2 Samuel 14:1-33 | Beautiful Reconciliation | Rich Jones

an open please to ii samuel 14 verse 1 the title of our message is beautiful reconciliation beautiful reconciliation father thank you for your word and for showing us your heart through your word and so god i just pray that you would use it in our lives to stir us up to draw us to yourself to show us your desire to transform us through the word that you sin for so we ask that now in jesus name amen you know one of the things we do appreciate about the word is that it is very open and honest about the characters of the bible it doesn't gloss over it doesn't glass over their failures it shows their victories but it shows their defeats in their and their faults and david is no exception as we've been looking at the life of david his faults and failures are epic catastrophic but god gives us a portrait of david you might say warts and all now by the way that's an interesting phrase actually it's a famous phrase it comes to us out of the 1600s and it comes from oliver cromwell who was lord protector of england in the 1600s and he hired the king's artist laylee to paint a portrait of him now back in those days of course they had no photography so if you wanted to be remembered in history you had to hire an artist to paint your portrait so it was very common practice at the time for an artist to let's say flatter the one being painted royalty especially expected portraits of them to be showing them in the best possible light even if the artist has to be fanciful in the rendering of it you get what i'm saying right it's kind of like the glamour shots of the day do they have that thing still needing glamour shots you know what i'm talking about where you know everything is looking like oh my goodness that looks like a slice of heaven right there right you know and uh but famously when cromwell sat down for his portrait he said now mr laylee i desire that you would use all of your skill to paint my portrait truly like me do not flatter me at all remark all of these roughnesses these warts these flaws everything just as you see it or i will not pay you a thing for it he wanted him himself to be depicted accurately flaws warts and all now that is an interesting thing you know today when you look at facebook and instagram and you see the portraits of other people's lives and the renderings of what everybody else does it looks like everybody's got a perfect life their kids are perfect they do great things they're always doing fun things my life isn't and so it's important to see that god portray he paints the portraits of characters accurately because we need to see the fact that our flaws are real and god deals with us in the reality of who we are as the king of israel david's flaws and his failures become inextricably linked to his reign as king he had committed adultery as we saw last week he arranged for her husband to be killed in battle when he instructed that he be put in the front lines and the men draw away from him then he took this woman as his wife now as we saw yes god would forgive him but there would be consequences god forgives but there are still consequences now see that right there is a life lesson it's important to recognize now many of you know my story many of you know are very well aware that at the trial for the murder of our daughter that my wife and i forgave the man who killed her yet we also asked the jury to give him a sentence of life in prison afterward a reporter asked how could this be how can both things be true i responded i forgave him that is between him and me he owes me no debt however there is a breach of trust here women are not safe around this man there must still be consequences it is a life lesson when we ask god to forgive because we have sinned god surely forgives he forgives because the condemnation for that sin fell upon his son when he died on the cross at calvary and took our sins upon himself but there are still consequences there's still the need to to rebuild the life there's still the need to restore that which was broken and the good news is that god will walk with you in the rebuilding god will walk with you in the restoring he's a good good father and like a good good father he will never leave you he'll never forsake you he'll never cast you off he will stand with you no matter what you had done can we just give the lord praise for this so the consequences of david's tragic decisions are going to be seen in his life for years his life and the life of his children now the backdrop or background of ro of uh ii samuel 14 is that one of david's sons amnon was his name had a wrongful desire for his half-sister he had a sexual desire for his half-sister so he pretended to be sick as a ruse to get her to come into his room then when she was there he forced himself upon her against her strong request afterward he despised her and sent her way in disgrace when absalom her brother found out what had happened he brought tamar into his care and waited for david to settle the matter but david did not settle the matter david took no action david the great man of action did nothing why it's an important part of the story finally after two years absalom took matters into his own hands and had amnon killed afterward he fled to gesher home of his mother's family and there he remained banished for three years estranged now there's a great chasm but this is the story of reconciliation this is a story of beautiful reconciliation so let's read it second samuel 14 we begin in verse 1. now joab remember he is the commander of the forces of israel and very near to david joab son of zariah perceived that