THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

The Books Of Samuel: God's Shift Of Israel From Apostasy Under The Judges To David's Reign

II. 2 Samuel: The Reign Of David Over Israel

T. Subjecting Our Personal Interests To Our Subordinates' Needs

(2 Samuel 18:9-19:8)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

The needs of subordinates in many institutions today are often not being adequately met by their overseers:

(1) This occurs at the national and state levels of government and business realms: last Wednesday, radio talk show hosts Brad Davis and Dan Lavallo on "The Talk of Connecticut" reported on the problem of crumbling foundations in eastern Connecticut where thousands of homes were built with faulty concrete, a problem many homeowners cannot afford to fix. The companies insuring these homes had a state official alter the wording in their policies to exempt them from having to pay to repair these homes, and that after the problem had become known, and state and federal elected officials have not addressed the problem so that some homeowners have already had to abandon their unsafe homes, and with it, lose a lot or nearly all of their financial investments.

Brad Davis repeatedly expressed dismay that government and business leaders had not addressed this matter!

(2) It happens locally: last Sunday in our Fellowship Hall, in a conversation I had with a woman, we spoke of the vacuum of good male oversight in society and family life, and how it has produced the long-term effect of leading many young women in particular to settle for marrying less-than-Biblically-qualified men due to self-esteem issues.

In support of this view, Patrice Lewis' article, "Fatherless girls" (wnd.com, 1/18/2013), claimed, "A good dad teaches his girls how men should behave. He guides them and . . . protects them," and good fathers are a "mirror to their daughters, reflecting a girl's self-esteem back on her." However, a bad father or the absence of a father creates a vacuum of needed male affirmation in a girl, what often drives her to seek male affirmation in all the wrong places, leading to immorality, unwed pregnancies and fatherless children who grow up to repeat the cycle in society. (Ibid.)

Need: So, we ask, "From God's perspective, what is MY part in seeing that the needs of subordinates be met?!"

I. David repeatedly failed to meet his subordinates' needs because he was focusing on his own interests:

A. When news of Absalom's death reached David, though his followers had defeated Absalom's followers in battle, David was overcome with grief for his son and openly wailed over him, 2 Samuel 18:9, 14b-17, 31-33.

B. Joab voiced concern that David get control of his emotions lest he harm the monarchy, 2 Samuel 19:1-7:

1. The king's open wailing over Absalom's death upset his subjects who were returning from their victory over Absalom's forces so that they crept back into the city as if they had lost the battle, 2 Samuel 19:1-4.

2. Joab thus became concerned that David's wailing might cause his subjects to think he loved his foes in Absalom's followers more than he loved them (2 Sam. 19:5-6), that if David did not compose himself and minister as king to his followers, he would lose their support to the harm of his monarchy, 2 Sam. 19:7.

C. David's wailing over losing Absalom at the cost of meeting his subjects' needs reflected his same earlier flaw of putting his own interests ahead of his subordinates' needs that had led to his sins of adultery and murder:

1. 2 Samuel 11:1 states that when kings typically went out to war in the spring, David had stayed home and sent his commander Joab and the army of Israel east across the Jordan River to fight the Ammonites.

2. With lots of free time, David had reclined in bed all day only to rise at evening and walk on his roof from which he saw the beautiful, naked Bathsheba bathing, what led to his adultery and murder, 2 Sam. 11:2-27.

3. Had David instead helped his subjects by leading the army against the Ammonites, he would have avoided his sins of adultery and murder that eventually led to a costly civil war and the death of his son Absalom and he would have edified the nation Israel by leading its army to victory over the Ammonites!

II. God thus let Joab confront David to charge him to put the needs of his subjects ahead of his personal grief over Absalom, to control the expression of his grief so he could function as king, 2 Samuel 19:5-7.

III. Joab's unsettling confrontation of David fulfilled God's Davidic Covenant promise in 2 Samuel 7:14 to use the "rod of men" -- in this case, Joab -- to discipline the Davidic king to correct his errant behavior:

A. When David had been crowned king, he realized God had made him king "for the sake of" (ba'abur, B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 721) His people, not for David to meet his own interests, 2 Sam. 5:12.

