2Samuel 3:28-31
How to Deal with Problems (2)
Last week, we started talking about David’s leadership and what we can learn to
deal with problems.
1. Even though we are reading about the life of David, we are not seeing much
about David in chapters 1-4, a period that covers 7 1/2 years.
2. Instead the emphasis is on those around David, mainly upon the problems
they caused.
3. Then, we see how David reacts to those problems.
4. So in this section, we are looking to see if we might learn anything about
how to deal with problems.
We have seen three situations already.
1. \\#2Sam 1:1-16\\ We saw how David dealt with the Amalekite who claimed to
kill Saul.
a. David deal with him JUSTLY, that is, he had him killed.
b. I tried to point out that to deal with a wicked problem justly is never
wrong.
(1) Governments must certainly deal with wrong in a just fashion.
(a) When killers and evil doers are not justly dealt with, they
fail in their primary responsibility.
Romans 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that
which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the
minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
(b) One of the surest ways to create fear, political unrest, and
anarchy within a country is for the government to fail in
its primary duty of providing justice.
(2) And Christian have the option for treating wrong doers with
justice.
(a) Certainly, Christians are commanded to be merciful and our
Lord has been merciful to us all.
(b) However, God is also a just God who requires a complete
payment for all sin. Either you accept His Son as payment
you will be required to make the payment.
c. When mercy is expected, demanded, and abused, it is no longer mercy,
but a system of injustice.
d. The point I tried to make is that you don’t have to allow wrong to go
to go unpunished to be Christ-like.
(1) Sometimes the best course of action is to let justice run its
course.
(2) The law is there to protect you too.
2. \\#2Sam 1:17-27\\ How would David deal with the legacies of Saul and his
sons?
3. \\#2Sam 2:5-7\\ How did David deal with the men of Jabeshgilead who stole
the bodies of Saul and his sons, burned them, and buried the remains?
a. It is quite common for a new dynasty to try to erase all records of
the pervious power.
b. They often even kill all of that family to make certain they can’t
reclaim their power.
c. However, David dealt with both of these issues using kindness and
grace.
Now, we come to two of the biggest messes made, namely, a war between David’s
kingdom and Israel.
1. \\#2Sam 2:8-32\\ Joab and Abner, captains of the armies, caused this war.
2. They started this war by allowing some games to get out of hand!
3. It is interesting that neither king, David nor Ishbosheth, had anything to
do with this war getting started, yet they would have to deal with the
consequences of it.
I. So how did David deal with a war?
A. We don’t know.
1. The Bible doesn’t give us a single detail about David in this
conflict.
2. I find that strange.
a. On the one hand I can understand God not taking up the whole
Bible with every detail of David’s life.
b. On the other, I sure wonder why God didn’t give a little more
information on this situation.
c. After all, this is Israel fighting against Israel.
B. Maybe it is because sometimes there is simply no good way to deal with
the circumstances of an imperfect, sin-tainted world.
1. That sounds very harsh, but that is the way life is.
2. David was a spiritual man, but his spiritual gifts didn’t end the
war.
a. David was anointed.
b. David could pray and God did answer.
c. David had the ephod, with the Urim and Thummim.
d. However, sometimes it is just God’s will to let things run
their course.
3. There was any UPSIDE to this war.
a. At least when you are fighting an outside enemy, you can claim
the bounty, add to your territory, or fortify you boundaries.
b. This was cousin against cousin and it was started over nothing,
but once begun, there was nothing that could be done but to
finish it.
c. Good Jewish people died on both sides.
C. To me, this is one of those places that you get to in an imperfect,
sin-tainted world, where there aren’t any good options.
1. Neither King David nor King Ishbosheth had done anything wrong,
but they and their kingdoms were at war.
2. Oh, the ravages of sin!
a. A child, through no fault of his own, having to pick a parent
to live with.
b. A mate having to say good-bye to life as he/she knows it.
c. A worker given the boot after years of faithful service.
d. Famine, sickness, death, hardships, destruction - walking
through the lives of the innocent.
3. Every human being as felt the pain of living in a sin-tainted and
we all will again.
D. When you get to one of those places, don’t give up.
1. Just like God gives us some "glory" characteristics, so God also
gives us some "hang-in-there" characteristics.
a.. The "glory" characteristics help us to rejoice when God gives
us the good. (i.e. praise, happiness, rejoicing,
thankfulness)
b. And the "hang-in-there" characteristics are help us when life
deals its worse (i.e. prayer, faith, endurance, patience,
longsuffering).
2. The truth is that you and I are going to have to just hunker down
and stay with it a whole lot of the time in this sin-cursed
world.
II. Chapter 3 - So how did David deal with Abner’s murder?
A. You remember the story. We looked at it a few weeks ago in laying the
background.
1. Ishbosheth, Israel’s king, was losing the war. Abner, his military
captain, decided to shift loyalties. He bargains with David to
bring Israel to David. Then, as a peace is near, Joab murders
Abner for killing his brother in combat.
2. I can’t think of a better way to keep a war going than to murder
the peace envoy, can you?