the king's heart was inclined toward absalom in other words he could see david loved his son absalom they are estranged there's a great chasm and david you could see long for absalom so joab came up with a scheme a plan he sent to toccoa brought a wise woman from there and he said this to her now please pretend to be a mourner put on morning garments now don't anoint yourself with oil in other words don't look good but rather look like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for many days look all disheveled and all you know let your makeup run and all that kind of stuff then go to the king speak to him in this manner so joao put words in her mouth now when the woman of toccoa spoke to the king she fell on her face to the ground prostrated herself and this is what she said help oh king help and the king said to her what is the trouble and she answered truly i'm a widow my husband is dead your maidservant had two sons but the two of them struggled together in the field and there was no one to separate so one struck the other and killed them now behold the whole family has risen up against me your maidservant and they say hand over the one who struck his brother that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed and destroy the air thus they will extinguish my coal which is left so as to leave my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth then the king said to the woman go to your house i will give orders concerning you but she pressed it again so the woman of toccoa said to her king oh my lord the king the iniquity is on me and my father's house but the king and his throne are guiltless so david presses as his answer whoever speaks to you bring him to me he's not going to touch you anymore still the third time she presses then she said oh please let the king remember the lord your god so that the avenger of blood may not continue to destroy lest they destroy my son david says abdomently now as the lord lives not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground then the woman said please let your maidservant speak a word to my lord the king and he said speak and the woman said why then have you planned such a thing against the people of god for in speaking this word the king is the one who is guilty in that the king does not bring back the one who is banished and then she says this speech this is an amazing speech for we shall all surely die and we are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again yet god does not take away life but plans ways so that the banished one may not be cast out from him that is amazing that's like the gospel of the old testament that is amazing jump down with me to verse 18. so the king answered and said to the woman please don't hide anything from me that i'm about to ask you and the woman said let the lord the king speak so the king said is the hand of joab with you in all of this very insightful king and the woman answered and said as your soul lives my lord the king no one can turn to the rider to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken indeed yes it was your servant joab who commanded me and it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant in order to change the appearance of things your servant joab has done this thing but my lord is wise like the wisdom of the angel of god to know all that's in the earth so then the king said to joab behold i will surely do this thing go therefore bring back bring back the young man absalom verse 23 so joab arose and went to gesher and brought absalom to jerusalem however verse 24 the king said let him turn to his own house and let him not see my face well that's not really reconciliation absalom turned to his own house and did not see the king's face jump down to verse 28. now absolutely lived two years in jerusalem and did not see the king's face so absalom sent for joab to send him to the king but he would not come to him so he sent a second time and job still would not come therefore he said to his servant see joab's field it's right next to mine he's got barley there go set it on fire that would surely get his attention so absalom's servants set the field on fire so then joaba rose came to absalom at his house and he said why did your servant set my field on fire an absolute answer because i sent for you saying come here that i may send you to the king to say this why did i even come from gesher it would be better for me to still be there now let me see the king's face if there's iniquity let him put me to death so joab came to the king told him all his words he called david called for absalom thus he came to the king prostrated himself with his face to the ground before the king and he kissed the king kissed absalom and of course and that time in culture was a tremendous sign of affection and closeness and beautiful reconciliation all right these are the words that we want to look at and understand the insights and the life lessons that we can apply to our lives starting with david what is happening in david that he took no action and i suggest you that this is a tremendous important insight and we can summarize it this way don't stay spiritually weakened david was spiritually weakened because we know that his moral authority was diminished sin has that effect he has no moral authority you might say in other words something had to to be done to break david from his spiritual slumber but why was david taking no action because david was paralyzed here's why because sin weakens the soul now we know this is true anyone who has ever done anything tragic in their lives know this is true it weakens the soul you have no moral authority you