Surrendered To God's Will

2 Samuel 15:24-29 Zadok was there, too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city. Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s eyes, He will bring me back and let me see it and His dwelling place again. But if He says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to Him.” The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Do you understand? Go back to the city with my blessing. Take your son Ahimaaz with you, and also Abiathar’s son Jonathan. You and Abiathar return with your two sons. I will wait at the fords in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there.

God's will is not always easy to discover and sometimes even more difficult to do.
David had to do a difficult thing.


1. David accepted the consequences of his sin.

*He didn't complain.
Philippians 2:14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing.
Life is so good even when tough times come if you follow that verse.
We are to live complain free lives!
Even more so when we are facing the consequences of our own sin or foolishness.

*He didn't excuse himself.
He faced that this too was part of Nathan's prophecy from the LORD.

*He didn't try and get people to feel sorry for him.
Get people to pray, not to feel bad for you.
David was alone a lot during this time. He sent people away and back.


2. David Left Jerusalem in an Act of Surrender.

*He didn't fight.
Here we see Christlikeness. David was not about to split the kingdom over a rebellious son. He was not about to have fellow Israelites die so he could remain on the throne. He left the throne for the sake of peace.

*He didn't promote the family feud.
He could have. He didn't.
Be still. Be a peacemaker in the family. Don't stir the pot.
Proverbs 11:29 He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind. lit= to stir up sediment, dregs... things settled down... doing this makes things bitter.
Don't promote or even participate in a family feud, rather be a peacemaker.


*He surrendered not to Absolam but to God.
That is always the point of surrender. It is not about surrendering to our adversaries. It is about us surrendering to the LORD. We may think we are wrestling over Esau but it is really the LORD we are contending with. This is not always easy to see. David saw it. He submitted to God.

*He left the things that belonged to God alone.
He returned the ark and the High Priest.


3. David Left His Future in God's Hands.

Completely. There really is no surrender unless it is complete surrender.

We can trust the LORD with our future.
We do not need to worry.
We plan, David had a plan.
Then we trust the LORD.

This is one of the most difficult aspects of surrender, trusting God for tomorrow. If we are not to worry about tomorrow, we must trust him for tomorrow. If we trust Him for tomorrow we will have peace this day, not the absence of trouble, but the peace within that surpasses all understanding.


Trusting the LORD for the future involves:
1. Remembering His faithfulness continues through all generations.
2. Recalling specific times when He has come through when there has been no human help in sight. (It Will Be Worth It All)
3.Realizing that we are here today because of His faithfulness and mercy and grace!
4.Looking to Jesus, not to what is ahead, not projecting but like Abraham and Sarah:
Romans 4:16-21 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Hebrews 11:11-12 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.


Sometimes the sky looks dark with not a ray of light,
We're tossed and driven on , no human help in sight;
But there is one in heav'n who knows our deepest care,
Let Jesus solve your problem - just go to Him in pray'r.

Psalm 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end.

Our Concern For Our Family

II Samuel 14.1
So Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was concerned about Absalom.

2 Samuel 13:37-39 But Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day. So Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there three years. And King David longed to go to Absalom. For he had been comforted concerning Amnon, because he was dead.

David's family had been ripped apart by sin. These things were actually what God said would happen as a result of him having Uriah killed. Still hard to imagine how David sunk to such a low level to do that. It shows us what sin can do. It shows that even someone who walked close to the LORD, who was a man after God's own heart, could fall into deep sin. It is a warning to us to us not to elevate Christian leaders. If it happened to David it can happen to anyone. A common thread of all those who fell in the past 25 years was this, "I never thought this thing could happen to me."

Sin destroys what is good, innocent and pure. It can destroy relationships, a whole family and leave its mark on generations not even born.

A while after his sin with Bathsheba and his ensuring Uriah would be killed in battle, his son Amnon had committed a similar sin and because of this Absolam, his favorite son, killed Amnon. Absolam fled and David longed for Absoalm, he was deeply concerned about him.

Absolam was exiled from the family. He was an outcast because of sin. He left because he had his brother Amnon murdered. He had his brother Amnon murdered because Amnon had raped his sister, Tamar. The sins that David committed with Bathsheba and Uriah are now coming into his own family, to his children.

