Water on the Ground

March 7, 2021

We spill things all the time. Coffee, tea, coke. Ever spill something valuable? A computer, a phone… a kid? The biggest oil spill in history was the 2010 BP Deep Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A natural gas line blasted the cement well cap. The oil platform blew up, and 11 workers were killed. 134,000,000 gallons of oil spilled into the ocean.

The most valuable thing that we can spill is time; life itself spills as time goes on. And it can’t be recovered.

Text: 2 Samuel 13-14

  • 2 Sam. 13:1 lays out the family dynamics. Tamar and Absalom are full brother and sister; they have a half brother (a son of David, different mother) named Amnon.
  • 2 Sam. 13:2 Amnon makes himself sick with lust for Tamar. His friend Jonadab plots a scheme to get the two in the same circle.
  • 2 Sam. 13:14 Amnon rapes Tamar as she pleads for him not to violate her. The scene is painful to read, and the Bible pulls no punches here. What Amnon did is wicked.
  • 2 Sam. 13:15 with his passion expended, Amnon suddenly hates Tamar and doesn’t want anything to do with her. Note the striking words that he hated her with the same level of hatred he had once lusted for her.
  • 2 Sam. 13:17 is terrible in Hebrew. The English says “throw her out.” But the Hebrew is not “her” but “thing.” As in, “Throw this thing out.” She is treated as an object instead of a person. First an object of lust, an object to be possessed, an object to be thrown out.
  • 2 Sam. 13:19 Tamar puts ashes on her head, leaves weeping. When Absalom finds out, he takes her in to his home and waits for David to bring justice to the household. However, though Angry, David does nothing about his son.
  • 2 Sam. 13:29: Absalom killed Amnon at a party as revenge for raping his sister. Absalom then fled, exiling himself. It’s worth noting that while he was trying to act to defend his sister, he had brought her into his house. By putting himself in a place where he would have to run, he could no longer care for the sister he was so concerned about. With Absalom on the run, Tamar would most certainly have to find somewhere else to take refuge. So the very person he meant to help, his anger actually hurt.
  • 2 Sam. 14:1: Joab is David’s nephew and the lead general in Israel’s army.
  • 2 Sam. 14:2: Tekoa is a town 10 miles south of Jerusalem. It would later be famous as the birthplace of the prophet Amos.
  • 14:13: The woman confronts David with a story, much the way Nathan confronted David after he murdered Uriah. At the heart of the woman’s confrontation is that David is willing to work to restore her family, but not willing to restore His own family.
  • 2 Sam. 14:14: Is the center of this passage. We live in a world that banishes people. We exclude people from our lives. The woman says that while the world behaves this way, God does not.
  • 2 Samuel 14:20: The woman appeals to David’s relationship with God. Instead of giving him a “HOW TO” plan, she reminds him that he has wisdom from the Almighty. She trusts the Holy Spirit in David to lead him.

Two important notes:

  • People don’t live forever. (2 Samuel 14:14)
  • She put him in the Holy Spirits hands. (2 Samuel 14:20)

What will the Holy Spirit do?

1. Heart: The Holy Spirit will move my heart (2 Samuel 14:14)

  • This lady: I trust the Gospel in you.
  • A warning about the Holy Spirit: God is for the Gospel. He is not for my pride. He is not just exist to build me up. He has no problem confronting sin in my life, sinful attitudes toward others. If I need to apologize, the Holy Spirit will go right there. That’s why we resist going to the Holy Spirit with our relationships.
  • I am at my best when I’m Gospel focused.

2. Eyes: The Holy Spirit will (2 Samuel 14:14)

  • The Holy Spirit already has a plan for the situation you are in.
  • James 1:5, God will give wisdom if we ask. It’s a “yes” prayer.
  • I’ve observed: Everyone wants a “WORD” from the Lord. A word about eschatology, a word about end times, a word about prosperity… no one wants a “word” from the Lord about their relationships!

3. Arms: The Holy Spirit will give me

  • God’s plan is too big for me. Whatever he asks me to do, it will scare me. God’s plan is not too big. . . for God.
  • “God won’t give me more than I can handle.” Of course he will! You can’t deal with your relationships without God’s help. God won’t give you more than HE can handle.

 

 

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