I want to finish with 3 verses from this chapter that illustrate the gospel. Not verses which we are all necessarily intended to apply the way I’m about to apply them, but which provide helpful ways to think about how God works in our own lives. The first of the three verses is v30. When Joab stops taking Absalom’s calls, […]

David lets Absalom back. But he won’t let him come into his presence. It’s a compromise. But it doesn’t last long. Once David has let Absalom back into the country, it seems inevitable that Absalom will end up back as if nothing had ever happened. Often, whether in our personal lives, our family lives, our church lives, our national lives, […]

David is already predisposed to listen to whatever arguments will be given for bringing Absalom home. Joab knows that about him. And so Joab sends for a wise woman to come to David with a sad, made-up story. When she’s called a wise woman that doesn’t mean wise in Biblical terms, but in terms of worldly wisdom. She dresses up […]