The Best Laid Plans

So let's go ahead and read from second Samuel chapter 14 verses one through three, than you will be seated. This is the word of the Lord. Now Joab the son of Sarah Wyatt knew that the king's heart went out to Absalom, Joab sent to Toccoa and brought from their wise woman and said to her, pretend to be a mourner and put on morning garments do not anoint yourself with oil but behave like a woman who has been morning many days for the dead go to the king and speak thus to him.

So Joab put the words in her mouth may be seated.

Continuing in verse four, when the woman of Toccoa came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said save me okay the king said to her, what is your trouble. She answered, alas, I am a widow.

My husband is dead and your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them in one struck the other and kill them.

And now the whole clan is risen against your servant and they say give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put them to death.

The life of his brother whom he kill and so they would destroy the air. Also, the less they would quench my cold that is left and leave to my husband.

Neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth and the king said to the woman, go to your house. I will give orders concerning the woman of Toccoa said to the king on may be the guilt, my lord the king and on my father's house let the king and his throne be guiltless.

The king said if anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again and she said please let the king invoke the Lord your God, that the avenger of blood kill no more, and my son be not destroyed. He said, as the Lord lives, not one pair of your son shall fall to the ground. The woman said please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king, he said, speak. The woman said why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God.

For in getting this decision, the king convicts himself. Inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again. We all must die. We are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again but God will not take away life and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast know I have come to save us, my lord the king because the people of made me afraid in your servant thought. I will speak to the king, it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant to the king will hear and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the heritage of God and your servant thought the word of my lord the king will set me at rest from my lord the king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil, the Lord your God be with you and the king answered the woman do not hide from me. Anything I ask you, the woman said let my lord the king speak the king said, is the hand of Joab with you and all this woman answered and said, as surely as you live, my lord the king. One cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king is set, it was your servant Joab who commanded me it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant in order to change the course of things your servant Joab did this, but my Lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth. The king said to Joab, behold now I grant this go bring back the young man Absalom Joab fell on his face to the ground and paid homage and bless the king Joab said said today, your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, and that the king is granted the request of his servant, so Joab arose and went to get sure and brought Absalom to Jerusalem, the king said let them dwell apart in his own house he is not to come into my presence. So Absalom lived apart in his own house and did not come into the king's presence. Knowing all Israel. There was no one so much to be prays for his handsome appearances, Absalom from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. There was no blemish in and when he cut the hair of his head for at the end of every year he used to cut it when it was heavy on him.

He cut he weighed the hair of his head to hundred shekels by the king's weight.

There were born to Absalom three sons and one daughter whose name was Taymor. She was a beautiful woman so Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem without coming into the king's present then Absalom sent for Joab to send them to the king, Joab would not come to him and he sent them a second time.

But Joab would not come that he said to his servants, see jobs field is next to mine and he has barley there go and set it on fire.

So Absalom servants set the field on fire than Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house and said to them, why have your servant set my field on fire as Absalom answered Joab, behold, I sent word to you. Come here that I may send you to the king to ask, why have I come from to assure it would be better for me to be there still now therefore let me go into the presence of the king, and if there is guilt in me and put me to death when Joab went to the king and told him and he summoned Absalom so he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king and the king kissed Absalom.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever prey Lord Jesus.

As we come to a long section of Scripture pray that you would give us attentiveness that you would give me the words to speak so that your people may be fed Holy Spirit I ask that you would be with me as I expound your text for for your people and all times nest that you would be with this congregation as they listen and it's in the name of Christ. We pray on. Okay, that was a very long passage, but we need to get a feel for what's going on with Absalom with David Joab this woman. Everyone else when I was working this tax when I was kinda rolling it over in my mind I thought of one of my favorite works of fiction ever written by a man named John a new and it's his play. Beckett which is a dramatization of the events surrounding the appointment of a man named Thomas a Becket to the position of Archbishop of Canterbury takes place in the medieval era plays one of the bunch one a bunch of awards. They made a movie out of it. 1968, which I would highly recommend you and it tells the story of a pair of licentious friends, Henry II king of England. His friend Thomas a Becket is his partner in crime Henry wants absolute control over the nation.

But he's got a bit of a problem. It's the 1300s, the Catholic Church still exudes great influence.

About halfway through the play. Henry comes up with his grand plan.

