2 Samuel 2:18-19:8a
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We'll be in second Samuel starting in chapter 18 I'm gonna take a moment to remind us how we got where we are this morning in this text and then we're gonna read the beginning of the text because It's gonna set us up well for understanding kind of the tension of what's happening here So we have David the Anointed blessed king over Israel That God went and found someone after his own heart to become king and that even has made a covenant with him That he's going to bless him that he's gonna give him sons to sit on the throne forever He's gonna work this blessing out in David's line David sins grievously against Bathsheba and Uriah and when the prophet Nathan speaks to him.
He tells him that there's gonna be trouble that's going to arise out of this and we're in chapter 18 We're in the middle of some of that trouble David's oldest son Amnon had sexually assaulted his half sister who was Absalom's David's other sons whole sister and Absalom, because David does nothing, plots and murders his brother Amnon These are the two oldest sons of David. There was a third one, but he doesn't seem to be mentioned and it's likely he died Young so we've got the two oldest sons of David. Absalom then runs. He flees he's in exile for a while.
Joab sees that this is distressing David. After a time, he helps bring back Absalom. Joab, that leader of David's army, Absalom comes back and eventually over time works up a rebellion Marches with the people of Israel claiming to be king on Jerusalem David flees, goes to Mahanaim. That's where we find him Now which is interesting That's where Ish-bosheth had set up his kingdom last time David was in the middle of a civil war and so David is in Mahanaim Absalom gathers the forces of Israel crosses over the Jordan towards David and that's where we pick up today Absalom is following Hushai's plan which was the one Hushai secretly on David's team which was don't go killing quickly; gather everybody and you lead the forces yourself.
So we've got Absalom with a very large kind of conscripted army. All the people in Israel were prepared to fight but these guys would come fight when they need to and then go back David is with a smaller but more regular military and We pick up in verse one chapter 18 Then David mustered the men who were with him and Set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. It doesn't tell us how many that he has.
But it does tell us that he has commanders of thousands and hundreds and that he splits them into thirds We're gonna see that in just a second so it seems like he does have several thousand men That's the standing army that left with him and David sent out the army one third under the command of Joab One third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah Joab's brother Which we've seen them lead his military before and one third under the command of Ittai the Gittite Which we saw him join David with 600 of his own men as they were fleeing.
And the king said to the men I myself will go out with you But the men said you will not go out for if we flee they will not care about us If half of us die they will not care about us But you are worth 10,000 of us therefore it's better that you send us help from the city So David says I'm going to and they say no, you're not because you're gonna make it more complicated They're only gonna care about you it matters a whole lot if they kill you it doesn't matter if they kill us if we flee They're just gonna be trying to find you like if We've got the whole point of us going out is to keep you alive for the sake of reestablishing control here.
So stay and send help from the city organized from the city King said to them whatever seems best to you. I will do So the king stood the side of the gate while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands and the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom and All the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.
So it becomes very clear to the entire army that David has instructed deal gently With Absalom for my sake now This is the tension in this story Because we have David referred to as the king the king the king the king and as king David Organizes his military and as king he sends them out to defend the kingdom and as king He is working to stop a rebellion As king he's bringing justice and righteousness and.
Then at the end He doesn't sound like a king He sounds like a father So as he's sending out the military he says Deal gently with the young man Absalom because in his eyes that's still who he is He's a lad, that young man that's leading a rebellion against this Who's got a bigger army than y'all Who wishes to kill us. When y'all catch him but you'd be nice to him Be tender.
Joab that's actually why I made you leader of the military because you're one of the most tender fellows. I know From what we know of Joab he is anything but gentle This is probably the only time David has ever given this instruction to his military leaders I don't think he was ever attacking the Amalekites and was like hey if you catch the king Because y'all it should be nice to him when you catch him. He just does this isn't normal.
But it gets word through the whole because there's this tension with David where he's got to work justice He's got to be a king. He is the king and then but he loves his son Can you imagine trying to navigate this? How how do you How do you do that? How do you handle this when we see David trying to do both? He wants Absalom to lose But he doesn't want to lose Absalom.
And he's trying to thread that needle So the army has verse six Went out into the field against Israel and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David and the loss there was great on that day 20,000 men The battle spread over the face of all the country and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.
