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Women’s Conference 04.25.09

OPEN — 04.26.09

2 Samuel 2:12-3:39

The chapter began with a tremendous insights

1.) Into the heart of David — David inquiring of the Lord and “deferring” to the Lord’s plans and timing.

“What do YOU want Lord?” THAT is what it looks like to be a man or woman after the heart of God.

2.) Into the FAITHFULNESS of God

In verses 2-7 David is recognized as king over Judah

In verses 8-9 we saw a man named Abner (Saul’s cousin and commander of Saul’s armies) make Ish-bosheth king over the rest of the tribes of Israel.

10Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. 11And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.AGAIN – NOTICE THE PATIENCE AND FAITH OF DAVID

For two years David allowed Ishbosheth to reign over most of Israel.

These TWO years follow TWENTY long years of waiting and suffering.

NOTE WELL: The Patience and Faith are inextricably linked together — Impatience is the result of NOT trusting in the plans and timing of God.

12Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. Joab- It is believed that he was

one of the 400 men who joined David at Adullam Cave (1 Samuel 22:1-2) — or he joined with David during this general period.

He had two notable brothers: Abishai and Asahel       

Joab, Abishai, and Asahel were David's nephews

They were the sons of David's sister Zeruiah (1 Chronicles 2:16)

And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. 14And Abner said to Joab,

INTERESTING MOMENT — Abner and Joab were each tough — mean — warriors — each man totally committed to his cause.

“Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.”

Abner suggested some kind of contest or duel between a select group of his men and Joab's men.

The contest quickly degenerated into a bloodbath.

15Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim (the Field of Sharp Swords), which is at Gibeon.

17And the battle was very fierce that day (don’t think laser guided missles or UAVs…. unmammed aerial vehicles “Predators”)

— think Braveheart). And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David. Under Joab’s command David’s men prevailed in the very fierce battle that followed the bloodbath at the Field of Sharp Swords.18And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle. 19And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. 20Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?”

And he answered, “It is I.” 21Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil.”

Abner knows what Asahel is after —

Asahel wants the glory of killing the commander of Ishbosheth's army and taking his armor as a trophy.

Abner was not a man to be trifled with

He knew Asahel was no match for him so he tries to persuade Asahel into settling for a lesser trophy.

It is not going to end well for Asahel

His desire for glory would be his demise.

Grabbing glory for yourself NEVER ENDS well!

EXAMPLE: Herod in Acts 12:20-23 Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. 22And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

Dylan Song – The Disease of Conceit!

But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. 22And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” 23But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.24But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down they came to the hill of Ammah,.

which lies before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill. 26Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?” 27And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning.” 28So Joab blew the trumpet,

and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore. 29And Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole morning, they came to Mahanaim. 30Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David’s servants nineteen men besides Asahel. 31But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner’s men. 32And they took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem.

And Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.

CHAPTER 3

1There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. There could be no peace between the rightful king David and the pretender to the throne.

The cease-fire seemed to make things better but it only made things worse, and it caused the long war.

HERE’S THE PICTURE - When we try to make peace between King Jesus and King Self within us, the result is a long, bitter war.

THE WAY to TRUE PEACE and TRUE VICTORY is to surrender and submit to the Lordship of Jesus.

QUOTE: Redpath - "In the lives of many Christian people today there is raging, literally, a civil war. The flesh - the kingdom of Saul, struggles with the spirit - the kingdom of David, and the conflict is bitter. We do everything we possibly can to hold up the tottering kingdom of self, so that it might exist just a bit longer. If only we could preserve some rights; if only we could have at least part of our own way; if only we could keep this or that at any cost! We feel we must bolster up this kingdom of self, that we cannot let ourselves be crucified with Christ."

QUOTE: WILLIAM BOOTH - The founder of the Salvation Army -

“The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.”

QUOTE: ALAN REDPATH –

“Before we can pray ‘They Kingdom Come’ we must be willing to pray, ‘My kingdom go’.”

And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: The increasing strength of David and increasing weakness of Saul's house did not begin when Saul died.

It began when God first chose David and withdrew His Spirit from Saul (1 Samuel 16:13-14).

2And sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel; 3and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; and the third,

Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; 4and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David’s wife. These were born to David in Hebron.6While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. 7Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?” 8Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said,

“Am I a dog’s head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman. 9God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the Lord has sworn to him, 10to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” 11And Ish-bosheth could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.

