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Introduction

Adam and Eve watched Cain’s murder of Abel, and God’s subsequent banishment of Cain.
- But that was only the beginning.
- From the first moment they wore those animals skins, they new the world God made for them had been radically altered by their sin.
- Death, disease, destruction, depression — every malady was a reminder they had fallen short of the glory of God.
- For their blunder, one which effected the universe, a universal Savior was required. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, has obliged.
  - Only Jesus could remedy the situation!
In our chapter today, David, like Adam and Eve, will helplessly stand by and watch his family destroy itself.
- It is the obvious consequence of his sin.
- Christ is needed!
Today: In the muck and mire, we need Jesus.
- Theme: The despair of life, including the despair of this episode, screams of our need for Jesus.
  - To break the chains of our fathers.
  - To declare worth to our souls.
  - To give us a voice we have not earned.
  - To stand with us as while we reap what we’ve sown.

1 To Break The Chains Of Our Fathers (2 Samuel 13:1-14)

11 Lie with me / 14 He would not listen / Stronger / Violated: When Tamar would not willingly lie with Amnon, he forced her, using his strength to rape her.
- This is an exponentially worse version of David’s initial sin.
  - Another man’s wife vs. a half-sister
  - Emotional force vs. Physical force
  - 15 Hated her: Married her vs. Dispensed with her
    - It was David’s sin taken to the extreme.
We need Jesus to help us break the chains of our fathers.
- We take sins — of our father, our time, our networks, or just Adam himself — and perfect them.
- Jesus offers us aid.
  - Amnon’s “love” — Jesus aims at shaping the heart and gives a way of escape when temptation comes.
    - Ezekiel 36:26 (ESV) — 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
    - Amnon’s “friend” — Jesus is a friend who counsels us well.
      - 1 John 2:1 (ESV) — 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
    - Amnon’s plan — Jesus seeks to disrupt our nefarious plots and plans.
      - Jonah 4:4 (ESV) — 4 And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

2 To Declare Worth To Our Souls (2 Samuel 13:15-20)

15 Hated her / greater than the love: She became despised in his eyes. She was a reminder of his great failure. She became a mirror revealing the kind of dishonorable man he really was. Her presence made him mad with the truth.
- Description of events (ESV / other translations):
  - 1 There was a predator (and he was family)
  - 2 He was wicked, while she was innocent
  - 3 He took hold of (grabbed) her (11)
  - 4 He violated (raped) her (11, 14)
  - 5 It was a thing not done in Israel (11)
  - 6 It was an outrageous thing (11)
  - 7 He shamed her (13)
  - 8 He hated her (15)
  - 9 Force (11, 14).
  - 10 She became a mirror to his evil (15).
  - 11 16 Sending me away: Confused, her thoughts became misguided (16).
  - 11 18-19 Robe / Ashes / Tore / Crying: Loss.
  - 12 20-22 Absalom / David: Family silence.
- We need Jesus to declare worth to our souls.
  - Consider Tamar:
    - Tamar thought she’d lost her value as a woman.
    - Tamar had been violated by someone.
    - Tamar grieved and mourned her life.
      - She lived in desolation, feeling her life had been lost.
      - She thought it was over.
    - Jesus came along, loving women like Mary Magdalene, restoring value to those who'd been told they had none.
    - A word for Tamar:
      - Romans 8:31–39 (ESV) — 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
      - 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
      - 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
      - 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
      - 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

3 To Give Us A Voice We Have Not Earned (2 Samuel 13:21)

21 He was very angry: David felt angry. And that was all he did. I’m sure he was livid, but he did not move.
- David did nothing.
  - He did not punish Amnon.
  - Later, he would not punish Absalom for killing Amnon.
  - Years later, when Adonijah tried to steal the throne —
    - 1 Kings 1:5–6 (ESV) — 5 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6 His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom.
- Jesus can give us a voice we have not earned.
  - It seems likely he felt incapacitated to rebuke or correct because of his own history and sin.
  - Ephesians 6:4 (ESV) — 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
    - Colossians 3:21 (ESV) — 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
      - Perhaps David’s failures would have made him better at sharing the instruction of the Lord.
  - Tactics of the enemy:
    - You don’t have a voice, for you have failed.
    - You have a voice, for you have succeeded.
  - The Lord:
    - You have a voice, because I have given you one. It is grace.

4 To Stand With Us While We Reap What We’ve Sown (2 Samuel 13:22-39)

39 Absalom / Amnon: The two most obvious candidates to succeed David on the throne are eliminated.
25 / 27 Gave him his blessing / he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him: David spoke a word allowing these festivities. He also sent Tamar to Amnon (7).
- His words opened the door for his children’s hurt.
- Consequences of David’s sin.
  - 1 Amnon imitates David.
  - 2 Absalom conspires against David.
  - 3 Tamar is abused because of David’s unhealthy home.
  - 4 David’s voice is muted.
- A word about God’s judgment on David:
  - 1 God is above us, so he will act in ways that are beyond our small intellects.
  - 2 David’s son went to heaven and would not complain.
  - 3 On one hand, David’s consequences were the natural outflow of his sin.
  - 4 David was the king of Israel, and leaders are held to a high standard.
  - 5 David had great revelation, yet still committed a great sin, and he was disciplined accordingly.
    - According to Jesus, the day of judgement would be more bearable for Tyre, Sidon, and the land of Sodom than Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum (Matthew 11:20-24).
  - 6 God’s mercy was available. David could still work to repair that which he’d broken.
  - 7 God may have been pulling back the curtain.
    - But God walked with David through all of it.
- Jesus will stand with us as we reap what we’ve sown.
  - Sometimes the muck and mire is due to general sin, but other times it is of our own doing.
    - Galatians 6:7 (ESV) — 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
    - But in the midst of it, Jesus says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).