He's going to get the church not just out-of-the-way but on his side. He's thinking appoint his man to the position of Archbishop of Canterbury and he won't be opposed by that pesky church, so he chooses Becket. He says this guy has been with me all my life. I know that he's a devil like me if I could put them in that position all the power will be mine, but the drama comes from an unlikely complication when Beckett becomes Archbishop. He becomes a Christian, he converts and it reminds me of Joab in this passage because what you have here is two men Henry and Joab were trying to come up with as great a plan as they can to manipulate the situation so that they come out on top.

Joab tries to manipulate David to secure his own future, but as we'll see every single intention that Joab had came to ruin. If it's true for Joab's trooper Henry and it's true for us to because God directs the future we should be honest in our plans rather than trying to sinfully manipulate our circumstances and one way that God directs the futures through the actions of other people's of people around us and interestingly enough, God can even direct the future through our sinful actions.

God directs the future through our manipulation to achieve his own purposes. That's our first point for tonight one of three say that again God directs the future through our manipulation to achieve his own purposes. So manipulation scheming one of those things that comes to human beings very easily.

Not exactly something you have to teach your children. I'm sure all the parents in this room could let us know you do not have to teach your children to lie and steal and cheat. If the work very hard to work those things out of the and certainly pray for God's grace to do that in Psalm 51. David writes that in sin. His mother conceived him. That's one of the passages where we get our doctrine of total depravity, which basically says that our entire being is tainted with sin.

There is not a part of our character that is left untouched by its evil influence a job as a character who teaches us that in spades. If you're not terribly familiar with this guy.

He does not have the most prestigious rap sheet that you will ever read the hits just keep coming from Joab. Joab was known for these sorts of things. First, his brother was killed in Joab instead of going to the proper authorities murders. The killer and second Samuel to know that little details important for later when we start talking about Absalom. Also, Joab is famous for killing off Uriah the Hittite and second Samuel 11 after the story that takes place today is actually responsible for running Absalom through with a spear and when David tries to replace him. Joab goes ahead and kills his own replacement and by the way, late in David's life, David has endorsed his son Solomon to become the next king over Israel.

Well a number of influential people in Israel endorse Adonijah. David's other son.

One of the people who endorse Adonijah is Joab is effectively engaging in a coup d'état. So needless to say, Joab is not the nicest man in Scripture. Joab is proof of what GK Chesterton famously said. He said that human the product depravity is the most easily provable of all of Christianity's doctrines. I think Joab's manipulative nature is totally on display for us here in this passage. One of the Bible dictionaries I was going through said that Joab was a valiant warrior and enable general but as a man.

He was imperious. He was revengeful and unscrupulous now. Once we have a bit of an understanding of Joab's character. I think we can start to understand what's going on in our passage because when you read about this and you read about these people bowing in front of David and you read about this parable can be sort of confusing but if you know who you're dealing with. It helps to figure out what is going on. So let's set the scene in terms of Israel's political situation. David's sons been fighting with each other.

One of Nathan's prophecies to David is that the sword will not depart from his house and that is coming true. Absalom who courses sort of the man in question. In our passage. He is a charismatic schemer himself, and he's just killed his half-brother Amnon and he killed Amnon because Amnon violated his half-sister tame in one of the most lurid accounts we have in Scripture. Absalom is subsequently on the land is running away and David is at home in Jerusalem, trying to figure out what on earth is going on in his beard.

He's actually doing very little about it being fairly passive. Given the attention of what's going on in Israel what's going on with the royal household. Joab is trying to turn things around so that they'll be best for himself. Joab is always concerned for number one. I think it's sort of humorous that when I was studying this passage on my commentaries sort of painted Joab is a good guy sorta said that he was trying to reconcile David and Absalom, because he knew that David's heart went out to his son, which we read about and 14 one. He was trying to just reconcile a broken family. Well I think that's a noble thought, but I don't think that's Joab we know Joab is much more manipulative and I think Matthew Henry gets it right when he says that Joab had four motivations in trying to bring Absalom home first. He wants to get in good with David. David loves his son he loves Absalom though Absalom is done something terrible.

It is not enough to overcome David's fatherly love.

So if Joab can bring David's son home will. Maybe David will remember that later.

Second, it could scoring points with Absalom. The people love Absalom.

