2 Samuel 18:19-32

2 Samuel chapter 18 verses 19 to 32 for our text and study this evening. Then said, Ahimeas, the son of Zadok, let me now run and bear the king tidings, how that the Lord hath avenged him of his enemies. And Joab said unto him, thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day. But this day thou shalt bear no tidings, thou shalt bear no tidings because the king’s son is dead. Then said Joab to Cushy, Go, tell the king what thou hast saying. And Cushy bowed himself unto Joab and ran. Then said to himeas, the son of Zadok, yet again did Joab. But whoso, but howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushy. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son? Seeing that thou hast no tidings ready. But howsoever said he, let me run. And he said unto him, run. Then Ahimeas ran by the way of the plane and outran Cushy. David sat between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate under the wall, lifted up. his eyes and looked. Behold, a man running alone. And the watchman cried, told the king. And the king said, if he be alone, there are tidings, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace and drew near. And the watchman saw another man running. And the watchman called under the porter and said, Behold, another man running alone. The king said, he also bringeth tidings. And the watchman said, Me, thinketh, the run. of the foremost is like the running of Himeas, the son of Zadok. And the king said, he’s a good man, and cometh with good tidings. And Himeaz called and said unto the king, all is well. And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king and said, Blessed be the Lord thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my Lord the king. And the king said, is the young man Absalon safe? And Himmahaz answered, When Joab sent the king’s servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was. And the king said unto him, turn aside and stand here. And he turned aside and stood still. Behold, Cushai came. Cushai said, tidings, my lord, the king, for the Lord hath avenge thee this day of all them that rose up against thee. And the king said under Cushai, is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushai answered, the enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is. God bless to us the reading of his sacred and holy word this evening. Most people know William Carey was a pioneer missionary to the country of Burma. well, a famous, well-known man. Few know, however, that his son Felix, whom Carrie Hope would follow in his footsteps and work alongside him in Burma. But the British government gave Felix the honor of being the British ambassador to Burma. Such a prestigious position caused the young man to, forget about any thoughts of being a missionary. The disappointed father requested prayer for his son, saying, please pray for Felix. He has degraded into an ambassador of the British government. That’s what he said. Kerry viewed political office as a step down from serving as a missionary and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. At first glance, as we look over our text tonight, you might think, well, what is there here of value for my practical Christian life? Our retext really relates how messengers, particularly Ahimeaz, brought the good news of the battle. In some ways, a Himaeas, failed to deliver the complete message. Despite knowing the truth, he doesn’t. tell David the truth. As you analyze this failure, you are compelled to face the distasteful truth that you can fail in the same way. You have the good news of Christ’s victory, over sin, over death, and certainly over Satan, to bring to people. And yet you can be just like a hymnaz and not fully carry out your duty. For fear of offending, you’re here. Like Felix Carey, you may not fully grasp the high calling involved proclaiming the message of the gospel. Now let me begin tonight by saying this. You should be eager to carry the message. Verse 19 indicates to us the eagerness of Himeas, the son of Zadok. Let me now run and bear the king tidings how that the Lord Lord hath avenged him of his enemies. Remember that Himeas was the son of Zadok, the priest, and he was deeply devoted to David. He was one of two men who endangered their lives in the king’s service to praying the message about what the plan was of Absalon against David, when David was on the run. Remember that he hid in the well and escaped. detection and finally came and told David what Absalom was up to the plan. The wording here is certainly in verse 19 would seem to indicate that a godly man, he doesn’t compliment or flatter Joab on his fine victory and triumph over the forces of the enemy, but he ascribes the great success to the Lord. Rightly so. That’s often for gotten in the excitement of the victory. As the scripture says, in Psalm 981, his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory. Emmaaz desires to carry the message of God’s victory to those who are unaware of the good news. In other words, David and those with him at Mahaniam. In some ways, you as a Christian, are in a similar situation. You have the firsthand knowledge of the triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ over Satan and sin and death. We know from Hebrews 2, the scripture says that through death, the Lord Jesus Christ might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. This is the devil. the message that we have and how eager we ought to be to carry this message to those who are ignorant of Christ triumph. The good news of the gospel means freedom from sin and Satan. Now, if you would, look with me at Isaiah chapter 6, verses 1 to 8. We have here the commission of Isaiah. And many believe his conversion as well in this particular passage of Scripture. Let’s read these verses together in Isaiah chapter 6. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings. With Twain, he covered his face, and with Twain he covered his feet. With Twain he did fly. and one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Host. The whole earth is full of His glory. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said, I woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of the people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord of host. Then flew one. of the seraphims unto me having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth. It said, lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said, I, here am I. send me. Once Isaiah has seen the exalted king, which the New Testament indicates to us, is indeed the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s seen the holiness of Christ, and he’s seen his own sinfulness in comparison. And he’s been purified with the hot coal from off the altar. So that his sinfulness, sin is taken away. He embraces and rest in the provision of God’s sovereign grace. He hears this glorious king ask, who’s going to go for us, who will speak for us? And Isaiah desires, of course, to serve the king, and he says, here am I, send me. Grateful for the cleansing of his sin, Isaiah is prepared to carry out whatever commission, his king. what have him do, whatever is assigned to him. How different the cases of Moses and Jeremiah, who were both reluctant to do what God had called them to do. Perhaps this sheds light on why so few professing Christians are truly willing to serve their king as they ought, the Lord Jesus Christ. What people need above all else is the same thing that occurred here in the life of Isaiah. a sight of the holiness and the majesty of the exalted Christ upon his heavenly throne. A sight of their own vowsness in contrast to Christ’s thricefold holiness. In other words, the misery of their own sin and a true fear of God. A sight of God’s, of how God purifies sinners by his sovereign grids. and takes away their iniquity. Once this is seen by faith, then you will be a grateful recipient of this divine mercy of God, and you ought to be eager then to serve your king. May we look to the pit from which we have been rescued so that we may realize how we ought to be willing to serve our Savior in whatever capacity he would have us do so. So you should be eager to carry the message. Secondly, tonight, sometimes it may not be your time to carry the message. You’ll notice in verses 20 and 21 back in our text, we read these words, and Joab said unto him, thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day. but this day thou shalt bear no tidings because the king’s son is dead. Then said Joab the Cushi, go tell the king with the Hacin. And Cushie bowed himself unto Joab and ran. Despite Ahimeaz’s eagerness to be the messenger, Joab deems it better to send an unnamed Cushite here, some Egyptian or Ethiopian or Ethiopian Sudanese, as some think. It seems because of the news concerning the king’s son being dead, Joab refuses to send himeas. Because of the conclusion, remember what David said, he’s a good man when he sees him running, he’s going to bring a good message. And I think he didn’t want to convey the idea that everything’s always well. There is a problem here, because Absalom is dead. Himayaz’s his appearance. might have raised David’s hopes too high that everything was as the king desired. So Joab doesn’t wish to convey the wrong impression by the messenger. The news is mixed. Our army is victorious, but the king’s son is dead. Therefore, this cushite, if you would, is going to carry the message. Now, in the Christian life, you may be eager to serve the Lord and particular way, maybe in a particular place. However, you can’t dictate the Lord when, where, and how you’re going to serve. He decides what you’re going to do. Bond servants do whatever the master wants to be done. Jonah, excuse me, was sent by God to the Heath city of Nineveh. It was the Assyrian capital, where he didn’t want to go. He preferred to work among his own people. And God said, no, I’m going to send you to the Assyrians. God would use other prophets to deal with his wayward people. Jonah has to go far away and preach at Nineveh. Paul had a similar experience. Look in the New Testament at Acts 22, if you would. And beginning with verse 6, when Paul is giving his testimony, Excuse me, yeah, verse six. And it came to pass that as I made my journey and was come nigh under Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. I fell upon the ground, or under the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecuteest thou me? And I answered, who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. and they that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, what shall I do, Lord? The Lord said unto me arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And what I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came under Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man. according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. In the same hour I looked up upon him, and he said, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that just one, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth, for thou shalt be his will. witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. And it came to pass that when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed to the temple, I was in a trance, and saw him, saying unto me, make haste, get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony, concerning me, and I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue, them that believed on thee, and when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I was standing by and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. And he said unto me, depart, for I have sent thee far hence unto the Gentiles. If Paul had his way, he would have stayed among the Jews. but God said, no, you’re going to the Gentiles. And so he was not the messenger for the most part under the Jews. We find that Peter and John were the ones that were sent to the Jews for the main part. But Paul here has to be sent away. He has to be sent to the Gentiles. If you look at Acts chapter 16 with me in verses 6 and 7, Here is another situation that we find Paul in on his missionary journeys. Now, when they had gone through out Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Micea, they essayed to go into Bethenia, but the Spirit suffered them not. When Paul was doing missionary work in Asia Minor, which we would call Turkey today, he was forbidden by God to go into the northern areas of that land, the land that bordered on the Black Sea, the northern coast area. Eventually, these regions would be reached with the gospel, but not by Paul. God’s sovereign will was that Paul go to Europe, and so that’s what happens. So God sends him. in a different direction. It was not Paul’s choice initially, but that’s what God wanted him to do. There were many missionaries who had desire to go to a particular mission field and were thwarted in going there and ended up another place. I remember Karen, when she first was thinking about going to the mission field, she was thinking about going to South America, I believe it was Nicaragua, if I’m not mistaken, originally. but she ends up in Indonesia. When it comes to the gospel, some plant, some water, but God gives the increase. He uses another messenger sometimes to plant, and you will come along later and do the watering. Sometimes you simply are not given the opportunity to witness to someone as you would like. It’s not your day to be the messenger. Use the message. occasions God has given you to witness to others, but realize his providence may open doors to some people and close doors to others. So sometimes it may not be your time to carry the message. The third thing I suggest you tonight from verses 22 to 32. Being first is not as important as you carrying the complete message. Being first is not as important as you carrying the complete message. Being first is not as important as you carry. the complete message. Ahimeaz kept badgering Joab that he might run and take the message to David. Finally, Joab, I think it was just pestered enough and said, okay, go ahead and run if you want to run. And just to get the young priest off his back. Now, you can understand Himayaz’s intensity here. He’s been part of the thrill and the danger of supporting David from the very beginning. beginning and he wants to bring the message. It would announcing the victory would please him. He had risked his life for the king in the past. He’s a vested interest in David and the whole outcome of the scenario here. So he runs. Now, the indication here is that both messengers ran, but they took different ways of getting there. And the McMillan Bible Atlas gives the explanation of the routes taken by the messages in this way, and I quote. The location of Mahanayim in the deep canyon of the Jabak serves to explain how Ahimeas, the son of Zadok, outran the Kushite. The Kushite took the more direct route through the difficult terrain of the forest of Ephraim. Ahemaiah ran by a longer but much easier trail along the Jordan plain up the course of the Jabic, unquote. The race was close, but Himayaz, who got the late start, still outruns Kushi, or the Kushite. And he alers out, all is well, giving God the credit for the victory, just as he spoke earlier, as verse 28 tells us. But for David, all isn’t well, unless his son Absalom is safe. So his concern is, Well, what about Absalom? But Himmahas doesn’t provide that vital piece of information. So only