know you can't stand in authority when there's such in your own life it weakens your soul david is guilty of adultery he even murdered because he arranged for the death of uriah can david take action against his own son when he's guilty himself psalm 38 verse 3 speaks to that very thing there is no soundness in my flesh because if you're anything nation uh there is no health in my bones because of my sin see we know this is true anyone who's done tragic things can relate they understand this psalm 40 verse 12 my iniquities have overtaken me so i'm not able to see they are more numerous than the hairs of my head and my heart has failed me you know sometimes parents struggle with this very thing sometimes parents fail to discipline their children because they did wrongful things themselves like how can i how can i how can i say anything to them and i did the same thing i mean i was a difficult child i was a rebellious child i did some things i was you know i i did things how can i how can i discipline my child for doing the same thing that i did they think i suggest you that's even more reason because you know now you know the consequences you know the hurt you know the shame you know the pain spare your children because you know that it is going to bring consequences to their lives you have now a mandate from god raise up your children into fear and instruction of the lord and let them have a foundation on which to build their lives amen yeah david was paralyzed because of his own sin he had no moral authority no ground to stand on or did he i suggest he did because he should have treated his son amnon the same way that god treated him david understood god forgave his sin habakkuk 3 verse 2 lord i've heard the report about you and i fear lord revive your work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make it known but in wrath remember mercy we love this about the lord david knows this mercy of god ephesians 4 verse 30 to 32 don't grieve the holy spirit of god let all bitterness and wrath and anger and slander be put away because these things grieve the holy spirit but be kind to one another be tenderhearted forgiving each other just as god in christ has forgiven you in other words has not god forgiven you so much then can you not forgive others based on the fact that you have received so much forgiveness in other words david should have confronted the problem he should have confronted the problem straightforwardly and then brought mercy because that's what god did to david david then should have brought consequences because that's what god did to david he would have been the righteous and just king because that's what god did to david hebrews chapter 12 verses 6 to 7 is true those whom the lord loves he disciplines that's one of the ways you know that you're a son it says god deals with you as with sons what son is there whom his father does not discipline that's how you know that god loves you because he disciplines for the purpose of restoring and rebuilding and bringing the the needed correction that you might be blessed in the receiving of it so what we see then the heart of god revealed to us in the story god desires mercy more than sacrifice god desires mercy david took no action regarding his son amnon for two years absalom waited and waited and waited david did nothing meanwhile absalom's heart is growing better finally he could wait no more took matters into his own hands and ranged for amnon's death then fled to gesher here again david now estranged from his son spiritually weakened a man of inaction as the king he wanted to uphold the just demands of the law but he loved his son he's in a dilemma he loves his son his heart longs for him but he's in a dilemma and there are many today that are in a very similar place perhaps they've been hurt by someone someone has offended in some way and their heart longs for that reconciliation but they insist no there's not going to be a reconciliation until there's justice i submit that god is in the same dilemma he is the king that stands for righteousness and justice but he's also the father who longs for relationship and jesus demonstrates this so beautifully his example speaks volumes as to how god deals with us and then how we should relate to others comes to us out of matthew 9. i love this story verses 9-13 it tells us that jesus saw a man called matthew sitting in the tax collector's booth now you might know tax collectors were despised by the jews they were considered betrayers of israel because they were you know taking up taxes in behalf of the romans so they were heeded despised the only friends they had were other tax collectors so jesus saw this man sitting in the tax collector's booth and he said to him follow me and he got up and he followed him i love that too he just walked away from everything then it happened that as jesus was reclining at the table of his house behold many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with jesus and his disciples matthew brought all his sinner friends to come and be with jesus now we love this scene here is jesus sitting with these tax collectors and all these sinner friends we love this because we can relate we're part of the sinner friends but when the pharisees saw this they said to the disciples why is your teacher eating with tax collectors and sinners you can just see them wagging their fingers jesus when he heard this he said is it it is not those who are healthy who need a physician but those who are sick go and learn what this means i desire mercy and not sacrifice this is right out of the old testament this is right out of the word of god these are teachers