So they spread out they're in three different groups they fight They meet them on the field of battle, but it says specifically they're fighting in the forest of Ephraim And the forest kills more people than the sword does which is a very interesting verse I think all that's trying to communicate to you was not David if you talk to the to the to the David's army and you said how do they go how did it go.
And they were basically saying the forest was more help to us than our sword was Like the forest won the battle for us more than the sword did meaning that the terrain benefited us greatly David has a more well trained military that has done more things and they're in a smaller group They don't want to meet on a field in the open Because sheer numbers will out Man them they'll just they'll lose just over time so what they do is they spread out and they fight in the woods and it works out Very well for them They do some of what a famous South Carolinians did during the Revolutionary War They were like yeah, we're not lining up and just shooting it y'all but every time you ride through the woods.
Good luck and we're like we like y'all and we're gonna name colleges after you so that's That's what David that's what they do they they go hide in the woods and they fight in the woods And they say the woods the forest helped us more than the sword did today in 20,000 men die, but the The brunt of that is on the people of Israel not the David side And we're gonna see in just a second the the forest playing a very active role versus nine.
And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David Okay, so David's not there, but Absalom is because Absalom's doing Hushai's plan which is you go yourself and Take everybody with you so Absalom's there and he comes across some of David's servants 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 Absalom sees some of David's men in the forest Most likely at this point Absalom's trying to get away so he spurs his mule. He's heading off I don't know if he was looking back It doesn't tell us it may be the mule just picked a spot that the mules head fit fine.
So he just shoot under there Absalom gets his head caught in an oak tree now The word head here can mean it's actual head so it's possible that he got stuck in between some branches and it actually got around his neck His head is actually stuck wedged in somewhere It can also mean his hair and one of the things we know about Absalom other than he's the most handsome man You'd ever like to meet is it he has beautiful hair To the point that he cuts it once a year and weighs it and then Tells people about it.
And it's written down forever and scripture for us how much was hair weight So it's possible that it says hair that got tangled up and then he's having to hold himself up And I don't know if you've ever been snagged on something, but it's not easy to get yourself out of it And he's now dangling from a tree and his mule's like well sorry You should have cut your hair before battle and heads up.
So he's dangling from a tree and the forest is helping more than the sword at this moment Verse 10 and a certain man saw it and told Joab behold I saw Absalom hanging in an oak And Joab says what we would say Joab said to the man who told him what you saw him so he comes to report hey Hey, you remember the guy we're looking for? Absalom dangling from a tree over here It'd be like you know you're just one of the random guys you're walking along and then there's someone just dangling from a tree? It's like the guy we came for you guys. He's here That's what he does he's I see him and Joab says what you saw him? Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? Why are you telling me's in a tree? Why are you telling me he's dead?
I would have been glad to give you 10 pieces of silver and a belt Yeah, 10 pieces of silver and a belt you guys But the man said to Joab even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver I would not reach out my hand against the king's son for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai for my sake protect the young man Absalom on the other hand if I had dealt Treacherously against his life and there's nothing hidden from the king then you yourself would have stood aloof.
Joab said I will not not waste time with you waste time like this with you So Joab he says I saw Absalom hanging in a tree Joab says why didn't you kill him and then I would have given you 10 pieces of silver and a belt and the man says You could have given me a bag of a thousand pieces of silver I'm not killing the king's son after he told us not to and then he just keeps going He goes he told you and his brother and he had time and if I had killed him and the king found out later You're not gonna bow walking up in the middle of that and being like look at whose belt he's wearing You're gonna stand back and let me get killed. I know exactly and just like you just I don't know who this certain man was but I like him.
Joab's like why didn't you just obey the king and this guy's like have you lost your mind and Just goes toe to toe with Joab and you haven't gotten anything to say except for I don't have time for this I'm not getting too big discussion with you about what I would have done later had I like what whatever So he just you know I believe I'm not waste time like this with you and he took three javelins in his hand.
And he thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak so when Joab gets there Absalom Absalom still there they take three Throwing spears and thrust them into him and ten young men, Joab's armor-bearers Surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him Then Joab blew the trumpet and the troops came back from pursuing Israel for Joab restrained them So Joab does not follow the king's order He goes and brutally kills Absalom Throws three spears into him while he's dangling there cuts him down and then ten men who were with him Striking and killing.