The king was strongly attached to Absalom; and having now got over his sorrow for the violent death of Amnon, he was desirous of again enjoying the company and fellowship of his favorite son, who had now been gone three long years. But the dread of public opinion and knowing it would be against the law made him hesitate about recalling or pardoning his guilty son; and Joab, whose discerning mind perceived this struggle between parental affection and royal duty decided to act. His intentions were right, his concern for the King, his friend, was right and yet his methods were less than pure and in the end bringing Absolam back was a huge mistake. No one is above the law.

I think this is one of the reasons God has Paul write to Timothy about praying for those in authority over us.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
Leaders, both civic and spiritual have an extra load because of their children. It is not easy being a son or daughter of a pastor or a president. There are many many blessings but there are also burdens. Pray for the families of leaders. Pray for the protection of their children and wisdom for the parents. Pray the children's hearts would remain tender. Pray they would do what is right.

One of the reasons God recorded this to show David's love for his son Absolam, even though he had murdered his half brother. However Absolam had had his half brother murdered and just as David had to suffer the consequences of having Uriah killed so Absolam would have to as well. When rulers on earth fail to maintain order heaven steps in.

1. Nothing Can Bring More Joy Or More Pain To a Family Than Family.

Psalm 133.1 Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. That goodness is beyond words at times. That pleasantness cannot be describe fully. Ray and Pastor Dennis and Gideon. In God' family/in our families
III John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Proverbs is full of observations of pain and joy over children.
Proverbs 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon:A wise son brings joy to his father,but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.
Proverbs 23:24-25 The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him. May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!
Proverbs 15:20 A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
Proverbs 17:25 A foolish son brings grief to his fatherand bitterness to the mother who bore him.
We have all witnessed the goodness coming to parents who have obedient and loving sons and the deep pain which comes to parents with foolish sons.

How much joy comes to a heart of a parent or uncle or aunt or grandparent over a child who does what is right! If they succeed there is great joy. Being at my niece, Marlee's, High School graduation was so gratifying and such a blessing. On that perfect summer like evening this past June in Exeter, New Hampshire I watched a young lady whom I knew and loved since she was born complete her primary schooling. It was grand. I am so glad I could be there. I carry the thank you note she sent me.

Aunt and uncles, grandparents have often been part of the prayerband that goes after the wayward child. Some of you are part of such bands. Don't stop praying! Don't give up, even when the person goes further down the path of destruction. They are only a step away from turning around.

The pain of seeing a child go the wrong way is indescribable. It is heart breaking. It takes life out of the parent. I have been with parents when their children have let them down and broken their hearts. Listening to the pain of parents of a prodigal is heartbreaking.

Thank God He still answers prayer! There are prodigals who come back to the Father's House still today. We pray for that!

2. Nothing is More Painful to a Parent Than To Watch Hatred Between Their Children.

David saw this. God told him it would be so.
2 Samuel 12:10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.
This sends chills up and down my spine. Yet this was to be. Bathsheba in David's home as one of his wives was all because David had Uriah killed.

David had to live with it.
Pity the poor souls who are right now. It is gut wrenching and heart breaking!

We can pray. God can change hearts!
We have hope. We have the ministry of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

He can restore.
He can bring healing.
There are some consequences of sin we cannot cast off.


3. Our Children Are Always Our Children.

My daughter a few years ago, "Dad, I just realized that I will be a parent for the rest of my life!"
Some time later: Is the young man Absalom safe?" It has been said that he showed here more of the father than of the king—more of affection than of wisdom; and that is, doubtless, a correct criticism upon King David's deep fondness of his son.

The anxieties of parents are very great, and some young people do not sufficiently reflect upon them, or they would be more grateful, and would not so often increase them by their thoughtless conduct. I am persuaded that there are many sons and daughters who would not willingly cost their parents sorrow, who, nevertheless, do flood their lives with great grief.

As long as children are under your roof there is a certain peace. When they move out and are on their own, anxiety can increase. They have formed their own attachments, and have begin life entirely on their own account. Even if they are in the same town, we are concerned for their welfare; but if they are in another land, we are still more anxious.
Questions like David's flood the minds of parents:
Are they safe?
Are they following Christ?
Whose company are they keeping?

4. Our Times Are In God's Hands
David was about to experience a horrible rebellion from his own flesh and blood. He was about to lose another son in it.

Let's also take warning to stay away from sin. It has deadly consequences. Let's pass that warning of sins consequences to the younger generation. I believe many have failed to do just that. It needs to be done.

We may feel helpless but let's not forget about the power of prayer!