INTERSTING: Abner KNEW that David was the man that God had chosen to be king.

He even heard Saul say that it was so (1 Sam 26).

But up to this moment he was willingly and knowingly fighting against David — personally propping up an illegitimate king

And in so doing he was fighting a LOSING BATTLE because in reality he was fighting against God.

But something amazing is going to happen.

He is going to go from FIGHTING AGAINST David to FOLLOWING David.

This man Abner is living illustration of those who spend most of their lives FIGHTING against Jesus, and then finally

> GIVE UP

> RECOGNIZE Jesus as the King of kings

> Become FOLLOWERS of Jesus.

HERE’S THE CRUCIAL QUESTION: WHY would Abner have continued fighting against David even though he knew David was God’s king?

1.) It would cost Abner RELATIONALLY.

He was Saul’s cousin — He fought for Saul — He commanded Saul’s troops.

He was Saul’s body guard.

He wanted to see Saul’s illegitimate son sit on Saul’s throne.

There are many today who KNOW that they should be FOLLOWING Jesus — but instead they find themselves FIGHTING AGAINST Him because of the cost to their relationships!

“What would my husband/wife — boyfriend/girlfriend say if I became a follower of Jesus?

“I don’t want division in my family, so I just won’t do it.”

Matthew 10:37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

2.) It would cost Abner OCCUPATIONALLY

He was the general of Saul’s army.

A switch of allegiance would cost him his hard-earned position because David already had his military leaders in place.

APPLICATION: You might be the owner of a profitable business — giving the orders — steering the ship of commerce — calling the shots — but when you come to Jesus you it could cost you professionally.

You might never again occupy a place of leadership — And even if you did, you are never again master — You are servant.

3.) He would be looked upon as a traitor.

This particular pressure mounted on his life as he remained loyal to Ishbosheth for 7 ½ years.

APPLICATION: The same is true with most acquaintances outside of Christ.

They view you as the one who ruined the old gang.

They see you as a traitor to their cause.

1 Peter 4:4-5 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. 5But remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead.

BUT THINGS BEGAN TO HAPPEN that MOVED Abner to see the FUTILITY and FOOLISHNESS of his actions — his values — loyalties — things that changed him from being a FIGHTER to a FOLLOWER

1.) He found himself defeated.

He found himself killing men that he did not want to kill.

His LOSSES caused Abner to have a change of heart.

KEY APPLICATION: Perhaps you find yourself

> fighting battles you wish you had never entered.

> saying things that you wish you had never said.

> experiencing setbacks in finance or reputation.

LISTEN — The Lord allows us to lose battles in order

> To show us the vanity of fighting against the Son of David.> That we might have a change of heart.

BY THE WAY — If you are NOT walking with Jesus — and you are NOT losing battles — and all is going well for you

I would be concerned — BECAUSE it just might mean that God is just letting you go your own way!

2.) Abner’s life also began to degenerate morally.

In that culture — it was considered a display of CONTEMPT for the deceased ruler if you took his concubine.

That is why Ish-bosheth became so incensed.

Abner’s lusts were out of control!

KEY INSIGHT: Moral weakness in OUR lives is symptomatic that we are fighting against the Lord

BECAUSE fighting against God weakens a man in every way

That’s why people can sometimes get really bad just before coming to the Lord

All of those things were creating within Abner a desire to FORSAKE the OLD and FOLLOW Jesus.

Maybe tonight you know someone like that

Maybe YOU are that someone today.

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION: As these things were happening in Abner’s life he comes to a critical change of heart

He becomes dissatisfied with his leader!

Look at his response to Ish-bosheth — whose name means “man of rotteness.”

Verse 8 - Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I a dog’s head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David.

“Listen you man of rottenness, you’re treating me like a dog!”

“I’ve stood by you — and the only reason you’re in power today is because of my loyalty — and yet you are treating me like a dog.”

ILLUSTRATION: Libby Riddles won a 1,135 mile Alaskan dog sled race — She said that she would use the $50,000 dollar prize money for a trip to Hawaii for herself and a box of dog biscuits.

That is brutal –

The dogs pulled her over that 1,135 mile course

She goes to Hawaii and they’re getting some biscuits.

Abner feels like this team of dogs

REALITY — That is life under an illegitimate king!

The Bible says that if Jesus — the Son of David — is not your king — you are being ruled by an illegitimate, rotten ruler

Eph 2:2 NLT You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.

