, and they're quick to pick up an accusation and then express an opinion without investigating both sides. I've known very, very few beyond my brothers and sisters here that will be patient enough to take time to understand the issues involved. And praise God for that. That is a grace of God in our church. You understand that this action on the part of Absalom here in the gate is not only a lack of wisdom, it's a lack of godliness. He's not simply a fool. He's an ungodly fool. Verse 4, moreover, Absalom would say, Oh, that I were made judge in the land and everyone who had any suit or cause would come to me. Then I would give him justice. There's not one shred of truth in that entire statement. That is one huge lie from beginning to end. Absalom had no interest in genuine truth. The purpose of Absalom was to undermine Biblical authority. The purpose of Absalom was to overthrow the king. He didn't care about justice. If Absalom cared about justice, Absalom would have sent them to the king. If Absalom cared about truth, Absalom would have pointed them to righteousness. If Absalom cared about God, then Absalom would have followed his word. But Absalom here is in a position where he can do anything he wants. He can criticize and criticize and criticize and criticize and Absalom doesn't have to deliver anything. They don't know Absalom's life. They don't know Absalom. Absalom can say what he wants, criticize all he wants, complain all he wants, but he himself doesn't need to deliver anything. He's not the king. In all of this, Absalom proved himself to be an unfit judge. Absalom wasn't worthy to sit in the gate. Absalom wasn't worthy to rule. Absalom is an unfit judge. He had an agenda. He should have been supporting David, pointing them to David, but he was working his agenda. Part of working his agenda, verse 5, he was kissing them. Again, engendering them to him, however, you need to see another prominent role here. We've seen the role in this account so far of Absalom, but in verses 1 through 6, there's another prominent role for us to follow as we work through this text, and that is the role that the people play in this. I think about that now as we walk through these verses, the role that the people play in this. This is how Absalom presented himself to the people. But listen, the people were gullible enough to believe him. Verse 6 says that he stole the hearts of the men of Israel. The people were gullible enough to follow Absalom in his folly. And most likely, this is due to discontent. You think about it at this time, David. If David is neglecting so seriously the parenting of his two sons, David is also certainly neglecting the running of the nation and his duties as king. Possibly his duties of adjudicating rightly and adjudicating frequently enough those that had cases that were brought to David. And so most likely this time discontent was being spread among the people. They remembered David's prior sins. The neglect of his sons was a sign that he was neglecting everything. When you are discontent, you're discontent with God, discontent with your circumstances, discontent with your brother, discontent with your sister, discontent with your family, discontent with your job, discontent with your car, your possessions, discontent at school, discontent at work, discontent at church. When you're discontent, your heart is predisposed to falling after a rebellious, divisive person. Your heart is predisposed to criticize. Your heart is predisposed for fall, most likely due to discontent. In your discontent, you run to those because you're predisposed to it. You run to those who have a sympathetic ear to you, who will listen to your concerns and tell you your case is right and good. Oh, that I were your judge. I would approve of you. You run off to people who will listen to your case. Even with your own deceptive heart being discontent, you will build allies to your cause. You'll go off to someone, you'll go off to Absalom, sitting in the gate, and you'll win an ally to your case. This should be a warning to us today. Don't be taken in by their deceptions. Cultivate in your own heart a gratefulness for God and all that He has done for us. Cultivate in your heart a love for the church. Cultivate in your heart a delight, a love for the Word of God. Cultivate in your heart a fear of God and a love for doing right, for following all His precepts and all His judgments. This needs to be a warning. Don't allow yourself to be lost in discontentment and be won over by their foolish, one-sided conversations. I've said it before, I'll say it again. You cannot underestimate the power of one divisive conversation and the incredible weakness of our own deceitful hearts. We can be so easily deceived. Lord, prone to wonder how I feel it, right? God wants His church led. In Acts chapter 20, verse 28, it is the Holy Spirit who appoints overseers to care for His flock. God wants His church to be led. Number two, God wants you to follow those who He's placed to lead over you. God wants us to follow, wants us to submit to God-given authority. God doesn't want you to fall or to be drawn away by those who would draw you away to be a disciple after themselves. So far in this account, verses one through six, Absalom's plan is going really well. It's working. He has stolen the hearts of the men of Israel. Over a period of time, and after some divisive conversations, Absalom steals the hearts of the men of Israel through secrecy, through