2 Samuel 15:1-6

1 Samuel, excuse me, 2nd Samuel, chapter 15, and verses 1 to 6. 2nd Samuel 15, 1 to 6. And it came to pass after this that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, 50 men to run before him. And Absalom rose up early and stood by the way of the gate, and it was so that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him and said, of what city art thou? And he said, thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto him, see, thy matters are good and right, but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said, moreover, all that I, were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice. And it was so that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, that he put forth his hand, took him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts. of the men of Israel. May God bless to us the reading of his sacred and holy word this evening. The famous Baptist minister, C.H. Spurgeon, once watched a contest where boys were attempting to climb a greased pole. And he said, whoever would climb to the top and take the hat off the top of the top of the pole would be the winner. He noted how the aspiring use for the most part adopted all sorts of plans and schemes to reach the top of the pole. Some were, as he put it, as slimy as the pole itself. One, covered his hands with sand that he might get better grip. Another one used a twisted knots in a cord to assist him in climbing up. Scarcely, he said, one of them climbed fairly. and the one who did, he said, had the least chance of winning. And then Spurgeon observed how plainly we see the politician’s course in these young rascals. Those hasty to rise in power resort to all sorts of underhanded schemes and cheating ways. Absalom, you recall, has been restored to the king’s court, and he has his place restored. there, as chapter 14, verse 33, indicates to us as acceptance before the king. But he’s not content with the honor of being the king’s son or with the prospects of eventually, perhaps, rising to the position of being king over Israel. Absalom aims at snatching the throne away from David right now. That is his evil ambition. Absalom was a very shrewd man, and he realized that he would first have to wage a successful campaign to gain the hearts of the people in order for him to take over as king. So he acts like an astute politician here. He knows how to play the game. He knows how to play the game. He knows how to gather people’s support. So my topic tonight is godless ambition in politics. Now, let me begin by saying this. You should be aware of godless ambition in politics. You can make yourself look important. We see pride showing up at the very, very first verse here. we’ll read about Absalom, prepared him chariots and horses and 50 men to run before him. Absalom launches his campaign here by first projecting a very attractive and appealing image before the people. Israelites kings were not to multiply horses. That was part of God’s command. That was part of God’s they had to present a humble image. So they either wrote on mules or donkeys. Remember the judges. If you read through the judges, you’ll see some of the judges as rulers in Israel wrote on donkeys. And even our Savior himself, you recall, is he, in his triumphal entry, as the king, wrote upon the donkey or the cold of an ass, as the scripture tells us from Zechariah. Absalon, following the example of the heathen king of Gesher, his grandfather, he’s got the chariots. He’s got the horsemen to convey him, a glittering parade, if you would. Even 50 footmen running before him to give notice of his approach, to demand respect for his presence. Here is somebody important. This is exactly. what Samuel warned about when speaking of the abuses of the kingship. He will take your sons to have for the chariots and to run before his chariots and announce his presence. That’s exactly what you read in 1 Samuel chapter 811. And so you can see what Absalon’s up to here. He’s putting himself out there in the position of a king. So long before, our days of media attention, and this media age, there was an obsessive attention given to projecting the right public image in order to gain support. The people desired a king like all the other nations, and Absalon was very willing to give them the pomp and the magnificence of a heathen king. That’s exactly what he does here. proud man wants to proclaim, look at me, I’m somebody special. You seek to impress people so that you will be elevated in their sight when you pursue political gain. In an age of superficiality that we have, styles more important than substance. And that’s what we see here with Absalom. Esau had a fable, the peacock and the crane. The peacock taunted the crane because the peacock had this beautiful plumage, and the crane didn’t have, his feathers weren’t nearly as beautiful, colorful as the peacock. And the peacock said, look at my brilliant colors and see how much finer they are than your poor fabulous. To which the crane responded. I’m not denying that yours are more beautiful than mine, but in what comes to flying, I can soar into the clouds where you are confined to the earth like any dunghill rooster. And the moral of the story is, of course, that substance is more important than style. That’s what the moral of that story is. So beyond the image that’s projected by politicians, we look beyond it, we see the pride. drives these people. Pride is driving Absalom here. The second thing, notice, you build a reputation as a man of the people. In verses two and three, we see the flattery that Absalom resorts to. He got up early, he stood beside the gate, the way of the gate, and it was so that when any man had a controversy, came to the king for judgment, that Absalom came unto him and said, of what