B. This realization had resulted from David's exposure to God's Deuteronomy 17:18-20 requirements of a king:

1. In Deuteronomy 17:18, God had directed Israel's king to write out his own copy of the Mosaic Law.

2. He was then to read from it every day of his life so it would affect his thinking processes, Deut. 17:19a.

3. This influence of Scripture would lead the king to act in ways that resulted in God's blessing, v. 19b-20:

a. First, the king would learn of his need to revere God as he kept God's commands, Deuteronomy 17:19b.

b. Second, that reverence for God would lead the king to view himself as equal in importance to God to his subjects, motivating him to meet THEIR needs VERSUS his OWN interests as a PRIORITY, v. 20a.

c. Third, in this way, he would not veer from any Scripture, but heed it precisely, Deuteronomy 17:20b.

d. Fourth, God would thus bless the king and his sons along with the nation Israel, Deuteronomy 17:20c.

C. However, since his coronation, David had failed to keep paying attention to Scripture, so he had come to think of himself as more valuable than his subjects so as to use his position as king to address his own interests ahead of their needs. David thus committed adultery and murder and did not control his grief to Israel's harm!

IV. Thankfully, David heeded Joab's confrontation: he stopped wailing over Absalom and went to sit at the city gate to minister to his subjects, and they came and responded positively to him, 2 Samuel 19:8.

V. 1 Samuel 16:13 reveals the Holy Spirit came on David at his anointing by Samuel and continued for life, so the POWER to control his emotions and to minister properly to his subjects came by the Holy Spirit.

Lesson: In accord with the Davidic Covenant, God disciplined David by allowing Joab to confront him about his need to rely on the Holy Spirit to correct his flaw of putting his personal interests above his subjects' needs.

Application: To address today's problem of unmet needs in subordinates, (1) may we trust in Christ to be saved and be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, John 3:16; Romans 8:9b; Galatians 5:16-23. (2) Then, may we (a) overseers rely on the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16) (b) daily to expose our hearts and minds to Scripture (c) that we might be influenced to revere the Lord as we heed His Word. (c) We will thus view ourselves as equal in value to our subjects before God and thus (d) responsibly meet their needs. (3) May we subordinates pray for errant overseers and wait on God for the opportunity to appeal to them about their duty to meet their subordinates' needs above their personal interests.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . .)

(1) On Monday, my wife got a letter from a lady in a church where I served as pastor in the midwest before coming to Nepaug Church 35 years ago, and she reported she has left the church because its contemporary worship music was too loud, there was limited Bible content coming from the pulpit and there were no more Adult Sunday School Class, Wednesday Prayer Meeting or Sunday Evening Service gatherings, just small groups meeting during the week to discuss the Pastor's previous Sunday sermon. Most unsettling of all, the children were discouraged from bringing Bibles to Sunday School as it was "too distracting," and they were no longer taught through the Bible stories.

Her description is typical of many evangelical churches according to Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In his article, "The Scandal of Biblical Illiteracy," Answers, May-June 2017, p. 52-53, he claimed, "Pastors and churches" are "too busy -- or too distracted -- to make biblical knowledge a central aim of ministry," and "(t)he many fronts of Christian compromise in this generation can be directly traced to biblical illiteracy in the pews and the absence of biblical preaching and teaching in our homes and churches." (Ibid., p. 53)

The experience of our friend in the midwest, what we learned has occurred in the church out there since we were there, Dr. Mohler's article and this sermon's lesson all point to Paul's 2 Timothy 4:1-5 charge that a pastor put daily Bible study and the ministry of Scripture the top priority in his ministry to offset apostasy. Since it is in your best interests as a congregation, and since God holds me accountable to meet your needs over my own interests, I pledge to keep my study, preaching, teaching and obedience of God's Word a priority over all personal interests!

(2) This application also fits all the other leaders in our congregation, be they husbands, fathers, mothers, business leaders, government officials, etc. Permit me to "confront" you as a Joab with your need to trust in Christ for salvation and enabling by the Holy Spirit, and that you rely on the Holy Spirit to exposure your minds and hearts daily to Scripture that you might meet your subordinates' needs above addressing your own personal interests!

In particular, Psalm 128:1-6 along with the rest of Scripture reveals that if we male heads of households revere God and obey His Scriptural directives in the Holy Spirit's power, addressing our subordinates' needs over our own interests, we will positively impact our wives, children, communities, state, nation and world in ever widening circles of influence. Also, the problem noted in our introduction of young women settling for less-than-Biblically-qualified partners in marriage due to improper self-esteem issues will be addressed!

(3) If we are subordinates, may we pray that our overseers might perform their duties in accountability to God! May we also heed God's lead to give us the opportunity to appeal to an errant overseer that he might correct his way!

May we trust in Christ to be saved. Then, may we overseers rely on the Holy Spirit and daily expose ourselves to Scripture that we subject our own interests to meeting the needs of our subordinates.