It says right here in our passage that people love the guy so maybe Joab is also trying to make sure that if Absalom takes the throne. He's going to be okay. Third, the people love Absalom and I think that's one that were inclined to overlook. Absalom is not just charismatic on his own. He's charismatic, all the people around him. Everybody loves this guy so if Joab can bring their guy home, maybe the love him a bit more to and here's the fourth one this is a biggie.

Absalom himself murdered someone and never faced punishment for it mention that earlier he killed his brother's murderer in cold blood. Absalom is just committed the same crime. So if Absalom can get off Scott free. Well, maybe that'll set up a nice precedent for Joab so you can see the Joab is scheming to make things work out for him in any way shape or form that he can. Henry writes Joab made himself very busy in this affair.

He's manipulating a tense situation for his own advancement. I don't know about you, that sounds an awful lot like a sinful love of self to me. Other people are just a means to an end. Everything is just circling around number one what's most important is achieving your goals. But God does not tolerate that in Joab he doesn't tolerate that and you and me either. This is the other side of Romans 828 all things work together for the good of those who love God all things doesn't mean all well-intentioned things.

Remember Genesis 5020 where Joseph says to his brothers. What you meant for evil God meant for good, but our perception of what's good what should be done what's right, what's best in God's perception of what's good and what's best, can be very different thing. God can and does confound plans which have sin as their ultimate goal or have self exaltation as their ultimate goal or just have some sort of unbridled ambition as their ultimate goal.

Oftentimes in life we want. What's good for us. We want good things for ourselves, but God wants what is best.

God does not settle. God wants what's best and what is best is ultimately his glory. What's best for us even is. Well it's Westminster shorter catechism one right man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Joab wanted to glorify Joab and enjoy him forever.

We want to glorify ourselves and enjoy us forever, that promise will never be fulfilled. That itch can never be scratch that goal can never quite be reached. We always want a little bit more applause. We always won another pat on the back. We always want that last little possession little make us comfortable that'll never come. Rather, we need a higher goal. We need our Lord Jesus Christ who enables us to glorify God and enjoy him forever in Joab's case. Well it's interesting to note his action does glorify God because all things work together to glorify God, right, but he does get the second half of that he does not get to enjoy him forever. We need to ask ourselves if we get the second half of that. Do we enjoy him forever or will God resist us as we see in this passage. Plans intended to exalt or fulfill ourselves often come to ruin Joab's plan fails on all four intended purposes render those for I walk through a moment ago, every single one of them fails and as we explore that failure.

Let's move into our second points of point number two God directs the future through exposing evil, to exalt himself. God has a way of using good to expose evil by contrast him so he exposes the evil by showing us something really really great. We get a sense of how bad that evil actually is. This is apparent from our passage, Joab is in a position where frankly David is embarrassing him.

I want to talk about David for just a moment he's king of Israel. In fact, he is in the place of God as their ruler. He represents the Lord to those living in the land. That's one of his functions as the king of all Israel. The woman of Toccoa realizes this, she says in verse 17, your servant thought the word of my lord the king will set me at rest for my lord the king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil, the Lord your God be with you. I don't think this is just sheer flattery think she actually has a point. David is like an angel, a messenger to the people of to the people of what God has to say. He stands as the king and one of David's kingly duties is to be a judge. So sometimes particularly difficult or complicated cases legal cases would come up to David's level and he's actually fulfilling his kingly duty he is adjudicating between what should be done. What ought not to be done between the clean and the unclean. The right and the wrong it's his duty to decide what's to be done. He's performing his duty to determine what to write to the shame of Joab.

God is directing the future here by exposing Joab's evil he's exposing evil by allowing dark schemes to come to light me this and really sneak past David as soon as the woman from Toccoa was done explaining her parable. What's he say to her as the head of Joab with you and all this Joab wasn't exactly being subtle.

David is fairly passive throughout this season of his life.

But here he's doing the right thing and the result of doing the right thing for him. Tragically going to lead to him getting hurt. This is another way that God directs the future by exposing evil it's in even allowing tragedy to happen. I mean is not the cruel outcome of doing the right thing.

Sometimes we want to believe that doing the right thing is always going to result in your happiness and comfort. It's always good to make life easier to do the right thing. Also that's true.

The book of Proverbs speaks very highly of wisdom and generally speaking, a wise life a godly life leads to a blessed life. But we can all think of times when doing the right thing hurts we be better off not correcting that expense report. We do better to just remind the teacher they scored our test to high. I think most of us have been there in a place where we need to have a hard talk with someone we love, and instead of reconciliation and hung hugs and warmth and friendship and companionship at the end. What we end up with disagreement discomfort dissatisfaction.