when the Kushite arrives that the truth of the whole picture is revealed. He has the complete message, and David learns at his son is dead. We learn from this that being first is not essential thing when it comes to the gospel. Being able to provide the complete message of Scripture, is much more important. Many years ago, there was a man and his wife, both who were Roman Catholic. They lived in England. They obtained a copy of the scriptures which they had never seen before. And the man began to read the Bible. And one night he said to his wife, if this book is right, then we’re wrong, meaning that, of course, that the Roman Catholic religion that he believed in all this life was incorrect. After reading, the Bible a few more days, he said, if this book is right, we’re lost, meaning that they were going to be damned to hell. More eager than ever, to see what the Bible revealed, he diligently studied the book further. He finally came, if this book is right, we can be saved. And he came to the knowledge of the gospel and the salvation that was in Christ along with his wife. The case, key factor is you need to complete message of Scripture. If he had stopped before he kept reading, he wouldn’t have gotten to the message of the way of salvation. What the man read at first was only sufficient to refute the Roman Catholic faith. And as he continued reading to condemn him as a sinner under the hands of a holy God and placing him at the gates of hell. He needed not only to hear about the terrors of the Lord, he also needed to hear about the way of salvation in Jesus Christ. When you witness, you’re going to find that many have heard an Armenian version of the gospel. Some have, maybe someone has reached this person before you, but not with the true and complete message of Scripture. For that, they’ve heard only a health and wealth. type of gospel. The ego-soothing message of Robert Schuller, for example, or maybe some free will gospel of the modern American evangelists of some sort. None of these things will satisfy the real need of the sinner. At best, they are misleading. At worst, they could be damning to the soul. I remind you that Nicodemus was a master teacher in Israel and yet he didn’t even know the basics about being born again. And certainly he wasn’t teaching his audio, his congregation about it. Keep in mind that those with some knowledge of Scripture may be ignorant of the most vital truth of Scripture. Maybe the only way of salvation. People may beat you to someone else speaking to them about the gospel. They may outrun you so to speak. speak, but is their message complete? Will it satisfy the spiritual need of the person? Or leave him and her in the dark? It is proclaiming the whole council of God which frees us from the blood of all men. Acts chapter 20, when Paul talks about his preaching, he said, I have proclaimed on you the whole counsel of God. And I am free from the blood of all men. Because I have given you the whole message. Even if someone has heard some type of religious message prior to your arrival, remember, they may vitally need to hear the complete message. So don’t hold back, but speak of God’s sovereign grace. Speak about Christ’s definite atonement and so forth. Salvation is of the Lord. They need to know that. So being first is not as important as carrying the complete message. Fourthly, tonight. You must not lack the cross. courage and conviction to give the complete message. Now, verses 28 to 30 here in our text, what’s interesting here is when Ahimeas gives the message, and he said under the king, all as well, and he fell down upon the earth, or to the earth, upon his face before the king, it said, blessed be the Lord thy God. which have delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king. And the king said, is the young man Absalon safe? And him he has answered, when Joab sent the king’s servant and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was. Now, if you look at verse 20, Joab had said, you’re not to run this day and bear no titans because the king’s son is dead. He knows exactly what the problem is. knows the answer, but he doesn’t want to tell David what the answer is. Initially, he may as has no qualms about carrying the good news to David. He’s very eager. He’s very excited to do it. But when he saw the concern for Absalon, when he saw that David really wants to know what happened to his son, he loses his nerve here. He doesn’t tell him. I saw this big tumult, but I can’t tell you what happened. he didn’t have the courage to cough up the news that would devastate the king so he hedges when he knew full well the king’s son is dead so a key theme of this account appears to be a himeas’s lack of courage to tell David what he needed to hear the most it was unpleasant news to be sure but David had to hear it and a himehas should have told him the truth Now all Christians have a message of the gospel to carry to others. It would be good to let this message speak to you about that task, this particular text, because your message is directed to those who do not know your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And it is a message