(Read 2 Samuel 13:28-39; 1428Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant. 29And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and every man gat him up upon his mule, and fled. 30And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that tidings came to David, saying, Absalom hath slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of them left. 31Then the king arose, and tare his garments, and lay on the earth; and all his servants stood by with their clothes rent. 32And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother, answered and said, Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead: for by the appointment of Absalom this hath been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar. 33Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead: for Amnon only is dead. 34But Absalom fled. And the young man that kept the watch lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came much people by the way of the hill side behind him. 35And Jonadab said unto the king, Behold, the king's sons come: as thy servant said, so it is. 36And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that, behold, the king's sons came, and lifted up their voice and wept: and the king also and all his servants wept very sore. 37But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day. 38So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years. 39And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead. (2 Samuel 13:28‑39))
IN God’s gospel love and righteousness travel side by side. God’s love has not traveled one solitary inch beyond His righteousness, for His righteousness keeps pace with His love. He has given His Son, and so demonstrated His love “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:1414And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (1 John 4:14)). How could He be the Saviour? Only by death, i.e., by maintaining righteousness, by maintaining the claims of God’s throne.
In the scripture before us there are two things—the king’s heart and the king’s throne. i.e. his nature and his position. David’s love outran his righteousness, for Absalom’s sin was not judged, hence in chapter 15 we see the throne upset, and Absalom on it, while sin, guilt, and wickedness are rampant, because righteousness had not been established.
Never forget that “the throne is established by righteousness” (Prov. 16:1212It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness. (Proverbs 16:12)). Let men say what they like, and they are preaching in this day that there is no judgment of sin―remember this, God’s throne is settled and established in righteousness. The name of Him who sits on that throne is Love, and today He is revealing His love, while His righteousness is also established. We are saved, not at the expense of righteousness, nor by the glossing over of our sin, therefore a sinner should not minimize his sin. Bring it out and confess it, or God will bring it out and judge it, and you also. “Be sure your sin will find you out.” You may make light of it, but God will bring it out, if not now, when it is too late to get it pardoned. When death has hurled you into a fearful eternity it will come out. You had better get down before God and own your true state just now.
God’s gospel shows what grace is, and that grace is reigning through righteousness. That gospel maintains God’s character, and unfolds His heart, so that the vilest sinner can be brought into eternal glory, through the death and resurrection of the Son of God. It tells of grace reigning through righteousness unto eternal life. It records the blotting out of man’s sin through the sacrifice of a sinless, spotless, holy, perfect Man, who went into death, bearing sin, and the sinner’s judgment, to display the love of God, thus turning rebels into children, sinners into saints, and filling the realms of, glory by-and-bye with an innumerable company of the redeemed, who will say, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” The very vilest and worst of Adam’s race are brought to God, to glory, and to heavenly peace, rest, and joy, in association with a risen and triumphant Saviour, who has demonstrated all that was in God’s heart, when the guilt of man had been only too plainly made known.
The story before us illustrates the gospel in a contrastive way. Amnon’s sin no one can condone, but Absalom’s action was unwarrantable. He did not draw the sword himself, but said to his servants, “Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant” (13:28). Absalom instigated murder and at once knew that his life was forfeited. Yours is forfeited likewise, not for his sin, but God charges you with sin, and “the wages of sin is death,” hence the sword is hanging over your head, and you cannot tell when it will fall, and death sweep you into eternity. Forget not that your life is forfeited. The wise woman of Tekoah knew it well as she said: “We must needs die.” Death lies before you, and after death the judgment.
But man has, thank God, a conscience, and it, as Shakespeare said, “doth make cowards of us all.” Hence we read in this thirteenth of 2nd Samuel: ―
“But Absalom fled” (vs. 34). “But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the on of Ammihud, king of Geshur” (vs. 37). He thought his old grandfather (see 2 Sam. 3:33And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; (2 Samuel 3:3)) would shelter him, and to him he went. If Joab had not gone down he would never have come back, for he knew he would be laid hold of by the executors of judgment. Doubtless he thought, “David is my father, but he is the king, and if the throne be established in righteousness, I know very well my life is forfeited, for I am guilty of murder.” “So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years” (vs. 38). Now Geshur means expulsion. Man’s sin and man’s conscience always put him in the right place―that of expulsion.
