2Samuel 19:40-43
The Sword Shall Not Depart
2 Samuel 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house;
because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the
Hittite to be thy wife.
It is a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless that David never completely recovered
from his sin with Bathsheba. Before that sin, even when David did wrong, God
was quick to forgive him and restore to his the position of the most blessed.
After that sin, God forgave David, but he never got back the favor with God that
he once had. The last 1/3 to 1/4 of David’s life will be filled with trouble.
Now, the fourfold judgment of God is over, but the problems continue to come.
Even before David gets back into Jerusalem from Absalom’s rebellion, another
situation is brewing.
I. David had much to do to put his kingdom back together.
A. \\#2Samuel 19:9-12, 14\\ He won the hearts of Judah.
1. David needed to get back to Jerusalem and to do that, he had to
make some kind of overture to the people of Judah.
2. We have noted in the past that David was a gracious man and he
won the people’s hearts.
3. There is no indication at this point that David did anything to
reach out to any of the tribes of Israel except Judah.
a. Perhaps it was a case of needing to do first things first.
b. This oversight will end up causing jealousy and strife in the
kingdom.
B. \\#2Samuel 19:13\\ He made Amasa his commander-in-chief
1. Apparently, Amasa was of the tribe of Judah as he is mentioned in
this section.
2. Amasa was Absalom’s commander-in-chief.
3. David had a method for eliminating his political enemies.
a. He put them on his staff.
b. In this case, David replaced Joab with Amasa.
4. We are not given any explanation as to why David this.
a. We have noted several times that Joab was not a perfect man,
but he was always very loyal to King David.
b. This act will also play out in a large way before very long.
C. \\#2Samuel 19:16-23\\ He showed mercy to Shimei.
D. \\#2Samuel 19:24-30\\ He settled the dispute between Mephibosheth
and Ziba.
E. \\#2Samuel 19:31-39\\ David rewarded at least some of those who had
helped him. (We have the record of his offer to help Bazillai.)
G. \\#2Samuel 20:3\\ He separated himself from his concubines.
1. This is interesting not so much for what it says, but for what
it doesn’t say.
2. Do you remember the sin that David committed which caused all of
his problems?
a. It started as a sexual sin with Bathsheba.
b. Is it right for David to have a harem?
c. NO. It was a sin to have multiple wives and even more wicked
to just keep a cluster of them around for your pleasure.
3. What I see is that the Bible doesn’t say that David REPLACED his
harem.
a. The fact that the Bible doesn’t say one way or the other
does not necessarily mean that he did not replace them.
b. I’m just hoping that has this man has been contemplating the
sins that has brought him all of this pain, that he has
figured out that even the king must do right in matters of
purity and holiness!
4. By-the-way, this also points out that we are Christians under
construction.
a. No one is perfect.
(a) David loved God, wrote Scripture, was a type of Jesus,
but David still had sin.
(b) Even while he was being judged for sexual impurity, it
is possible that he was still adding women to his harem!
(c) Sometimes, it is just very hard to see your own sin.
b. Not even age and wisdom will make a human being perfect, but
it should make him BETTER.
(a) The longer we walk with Christ, the more things we ought
to fix in our lives.
(b) Are you are growing Christian?
II. \\#2Sam 19:40-43\\ A Division in the land
A. Notice that some of the same people who had just attempted to kill
David are now fighting over who gets the most prestigious position
in bringing him back.
1. People can be a fickled lot!
2. This happens when they have nothing more to anchor themselves to
than their opinions.
3. That is the problem with politics. Whoever makes the people think
he/she can make them happy, gets the support of the people
a. Absalom convinced the people that he would be a better
king than his father, and so they didn’t mind it too
much if Absalom killed David.
(1) That seems strange to me considering David was the
best king the nation would EVER have.
(2) Even so, when it was Absalom who was killed, the
people decided that David was all right after all
and fought each other to bring him back.
b. That is still the nature of politics today.
(1) I have read recently that President Obama’s popularity
has declined with all major political demographics except
the blacks.
(2) His popularity has declined with women, young people,
moderates, even among the liberals and the Democrats.