city art thou? and he said thy servant as one of the tribes of Israel. Absalom said unto him, see, thy matters are good and right, but there’s no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom, make sure he gets to the gate of the city here of Jerusalem very early in the morning. You remember that the gate was normally the place where all judgment would take place. The elders of the city would be there, those appointed by the king to rule over the people, the more difficult cases, they would go to the king. And so the elders were there to settle disputes and grievances and so forth. Evidently, the duly appointed officials were not always early in the morning getting to their place. Perhaps some were careless in discharging their responsibilities. But this gave Absalom an opportunity. See, he’s going to snatch it. He’s going to go there early. Insert himself into the situation so that he, that he can criticize David’s administration. Absalom would talk to the aggrieved people that were gathering at the gate and assure them that their claims were valid, even though he had only heard one side of the story. And he would flatter these people to win them over. He didn’t really care about their case. This was a PR campaign here. This was a campaign to steal the hearts of the people. So he would feel. flatter these people and win them over and showing an interest in them. Where are you from? You know, what is your grievance? The politicians study the art of saying the right things to the right people, telling people exactly what they want to hear in order to gain support. Of course, they may tell the people in Iowa, well, one thing, and the people in New York something else, it doesn’t matter because, you see, you see, you, get, you tell the people at Iowa what they want to hear, and you tell the people in New York what they want to hear. Citizens are told what great people they are, what a great state their state is. It doesn’t really matter what the reality is. A state could be going bankrupt. You know, it doesn’t matter. When politicians talk to business owners, they are pro-business. When they talk to workers, they are pro-labor. Now, that’s how the game is playing. scripture tells us this in Proverbs of 2019. Metal not, don’t associate with, don’t keep company with, don’t befriend. Metal not him that flatterth with his lips. Be careful about those kind of people. Because of such people, like politicians, behind what they’re doing, there’s an ulterior motive. So we have to be careful. Now, I’m not saying all politicians are like politicians. this. But I’m saying, keep your eyes open because this is the way they operate. Scripture says in Psalm 5’9, for there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their inward part is very wickedness. Their throat is an open sepulchre. They flatter with their tongue. Another one of Esop’s fables is the fox and the crow. It seems the crow was sitting on a branch of a tree with a piece of cheese in its mouth. and the fox was envious that he had that cheese. And he set his wits to work some way that he could get the cheese away from the crow. So the fox drew near and he stood underneath the tree limb, which the crow was perched. And he said this, what a noble bird I see above me. Her beauty is without equal. The you of her plumage is exquisite. If only her voice is as sweet as her love. looks are fair. She ought, without doubt, to be the queen of the birds. Well, the crow was hugely flattered by the fox. And just to show the fox that she could sing, she gave out a loud caw. But when she did, the cheese dropped from the crow’s mouth, and the fox snatched it up. He said, you have a voice, madam, I see. What you lack is wits. The moral is that flatterers are not to be trusted. And so that is the principle that we see. So you build a reputation as a man of the people, and he uses flattery to do that. We see also to like this. You present yourself as the answer to all the nation’s problems. Self-promotion in verse four. Absalom said, moreover, all that I were made of judgment. land that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me and I would do him justice. Absalom made the case that justice was going down in the drain in Israel and he was the lone champion for the nation. If only he were appointed as judge, maybe even the chief judge of the land, as the king, you’d see a real change. This is what is called a campaign promise. To secure willing supporters, he was the man for the job, you see. How many times have you heard words like this come from politicians? I have a plan that’s going to solve the nation’s will as elect me. They all tell you that. Somehow or other, the problems never get solved, do they? And when you put this person in office, you can become bitterly disappointed. Because many of them don’t even do what they promised to do. They forget all about those campaign promises. So there’s tremendous arrogance in such self-promotion, as if you could actually control the direction of a nation by your own power completely. You know, when Christ appeared before Pilate, the Roman governor, you recall there was a point at which the Savior stopped talking. He refused to answer anymore. No doubt. because Pilate had proved himself to be a pig or a swine, if you would, and I think he was just being silent before him. But Pilots told Christ, he said, don’t you realize who I am? Don’t you realize what power I wield? Your life is in my hand. You better start talking. Something with that effect. And Jesus responded, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from abhor. of John 1911. Where is God and all this self-promotion of the politicians? Where is there, if the Lord will, we will do this or we will do that? As James 415 indicates. Man is constantly