Three years rolled by, and then we further read:— “And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom” (vs. 39). He had a father’s heart, but he could not forget that he sat on a throne. His soul longed to go forth unto Absalom. Why then did he not? He must have said to himself, “Although I am his father, he is a murderer; but I am on the throne, and I am bound to maintain the character of the throne, and if he is brought to me I must condemn him. God’s word (Ex. 21:1212He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. (Exodus 21:12); Deut. 11:11-1311But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: 12A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. 13And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, (Deuteronomy 11:11‑13)) commands me to take his life.” David was in a great dilemma. Love said, “Go to him”; while righteousness said, “If you fetch him you must judge him.”
Then we read:— “Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart was towards Absalom” (ch. 14:1). Have you ever perceived that God’s heart is towards you? Such is the case. It is a great thing to have right perceptions of God’s love. “In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 John 4:99In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)). God saw we were dead, and sent His Son that we might live through Him. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:1010Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)). Christ has presented a sacrifice that blots out sins. Thereby we learn God. “Hereby perceive we love, because he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:1616Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (1 John 3:16)). It is not merely that there is the love, and that it is manifested, but we are to perceive it, just as Joab perceived the heart of the king was towards Absalom.
God loved the world, creatures that did to His Son what Absalom did to Amnon—murdered Him. The world said, “Away with him.” What did God do? He was on the throne, and there was a sword connected with His throne. He let it lie in the scabbard, and He took His Son out of death, put Him into glory, and then sent His Spirit down to tell men of pardon through that Son of peace, forgiveness, and eternal life. God is love, and He has acted in righteousness.
The world cast His Son out, but God is sending out the testimony of pardon, peace, and forgiveness, on the ground of what His Son wrought. Jesus seized the occasion, when man nailed Him to the tree, to do that wonderful work, the atonement, when He restored that which He took not away, and drank the bitter cup due to sinners; the cup we deserved, He drained to the very dregs. He rose from the dead, ascended to glory, and then sent down the Holy Ghost, and today He is bringing tidings of God’s love to men and women, and offering them a present and eternal salvation.
Joab did not think much about Absalom’s sin, and he had no real care for King David’s character or throne. He was a willful man without conscience, and died hanging on to the horns of the altar. Here he looks very nice. “And Joab sent to Tekoah and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead: and come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth” (14:2, 3). She comes to the king with an interesting story about two sons, one of whom killed the other.
“And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom-he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth” (vs. 7).
But why did not Absalom go to one of the cities of refuge? He knew better than to go there. You see him flying, conscience making him a coward. “Where are you going, Absalom? To a city of refuge?” “No, if I run there they will drag me out. God’s Word says that the man that kills with hatred shall be dragged out and die.” He goes rather to Geshur―expulsion. His sin expelled him, and at Geshur he would have stayed to the day of his death, but for the action of Joab, which was totally wrong.
The king heard the woman’s story. He was very tender-hearted, but not righteous, and he had no right to say to the woman, “There shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth” (vs. 11). “And the woman of Tekoah ‘said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father’s house; and the king and his throne be guiltless” (vs. 9). She knew that the throne should be maintained. And God’s throne of inviolate holiness and justice must be maintained, and if you are going to be pardoned it must be on the ground that the throne is maintained. Jesus, the holy, righteous One, suffered, “the just for the unjust.” God is now “just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus,” on the ground that the judgment due to the sinner has been meted to Christ. That is the very marrow of the gospel. My best Friend is now on the throne; the One who fills it is the blessed holy Man who died for me on Calvary’s tree bearing sins, wiping them out, and if He had not done it He could not be where He is now. Has He taken sins into heaven with Him? No, there are no sins in heaven. Christ bore them on the cross, and He has not put them back on me. On the cross he was the victim, and by the blood-shedding of the victim sin is put away. Now He is the triumphant Victor, He is gone on high, and there He sits, the glory-crowned Saviour, at God’s right hand. Sin is put away, righteousness is established, love has been unfolded, the devil has been defeated, and the sinner is saved that believes in Jesus.
“And the king said, Whosoever saith aught unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more” (vs. 10). Then the woman, as it were, says, If my son is not to be judged, what about yours? What is good for my son is good for yours. “The king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished” (vs. 13). The devil was at the bottom of this kind of talk, for Joab was a splendid tool. The woman sees she has impressed the king, and continues, “For we must needs die, and are as water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person; yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him” (vs. 14). There is no time to be lost, is what that means―let there be no delay. You do not like the thought of dying. You say, I am young. You have no lease of life. That fell archer Death, how his weapons are cutting men down to day! Morning light may find that that old archer has sped an arrow, and the target is your heart. You had better turn to the Lord now. You are meaning someday to be Christ’s―let it be now.