deceit, through strategy, through engendering them to Him, through His positioning, through His persuasion, and the people just believed Him. They folded. They capitulated to Him. John Dryden described this scene very well, writing in 1681. Listen to this. From hence began that plot, the nation's curse. Bad in itself, but represented worse, was represented by Absalom. Raised in extremes, and in extremes decried, with those affirmed and dying vows denied. Not weighed nor winnowed by the multitude, but swallowed by the mass, unshued and uncrewed, unshued and crude, the people just take it in. Just take it in. We cannot allow ourselves to be so deceived. The protection that you have is the protection you have from the Word of God. The protection that you have as a spirit and dwelt believer in God, faith in Christ, His Word, and simply obeying God's Word, following God's prescription for how we're to conduct ourselves in the church under God-appointed authority, under God-appointed leadership, under God's Word. We cannot be caught with the mass sucking in the sewage of a deceitful man. Absalom was at the gate, winning the hearts of the people. Their own heart was deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Their own heart, listen, our own heart, our own heart is an Absalom sitting in the gate of our own soul. It seeks to deceive and draw away disciples after itself. We have deceitful, wicked hearts. This will steal your heart away from God's good for you. It will steal your heart away from your brothers and sisters. In this, though, as well as it's going, Absalom still has some significant work to do. He's got to get his wicked plan past his father, the king. So in verse 7, the plot picks up. Now, as it came to pass after 40 years, that's more better translated, four years, came to pass after four years that Absalom said to the king, please let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I made to the Lord. For your servant took a vow while I dwelt at Gesher in Syria, saying, if the Lord indeed brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord. And the king said to him, go in peace. And so he arose and went to Hebron. And Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel saying, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, Absalom reigns in Hebron. And with Absalom went 200 men invited from Jerusalem, and they went along innocently and did not know anything. And then Absalom sent for a hithafel, the gillianite, David's counselor from his city, from Galo, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy grew strong for the people with Absalom continually increased in number. I submit to you here in verses 7 to 12, that issue there is the number. Another plot of a wicked, divisive, insurrectionist beast of a man in the church. Absalom worked diligently for four years building popular support among the people, and Absalom's plan to this point has worked. Things are at the point now where Absalom can possibly be successful in overthrowing his father, the king, and overthrowing his authority in causing civil war in Israel. David, by contrast, is described as a man after God's own heart. So if you're going to get a wicked plan past a righteous man, what do you do? You clothe it in piety. You clothe it in godliness. You clothe it in scripture. You act religious. You hide your real motives in godly garb. You look religious while you do it. You make a pretense of piety. You're going to get a wicked plan past a godly man. You're going to have to make it look religious. And that's exactly what Absalom did here. We have to remember these deceivers who sow discord among God's people may look religious. They may sound great, or they may say things that sound godly. They may try diligently to win you over to their cause by making it sound like a righteous cause. They may refer to the Bible here and there. They may make it sound like they're after your best interests. Besides, even the demons come disguised as angels of light. However, the Bible says that you will know them by their fruit. What is Absalom actually doing here? Not just what he's saying. What is he actually doing? What are these rebellious divisive men do? What is the fruit of their conduct? Is it peace and unity and edification? Or are they leaving turmoil and divisiveness and disruption in their wake? What is the fruit of what they are doing? In verse 10, Absalom is going to continue his divisive work by sending spies. They're going to go, spies go for the purpose of gathering intel. They're going to go and gather information. They're going to do the areas to determine who can we get on our side? Who can we win over to our cause? I can imagine them texting up a storm, shooting out emails, right? Winning people over by their reasons, their rationalizations, trying to get you over to their side, trying to get you over to their cause. They wanted to see who they can trust when this thing goes down. When the trumpet sounds, who's going to be rising up and shouting with us, they're out to win more to his cause, more division. Additionally though, listen, Absalom doesn't stop at only sending out spies. Absalom then gathers 200 people to his side. It says here these people, these 200, were innocent. They didn't know what was going on, but what is the purpose of bringing 200 with him? Strength in numbers. Strength in numbers. A number was an issue here. A divisive person will gather allies to his cause. He's not going to