And then he blows the trumpet because that's all Joab wanted to do we got the guy that was causing problems The battle's over like y'all come back and without Absalom there's no rebellion It stopped And the throwing of the three spears makes it seem to me first of all Joab has no intention whatsoever of following David's command And it also feels Personal vindictive maybe and it doesn't tell us I think he probably had some enjoyment of finding him like that and then some anger towards Absalom he's Joab's the one who helped to bring Absalom back From exile Absalom when he was trying to get Joab's attention Joab wouldn't come so Absalom burned down Joab's field.
Joab's on the run from Absalom has been expelled from his home and had to take his own family and his household with him and Seems to be he has no mercy in his heart for him and Absalom finds a gruesome end Now we know what David asked But there's part of me who can appreciate Feeling like yeah Absalom Caught what he deserved He's risen up in rebellion against his own back When when the original the when it was Ahithophel and Hushai were both giving him plans Ahithophel said we'll go tonight Just kill David and Absalom and thinks that's a good idea and then Hushai says no, we'll kill them all and Absalom thinks that's a better idea and When he dies like this there's part of me that just goes yeah.
Feels like justice was served There's actually a passage in Deuteronomy that seems like he kind of lives out I want to show you what happens here next in verse 17 it says they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him a very great heap of stones And all Israel fled everyone to his own home Now Absalom and his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar that is in the King's Valley for he said I have no son to keep my name and Remembrance he called the pillar after his own name and it is called Absalom's monument to this day We'll get to that in just a second.
And Deuteronomy chapter 21 it says that if anyone is deserving of death and is hanged on a tree He's cursed by God and that you should remove him from the tree before nightfall And Absalom hanging on the tree now it just happens to him but it seems as if it's in God's Providence that this would happen and it's the same phrase that he's hanged on a tree That's what he says I found he's hanging on a tree cursed by God. He's killed and.
Then the very next passage in Deuteronomy 21 says if you have a rebellious son He should be taken outside of the gates and stoned and they throw him in a pit and they throw a great heap of stones on him So that he somehow lives out Deuteronomy 21 both of the punishments and there's this He's very unceremoniously cared for he's dumped dumped in a pit stones are thrown on him and then it says hey While he was alive he made himself his own monument and what the the text is doing is going so Absalom has two stone monuments the one he made for himself and the one we made for him in the forest The one where he tried to honor himself and the one where he died in utter contempt and dishonor.
We are told in the text previously that Absalom had three sons so we've seen at this point that they have all died in infancy You're at a young age so that they aren't able to carry his name on So his desire in pride to elevate himself has come to utter ruin But now we have to see what happens with David Verse 19 then Ahimaaz the son of a Zadok said let me run and carry news to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.
So Ahimaaz we met him earlier. He's one of the guys that hid in the well To bring news to David. He's been helping spy. He wants he says let me run and give him the news And Joab said to him you are not to carry news today You may carry news another day, but today you shall not you shall carry no news because the king's son is dead So Ahimaaz is excited he in his mind. He just says hey let's go tell him we won let's tell him that this is today is a great day.
Then Joab said today's not gonna be a great day the king's son is dead. You don't need to carry news today And he says you can carry news another day. He's even like seems like he's trying to tell him as if it's like it's not you it just is the news. You don't need to carry it Verse 21 then Joab said to the Cushite go tell the king what you have seen The Cushite bowed before Joab and ran. I find this interaction interesting as well.
So Joab looks at Ahimaaz and goes don't go deliver this news. It's not gonna go well. This is bad news and then he goes you there foreigner I got news for you to take to the king and It feels like At best what Joab is doing is you don't belong to the nation of Israel so you don't need to mourn with us But it worse he's just like if David decides to kill someone Non-covenant person I got a message for you which I wonder how the Cushite felt about that but he just says hey run this message.
So the Cushite who's from the Egypt area He's gonna go so he says the Cushite bow before Joab and ran Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab come what may let me also run after the Cushite And Joab said why will you run my son seeing that you have no reward for the news Come what may he said I will run so he said to him run Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain and out ran the Cushite to Ahimaaz really wants to go Please please please He says whatever happens. I don't care what happens. Just let me go. Let me run after him. I'll just go behind him. Let me go.
