Today’s Reading:  2 Sam 18:1–33, 2 Pet 2:12–22, Ps 144:1–5

Today’s Theme: The Bondage of Vanity

Today’s Theme is about the bondage of vanity, we will see how Absalom’s vanity left him trapped. Joab’s vanity made him seditious and Ahimaaz wasted time and energy. The theme carries over into the new testament where we read about the vanity of greed and the vanity of man in the Psalms.

A definition of vanity in the context we will look at this morning is that which is empty of meaning, purpose, or content and in general just empty, worthless, or futile. Vanity can also speak of pride and conceit

Something does not gain value because we treasure it, we cannot add quality or substance to something that is empty and meaningless, instead like a black hole the vain areas of life will suck meaning, purpose and worth from our lives.

2 Samuel 18:1–33

Trapped by vanity

And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. 2 Samuel 18:9 (ESV)

The fact that Absalom was vain is quite obvious when we consider the fact that he tried take his father’s kingdom by force. We also read in 2 Sam 14:26 that Absalom had long hair and would cut and weigh out his hair each year.

It is likely that Absalom became trapped in the great oak tree by the asset he was most vain about, his hair. You can imagine the scene now, his long hair getting caught up and tangled in the branches.

The vain things we place most pride in are the things we are likely to be trapped by. These things can cause us to stumble and hinder our walk.

We read in Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

Whatever the vain thing is in your life that you hold closely must be cast aside or you will get entangled, trapped, stuck and be left open to the cruel attacks of the enemy.

The vanity of sedition

Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.” And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak. 2 Samuel 18:14 (ESV)

Joab was so often driven by his own sense of what was right and wrong and in his proud and vengeful vanity showed contempt for David’s command and so walked in open sedition.

We must not let the emptiness of an elevated view of ourselves cause us to walk in sedition and blatantly disobey the Lord or our leaders.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

The vanity of thinking of ourselves above others and walking in rebellion to authority will not only eventually cause us great harm but will bring pain and death (spiritually and even physically) to those around us.

What we do also affects those looking up to us, Joab’s armor bearers all got involved in his murder and sedition.

Don’t run in vain

“Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and outran the Cushite. 2 Samuel 18:23 (ESV)

Ahimaaz was a loyal man to David and had already demonstrated his devotion by risking his life to bring a message to David and his men in the previous chapter.

However in this case we see vanity in his act rather than in him as a person. The text makes clear that this is a pure man who loves the Lord and his king.

God want’s us to use wisdom, he does not want us to act in vain and run unnecessarily like Ahimaaz, who came to the king with only half the facts.

We must not run in vain, we must not waste our time or energy on missions and work the Lord has not called us to or equipped us for.

Paul mentions in Galatians 2:2 “I went up because of a revelation and set before them… the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.”

He also wrote in Philippians 2:16 “holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”

2 Peter 2:12–22

The vanity of sin

They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 2 Peter 2:14 (ESV)

The appetites of sin are vain, remember the definition of the word includes empty, worthless and meaningless; this is the essence of sin, it is empty.

The false teachers are children of the devil, they have an insatiable thirst for sinful experience and lust after married women.

The false promise of the heretics and the empty promises of sin go hand in hand.

Our souls must be steady, filled with the substance, worth and meaning of God’s word and the Holy Spirit, this is the only way to guard against the vanities of sin and heresy.

The greed and covetousness that drives sin like this can never be satisfied, it is just vanity upon vanity, no amount of having or buying will ever satisfy, the void just gets deeper.

The strange vanity of greed

Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 2 Peter 2:15 (ESV)

As just mentioned in the last note, greed is a strange thing, it presents itself as a desire for more but because it is vain (empty and worthless), it adds to our emptiness and takes away from the worth of what we already have.

Our culture teaches us to be greedy and to keep aiming for more, but the more we do this the less satisfied we become.

We should avoid the vain spirit of Balam which is driven by greed and seeks to make an unrighteous profit from a gift or ministry God has given us.

Lets learn to be content and have a godly sense of “enough” and generosity.

The vanity of walking on the borderline

For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 2 Peter 2:18 (ESV)

We are called to live godly lives and to pursue God and his ways, we should not be borderline Christians, barely escaping the enemy.

Borderline Christians are always asking how far they are allowed to go and walk as close to the border as possible, sometimes slipping over into no mans land.

If we live in or close to compromise we make ourselves susceptible to being picked of by heretics and devils.

Don’t live an empty, worthless Christian life on the borderline, come inland and be a part of the kingdom. Lets live our lives filled with God’s purpose, not living in the gray lines but walking in the light.

