2 Samuel 15:24-30 – The Sovereignty of God
What is it that helps David look to the LORD in all this? It’s because he knows that Absalom, with all his scheming, isn’t sovereign. Only God is sovereign. David didn’t just know the truth of that in a general way, but specifically. After his sin with Bathsheba, the LORD had told him through Nathan the prophet: ‘Behold I will raise evil against you out of your own house’. Now that prophecy is being fulfilled. Evil has risen against David out of his own house. And it’s been raised up by God. That doesn’t excuse Absalom at all. He’s killed his brother, and he would have no qualms about killing his father as well. Yet God, not Absalom, is ultimately in charge. People are responsible for their own wickedness. But God is also sovereign. There’s nowhere we see that more clearly than at the cross. And if God was sovereign even over that act of unspeakable wickedness, you can be sure that nothing he sends into your life this week will be a mistake.
David refuses to try and use God for his own personal ends. In v24 Zadok the priest and the Levites come with the ark of the covenant. If that rings a bell, it’s because way back in 1st Samuel chapter 4, when Israel was defeated by the Philistines, they called for the ark. ‘Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.’ It was an attempt to use God and his ark as a lucky charm. David refuses to use God. ‘But if he says I have no pleasure in you, behold, here I am, let him do what seems good to me’. He will cast himself on God, and accept the outcome – and not try and force God’s hand.
Question
- What does David realise about what’s happening?
- How does the cross help us understand God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we would take comfort in God’s sovereignty.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.