THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
781
He was a typical hypocrite (actor). He professed godliness and served him self and the devil. He paraded himself before the people, ana professed great sympathy for them because no one was authorized to look after them (Ch. 15:3). David commanded the captains to be careful concerning Absalom. They were to deal gently with him, and all the people were apprised of the charge. . Absalom was poorly raised. He was a rebellious son and the law was definite, (Deut, 21:18-21). God holds parents accountable. The time to teach obedience is in childhood. David should have used the rod (Prov. 3:11, 12; Prov. 4). Had David lived for Absalom he would not have had to say “Would I had died for thee.” (5) ABSALOM’S DEATH, vs. 9-15, The battle went against Absalom. Routed by David’s troops they fled through the thickly wooded tracts. Ab salom’s hair was entangled, his head caught, and he was hung up between heaven and earth. A pitiful picture! The end of ambition! (Deut. 21:22, 23; Gal. 3:10-13). Absalom’s glory was his undoing. His hair becomes his execu tioner (Prov. 22:5; 28:17, 18). The Lord gave David’s army a great victory. God’s armies must always con quer. When our David comes He will subdue all foes (2 Thess. 2 :8). “And then shall that Wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.’’ His foes shall he His footstool. Joab, in revenge for Absalom’s set ting fire to his field, slew him, though his soldiers, in obedience to the charge given them by David, sought to spare him. Formerly his friend, now his foe. An appropriate epitaph for Absalom’s grave would be Prov. 30:17; 3:35. The stroke David feared had fallen with fearful force at last. His effort to save Absalom unavailing. Look at the pitiful picture of David at the gate. Lis
ten to his lament— the cry of a broken heart, “ O, Absalom, my son, my son! Would God I had died for thee, O Absa lom, my son!” Is the young man safe? Are young men safe today? Look at some of the pitfalls:
(1) Christless homes. (2) Godless schools. (3) Yellow back literature. (4) Ignorance of the Bible.
(5) Putrid plays. (6) Pool rooms. (7) Dance halls. (8) Card tables. (9) Dens of vice. (10) Harlot’s houses.
(11) Wicked companions. (12) Miasmi of the age, Love of pleasure. Love of money. (13) False Doctrines, (Snares of Satan) Spiritism. (14) Indifferentism. No one is safe who despises the Word of God. PRACTICAL POINTS. (1) It is the crisis which reveals the character. (2) David was wise as a ruler, but weak as a father. (3) Absalom illustrates the saying that “ A man may smile, and smile, and be a villian still.” (4) It was the people’s purpose to pro long the life of the king. (5) Battles are not always won by big battalions. (6) Absalom stuffed his father’s pillow with thorns, and in his death broke his father’s heart. (7) Absalom lost his head over his hair (14:26), and by reason of his hair lost his head. (18 :9). (8) Judas sold his Lord for thirty pieces of silver; here’s a soldier to whom Unitarianism. New Thought. Christian Science.
Made with FlippingBook HTML5