“Yet doth he devise means.” I have told you God’s means; they are the death and resurrection of His own Son for sin-defiled man, upon whom death has a claim, and on whom the sword of judgment must sooner or later fall. These are God’s means―righteous, holy, God-glorifying means. Holiness is maintained, sin is judged, His throne is established, righteousness has all its claims met in the death of a holy substitute, and the devil himself dare not say there is anything unrighteous or unjust. Take care lest you suffer for your own sins in an eternity of woe. Sin and God never meet except for judgment, and there are two places where sin gets its deserts, one is the cross, where Christ redeems, cleanses, and brings the sinner to God on righteous grounds, and the other is the great white throne, where the sinner stands in his sins. Thence he and they are cast together into the lake of fire. God save you now.
If you were to cry for mercy in that day the very Son of God would have to say, “I died for you, I called, I besought you to come to me, but you despised me when you might have been saved.” You will never seek mercy in a day of judgment. It is mercy now without judgment; then it will be judgment without mercy. It is mercy now based on righteousness, in which God’s character is maintained, His love displayed, and the worst sinner brought to God. In David’s means love out-ran righteousness; God’s means are righteousness and love keeping side by side, and these are the two pillars on which the whole structure of Christianity reposes.
“And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again” (vs. 21).
What an awful mistake! “So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem” (vs. 23).
Joab and Absalom were hail-fellow-well-met. Absalom might have said, “If I go to Jerusalem, I shall be judged for my guilt.” “No,” replied Joab, “the king is going to pass it over; he will not say a word about it. There is no danger, he will not judge your sin.” Fatal mistake. That is what men are telling sinners now. Do not listen to the Joabs of this day. If you do not turn to God in a day when grace is reigning through righteousness, you may depend upon it you will never get to know Him, nor can you be saved when righteousness absolutely reigns and grace is silent.
The time will come when God will recall His ambassadors―withdraw His advances. When the Church is taken up, and the Holy Ghost and the evangelists taken out of the way, what will be left? Plenty of preachers, but not a bit of gospel. God’s salvation is missed forever.
Joab brought Absalom up. There are many brought to Jerusalem―they are brought to the meeting, to church, to chapel. It will not do; Jerusalem is not Jesus. Absalom did not see the king. He was morally as badly off in Jerusalem as in Geshur. “So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king’s face” (vs. 28). How different David’s acting and God’s. If God calls you He does it righteously. The Lord is now on the throne of grace, and He holds out the scepter of mercy to the worst sinner earth can furnish, and if you draw near to Him you immediately get a kiss, like the prodigal of Luke 15, and are welcomed home. That is God’s gospel.
Two years rolled by. Absalom got hardened in his sin, because when a man trifles with divine things the devil hardens him. “After all,” he says, “there is nothing gained by my coming to Jerusalem,” and he gets bolder in sin. “Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come” (vs. 29). Then he set Joab’s barley field a-fire. If you miss God’s gospel now you will be a deeper sinner before the week is out than ever before; Satan will give you a push in the wrong direction.
Thereafter Joab came to Absalom. “And Absalom answered Joab... Wherefore am I come from Geshur? It had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king’s face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me” (vs. 32). Notice well his state. There is no repentance, no self-judgment, no sense of guilt, or the awfulness of his sin, and his end is awful. The very man that brought him up from Geshur ran three darts through him later on. Joab brought him to his death. A false gospel will bring you to eternal damnation. Why do you not turn to the Lord? If Absalom had been wise he would have owned his sin, but he was hardened. Fancy his saying, “if there be any iniquity in me.” Why did he fly? He knew his iniquity. Why did he tarry three years? For fear of judgment. And now he says, I am not at all sure if murdering my brother was a bad thing after all. How God unfolds the heart of man!
“So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom” (vs. 33). That is not the kind of kiss God gives you. David’s kiss was given at the expense of righteousness, and the next thing is his throne is upset by this unrepentant man. (See 2 Sam. 15) If what man says is true, that God does not judge sin, the very throne of God would be turned upside down. No, the cross is God’s answer to all such folly. He says, I love the sinner, I have judged his sin in the Person of my sinless Son, and the person that comes to me now shall not wait two years for the kiss-he will get it at once, and have the consciousness that all is forgiven and all forgotten.
“The wanderer no more will roam,
The lost one to the fold hath come,
The prodigal is welcomed home,
O Lamb of God, through Thee!”
W. T. P. W.