of the law you go and learn what this means they knew the word of the law but they did not know the heart of the law they didn't know the heart of god you go and learn what this means i desire mercy and not sacrifice i didn't come to call the righteous i've come to call sinners to be reconciled god sent his son to seek and to save that which was lost because sin has brought a great chasm he sent his son that many would be reconciled because god's heart is for reconciliation brings us back to second samuel 14 and the message that this woman of toccoa brought to david so david promised mercy for the woman's supposed son as the lord lives not a hair of your son shall fall to the ground then she brought it right back to david why is it then that the king does not bring back the banished one in other words you show mercy to someone else you show mercy to someone you don't know but you won't show mercy to your own son and then she says this this amazing speech in verse 14 and the point of it is this life is short value relationships life is short you know they they say you can't take it with you okay that's a very true statement but i suggest that there are some things you can take with you relationships is one of them life is short the woman is saying our lives are like water poured out that cannot be taken up again psalm 39 verses 4 to five lord make me to know my end and the number of my days let me know how fleeting life is you know when you're young you think you know you got all you got all kinds of time you got all these years it is never going to end you know you think when you're young that way but when you get older you stop thinking that way when you get older you realize life is fleeting got to make every every day count it means a sense of urgency about it psalm 90 verse 12 teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom when you number your days and you realize life is short you value right things there are so many people with broken relationships but relationships are a great treasure what a waste not to seek reconciliation i love quoting romans 12 18. if possible so far as it depends on you be at peace with all men i'm very thankful that it's certainly put in the words if possible because some people are impossible but when it says so far as it depends on you means that you make sure that you've gone as far as you can go make sure that you have pressed it as far as you can press it no many many families have divisions many have their own stories of family divisions well one of those family divisions came to my wife's family many many years ago and we were the ones being banished you might say how could that be pastor rich i mean you're such a wonderful guy how is that even possible i know that's what i you i wondered the same thing how does that even happen well i'll tell you how it happened so someone in the family was offended in someone else and so the person that was offended decided we're going to rally the family together and banish that person well my wife and i were on vacation at the time so we came back to this we came back to oh there's all this family drama and then they said yeah we're all going to banish so and so so you join us in the banishing to which we said i'm sorry we don't banish that i'm not a banisher is that a word it ought to be i'm not a banisher i'm sorry i can't do this thing i'm not going to join you in this banishing i'm not a banisher like we were on vacation come back to this and no i don't i no i can't banish well if you cannot banish then you yourself will also be banished okay i guess we're banished and they even convinced the father to banish us and so for seven years this went on our children had no grandparents at the time so our response my wife and i and our kids we decided you know what just we're not banishing them they're banishing us and so we we bought their christmas presents every year and their birthday and all that stuff you know and we'd drive it to their house leave it on their porch you know and of course they wouldn't come out but we'd leave it there you know and move on next year bring their stuff you know seven years until father got dad got uh cancer my wife's father cancer of the throat and they're gonna put in a tracheotomy a whole he would never speak again so i said to my wife this is this is traumatic he is going to be going through such a major life change to not speak they have a tracheotomy this is so difficult he needs some support he needs some love i'm going to go and i'm going to stay with him in the hospital i'm taking some days off of work at the church and i'm going to just be with him all the time he's in the hospital all the days he's there she's oh the family is going to be very offended well i'm already banished what board can i do i don't you know that's that's that's their problem your dad needs that love and so i i packed some stuff you know and uh i went to the hospital and i stood at the door and hi george i'm your new roommate i'm moving in he starts crying i i shaved him i brought him a whiteboard with the thing you know so he could start writing you know to his doctors i tried i knew his heart so i interceded for him with the doctors and we were there days and then when he got out i helped him find this device it's electronic device you know you can hold it up to your throat and then press a button and you can speak this way and practice with them and get them to learn how to speak you know and then a couple months later i brought him this bowl of clam chowder i love cooking clam chowder was one of the things i was into of the day and i brought him a thing of clem chowder and he