certainly of God’s glorious victory and eternal life, but it’s also a message. message of God’s inflexible justice, of the need to repent of sin, of the duty to trust solely in Christ’s righteousness and sacrificial death. And also there is the threat of God’s eternal punishment that we must bring. Now, people need to hear the negative part about the gospel as well as the, the good part about the gospel. And yet man’s fallen condition and depravity is such that he certainly needs to repent of sin. He needs the fearful torments of hell to be brought before him. What the sinner does not want to hear, though, is those very things. It would upset him. It would, it is flesh-wethering news to the sinner. Now we have to realize we shouldn’t be shrinking back to announce what many will find to be distasteful and unpleasant. We don’t want to be like a hymnus who we know the truth, but we don’t want to tell the person the truth. It’s easier to say, well, God has a wonderful plan for your life, but that wouldn’t be the truth. Yes, there are hard sayings associated with the gospel. But people need to hear them, even if it hurts. Yes, we want to get to the to the, to the, to the, the salve that heals the wound. But first of all, they’ve got to know they’re wounded. First of all, they’ve got to know their condition before they will desire the remedy. So you must not lack the courage and conviction to give the complete message. Fifthly, tonight, you should realize preserving God’s kingdom involves the destruction of its enemies. Versus 31 and 32, we see here, Cushai giving the message here that the enemies of my Lord the king and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt be as that young man is destroyed. The Cushai realizes here the whole truth, the message of God preserving the kingdom of God on earth at this time, which is portrayed by David’s kingdom, necessitated. requires the death of all his enemies, all God’s enemies, and that would be Absalom. So the advancement of the kingdom of God contains good news and bad news. How can God’s men deal gently with David’s son, as he requested in chapter 18, verse 5, when the Lord intends disaster for the rebel, according to chapter 17, verse 14? whose will will be carried out? Jehovah’s sovereign will or David’s sentimentality here? Deliverance for David means disaster for Absalom. There’s just no way around it. When the famous Scottish preacher, Alexander White, was a boy. He said he got his arm caught in a threshing machine, and everyone thought there was no hope for his arm, and they were talking. about the neighbors were talking about taking them to the hospital and having it amputated. But there was a neighbor in the, one of the neighbors in the neighborhood was wise in home remedies, didn’t want them to take him to the hospital and have that arm amputated. She wanted to try to see if she could save it. The pain became so severe, and White’s mother called for the neighbor to come again after she tried some home remedies on the boy. And she examined the arm and said, I like the pain. I like the pain. Her assessment was correct. The arm healed. The pain was a component of the healing. The two went together. And this is what this text teaches. If the kingdom of God, under God’s chosen king, the Lord Jesus Christ, is to go forward? Is it going to be victorious? Then the enemy who assaults that kingdom has to be destroyed. God gives no secure salvation to his church unless he brings destruction to the enemies of the church. So when you pray, deliver us from evil, part of the Lord’s prayer. When you pray, deliver us from evil, what are you praying? Aren’t you pray? that God would destroy those who were opposed to his kingdom. Because don’t you want his will done on earth as it is in heaven? And when we’re praying for that deliverance, that’s part of the prayer. Isn’t? Isn’t it? Otherwise, you’re like the patient ready to undergo cancer surgery who plays with the doctor. We’ll deal gently with the cancer. Would you really be satisfied with a surgeon who dealt gently with the cancer? So I left some there because it was part of your flesh and blood, and I didn’t, it was into intertwined, and I didn’t want to harm you. God knows, I think God’s people know, that the Kushite here is right. The preserving of God’s kingdom, verse 31, involves the destruction of its enemies. Verse 32. Well, let me close tonight by saying this. Felix Carey, the son of the famous missionary, William Carey, degraded into an ambassador for the British government. He forsook the proclaiming of the gospel, the highest calling a man could have. Our text speaks of delivering the message of a God-granted victory, which we may compare to the giving out of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in Christ’s victory over sin and Satan in death. You can be like a hymaeas, who, despite his eagerness, lacked the courage and the conviction to give the complete message. Or we can be more like Kushite, the Kushite, who brought the message. He may not have got there first, but he brought the true, complete message, and laid out all that David needed to hear. Well, let us go.