B. Here is a kick.
1. Who started the war, at least on David’s side? Joab
2. And when David was able to almost get a peace worked out, who
murdered the other side’s ambassador, under a flag of truce, I
might add? Joab
3. It looks to me like Joab is a wheel that needs to be oiled!
C. So how will David handle this?
1. \\#2Sam 3:28-30\\ David told the truth.
a. What a novel idea for a political figure!
b. Of course, it helps when you are actually innocent.
c. Joab must have felt very secure to have done such a thing.
(1) Why David did not have Joab killed is a small mystery.
(2) We can only conclude that it was because…
(a) Joab was related to David. \\#1Chron 2:16\\ Joab
was David’s nephew.
(b) Joab was and had been very helpful to David. They
had been together at least some of those days when
Saul had hunted for David.
d. Not only was he avenging himself of the man who killed his
brother but he was also eliminating the only other man who in
a united kingdom might have been a threat to his job.
e. It does not appear that Joab got through this completely
unscathed.
(1) Joab might have lost his job.
(2) At least, David offers his job to whoever will defeat the
Jebusites of Jerusalem.
2Sam 5:8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and
smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David’s
soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame
shall not come into the house.
(3) As it turns out, Joab gained it back for he is the first
to smite the Jebusites.
1Chronicles 11:6 And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be
chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief.
2. \\#2Sam 3:31-35\\ David and his kingdom mourned.
a. David mourned publicly.
(1) \\#31\\ David followed the bier.
(a) That is, he was near the bier, the place where the
family would naturally be.
(b) Thus, David was identifying himself as family to
Abner.
(2) \\#32-34\\ David wept openly and publicly.
(3) \\#35\\ David fasted.
b. \\#31\\ David made Joab and all the people do the same.
(1) I am sure that Joab had a problem with this.
(2) However, this was probably one time when Joab did not
dare to cross David.
(3) There is such a thing as ‘pushing your luck."
c. The right thing to do when you do wrong is to grieve and mourn
over it.
(1) One of the things missing from our world today—both
inside the church and out—is a genuine brokenness over
wrong.
(2) Paul teaches that if there is no brokenness, there is no
repentance.
2Cor 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to
repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive
damage by us in nothing.
(3) And if there is no repentance, we know that there is no
forgiveness.
3. \\#2Sam 3:38\\ David praised Abner.
a. David called Abner and prince and a great man.
b. No doubt, in the total sum of his life, he was.
(1) I mentioned last week that it appears to be a man who
sought his own interests.
(2) However, he stood loyally to King Saul and Israel for
many, many years.
D. Notice how the people took this.
2Sam 3:36 And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as
whatsoever the king did pleased all the people.
37 For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the
king to slay Abner the son of Ner.
III. David had several other occasions to exercise justice.
A. I don’t want to beat a horse to death but it is essential that we
understand.
1. In dealing with the wicked, justice must be given.
2. David understood that.
3. The world, and even Christians, need to understand it.
B. \\#2Sam 4:1-12\\ Two of Ishbosheth’s servants murder him.
1. There are a lot of people who think violence and murder are the
solutions to a problem.
2. I repeat, justice is a good way to deal with some people,
especially the wicked ones.
3. It is for certain that these two men never harmed anyone else.
C. \\#2Sam 5:6-9\\ A city within Israel’s borders rejected King David.
1. The city was Jerusalem.
a. Jerusalem has been a major city in Israel ever since Joshua
brought the nation into the land.
b. The city was still controlled by the original land owners,
the Jebusites.
2. David decides to go to Jerusalem.
a. There is no indication that David went to Jerusalem as their
enemy.
b. Jerusalem is the place that David took Goliath’s armor,
suggesting he was very comfortable there.
1 Samuel 17:54 And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to
Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.
c. For whatever the reason, this time, the Jebusites to do welcome
him. (They probably did not recognize him as king.)
3. Once this people taunted David, they sealed their own fate.
4. Once taken, Mount Zion becomes David’s favorite spot.
a. Zion is one of the hills that present day Jerusalem is built
upon.
b. However, J. Vernon McGee says that is not the way it was in
this time period.
(1) He says Jerusalem was lower, near the Kidron Valley.
(2) David went to the top of Zion to get the height advantage.
c. After claiming the city, David used the hill as a fortress and
the city grew to enclose it.
IV. So how did David’s leadership tactics work out?
A. David used kindness and grace when appropriate, but he also used
justice when necessary.
B. God blessed him.
1. \\#2Sam 5:1-5\\ With the deaths of Abner and Ishbosheth, Israel
reunites under the banner of King David.
a. David has ruled for 7 1/2 years in Hebron.
b. He was 30 when he began to rule so now he is 37 1/2 years old.
c. He will rule until he is 70 years old.
2. \\#2Sam 5:6-9\\ God gave to David his own city and strong hold.
3. \\#2Sam 5:10\\ God blessed David, making him very powerful.
4. \\#2Sam 5:11\\ God gave to David allies and needed supplies.
5. \\#2Sam 5:12\\ God gave to David wisdom.
6. \\#2Sam 5:13-16\\ God gave to David many sons and daughters.
David used several qualities but it all boils down to two. He used kindness
and justice. Even in this 21st century, these are the qualities which make for
good leaders. It takes the wisdom of God to know when is right time to use which.
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