said can i talk to you i said sure and he said i misjudged you i listened to others and i should never have listened i'm so sorry would you forgive me oh i forgive you and he stood up and kissed me beautiful reconciliation love wins the day amen can we give the lord praise for that love wins the day you know we often think in terms of justice i'm i will not reconcile until there's justice you know the problem is god desires mercy one day i was uh i was driving one of our missionaries to the airport and we were intently chatting as we were going you know and we came up to the exit exit to get off at the airport and i saw there was a car there so i kind of sped up a little and then the car sped up and so i slowed down and he slowed down and i realized he's doing this on purpose he's trying to stop me from taking my accent i could not believe it right so i really slowed down and let some other card get in between us and and then i moved over and i kept on talking and then the missionary said wait like why does that bother you i said because i'm getting old i learned my lesson just because he's having a bad day doesn't mean i should have a bad day just because he has a bad heart doesn't mean i should have a bad heart so many times we think of justice but god desires mercy and then notice this part of the story i love the speech that the woman gives because it really comes down to this great truth god has made a way for you to come home it's a powerful line the woman says one of the one of the best gospel texts of the old testament we will surely all die and we are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again god does not take away life but plans ways so that the banished one will not be cast out from him that is an aggressor great speech god has a plan for those who are far from god to be reconciled to him because god's heart is reconciliation and that plan is found in christ jesus second corinthians chapter 5 verses 19 to 20. god was in christ reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them god desires mercy and he had then has committed to us the word of reconciliation god has committed to us the word of reconciliation therefore we are ambassadors for christ in other words god has commissioned you to be an ambassador of reconciliation isn't that a great idea great concept god's heart is to reconcile he has sent his son to reconcile the world to himself and then he has commissioned you and me he's empowered you and me given us a mission that we would be called ambassadors of reconciliation it is as though god that we're making an appeal through us therefore we beg you on behalf of christ to be reconciled to god this is god's heart many years ago there was a fellow in the church who was witnessing to a friend in his living room and he asked he they got stuck at some point and he asked if i could come and so i said sure and i came and and i got to meet this fellow and i said tell me the trouble what is the uh objection and he said my objection is this i think god put my name on the wrong list god put your name on the wrong list yeah he's put me on the list of those whom he has rejected i said that's way too much theology for someone who doesn't believe yet i said let me let me just say something to you i have a word from god to you and he gave me that look like oh really are you going to be one of those weird ones i said no really i have a word from god to you is it really what is it god's word that he sent me to speak to you is this i beg you in the name of jesus christ to be reconciled to god that is god's heart to you that is what god is saying to you that is god's word to you now let me show it to you i read it right out of the word to him i'm i'm here to report the man came to faith in jesus christ his friend got to lead him to christ he's walking with the lord today god's heart is reconciliation because god's story of redemption is all the way through the bible from genesis to revelation it is the grandest story of the bible man was banished from god's presence because of the sin of adam in the garden of eden that they might not eat from the tree of life so then you grew up go all the way to revelation and i'll tell you the the the story of redemption is all through the bible you go to ge to revelation and you see the relationship you see the re reconciliation and you see the tree of life revelation 22 verses 1 to 2. he showed me a river of the water of life clear as crystal coming from the throne of god and from the lamb in the middle of his street it was on either side of the river was the tree of life and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nation god wants people to be reconciled and he'll use so many ways to try to get them to open their eyes he'll use the word of god the word of god reveals god's heart using it to draw people to himself isaiah 55 11 so will my word be which goes forth from my mouth it will not return to me empty without accomplishing what i desire without succeeding in the matter for which i sent it for he sends it in power to reveal his heart of reconciliation god sent his son to seek and to save that which was lost that they might be reconciled the ethiopian eunuch in acts 8 was reading isaiah 53 one of the most amazing chapters of the old testament that shows jesus revealed as the suffering messiah of israel many today when they read isaiah 53 you know that many jews don't even read isaiah 53 but when they start to read isaiah 53 and then they see the story of jesus many jews today are coming to faith that jesus is the messiah of israel because he'll use the word of god to do it he'll use all manner of things he can