September 19

2 Samuel 15 Sabotage! David stole a man’s wife and then killed the man. David’s son steals the people’s hearts and now seeks to kill David. Absalom goes to Hebron to have himself declared king. It was the very place where Judah first declared David to be king. David is once again fleeing for his life. Before it was from King Saul, but now it is from his own son, whom he loved. If there is any glory of the Lord in this it must be seen in David’s statement: Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place. But if He says thus: ‘I have no delight in you,’ here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him. He is a broken man, yet he could be in no better position. He casts Himself upon the mercy of the Lord. He sends the priests back into the city where they belong. In casting Himself upon the mercy of the Lord, he saves himself, for through the help of Hushai and the sons of the priests, David was able to escape Absalom in order to regroup his army and fight at another time. The glory of the Lord is like that. He continually ushers us to the point where we are totally dependent upon Him and Him alone, and at the last moment He breaks through! So where is the glory in this tragic story? God is with David, and He walks with Him through this trouble and delivers him from it. See Psalm 3 for how David addressed God in this tragic time. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john