(3) The reason why is because he didn’t please those groups.
(4) They voted for him because he convinced them that he
could make them happy.
(5) He didn’t so their opinion of him changed.
c. It is a shame that some people don’t have a better standard of
what a political leader should be!
(1) You and I should not vote on anyone based on what they
can do for us.
(2) We should select our leaders based on how they obey the
Word of God.
(3) That is the right and unchangeable standard.
B. \\#2Sam 19:43\\ Notice the strife broke down along tribal boundaries.
1. We have the ten tribes of Israel verses the tribe of Judah before.
2. When David first became king, he was king over Judah while
Ishbosheth, Saul’s son was king over the ten tribes of Israel.
3. This will ultimately become a permanent division in the land.
III. \\#2Samuel 20:4-22\\ David sent Amasa after Sheba.
A. \\#2Sam 20:1-2\\ Sheba, an opportunist, takes advantage of the strife.
1. \\#1\\ Says that he was a son of Beliah; that is, he was a godless
man.
2. That verse also says that Sheba was of the tribe of Benjamin.
a. That is the tribe that Saul was from.
b. It appears that some from that tribe held a grudge against
David. (First Shimei and now Sheba)
3. One wrote concerning this man that he wasn’t very good at picking
winners.
a. No doubt he had back Saul and probably Absalom.
b. Now he figures he can do what those couldn’t.
c. So he organizes a rebellion and takes charge of the ten tribes
himself.
4. So before David even got back into Jerusalem, he had a second
rebellion on his hands.
a. There’s that sword that won’t go away.
b. Not only did David not get to mourn as he wanted for his
son, but he didn’t have time to put either his house
or his kingdom in order before he must deal with another
major catastrophe.
B. The contrast between the way David handled the rebellion of Sheba
and Absalom is interesting.
1. The first thing David did with Absalom was flee Jerusalem.
With Sheba, David made his way back into the city.
2. David sent his army out after Sheba as soon as possible. It
appeared that David waited with Absalom until Absalom had gathered
quite a large force.
3. David gave orders not to harm Absalom. I don’t think that was
the goal with Sheba.
4. I have a feeling David probably didn’t spend any time mourning
Sheba’s death either.
C. \\#2Samuel 20:4-13\\ The story
1. Amasa was to gather troops for three days.
a. Apparently, after the defeat of Absalom, David’s public
behavior toward Absalom caused all the soldiers to figure
they had some leave time coming.
b. The army was so devastated, they literally scattered.
c. Now, David has to put them back together.
2. Amasa ran late so David sent Abishai to take what soldiers they
had and go after Sheba.
3. Amasa eventually caught up to them and while Joab pretended to be
greeting Amasa, he killed him.
a. This is the same trick he used on Abner.
b. Like with Abner, this was murder, plain and simple.
c. At this point, David’s authority is so weak, it appears that
he does absolutely nothing to Joab.
d. However, David will remember Joab for this act and deal with
him much later.
4. So Joab ended up stealing his old job back.
5. \\#2Samuel 20:14\\ Sheba sought refuge in the walled town of
Bethmaachah and Abel.
a. The word ABEL means "a grassy place of meadow."
b. The name becomes a part of several locations.
c. Bethmaachah is a city in Manasseh, not very far from Judah.
d. So Joab laid siege to the city and prepared to destroy the
city to get to Sheba.
6. \\#2Samuel 20:16\\ A wise woman intervened for the city and
talked the inhabitants into killing Sheba for Joab to spare the
city.
C. What is the moral of the story?
1. It goes back to that people are fickled business.
a. Don’t start a rebellion and expect someone else to die with
you, let alone for you.
b. Don’t back a loser.
2. The Bible doesn’t say, but we suppose that the ten tribes now
submit themselves to the rule of David for the remainder of his
life, but the division between Judah and Israel has grown a little
deeper.
This event seems to close a rather lengthy and detailed section of David’s life.
David lives to be 80 and is probably in his mid to late 60’s. Most of what we
will read about him now will center on problems he will have. That old sword will
not depart from his house.
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