What is God doing in these situations, why would he allow that to happen. Why would he allow something bad to seemingly happen when we've done the right thing. Why does David eventually suffer the pain and loss of his son Absalom, in part because Absalom returned to Jerusalem, which is something that Joab orchestrated. Why would God do things that way I would encourage you when you come to situations like this to press in on God rather than standing afar off from him. I would advise you to have an eye towards eternity when it seems like we are suffering for doing the right thing. It often seems like God is even cruel when we do the right thing and suffer for it when somebody who's righteous like David suffers at the hands of someone else's manipulation, but we need to remember that God's perspective is larger and farther in higher than ours. Christian God has not forgotten you. Psalm 50 6839. The psalmist says these words to God. You've Count of my tossing's put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book that my enemies will turn back the day when I call this I know that God is for me.

God remembers when his children suffer. He's not forgetting that he's not doing the wrong thing we can trust that his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. God remembers when his children suffer because he remembered when his firstborn son suffer God's only begotten, the one and only begotten God son Jesus Christ suffered in a way that exposed the evil around him. In stark contrast to the King of glory breathed out. It is finished, while others mocked him and spat on because of his death, we will live. We can persevere through the severe and hard time. The times when even when we do something right. It seems like were being punished. We know that because Jesus Christ has gone ahead of us don't because of his death, we will live.

He was raised from the dead to guarantee that unless we have little faith that God does not forget about us because he was raised again to life. We can know for sure that he cares when we suffer no suffering is ever wasteful in God's economy and no act of love is ever wasted in in him we will live, even if now we suffer so just as David's positive aspects in this passage are meant to shame Joab, Christ's goodness shames and exposes other evil actions.

But here's the twist they expose our evil actions.

They expose the things that we've done, we are to despair of our own works and run to Christ because one of the most amazing things in an infinitely long list of amazing things about the gospel is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. That is how he shows his love, but God doesn't just expose evil.

He also undoes evil. He works against evil.

This brings me to my third point God directs the future through confounding evil to work all things to his glory. God directs the future through confounding evil to work all things to his glory. There are really two ways that God does this.

First, I think it's important to realize that sometimes God let's evil run its course. Just lets it burn itself out. He sometimes confounds evil by having it destroy itself to make God's ultimate purpose come to pass.

Sometimes he let's evil get what it wants and is sort of short-term sentence. I again think of Genesis 5020 here. Let's think about Joab to I mean he really is getting what he wants in a sense, Absalom's coming home. He thinks man of God. It I got all these purposes lined up in our boys coming home. Everybody's gonna think well of me. He thinks that's going to result in his own security, verse 23, Joab gets to do this thing that he wants David says okay go get it, but does not turn out for look down with me at verses 30 through 32. Needless to say, things don't exactly turn out the way he had hoped. Instead of making David happy Absalom's presence is awkward is troubling for the king, they didn't see each other for two years after Absalom returned home.

Imagine if your son or daughter lived across Harrisburg in two years went by he never spoke to him and also things only get more complicated now that Absalom is back home don't get more simple.

Not only is he stealing away the hearts of God's people.

In verses 25 through 27 he started to get a little restless that he hasn't seen his father so to solve this problem.

He asked to get Joab's attention. The only way he can do that by doing something drastic. Joab's kind of ignoring the problem he's created Absalom's home, but is not exactly going the way it hoped just can't hope it'll work itself out. Will Absalom is not the kinda guy to just take things lying down. Absalom engages in a little property damage. Arson actually to gain an audience with Joe. So Absalom needs to approach Joab to get to David so he's on step one. Let's ignore Joab first and then we'll move on.

No.

Eventually this does work out but I want you to pay close attention to verse 33 and read it again for you and says that Joab went to the king and told him that his David and he summoned Absalom so he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king and the king kissed Absalom. Do you notice what's missing in our passage.

David's name David is not mentioned by name in that passage every time the author could've put in David's name.

He substituted in this word the king.

