Today's Video Devotion

Friday 2/17/23

Godly Discipline

📺️ 2 Samuel 14 🔊

¹Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom.

 ²And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:

 ³And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.

 ⁴And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.

 ⁵And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.

 ⁶And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.

 ⁷And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth.

 ⁸And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee.

 ⁹And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his throne be guiltless.

 ¹⁰And the king said, Whoever saith ought unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.

 ¹¹Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.

 ¹²Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.

 ¹³And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished.

 ¹⁴For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

 ¹⁵Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.

 ¹⁶For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.

 ¹⁷Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD thy God will be with thee.

 ¹⁸Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.

 ¹⁹And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid:

 ²⁰To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.

 ²¹And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.

 ²²And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, To day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant.

 ²³So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

 ²⁴And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.

 ²⁵But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

 ²⁶And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight.

 ²⁷And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.

 ²⁸So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face.

 ²⁹Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.

 ³⁰Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.

 ³¹Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?

 ³²And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.

 ³³So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Nathan, Zabud, & Gad 

Date Penned: (930 BC)

Overview: A Record of David's Reign (c 1-24)

Theme: David's Struggles (c 11-24)

Message: A Women Intercedes for Absalom (v 1-33)

2 Samuel 14 Commentary

(14:1) The Decline of David's Kingdom - Why is so much attention given to Absalom in 2 Samuel 13-19? His revenge against Amnon and rebellion against David were beginning the final decline of David's kingdom that had been prophesied in verses 10-12. The cycle of lust and murder had begun with David's adultery with Bath-sheba. By killing his half brother Amnon, Absalom was getting revenge for the rape of his sister Tamar as well as getting rid of the firstborn son, the one next in line to be king. Clearly he had his sights set on being Israel's king, and he did everything in his power to obtain that goal-killing a half brother and rebelling against his father. Absalom was handsome and popular like his father, but he lacked his father's heart for God. What can we learn from this terrible story? (1) Even the highest-ranking and best-equipped people are sinners and rebels at heart. We must guard our own hearts against sin and rebellion. (2) David failed to teach his children God's ways. Even if our children are raised in church, we must teach and exemplify character and obedience to God. (3) David was preoccupied with government, wives, and concubines; he failed to act decisively to correct the evil in his family. At times, his guilt about his own sin caused him to avoid disciplining his sons caught in similar sins. That proved to be his family's undoing. We must make every attempt to break cycles of lust, hatred, and rebellion. To do so, we must stay involved in guiding our children's lives while they are still under our care.

(14:11-17) The City of Refuge - The law provided for a way to avenge murder. Numbers 35:9-21 records how cities of refuge protected people from revenge and how blood avengers were to pursue murderers. This woman was asking for the king's protection against any claim against her because Jab wanted to convince David to restore Absalom. The special circumstance that David applied to her supposed situation could also apply to protecting Absalom.

(14:27) Absalm Shows Respect for Tamar - By naming his daughter Tamar, Absalom was showing his love and respect for his sister Tamar. This also served as a reminder to everyone of the Amnon/Tamar incident.

(14:30) Absalom Shows Signs of Rebellion - Already we can see the seeds of rebellion in Absalom. As an independent and scheming young man, he took matters into his own hands and killed his brother (13:22-29). Without his father or anyone else to keep him in check, he probably did whatever he wanted, as evidenced by his setting Job's field on fire to get his attention (14:31-32). Undoubtedly, Absalom's good looks also added to his self-centeredness and arrogance (14:25). Children need discipline, especially those who have natural abilities and physical attractiveness. Otherwise, like Absalom, they will grow up thinking they can do whatever they want to do whenever they want to.

(14:33) David Fails to Correct His Children - David made only halfhearted efforts to correct his children. He did not punish Amnon for his sin against Tamar, nor did he deal decisively with Absalom's murder of Amnon. Such inaction became David's undoing. When we ignore sin, we experience greater pain than if we deal with it immediately.

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter, making application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Today we continue in the book of 2nd Samuel with Chapter 14. In our text, we see a woman of Tekoah interceding for Absalom wanting to see David. In making an application, we see the fruit of a disobedient child. David, amid his sin, failed to discipline his children. Amnon and Absalom committed sins to have David overlook them. As a result, the unrestrained children led an ungodly life. Today we see the same principle as husbands failing to discipline their children. As a result, they lead ungodly lives. I have counseled many in prison that have one constant factor. They lack a father who disciplined them. How about you? Do you see the need to discipline their children? Let us learn from our text today and the example David set before us to give our children Godly discipline.