The slavery of vanity

They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 2 Peter 2:19 (ESV)

Whatever we allow to overcome us will enslave us, this is the enslavement of vanity.

Vanity will drive us like a slave master, it will crack the whip for us to pursue empty sin and greed.

We must stay in the freedom which Christ has won for us and not turn back to the vanity and enslavement of sin.

Psalm 144:1–5

The vanity of man

O LORD, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him? Psalm 144:3 (ESV)

Man is worthless and empty in comparison to the awesome majesty of God, outside Christ everything about man is vanity.

This makes it all the more amazing that God is thinking of us and has visited us in the person of Jesus Christ to die for our sins and save us for eternity.

Jesus defeated the vanity of sin on the cross and give us a full and meaningful life. Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Today’s Reading:  2 Sam 16:1–17:29, 2 Pet 2:1–11, Ps 143:1–12

Today’s Theme: Characters in trying times or The different characters you may meet in trying times.

God has shown me today’s theme a little differently, we will be looking at the different character and types of people you may face or interact with in trying times. Some of these characters are enemies while others are friends.

This reminds us of the characters pilgrim meet on his way to heaven in John Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress.

2 Samuel 16:1–17:29

Ziba the Opportunist

Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” And Ziba said, “I pay homage; let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord the king.” 2 Samuel 16:4 (ESV)

In 2 Samuel 9 David showed kindness to Saul’s house, he asked Ziba if any of the children of Saul’s house were still alive. It is notable that Ziba knew about Mephibosheth but kept the riches of the house of Saul for himself.

David told Ziba in verse 9-10 that the house of Saul would belong to Mephibosheth and that Ziba would serve him. It is likely that this did not sit well with Ziba who had enjoyed the estate of Saul before David called Mephibosheth back to the kingdom.

Now we see Ziba taking the opportunity to be manipulative, he lies to David that Mephibosheth was being an opportunist when in fact it was his own scheme to regain the estate of Saul. We read later in 2 Samuel 19:24-30 Mephibosheth’s side of the story which is quite different and his response to David which shows his heart was right.

David judged too quickly in this situation because he was going through a difficult trial which meant his powers of discernment had dulled.

We need to be aware of the opportunist around us when we are going through a difficult time, they will smell blood and make a plan like Ziba to benefit themselves through our impaired judgement. See 2 Corinthians 11:13 and 1 Timothy 6:5

Ask God to guide you and give you supernatural discernment in trying times so you can spot and not be fooled by the opportunists.

Shimei the Accuser

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.” 2 Samuel 16:12 (ESV)

When we go through trying times there will be those who come to accuse and mock us, these can be either people or demonic spirits. Revelation 12:10

David recognises the sovereignty of God even over his accuser and enemy. We must realise too that there is not a single enemy that has free rein to do whatever they want to us, they can only do what God allows and God will never let us go through more than we can bare.

Paul encourages us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

We are called to stay faithful under trial, if we do stay faithful God will reward us, David knew this too and so willingly endured the accusation and mockery of the enemy. See James 1:3 and 2 Corinthians 13:5

Know who you are in Christ, don’t take the accusations, conjecture, lies and gossip of people or the enemy to heart. Encourage yourself in the Lord today. See Colossians 3:3 and Ephesians 2:6

Ahithophel the Traitor

Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both by David and by Absalom. 2 Samuel 16:23 (ESV)

Ahithophel was a man driven by the vain worship of his own gift, a man concerned with position, prestige and performance.

He has a touch of the opportunist in him but is worse, this man is a traitor, playing both sides of the fence to suit his needs like Judas Iscariot. He betrays those who trust in him.

Notice the similarity between Ahithophel and Judas, they both betray their king and go on to commit suicide. Don’t be a Judas, it will end with your destruction.

At the height of his treachery he advises Absalom to take David’s concubines and then gives him the advice that would have seen him defeat David.

Traitors are the most dangerous characters we encounter in the difficult times of our lives, they can be people who are close to us or who we trust in, they know us intimately and so can cause more damage than the average adversary.

If you are betrayed in a trying time, remember Jesus was betrayed too but got the victory in the end.

One way to prepare for betrayal is to put all our trust in God, David and Absalom probably put too much faith in the counsel of this man making him like an idol. We must remember that even the most gifted people are only human.

Hushai the Advocate

And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom. 2 Samuel 17:14 (ESV)

In our trying times God will send advocates who will speak up for us, defend us and defeat the enemies schemes. Our ultimate Advocate (legal counsel) in difficult times is Jesus.

