I want to make this the last section of David, and it is going to involve jumping ahead to a point at which he, on his deathbed, gives Solomon a list of things he didn't do, that he wants Solomon to accomplish. I'm going to post his list, but in my opinion, he left some things off, which I will get to...
1Ki 2:5 "Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet.
1Ki 2:6 Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.
1Ki 2:7 But deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother.
1Ki 2:8 And there is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD, saying, 'I will not put you to death with the sword.'
1Ki 2:9 Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol."
Let's start with Joab. That he was a superior commander, there is no doubt. That he was a personal coward became evident in the, not 2, but 3 murders against David's word he committed. Last week, we looked at how he cravenly killed Saul's Uncle Abner- and let's admit it, Joab, you did it so he wouldn't usurp your power base with David. Likewise, he cut down the trapped Absalom when David specifically told the entire army to bring him in alive. And he followed that up by pulling an "Abner" on Amasa, who had been Absalom's commander, and David had took as his own. David never did anything but curse his Family...
2Sa 3:28 Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, "I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD for the blood of Abner the son of Ner.
2Sa 3:29 May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house, and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge or who is leprous or who holds a spindle or who falls by the sword or who lacks bread!"
Which intimidated Joab not at all. To the character of Joab, see how his life ended...
1Ki 2:28 When the news came to Joab--for Joab had supported Adonijah although he had not supported Absalom--Joab fled to the tent of the LORD and caught hold of the horns of the altar.
1Ki 2:29 And when it was told King Solomon, "Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD, and behold, he is beside the altar," Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, strike him down."
1Ki 2:30 So Benaiah came to the tent of the LORD and said to him, "The king commands, 'Come out.'" But he said, "No, I will die here." Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, "Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me."
1Ki 2:31 The king replied to him, "Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him, and thus take away from me and from my father's house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause.
1Ki 2:32 The LORD will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because, without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword two men more righteous and better than himself, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.
1Ki 2:33 So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the LORD forevermore."
1Ki 2:34 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down and put him to death. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
Thus the coward died clinging to a God who he had no hope of helping him- just as he lived clinging to David like a power-seeking remora. But here's the question- why didn't David deal with him? Because he was USEFUL. And because he was useful, David overlooked his evil. Lesson #1 today.
Next, let's look at Absalom himself. His revolt began with the despicable acts of one son, Amnon, which drove Absalom to despicable acts of his own. Amnon fell in love with his half-sister- Absalom's sister- Tamar. He rapes her, then kicks her out, and she becomes a recluse in Absalom's house. David's reaction?
2Sa 13:21 When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.
End of story- he got angry. And his inaction led to the ruin of a daughter and the deaths of 2 sons. But consider this as well- two sins against God by David led us here. The first was his ignoring the command from way back in Deuteronomy about having one wife- I count at least 8- and the second was the sin with Bathsheba, in which God cursed him with a curse that was fulfilled in Absalom's revolt. And with 8 wives and all their children, it would seem David wasn't exactly the best father (with the exceptions, perhaps, of Solomon and Nathan). But why didn't he act? His reaction at Absalom's eventual death tells us why- he LOVED them, even though they were growing more and more sinful. Lesson #2.
Next, let's look at the story of Shimei.
2Sa 16:5 When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually.
2Sa 16:6 And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
2Sa 16:7 And Shimei said as he cursed, "Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man!
2Sa 16:8 The LORD has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood."
2Sa 16:9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head."
2Sa 16:10 But the king said, "What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the LORD has said to him, 'Curse David,' who then shall say, 'Why have you done so?'"
2Sa 16:11 And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to.
2Sa 16:12 It may be that the LORD will look on the wrong done to me, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing today."
Once Absalom was dead, Shimei recanted like a true bootlicker; but the question here, why not let Abishai have done with him, if you're just going to pass the job off to Solomon in the end? Look at the sentence I boldened; He let this happen because he was seeing HIMSELF the way Shimei was describing him! Degraded self-image caused his inaction; that is Lesson #3.
There is one more negative lesson in this story- and it involves the thing Solomon did that David didn't ask. You see, as David was dying, Solomon wasn't exactly choice #1 for anyone outside the King and Bathsheba. Adonijah was senior surviving son- and Mr Pick-the-Winner Joab was going to support him. So was the current High Priest, Abiathar. Joab concocted a plan to put his boy in charge. As David was dying, he was 'married' to a concubine named Abishag, whose sole purpose was to keep David warm as he lay shivering. He had Adonijah go 'humbly' to Bathsheba and ask Solomon for Abishag as a wife. Why? The commentators say...
...that by marrying the king's widow he may step into the throne whenever any opportunity offers, as any uneasiness, or insurrection in the kingdom, or the death of Solomon; for none but a king, the Jews say (b), might marry a king's widow, not any private man; and therefore for Adonijah to ask this was interpreted affecting the kingdom, and aspiring to it, and taking his measures to obtain it... (John Gill's commentary)
And while Bathsheba didn't catch this legality, Solomon did; this led to his execution of Adonijah and Joab- and one other thing...
1Ki 2:26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you shared in all my father's affliction."
1Ki 2:27 So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, thus fulfilling the word of the LORD that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
You see, Abiathar was of the line of Eli, which the Lord hated for the sins of Eli's sons, and promised the line would be removed from the priesthood. But David kept him on, and why? Because he was the lone survivor of the priest killed by Saul for helping David. He didn't act out of Guilt. Lesson #4.
Usefulness. Love. Self-loathing. Guilt. Four reasons we choose not to obey God. But you notice in these stories, and you will notice in life, our inaction doesn't inactivate God; His purposes still were fulfilled.
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Just a couple of postscripts to David. First, what about the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite? They don't get much of a mention, but Solomon was faithful, as their descendants became prominent in the exiles that returned ages later with Ezra and Nehemiah. And my comment about Nathan getting better attention? According to Luke, he is the son whose line would end up leading to Mary, mother of the Messiah.