And then he doesn't go behind him he runs a different way and outruns him And I think maybe Ahimaaz just like running He also might just like to be in the middle of things. I don't know we don't we don't know But we know that he out runs the Cushite so he's gonna get there first But he said I don't care I don't care how he takes the news. I just want to go.
Verse 24 now David was sitting between the two gates and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall When he lifted up his eyes and looked he saw a man running alone so there's outer gate outer wall Then a House something above the gate where you can sit and watch and there's an inter gate inter wall and David's in between pacing praying I don't know But he's just kind of this is where he is and he's waiting for news waiting they're keeping an eye out on what's going on watchman sees a runner.
The watchman is verse 25 called out and told the king and the king said if he is alone There is news in his mouth and he drew near and near so they can see for quite a ways We don't know how far but he could be a mile away between like we he's you know You see someone running he says someone's running he's by himself He says well he's alone he's bringing news The whole army marching back would mean one thing people coming back in a little bunches would probably mean defeat you know.
But just the guy running he's bringing us some information The watchman saw another man running and the watchman called to the gate and said see another man running alone The king said he also brings news Which he split his army into Thirds so to get news from different places. It's not odd to get news from the same place with the exact same time as odd but David doesn't know that's what's about to happen.
The watchman said I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of a Zadok I think he's seen Ahimaaz run before this what part of what makes me think Ahimaaz likes to run or you know Ahimaaz does his hands weird when he runs or something. I don't know but he sees him and he's like that looks like Ahimaaz running And the king said he is a good man and comes with good news not maybe wishful thinking on David's part.
But it also may be that he understands how Joab usually sends news and we just saw Joab say you're not allowed to bring news because this news is bad And maybe Joab has usually picks people to honor who get to go deliver good news So when he says oh, it's Ahimaaz this is gonna be good news That's the way David takes it Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king all is well and he's just run several miles and he's run fast because he outran the Cushite All is well as one word in in Hebrew says Shalom, but he says all is well and he bowed before the king with his face to the earth and he said Blessed be the Lord your God who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my Lord the king.
And the king said is it well with the young man? Absalom So he says we won The news he gives is the news to the king justice was served But the king doesn't respond. I mean he is the King David, but he responds as the father. He got the king news and now he asks Is it well With Absalom Ahimaaz answered When Joab sent the king's servant, your servant, I saw a great commotion, but I do not know what it was.
And the king said turn aside and stand here so he turned aside and stood still now Ahimaaz said twice come what may And as soon as he gets to come what may he does not tell him what happened to his son I Don't know if he changed his mind in the moment I don't know if he just wanted to be here and see it We don't know if he thought about it as he was out running the Cushite and he thought I don't know if it was when he gave the news the King David and King David doesn't respond with any sort of joy at hearing that he won but only asked about Absalom, but at this moment he just goes ah when I when I was there was the stuff going on, but I don't know.
Hmm Then David says okay, we'll stand over here And then he sees a Cushite running Which I don't know if he knows him. I don't know how how that worked in their their army But he's coming up so he just has stand here and he's waiting for this piece of news And behold the Cushite came and the Cushite said good news from my Lord the king For the Lord has delivered you this day from the hand of all who rose up against you I don't know if the Cushite did a double take when he saw him as.
But he was the last time he had a conversation with a person he was talking to Joab who was talking to Ahimaaz and then he took off running and then when he shows up He sees David who's talking to Ahimaaz who's obviously been running I don't know if we play the game where it was like which one of us has just run six miles but she'd probably be able to figure it out Do the other ones hadn't and so I just want to hear if he was like, huh, and then just but he did his job.
The king said to the Cushite Is it well with the young man? Absalom, I asked the exact same question and the Cushite answered may the enemies of my Lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man And the king was deeply moved Went up to the chamber over the gate and wept And as he went and he said oh my son, Absalom my son my son, Absalom Would that I had died instead of you? Oh, Absalom my son my son.