Jesus Himself knew what family problems were when He was here on earth. Born under the suspicion of illegitimacy (Remember the people of Nazareth, save Joseph, did not buy Mary's explanation of her pregnancy and he did only after a dream from the LORD), not believed by His own brothers until after His Resurrection, He spoke of division in families due to allegiance to Him.


Lift up all parents and adults you know with children in their lives.
Lift up the children. They often suffer the most when sin breaks out in a home.
Lift your own soul to the LORD.

Our hope is in the LORD,
He will bring us through,
When we are at wit's end
He knows just what to do

His mercies are great
His faithfulness endures
He heals our souls from sin
In Him are all the cures.

Rescue the perishing,
Care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful,
Jesus will save!

Avoiding The Traps of Temptation

II Samuel 11.1-27
Samuel 11.27 But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

I wish this chapter never happened in David' life. But this chapter is here to show us in part what can happen to a life, to a man after God's own heart, who falls into sin and complicates it by covering it up.

David was better while a servant than when a king; for being a servant, he feared to kill Saul his adversary, but becoming a king, he unhesitatingly has a close and loyal friend of his and the Kingdom killed.

Living above sin, resisting temptation is pleasing to the LORD. It should be our aim.

We are in a battle. We cannot remove ourselves from the spiritual battle, rather we must face it. By staying home from the battle, David placed himself in a very vulnerable position. That is where the failure begins. He forsook the post of duty. To be absent from the place where you belong is to be exposed to temptation. I was tempted yesterday and this morning to stay away from this message, to bring something else.

Uriah was one of his mighty men.

2 Samuel 23:24, 39 Among the Thirty were: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem, and Uriah the Hittite.There were thirty-seven in all.

How do you avoid the trap of temptation?

1. Don't Be Lazy
David should have been with his men.

He woke up from an afternoon nap, now in the evening. Nothing wrong with an afternoon nap if it is to begin your second day as Churchill used to say, if it is getting you ready for evening work, but if you are wandering around afterward, you probably will get into trouble.

The real problem was that David was resting on past victories, unengaged in the present battle.

We will be in the spiritual battle right up to the end.- Brother Hazzard

We need to take in the Word of God regularly.
We need to pray. This is spiritual work. It requires discipline.


2. Know Your Weaknesses.
David's was with women.
Requirements of a King
Deuteronomy 17.14-20
-Not a lot of silver and gold... David gave the spoils to the Temple
-No horses- David hamstrung them
-Not a lot of wives- David's weakness

3. Don't Go Wandering Around
Stay focused
Keep occupied
Gossip can happen when we wander into other people's lives.
We all have enough trouble with ourselves!

4. Watch what your Eyes take in

Material Things
Beautiful Things
Tempting Things can be good things but not for you!

5. Guard Your Heart
It is the well spring of life.
Proverbs 4.23
The issues of life come out of it.

David's conscience smote him when he cut off a corner of Saul's robe (and Saul was his enemy) but now he is having no problem it appears in having an innocent man, one of his mighty men, struck down. A heart left unguarded can do diabolic things. The treachery of David here is almost unimaginable. A David can act like a Saul if his heart goes unguarded.

How unlike Joseph, when confronted with temptation in Egypt in Potiphar's house. Genesis 39:8-10 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

Remember your responsibilities. David was king, there fore he carried the sword of justice. Yet he used the sword to murder an innocent man so his sin would not be found out. What a mess!
*Calling Bathsheba to his house when she knew who she was:
-The wife of one of his mighty men, some one else's wife!
-The granddaughter of one of his closest counselors
*Committing adultery with her
*Getting Uriah drunk Habakkuk 2:15 (KJV) Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
*Getting Uriah killed
*Acting nonchalant about Uriah's death and the death of other men. A leader ought to lead the nation in the mourning of one soldier who died fighting for freedom. Each one matters. I believe one of the things that age our Presidents is that they send young men to war and that some of those young men die.

David received the news of Uriah's death with a secret satisfaction. Beware of that disposition of your heart! When you hear of something and relish it in your heart... like the financial failure of an enemy or the struggles of someone who caused you pain.

Mark 7:18-23 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean. He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

The breaking of the commandments
2 Samuel 11
10th Commandment: Coveting
7th Commandment: Adultery
6th Commandment: Murder


"As soon as ever we are conscious of sin, the right thing is not to begin to reason with the sin, or to wait until we have brought ourselves into a proper state of heart about it, but to go at once and confess the transgression unto the Lord, there and then." (Spurgeon)

David missed the grace of God by having Uriah killed. Sure it would have been humiliating for him and Bathsheba but now he has blood on his hands.