use hardships god uses all manner of things and god's plan is loving and just he takes our sins upon himself pays the penalty for that sin on the cross of calvary that is the justice but he does it as a demonstration of his great love and then lastly we'll close with this let those who are reconciled draw near say david agreed to bring absalom home to jerusalem that sounded like reconciliation but he couldn't see his face that's not reconciliation he waited two more years finally he appealed to joab for help god reconciles us to himself in full reconciliation to see his face is meaning to draw near the whole point is for reconciliation is for a relationship absolutely why did it even come if it's not for full reconciliation the point is when god draws you he draws you into full reconciliation for the purpose of relationship not that you you'd just be brought back partway that that you be brought back all the way for the nearness of god is the heart of god in it one of the best stories of this has to be found in the book of luke chapter 15 the story of the prodigal son many of you know the story young man asked his father for his inheritance went to the city spent it all in in wild living parties women you know all of the things he spent it all then when he had nothing left tragedy struck famine hit the land he had no money had no job finally he found the worst job a jew could ever have feeding swine one day it occurs to him he's jealous of the pigs for they have food and he does not then it says luke 15 verse 17 but when he came to his senses i love that line right there that is a glorious line when someone comes to their senses that moment when someone opens their eyes that moment when the light dawns it's a glorious holy moment he came to his senses and he said how many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread i'm dying here with hunger i will get up and i will go to my father and i will say to him this father i have sinned against heaven and in your sight but catch this part i am no longer worthy to be called your son i just need a job i just need a job take me as one of your hired men i'm not worthy i've done shameful things i don't want to even tell you what i did i'm ashamed of myself i'm not worthy of being a son i just need a job take me as one of the hired men so he got up and he came to his father but while he was still a long way off his father saw him felt compassion for him and ran oh don't you love this part of the story it reveals to us this is god in the story this is the heart of god he sees his son dirty bedraggled son coming down the road just asking for a job and he sees him a long way off and the father runs down the road and felt compassion braced him kissed him then of course we know the sword the son gave his speech but then the father said to his servants quickly bring out the best robe and put it on my son put a ring on his hand sandals on his feet bring the fattened calf let us eat and celebrate for this son of mine was dead but has come to life again this son of mine was lost and has been found the whole point of reconciliation is that you would draw near god draws you to be a son or a daughter here's my point god doesn't have hired god doesn't have employees god has sons god has daughters god does not have employees god does not take you as a hired man he takes you as a son or not at all it's all with god john near too many people they stay too far away you don't understand you don't understand i have so much shame in my life you don't know what i've done well god knows it all and he's the one who draws you and says you come home but you come home all the way and you be my son because i'll tell you what you keep staying out there and you're not going to rebuild your life you come nearer to me i'm the one who will rebuild your life i'll restore your life because i am your father and i'll never leave you nor forsake you i'll never cast you off you come near to me and you come nearer to me and you come nearer to me look i know all about the shame and i still love you and i will pay for it all don't be far don't be far come john error father thank you so much it's beautiful beautiful to see your heart and so god we today say to you thank you for speaking life for drawing us to yourself for showing us your heart is for full reconciliation church today how many would say to the lord i want to walk nearer to you as my father i've been too far i've been walking too far i asked that i could walk near to you be my father be my father walk with me through this i need you today i want to be fully reconciled because i want to walk nearer to you as my father would you say that to god is god speaking that to your heart would you just raise your hand to the lord and say it to the lord that's your desire that's my very heart that's everything i'm asking god i want to draw near to you just raise your hand to the lord be bold in the lord father thank you thank you for everyone as the spirit is stirring us as the spirit is drawing us thank you for moving upon us showing us your heart we love you and honor you for it all in jesus name and everyone said can we give the lord praise and glory and honor amen

Channel: Calvary Chapel Worship Center - Hillsboro, Oregon

Views: 86

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: The Bible, God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Holy, Pastor Rich Jones, Pastor Matthew Dodd, Calvary Chapel, Faith, Grace, Revival, Truth, Prayer, Salvation, Calvary Chapel Hillsboro, Church, Christian, Jesus Return

Id: NZQ9Eqggv5o

Length: 42min 53sec (2573 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021