Community & Discipleship
Under Attack (2 Sam 16:1-23)
Pride grows until God humbles it, so we should examine our hearts before a holy God. Revenge, unforgiveness, selfish ambition, rebellion, and silence toward our children are all forms of pride that we must lay down in Christ.
Pride reaches a tipping point, and God humbles it
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Because he loves us, he allows our pride to grow only to a certain point before he humbles us, since he knows how destructive pride can be. We see this pattern at Babel, where people built a tower to reach heaven and trusted in their own power, and God confused their languages. We also see it in the boast that even God could not sink the Titanic, which a piece of ice proved wrong. So we must ask whether we are at that tipping point in our secret and public lives before God.
Revenge is a prison that steals our freedom
Ahithophel's pride showed itself as a desire for revenge rooted in bitterness and unforgiveness against David. His plan copied the same tactic David had used to kill Uriah, and so he was seeking ruin for others that would ultimately ruin his own life. When Absalom rejected his counsel, he took his own life, which is one of the greatest forms of human selfishness. The story of Carl Erickson, who carried a grudge for more than fifty years and then killed his old classmate, shows the same truth. You forfeit freedom when you forfeit forgiveness.
We forgive because we have been forgiven much
David's heart stands in sharp contrast to Ahithophel's revenge. David commanded his commanders to deal gently with Absalom, even though Absalom had tried to kill him and drive him out of his kingdom. Years of facing the consequences of his own sin had softened David's heart and taught him humility. A heart of revenge exists only in someone who has forgotten how much he has been forgiven. When we know we have been forgiven much, we are able to forgive much, and that kind of love is a supernatural ability given by God.
Every gift is grace, so pride has no ground
Absalom took pride in his thick hair, and that very hair caught in an oak tree and led to his downfall. What we are most proud of is often the means God uses to humble us. Our intelligence, health, musical gifts, and ability to earn money are all gifts of grace that we did nothing to earn. Our ambition is not wrong in itself, but it must be redeemed so that we use it to make the name of Jesus known among the nations. Joab's rebellion against the king's orders also shows that pride leads us to refuse submission to leaders God has set over us.
Silence toward our children is a costly failure
David's deepest regret was his silence toward Absalom. He did not discipline his son, disciple him, or express his love, and so his son never knew that love. Love unexpressed to the beloved does not exist in the beloved's world, and love must be spoken to be experienced. The story of a pastor whose son left home after a lifetime of absence and was told it was too late shows how costly this silence can be. What good is it to save the whole world and lose your son? Families need healing, and we must lay down our pride and show our children the way of Jesus.
Apply to Life
- Let us examine where we stand before a holy God and ask whether we are nearing the tipping point of pride in our lives.
- Let us release our grudges and forgive others, since we have been forgiven much by Christ.
- Let us lay down our rights for the sake of the gospel and surrender every crown we have been wearing to Jesus.
- Let us redeem our ambition by using our gifts and resources to make the name of Jesus known to the nations.
- Let us express our love and speak blessings to our children, spending a few minutes each day reading Scripture and praying over them.
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