So he gets the news we won Rebellion over God's given you victory God's with you and he gets the news your son is dead David's heart is broken And he just goes off It was told Joab the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people For they heard, for the people heard that day the king is grieving his son and the people stole into the city that day as people who steal in who are Shamed when they flee in battle and the king covered his face and the king cried with a loud voice Oh my son, Absalom my son David's gone up over the gatehouse and he's just weeping and he's covered his face and he's just he's broke.
People hear it And they don't they don't just walk back into the city like anything good has happened They don't celebrate that they won they don't celebrate their deliverance It says they sneak in like people who lost people who don't want to make eye contact with you because they fled because they're ashamed of themselves So this this is how it comes back to the city Then Joab came into the house for the king and said you have today covered with shame The faces of all your servants who have this day saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters and the lives of your wives.
And your concubines because you love those who hate you and hate those who love you You have made it clear today that the commanders and servants are nothing to you for today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today Then you would have been pleased So Joab shows up walks right up and it says just Let's him have it and you can you can feel Joab's hurt a little bit. Joab is is David's nephew and he's been with him and everything.
And Joab says I can tell now they don't matter like we don't matter if Absalom were alive and we were all dead this you wouldn't be acting like this Verse seven now therefore a rise Go out and speak kindly to your servants for I swear by the Lord if you do not go Not a man will stay with you this night and this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now.
Then the king arose and took his seat in the gate and the people were all told behold the king is sitting in the gate and All the people came before the king David hears Joab and he realizes he's right He goes out to the gate and he starts smoothing things back over No, Joab goes up to him and says you need to act like a king and David had just been acting like a father and There's this pull in the text Because how does David handle this well? If he only responded like a king If he looked at them as they were on their way out and said make sure Absalom doesn't last the day He'd be gone. Oh, I mean that's your son David Response in both ways he responds as a king at the end we see him sitting as a king.
We see him weeping as a father if he only acts like a father then then it falls apart He doesn't handle his kingly duties. There's this tension here between the justice that needs to be carried out And the love that David has for his son and he's not able to to navigate it But how would you Your king your sons in rebellion against you. How do you navigate that? And I think as we're evaluating it we're trying to think through that I think different ones of us want to move the slider in different directions Some of us feel like yes, I don't know Can you march against your own son even though he's wrong? Maybe you don't Maybe David should just say Somebody else has got to lead this. I'm gonna step down from being king.
And some of you are like that's crazy talk Get in He's causing more problems He's willing to kill you. He's wrong. I don't care that he's your son. He's chosen so many things that are wrong And we want to pull this back and forth and we have this tension between justice and love and mercy And it's not just in this story. I think this is the tension that runs throughout the Old Testament This story gives us a feel for it.
But we're told that God has a glorious king who is perfect in justice and perfect in holiness created a world out of love, that he loves the world that he loves His creation that he loves Humans and we're told that we rebel We don't want his kingship. We don't want his love. We don't want him What does he do And you'll talk to people and then move that slider around Some people say why don't see why he can't just forget why can't he just love us if he loves us then he would just forgive us If there really is a God, then he's a loving God and he's a forgiving God and we're fine. It's fine He knows we're all human. He just is gonna. He's fine.
And if you have a God of judgment or wrath or whatever you're confused because that's not what God's like And they just move the slider all the way over to loving father which we're told God is a loving father There's a problem with that Joab sees the problem. He says that son was gonna kill all your other sons That son was gonna kill all your children. So you're gonna kill your whole household.
And it's easy if your life's been kind of calm and kind of nice and everything's been kind of and you just deal with Base level disagreements to go yeah, we're all the same and God loves us But if people have marched into your village and burned it down and raped all your family members If you've dealt with heinous wicked evil and then your answer is that God just kind of sleepily goes. It's okay That doesn't feel very loving How can he love us and not care.
There's a scene in the movie Princess Bride where Princess Buttercup is being walked down the aisle, being forced to marry someone she doesn't want to marry she's walking this really old Nice king she gives him a kiss on the cheek and he says what was that for she says you've always been so nice to me And I'm not gonna see you again because after the wedding when I get to the honeymoon suite I'm gonna kill myself He pats her arm and says that's nice.