John encourages us in 1 John 2:1 “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.”

God gave Hushai great wisdom as an advocate for David by countering the wise counsel of Ahithophel. If we are seeking to be advocates for others when they are going through hard times we need to ask God to give us wisdom and favour like he did for Hushai.

We can advocate for our brothers and sister in the persecuted church around the world through agencies like Open Doors and CSW.

Advocacy takes us beyond prayer to actual action, God can use his people powerfully if we boldly stand up against injustice.

If you are going through a difficult time keep your eyes open for the advocates God will send to defend you and even if you don’t see them know that God is working it all out . Romans 8:28

Jonathan and Ahimaaz the Counsellors

brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.” 2 Samuel 17:28–29 (ESV)

In trying times God will send counsellors to give you guidance and advice. The ultimate counsellor is God the Holy Spirit John 14:26.

Jonathan and Ahimaaz the sons of the priests put their lives at risk to bring news to David from Hushai.

If we are going to be counsellors to those going through difficult times it will cost us personally, it will cost time, money and energy. We need to be willing to take the risk to help others knowing that God has equipped us to be ministers.

God has called us to encourage one another and spur one another on as well as warn one another of danger. See 2 Corinthians 13:11, 1 Thessalonians 4:18, 5:11, Hebrews 3:13 and 10:25.

Even if we see a brother going off and seek to restore him James tells us in James 5:20 “let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

Ask God to help you identify the counsellors who come to help guide you in difficult times.

Sobi, Machir and Barzillai the Carers

brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.” 2 Samuel 17:28–29 (ESV)

God will send carers in difficult times to meet spiritual and physical needs.

One of the things that might happen in a difficult time is that we do not feed on the word as we should so become hungry and do not rest in the Lord because of fear, anxiety and oppression and so become weary.

God has given us Pastors who feed us the word of God in good and bad seasons, we should give God thanks for our Pastors who like Sobi, Machir and Barzillai bring food to God’s people in the wilderness.

Jesus is our ultimate source of satisfying food and rest. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus also encourages us in John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Share the word of God with those going through difficult times and pray that they will come to Jesus to drink from him.

We are called to physically help those in actual need of food too, you can do this through Child Sponsorship with Compassion, when we feed the needy we are feeding the Lord Matthew 25:35

2 Peter 2:1–11

False Teachers (Heretics) the Exploiters

And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 2 Peter 2:2–3 (ESV)

Heresy is a BIG problem in the church today and because of the relative thinking in our culture the only heresy today seems to be to call something heresy.

Peter is warning us that the church will be plagued by heretics bringing in destructive false teachings driven by sensuality, greed and a callous desire to exploit God’s people this has been true throughout church history.

Today’s heretics include those who form cults like Mormonism and JWs.

The Heretics which are most dangerous are those posing as Christians like the health and wealth gospel proponents on TV.

These new heresies call men gods and that our goal should be riches in this life, in reality these false ministers are building their own kingdoms and becoming millionaires while those who are naive and going through hard times are exploited.

Keep your eyes open to the false prophets that will come to exploit you in your hard times, your defence is the word of God and submission to your own loving Pastors.

God the Rescuer

then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 2 Peter 2:9 (ESV)

God is the greatest and most important person we meet in our trials, God is the one who has the ability and wisdom to rescue us from our trials.

God knows how to use everyone else we meet on the journey to bring about our deliverance.

God’s past and present ability to rescue the righteous while bringing judgment on the unrighteous is the key theme in verses 5–7 and is now summarised in the this verse.

Notice God doesn’t just deliver anyone, he delivers the righteous, those who devoutly live rightly before him, even under trial. If we know we belong to the Lord then call out to him in the trials to help you because he will.

Be sure to come face to face with God in the middle of your trial, he will deliver you from the schemes of the opportunist, the accusers, the traitors and the false teaching of the exploiters.

God may use you to help rescue one of his people, have your heart in a place to be used by God as an advocate, counsellor, carer or in some other way today.

Psalm 143:1–12

The Holy Spirit the Teacher

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! Psalm 143:10 (ESV)

God will lead us back to level ground by his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the most important person in our lives, we need him in the midst of life’s trials to help keep us on track, to guide us and to lead us back out to the steady ground from the rocky road our trials will have us travelling.

God the Holy Spirit is our teacher, he will be teaching us in our trials, through our trials and in light of our trials.

Jesus said in John 16:13–15 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Praise God for our teacher the Holy Spirit. As you go through trials continue to be led by the teacher, the Holy Spirit.