exulting himself as the Messiah of the nation. And leaving God out of the picture as if everything, at least they think, revolves around them and what they can do. We must realize that God is the one ultimately is in control. You present yourself as the answer to all the problems of the nation. You promote yourself. You put on a show of being humble and accessible. In verse 5, we read here, when people came and they were going to bow before Absalom, that he put forth his hand and took him and kissed him. Absalom here perfected a very personable winning approach in dealing with people. people. He refused to let people bowed that before him as a prince. He rather treated them as dear friends as equals, grabbing, you know, grabbing their hand, kissing them, and so forth. Psalm 10 says, he croucheth and humbleth himself, that as the scripture indicates, but only for the purpose of drawing them into his net. That’s how the evil man operates. He put forth a show of humility, but it was thought. false humility because his purpose was to ensnare the people. Why do politicians kiss babies? Why do they try to act like one of the common people? They show up at stores and coffee shops and fast food places. They would normally never consider eating at because it would be beneath them. But when election time comes, all of a sudden, you know, they’re at the pizza shop or the coffee shop or something of this nature. They would never even go there normally. they don’t want to appear elitist, which in fact, in many cases they are. They want to appear approachable. They want to appear as the friend of the people. Matthew Henry captures the true essence of this. Here’s a quote from his commentary. No man’s conduct could be more condescending while his heart was as proud as Lucifer’s. On the outside, he’s all humble, but really he’s a proud man. Charles Dickens, David’s copy. There’s a man called Uriah Heep that’s mentioned. He’s sort of a sneaky clerk who keeps proclaiming that he’s humble. Actually, Heep is a wily blackmailer, so it’s hardly complimentary to call someone a Uriahe Heep. It’s an insult. The name usually describes some hand-wringing, falsely humble person who has very nasty motives behind it all. true humility is what you actually are before God. A show of humility is what people put forth before men. One should not be fooled about this by politicians. Don’t live, they don’t live in the real world like you and I. They have no clue many times about how hard it is to make ends meet, because they never had to. Some of them never worked a day in their life on a real job. So you should be aware of godless ambition in politics. You make yourself look important. There’s pride in it. You build a reputation as a man of the people by flattering people. You present yourself as the answer to all the nation’s problems because if you were just the chief judge or you were the one that was in power, you would certainly do differently. And you put on a show of being humble and accessible, but it’s all false humility. Secondly tonight, You should avoid being deceived by godless ambition in politics. Verse 6, and on this manner did Absalon to all Israel that came to the king for judgment, so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. You find many deceived by such politicians. Well, Absalom was the chief villain in all this. The people themselves were not exempt from blame. Absalom did the deceiving, but the people allowed themselves to be duped. The word stole here is interesting. Because Abson here is stated as taking something that didn’t belong to him. Who was God’s appointed king? Was it not David? Did God at any time say, I’ve done with David? I’m through with him. He’s gone? No, we don’t read the God. in any time told David, well, you’re going to have to step down or I’m going to remove you from your position. The people knew full well that David was appointed by God to be king, as we saw in 2 Samuel chapter 3 and 1 Samuel chapter 24. This was well known that David was to be king. And so why is it then? when God’s will was clear that the people preferred Absalom to David. Were not the people guilty of disobeying the Lord. For Absalom was stealing what didn’t belong to him. The complicity of the people in Absalom’s evil is a reminder that God sometimes gives people the leadership they deserve. God gave Israel the leader they wanted, but it was one who was rebellious against God’s authority just like them. Sadly, that’s one of the way God punishes you. It’s giving you exactly what you you want when it comes to leadership. It can be the worst thing imaginable to put in a leader who’s just like you. Scripture warns, let no man deceive you with vain words. Words that are empty of truth. Ephesians 5, 6. Politicians are full of vain words, so don’t be fold into thinking that somehow rather they’re the answer to all the nation’s problems. They often practice deceit and dupe the masses and people are easily swayed by the rhetoric. We don’t trust in princes. The scripture tells us not to. It’s not that we don’t pray for our political leaders and we don’t pray that they would do the right thing and be thankful when they do do the right thing. It’s just that we can’t have our full confidence in them. We can’t be confident in man. We have to realize God is the one who’s on the throne. That’s always important. We should pray with the psalmist in Psalm 43.1. Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. Remember what the psalmist says about God. Thou wilt abhor the bloody and deceitful man. Psalm 5.6. So you find many are deceived by such politicians. You must weigh the character of the politician. Now think about this a minute. Absalon was not the kind of guy that you should want to be your king. I mean, after all, he’s godless. He is an unscrupulous scoundrel. It was not a secret thing. It was well known if this guy was wicked. It’s disturbing here. That the people were so undiscerning that character didn’t matter. to them. They put personal interest above the Word of God. They wanted a king like all the other nations, even if he were evil. They wanted the handsome guy. They wanted a guy with the chariots. They wanted all that. When it came to the choices of judges in Israel, there were biblical rules about judges. We read about that in Exodus 1821. Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers. Those are the ones who want to be rulers, God says. How much more should this apply to the chief ruler of the people, the king of Israel? Remember, rulers are to be the servants of God as we saw in Romans chapter 13 in the previous study. They’re supposed to carry out God’s will, and what are they supposed to be doing? Punishing evildoers. Now, why would you want to put an evil-doer in such a position? They’re not going to punish themselves. How can you do that? Absalom certainly wasn’t qualified to be king. He was the most ungodly man. We see how crafty he is. In Chapter 13, how he hides his true intentions to murder Amnon. He’s having a sheep cheering. I got a big party coming on. How about sending all the king’s sons over? He seeks personal revenge. As we see on Amnon, he has hatred at his hearts burning for two years as he waits for his moment to get even. He’s a murderer. He kills his brother in Chapter 13. He believes himself above the law. Don’t worry about, he tells his servants, don’t worry about anything. If anybody tries to attack you or come after you for killing Amnon, don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. He thinks he. he’s above the law. He’s ruthless. Chapter 14. When he wants something done, he doesn’t care if he has to burn down the fields of poor Joab, the barley fields to get his attention, and he burns him down. He don’t care. That’s a ruthless man. He is, as we saw in our text tonight, deceitful and manipulative. It steals the hearts of the people. He’s a religious hypocrite. We’ll see Lord willing in our next study. In verses 7 and 8, when he goes to be crowned king secretly, he says, oh, I made this vow before the Lord. I have to fulfill it. He has no intent. It has nothing to do with a vow before God. He’s a religious hypocrite. He’s rebellious against authority. In verses 10 to 12, we see him leading the rebellion against David to take the kingdom away from. him. He’s sexually impure. When we get to chapter 16, we’ll see that he goes in under the concupines of David that were left behind at Jerusalem. Has sexual relations with them publicly. In the intent, of course, but before Israel, they knew what he was doing. So why did the people so easily embrace a guy like this? He said what they wanted to hear. And that was good enough. The lesson here, is the character matters. Primarily it matters with those who are going to be political leaders. Don’t be swayed by a personal charisma. Don’t be swayed by their charm, let alone their good looks. We have to look for good character in leaders. Judge matters by biblical principles and not by emotions. Boy, if our nation did this, we certainly had a lot different people in Congress and even in the presidency, wouldn’t we? Absalon’s would never get in the power. Alas, are we not as foolish as Israel of old? Every good tree, scripture says, bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. By their fruits, ye shall know them. Judge the character of individual by what he or she does, by their words, well, their works, their actions. The third thought tonight is this under this second point. You must look to David’s greater son. You know, the greatest lesson that emerges from this passage is this. David had another son, a greater son, who did no sin. Neither was there any gau found in his mouth according to scripture. Every ruler should really emulate our great king, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the king of kings. This son came from heaven’s glory to purchase the redemption for sinners. And he now reigns high over all the nations. He orders his kingdom. He establishes it, and how does he do so? With judgment and with justice forever, according to Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 7. Christ is the prince of peace, for he brings peace with God and even peace among men. He is the only ruler which you can have complete confidence in. He’ll never disappoint you. He’ll never cause you to desire another leader. Christ is head over all things for the sake of the church, the scripture says. And Ephesians 1.22. He’s never self. selfish, he’s never deceitful, he’s never rebellious against God’s authority. God the Father has given him his position. He is divinely appointed. God hath highly exalted him the scripture says. You should readily accept that it is God’s will that Christ reigns over you. As Psalm 45 tells us, Thy throne, O God, speaking of Christ is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. So he should avoid being deceived by godless ambition in politics. While the young boys in Spurgeon’s Day used all sorts of plans and schemes that climb up that Greece pole and as he observed how plainly we see the politician’s course and these young rascals. Our text clearly reflects how those hasty to rise in power resort to all sorts of underhanded schemes and cheating ways to get ahead. Beware of godless ambition in politics and don’t be deceived by if you want someone to emulate in politics the person to emulate is our king, Lord Jesus Christ. He sets forth the character of someone who should reign and he always does according to the will of the ball in heaven. Let us close with a word of prayer tonight.