He is controlling those outside of Christ.

He not only trips you up and leads you into sin —

But after you fall he accuses you and condemns you.

He treats you like a dog – Even as Ish-bosheth does Abner.

SO — Abner has had it.

Losing battles — losing moral control.

Dissatisfied with his leader — giving all and getting nothing.

He is ready to go from FIGHTER to FOLLOWER

12And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf. saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and behold,

my hand shall be with you to bring over all Israel to you.” 13And he said, “Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you; that is, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.” 14Then David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, for whom I paid the bridal price of a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” 15And Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband Paltiel the son of Laish. 16But her husband went with her, weeping after her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go, return.” And he returned.17And Abner conferred with the elders of Israel, saying,

“For some time past you have been seeking David as king over you. 18Now then bring it about, for the Lord has promised David, saying, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from the hand of all their enemies.’” 18Now then bring it about — Underline that!

You have looked to David in times past — You have wanted him as king in times past.

DO IT! — GO FOR IT! — NOW IS THE TIME!

HERE’S THE PICTURE —

NOW is the time to STOP FIGHTING Jesus — to START FOLLOWING Him

IF in times past you > KNEW that Jesus is right — but never responded to Him> Wanted to devote your life to Jesus — but never did

NOW is the time!

19Abner also spoke to Benjamin. And then Abner went to tell David at Hebron all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin thought good to do. 20When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. 21And Abner said to David, “I will arise and go and will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you,

and that you may reign over all that your heart desires.”

NOTE THIS: This is just like a new believer witnessing to old friends.

Desiring to see Jesus glorified and exalted as King of redeemed sinners!

NOTE THIS: This is just like a new believer witnessing to old friends.

“Hey, I was a fighter just like you, but now I’m a follower.”

KEY OBSERVATION: This is an AMAZING transition for Abner — but it would be a costly one.

21 …..So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.22Just then the servants of David arrived with Joab from a raid, bringing much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23When Joab and all the army that was with him came, it was told Joab, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has let him go, and he has gone in peace.” 24Then Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you. Why is it that you have sent him away, so that he is gone? 25You know that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you and to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.” 26When Joab came out from David’s presence,

he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah. But David did not know about it. 27And when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the stomach, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.

Is the Christian life easy?

Does changing sides make your problems go away?

Not by a long shot!

It is sad to say — but sometimes even those in God’s army will take stabs at you.

Those who should be loving and kind and merciful are not always so!

There ARE difficulties and heartaches.

Jesus NEVER promised it would be otherwise

In fact —

Jesus spent a SIGNIFICANT amount of time TEACHING and DEMONSTRATING how the citizen of His kingdom should act

BECAUSE He knows what even saved sinners are made of.

CRUCIAL QUESTION: As Abner was dying — as life ebbed out of him — do you think he regretted changing sides?

Do you think that he regretted following the anointed of God?

I wish I could have held on to my family ties; my occupational security; my reputation.

I wish I was still fighting and losing stupid battles.

I wish I was still out of control morally.

I wish I was still being treated like a dog by my old master.

ALL of us are dying.

We are all headed for eternity.

You are one breath closer to it this very moment.

If you continue > in the camp of Ish-bosheth;

> to fight against the Son of David;

> to ignore the call of God upon your life;

Then you will be ushered into eternity and you will hear Jesus say to you –

Matt. 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Millions of years will transpire — and you will cry out to God — and your voice will NEVER be heard because you opted for the easy life on this side of eternity.

NOTE THIS WITH ME: Abner preached a simple message to the people.

“You desired to follow David in the past; FOLLOW him now… I am!”

Abner died before he could see the results.

APPLICATION: DON’T be discouraged if you don’t see the results of your evangelism.

There was fruit far beyond what Abner could have ever imagined.

He just didn’t get to see it.

POINT: TELL PEOPLE about Jesus!

NOTICE how David felt about this man who was once fighting against him -

31Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” And King David followed the bier. 32They buried Abner at Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. 33And the king lamented for Abner, saying,  “Should Abner die as a fool dies? 34 Your hands were not bound; your feet were not fettered; as one falls before the wicked you have fallen.”And all the people wept again over him. 35Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day. But David swore,

saying, “God do so to me and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down!” 36And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people. 37So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s will to put to death Abner the son of Ner. 38And the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?1.) The repentant rebel is viewed by the true king as royalty!

1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Rev. 1:5-6 ….. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

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