I think that is intentional, while David is welcoming home, his son formally safe to say that there some distance here. I think we know what this feels like to we know what it's like when somebody that you haven't really worked things out with yet comes by Ken have to deal with the fact that there's some tension there some awkwardness but sometimes this goes beyond just the sort of surface level problem think deeper than that. Maybe you have a coworker that you're fighting with and be a family member. Maybe somebody you love may be a spouse and outside there's peace, not yelling at each other every day sort of an armistice, but it's easy to have an outward piece and an inward turmoil course that's what we have here with David and Absalom outside they reconciled Absalom's gone through the formalities is bowed before David. David is kiss them, which is really supposed to solve the problem right there supposed to be together now. That's not what is happened inwardly, there is distance tension unresolved feelings on exactly the kind of reunion anyone was hoping for. All this is to say the Joab get what he wanted. Oh yeah in a way he did. It's just not exactly how he thought things would go. Sometimes God allows evil to get what it wants, but evil people including ourselves, we often don't know what were asking for. So we get burned by the very thing that we sinfully desire God directs the future through confounding evil. The first way does that sometimes just letting it get what it wants, but there's a second way that he does that to. Sometimes he directs the future through directly frustrating evil purposes, and I think in our passage really Joab. This is kinda getting the one-two punch there. He is getting what he wants but also every single purpose he had his being frustrated. So let's go back to our four purposes from earlier.

Joab is on bad terms with David is also on bad terms of Absalom the time our passage in so those two are out, the people of Absalom, not Joab, so that one's out.

And finally, Absalom isn't exactly in Joab's good graces, and neither one of their murders has been dealt with in an official capacity so Joab is not even gotten the legal precedent you wanted, so Joab got what he wanted, yes, but he also got nothing of what he wanted no single intended purpose in bringing him home came to pass, Joab is left with a dissatisfied king and unruly son a burn field and a whole heap of sins that he hasn't dealt with yet in all these things are ultimately for God's glory and for his good purposes.

I think it's very easy to be overwhelmed when you look out at the news new look at world history and think but it's just too much, but there's nothing that can be done about all this but remember that all avenues of evil and end up like Joab frustrated, destitute, ultimately destroyed. So instead of Duroc.

Instead of trying to direct the future ourselves sinfully for our own advancement, our own purposes. We should trust God's sovereign purpose for our lives. God's not out there waiting for his people to mess up so that he can pounce on. He's not out there holding every sin over our heads. We serve a God who delights to forgive and restore and set his love on his children.

If you don't know them tonight. I would encourage you to trust this God forsake your own sins. Forsake your own works, making you righteous or forsake your own works, giving you the good life when I worked for reform University Fellowship at Jacksonville State. I once had a student tell me well come to church more often but now I'm okay with Jesus, and Jesus is okay with me. Please, don't talk. There's nothing between us but that's kind of the problem, isn't it. This is a young man who went from one heart ache to the next.

I did what I could to try and bring them to Christ, but to this day I don't know if he's converted, I encourage you to not be like the student realize that well if there's nothing between you and Jesus, there's a severe problem going on in your life realize that if you're not a Christian, you're not okay with Jesus you desperately fundamentally need him and his forgiveness later in the history of Israel. Joab dies without is without this piece. In fact, David himself orders Joab's death as he lays dying. David says to his son Solomon. Do not let Joab get away with his many crimes. The king executes vengeance on those who oppose him and that is not just true of David. It's true the Lord to think about Psalm two the nations rage, God laughs because he will frustrate them in the end, but that does not have to be you.

God's chosen you than you could know life forever with God, not as a harsh judge but as a loving father. We should turn to Christ and honor him as our Lord. If we do so we will find, not an avenger. A friend Jesus has called his own followers. His friend the gospel of John. Here's the thing about trying to control our future week we can account for everything right will know exactly what's going to happen. We can't know everything the future will hold.

But we can know the one to whom the future belongs no close with this we can know this one, to whom the future belongs we can know that God who knows the future has already planned it out anyway. Therefore, we don't have to try to sinfully manipulate our circumstances. He's assured us that things will work out for the best. Now were not going to know exactly what that looks like but we can trust that the God who raised Jesus from the dead will make it so. By his death through his shed blood united to him by faith, we have no need to despair.

In him we may rest and have life forever more. Let's pray for Jesus, I thank you for this passage of Scripture. Thank you, even for examples in Scripture which are sobering, which are people we should not be like my pray that this congregation would not be like Joab would emulate David and ultimately that we would emulate your son Jesus Christ. What I asked you would forgive us our many sins lead us the way of the Lord that's in his name we pray on