go out alone. He's going to drag four or five with him. And when he goes, it's like, wow, several people going with him. They must be right, so I'm going to go too. Strength in numbers. You look at someone who has authority, has positioned himself as someone who has authority. That person leaves. Someone says, well, that person left. He must have good reason. Look at the authority he has. I'm going to go with him. The people again suck down. The masses take it in, unshued and crude. And they believe the lie. Sucked away again by Absalom and his devices here. He causes more division. So they left. They wouldn't leave without good reason. Absalom persuaded them and they went. Finally, he sends spies, gains allies to his cause. He takes a bunch of people with him, making his cause sound righteous. And then finally, Absalom takes a hithafel. A hithafel was David's friend. And a hithafel was David's counselor in verse 12. And I believe that David, when he wrote Psalm 41, was thinking of a hithafel when he wrote this. Listen, all who hate me whisper together against me. Against me they devise my hurt. An evil disease, they say, cleans to him. And can you see the divisiveness about David? An evil disease, they say, cleans to him. And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more. And David says, even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. Can you imagine how crushed David was? How difficult. We know that of Paul in the New Testament. We see Paul's anguish when Demas, in love with his present world, said to me, those that were closest to him, betrayed him. A hithafel is one you have to wonder about. Why in the world would a hithafel leave? A hithafel was considered to be extremely wise. Anyone who wanted counsel, wanted wisdom, would go to a hithafel. He was thought to be wise with his counsel, thought to be objective. Going to a hithafel for counsel, it was said, was as unto going to the Oracle of God. It's an exaggeration, but it shows you how much sway and how much importance a hithafel was viewed with. Who would have thought? Who would have thought that a hithafel, a hithafel would have sided with Absalom? You know, certainly, if a hithafel goes, there's definitely something wrong I've got to go to. If a hithafel, this wise counselor, David's friend, if he goes, certainly there's something wrong we need to get out of here. What would have caused a hithafel to side with Absalom and betray David? His defection, a hithafel's defection alone in Jerusalem, caused many to stumble. To understand this, to understand how to answer that question, you have to know who a hithafel is. Who is a hithafel? A hithafel is Bathsheba's grandfather. Now do you see? A hithafel has been bitter. A hithafel has been resentful of David. A hithafel, due to his bitterness, due to his resentment over his granddaughter, became a traitor. John Dryden again. A hithafel, grown weary to possess a lawful fame and lazy happiness, disdained the golden fruit to gather free and lent the crowd his arm to shake the tree. Now, manifest of crimes, contrived long since, he stood at bold defiance with his prince, held up the buckler of the people's cause against the crown and sulked behind the laws. The wished occasion of the plot he takes, some circumstances fines, but more he makes. By buzzing emissaries, fills the ears of listening crowds with jealousies and fears. Of arbitrary councils brought to light, he proves the king himself a Jebusite. Turns the king into an enemy of the people. Of arbitrary councils, arbitrary councils brought to light, he proves the king himself a Jebusite. Weak arguments which yet he knew full well were strong with people easy to rebel. Now, people have it pent up in our hearts. Our hearts are deceitful. Our hearts are wicked. It is pent up in our own wicked hearts to defy authority. It is pent up in our own wicked deceitful hearts to stand against God's authority. And so along comes a hithafel with arguments that he knew full well were strong with people easy to rebel. And brothers and sisters, apart from Christ, we are easy to rebel. Apart from God's mercy, apart from God's grace, we could fall. Thereby the grace of God go I. You must depend on the Word of God. You must obey the Word of God. You must trust God. You must follow Christ. Don't find yourself easy to rebel. All this now, all this has happened, we see Israel in the brink of civil war. A messenger came to David in verse 13, and the rest of the men of Israel are with Absalom. That would have crushed David. Dark time for David here. However, we must remember the grace of God in these times of difficulty. David wrote Psalm 3 at this time. Listen to Psalm 3. Lord, how they have increased, who trouble me. Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who save me. There is no help for him in God. But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the one who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice and He heard me from His Holy Hill. I lay down and slept. I awoke for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God. For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone. You have broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon your people. Amen. Amen. So David verse 14 said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise and let us flee. We shall not escape from an Absalom. Make haste depart, lest the overtaker suddenly bring disaster upon us. Many look at this leaving of David from Jerusalem as an act of weakness, as an act of cowardice running from his son. David, this is not an act of cowardice. David was a brilliant strategist, a brilliant military strategist. Here, if David had stayed with the armies in Jerusalem, quite likely that Absalom would have laid siege to the city and the people, the people would have been harmed. The people might have been starved. The people might have been killed at the edge of the sword. David loved the people. Who did Absalom love? Himself. Who was Absalom for? Himself. David loved the people. Accepting the shame and humiliation of fleeing the city fled to protect the people whom he loved, the people who he was responsible for. This was no act of cowardice here. This was a strategic decision. David would be coming back to fight another day. It's interesting to me that these divisive plots, these divisive schemes, always force the people who claim to be Christ. Always forces them to take sides. Take this side or take that side. By its very nature divisive. They're forced to take sides. In all those that took the side of Absalom, the hearts of all the men are with Absalom. He has stolen their hearts. Even Ahithophel is with Absalom. Now that must have crushed David. Here are these people, the end of this chapter, that are with David. In stark contrast, Ahithophel leaves in bitterness and in resentment plots against David with Absalom. But then listen, right behind Ahithophel leaving, verse 19, here comes Itai the Gittite. The king said to Itai the Gittite, why are you going with us? Return and remain with the king. Interesting that David calls Absalom the king. I think he's giving Itai a way out here, making him feel okay about leaving. Listen, you can go back to that king and serve him. I'm not going to hold this against you. He's giving him a way out. He says, in fact you came only yesterday. Should I make you wander up and down with us today since I go where I know not where? Return, take your brethren back. Mercy and truth be with you. Listen to what Itai says. Itai the Gittite, we all need to be like Itai. Itai answered the king and said, as the Lord lives and as my Lord the king lives, calling David king, surely in whatever place my Lord the king shall be, whether in death or in life, even there also your servant will be. Praise God for Itai's. You know who Itai was? Itai was a Philistine. Can you think of anyone who hated David more than the Philistines? Itai joins the ranks of Rahab, joins the ranks of Caleb the Canite, those that were foreigners that followed the Lord, followed David and followed David's God and pledged to follow David's God to his death and do what was right. So behind Ahithophel that traitor comes Itai the Gittite. There was Zadok also, sent the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel because David entrusted himself to a Lord who judges rightly. In the end of all this, David is preparing for war. Judgment comes on Absalom. And in a fitting way, considering his pride, considering the way that he engendered himself to the people, how does Absalom die? Gets his hair caught in a tree. And they come by and kill him. God's judgment on Absalom. We serve God who is sovereign over the affairs of men. We serve God who graciously humbles his people, graciously disciplines his people. And in disciplining his people, humbling his people, yields in them that thing which is so precious, right? A peaceable fruit of righteousness. That's why we can praise God in trial. That's why we can see him glorified in our difficulties. Because the Lord is so gracious in that. The Lord is so good to us in that. And we can see the goodness of God in his provision, in his care. David prays to the Lord, Lord, confound the wisdom of Ahithophel. Is that a good prayer? Yes, in these circumstances, it's a good prayer. Lord, confound the wisdom of that traitor. You know what the Lord does? The Lord answers his prayer in the next verse by sending Hushai. Hushai would be the one that would go back to Jerusalem and confound the wisdom of Ahithophel. It's a glorious provision of God. Our God answers prayer. Our God cares. Our God sovereignly directs our steps. It is incumbent upon us to walk with the Lord. To walk under his God-appointed, God-given authority. Submit to his word. Live for one another. Uphold one another. And obey the Lord. And the Lord protects us in trial. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, God, thank you for this glorious example of your goodness and grace, but also God, your judgment on wicked, divisive men. Thank you, Lord, that our refuge, our strength, our hope is in you. Oh, God, if it were in our own arm, if it were in our own efforts, we would certainly be doomed. But, Lord, our strength, our refuge is in you. We want to faithfully, Lord, live for you. Faithfully obey you. Faithfully follow your scripture. Faithfully practice church discipline as you've instructed us to. Faithfully apply your word in the context of our church. We might be honoring to you. We do that, Lord, that you are our protector, God, you are our refuge, you are our strength, you are our rock, you are our hope, you are our salvation. We praise you and worship you. But thank you for my brothers and sisters here. God, I pray, strengthen us. God, I pray, enable us more to faithfully press forward. God, bring us through the trial for your glory. It may Christ be exalted in your work through us for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.