"Though we mourn over David's sin, yet we thank God that it was permitted, for if he had not so fallen he had not been able to help us when we are conscious of transgression. He could not have so minutely described our griefs if he had not felt the same. David lived, in this respect, for others as well as for himself." (Spurgeon) Psalm 51 would never have been written.

But you know that whatever we sow, we reap. There are consequences for our sin. There is for mine, always has been and always will be. And there is for yours. And that has been true from the Old Testament right into the New Testament. And sin just causes problems, so no wonder we need to do our best to stay away from it. Because God is no respecter of persons, even if it is David the king that He has chosen, He still has to punish sin.

Lead us not into temptation!

A New Thing From the LORD

Isaiah 43.18-19

We must remember the past, in terms of God's great work on our behalf.
We must forsake and forget the past, with all its discouragement and defeat, and move on to what God has for us in the future.

This was the situation of Israel when Isaiah prophesied. Exiled in Babylon due to their breaking of the Covenant with the LORD but about to be restored to the land because of God's kindness, mercy and grace. God was doing a new thing!

Often there is new thing God wants to do.

We must not hitch up to what He has done in the past, even the good things.
Times are changing and God is on the move and He wants us to move with Him through the times of change. He is the "The Great I AM." He transcends time.


Often, when God makes a promise, we worry about the details or the obstacles for the fulfillment of the promise. God replies to us, "Don't worry about it at all. I will even make a road in the wilderness. I have resources and plans you don't know about. Leave those problems to Me."

This is a message of hope for the downtrodden, for those who wonder if life for them will ever change. This is a proclamation that some wonder filled and wonderful things are about to happen, almost suddenly. This morning, my friend, Carol Newell in Boston, was in tears because her young grandchildren were leaving for San Francisco.
She wrote:
They missed the flight! So from tears to a broad smile in less than an hour! So many flights delays and cancellations due to the storm that they are allowed to reschedule at no extra cost. No flights to SF for a week! And another adventure begins!

God is too much!!! I love His surprises and how He can bring blessings in a moment!!!

They shall declare My praise: This is part of fulfilling the purpose God created us for, as mentioned in Isaiah 43:7 (Whom I created for My glory). When we declare our praise for God, we are giving Him glory, and fulfilling one of the purposes we were created for.


Being open to the new thing the LORD is doing in our lives implies certain things. Here are some:


1. Waiting For the LORD.
David and the Poplar Trees
For the renewal of strength II Samuel 5:22-25 Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, and He answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

Waiting for Him to move.
The church catching the wind of the Spirit.
Your Church like an unfurled banner waiting for the Breeze.

The Holy Spirit is the Breath of the Church.

The primary way we wait for the LORD is through prayer. When we pray in the Spirit we are praying in God's will.

Oswald Chambers said:
There are times when you can’t understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don’t fill it with busyness, just wait. The time of waiting may come to teach you the meaning of sanctification— to be set apart from sin and made holy— or it may come after the process of sanctification has begun to teach you what service means. Never run before God gives you His direction. If you have the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt— wait.


2. Keeping In Step With the Spirit. Galatians 5.25
Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Military march... looking down a line it looks like one man... Jesus prayer for us to one.

Keeping in step with the Spirit means:
*Following Jesus Walk Like He walked 1 John 2:6 Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.
*Living By His Word Psalm 119.105
*Not quenching or grieving the Spirit
*Staying in line with love and grace.


3. Looking To Heaven
Jesus when He prayed for the 5 loaves and fish
Mark 6:41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people.

Far too often we are looking at earth, to the earth. Our focus is wrong.
Looking to heaven like Jesus did.
To acknowledge His Father
To Give Thanks
To set an example

Looking for that new thing that God is doing in our days...

4. Being Persistent in Prayer
Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Habakkuk prayed, "Habakkuk 3:2 Lord, I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy."

So while we are not to dwell on the past and we are to forget the former things (times of depression and struggle due to sin) we are to look for the LORD to renew His work in us in these last days.

People coming to Christ.


5. Remembering the Promise of His Return.
2 Peter 3:13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

It is His will.
It is for our good. Purifies us
1 John 3:2-3 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
It gives us hope.
It reminds us that this is a momentary time here.


I can hardly wait to see what God will do this year in our lives, in our church, in the world.
Let's sing it! In My Life LORD, Be Glorified!