And he looks at someone she kissed me and Some of us seem to be that's the God you're promoting No matter what happens you just kind of go that's nice. It's okay It's just vaguely kind And you've filed that under love, but he has no response to sin whatsoever There are others who are gonna slide it over and say no, he needs to bring justice He needs to destroy Wickedness and you'll hear people say why don't you just get rid of the bad people like why don't you just get rid of sin why doesn't he just get rid of it Because he'd have to get rid of people.
And most of us want a God who judges we just want him to judge wherever the line is past us Do you know what I'm saying? I Like if I'm driving down the interstate and I'll come up behind you and you're not going as fast as me you are slow And if I'm driving up down the interstate and you come whipping up behind me you are fast Because I'm the pace car I'm driving appropriately that's the way we feel about justice That's the way we feel about mercy that's what I want the line to go right here past me Those people are the bad ones, but I'm not.
And so we actually don't want a holy God we want him to be as holy as I am We don't want a just God we we want him just as holy and just as just as Get rid of the people I don't like and keeps me that's not how it works if you're going to stop the rebellion you stop the rebels And that's us you've actively made things worse. I've actively made things worse. I've been part of the problem I've been selfish I've lied I've harmed people I'm part of the problem I haven't just been an addition to the world I've taken away from it and if you think he's righteous If you think he's just and you go well, yeah, but like more good than bad that's not how justice works.
That's not how judgment works If if there was a trial for a doctor who had been killing people that were his patients And his whole defense was yeah, I killed four people last year But I saved 22 So I'm a net 18 And I only killed the ones that annoying me Nobody the judges aren't gonna go well somebody that math is net 18 right okay Let him go That's not how it works That's not how justice works You don't want someone it character witness after someone has has assaulted your family and someone goes yeah, but he's like always paid his taxes Irrelevant. I don't care That's not how justice works and so when you say well I'm good over here and I'm good over here and I did this thing.
But these other ones shouldn't count that's just because you want to draw the line in a place that's actually wicked Because we fail on holiness So to just forgive everybody is wrong And to just destroy everybody is right but it breaks the father's heart In this story The rebellion is over When we see the Son hanging on a tree and dying for his sin And in our story the rebellion gets to end when we see the Son hanging on a tree and dying not for his sin, but for ours.
That's what God does God works out a way for his perfect love and his perfect justice to meet in a way that we could have never navigated For his perfect justice for wrath to be poured out for sin to be dealt with and his absolute love So that there might be hope rather than just getting rid of everybody And he does that in the cross that's where those two things meet in a way that is mind blowing and beautiful.
So that in the cross God is more holy than you could have ever imagined to the point that his Son has to pay for the wrath But he's more loving than you could have ever understood because he's willing to pay for it so that we might be forgiven That's the hope of the cross and there is no other way There is no other way that it would have to deny the love of God or would have to deny the righteousness of God.
But in the cross we have perfect love and perfect justice meeting in a way that is beyond our comprehension and when the soldiers have the right of it when they look at David and they say you're worth 10,000 of us Jesus Christ is worth 14 trillion of us so that he's capable of paying the debt So that he can save all those who come to him with his perfect Priceless blood he can pay the debt that we all deserve to pay and He can be the way that God pours out his justice and his wrath and his righteousness and his love.
So that he can welcome sinners and have their debt covered So God for us is able to do what David couldn't figure out how to navigate and we see that he is perfectly just and Perfectly loving and therefore we have a hope but only only in Christ Let's pray Lord, we ask That you would set our hearts on fire with the beauty of the gospel that we at no point Would underestimate your holiness that we would not somehow tone you down or make you sleepier That we would not impose upon you some sort of wickedness that can turn a blind eye to sin.
But that Lord we would also not in seeing your absolute justice Fail to see your wonderful love that reaches to the highest heavens that covers sin So Lord may we see both may we trust Jesus and may we glorify your name In Jesus' name The band's gonna come back up and we're gonna sing If you've never placed your faith in Jesus If you're counting on God being not that holy If you have a God who's only vaguely loving but doesn't deal with sin I will let you know that that is not the God of the Scriptures.
But that you can have hope in Christ and if you've placed your faith in Christ Then rejoice That your hope is not found in you. It's not found in your work It's not found in your worth but it is found in the precious blood of Jesus that forgives sinners And may we sing like we're redeemed.