"Please," she replied, "may the king invoke the LORD your God to prevent the avenger of blood from increasing the devastation, so that my son may not be destroyed!" "As surely as the LORD lives," he vowed, "not a hair of your son's head will fall to the ground." Sermons
I. THE REMEMBRANCE OF GOD WHICH SHOULD BE PRACTISED. It includes mindfulness of: 1. His existence and perfections. 2. His relation to the universe and to ourselves - Creator, Sustainer, Ruler, Redeemer, Father of spirits, etc. 3. His revelations and commands. 4. His goodness to us. What he has done, is doing, and has promised to do. II. WHEN WE SHOULD REMEMBER HIM. When should we not? The remembrance should be: 1. Habitual. "I have set the Lord always before me" (Psalm 16:8); "Be ye mindful always of his covenant" (1 Chronicles 16:15). 2. At stated times. Without special remembrances the habitual will not be maintained. Hence the value of the hours of devotion, private and public. 3. At times of special need. When duty is hard, temptation urgent, trouble pressing. III. WHO ARE REQUIRED TO REMEMBER HIM. All - kings as well as subjects. The higher men are raised above their fellow men, the more they need to keep in mind him who is higher than they, and who will call them to account. The greater the trust God has committed to any, and the more they are independent of others in discharging it, the more they need to look to God for help in discerning and practising what is right. In an unlimited, or only. partially limited, monarchy, the king has peculiar reason to keep the King of kings in mind, that he may be preserved from injustice, partiality, and oppression. But people of all classes are bound to remember God, and live as in his sight. IV. WHY WE SHOULD CHERISH SUCH REMEMBRANCES. 1. It is our duty. From our relation to God, and from his commandments. And it is no less absurd than impious to forget him "with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13) more than with any and all others. 2. It is greatly for our profit. It will be productive of: (1) Piety and holiness. These spring from the knowledge of God, but only as it is kept in mind. To have God in our creed, but not in our memory, is much the same as to have no God at all. It is thought which stirs emotion and nourishes moral principle. (2) Strength and safety under temptation. (3) Happiness. In ordinary life, and in times of trial and suffering. Remembrance of God will sanctify all things, heighten all innocent pleasures, turn duties into delights, afford consolation and support when all else fails. 3. It will save from the pangs of too late remembrances on earth or in hell. (See Proverbs 5:11-14; Luke 16:25, "Son, remember.") Mindfulness of God is universal in the eternal world, for joy or sorrow. V. THE NEED THERE IS TO REMIND MEN OF THIS DUTY. "Let the king remember," etc. Men are apt to forget God, even when the memory of him is most desirable and incumbent. Such forgetfulness may spring from: 1. Negligence. 2. The pressure of other thoughts. The worldly. The anxious and troubled. It is often a great kindness to remind troubled Christians of their God. 3. Dislike of God. Unwillingness that he should interfere with life and action. 4. Love of sin. The pleasure of sin, if not sin itself, would be impossible if God were thought of. 5. Pride and self satisfaction (Deuteronomy 8:10-19). Finally: 1. Remembrance of God, spontaneously and lovingly cherished, is a good evidence of sincere piety. 2. The compatibility or incompatibility of it with any act or habit furnishes a safe guide when distinct precepts are wanting. - G.W.
And the soul of King David longed to go forth unto Absalom. "I well remember," says a present-day writer, "the effect produced on my mind on being told by a servant, soon after I had recovered from a dangerous illness, that during the crisis of the malady my father was seen to shed tears. Though far from being a stern parent, he was not an emotional man; and the statement was a revelation to me, at least in degree. It is now more than half a century ago, but it will never be forgotten.".People Absalom, Joab, Tamar, ZeruiahPlaces Geshur, Jerusalem, TekoaTopics Add, Adding, Avenger, Blood, Continue, Cut, Death, Destroy, Destroyed, Destruction, Fall, Further, Gives, Ground, Hair, Invoke, Kept, Lest, Mind, Otherwise, Please, Prevent, Punishment, Redeemer, Remember, Revengers, Slay, Son's, Suffer, Surely, WouldestOutline 1. Joab, suborning a widow of Tekoah to incline the king's heart to fetch Absalom,21. brings him home to Jerusalem 25. Absalom's beauty, hair, and children 28. After two years, Absalom is brought into the king's presence by Joab Dictionary of Bible Themes 2 Samuel 14:11 5155 hair Library God's Banished Ones'God doth devise means, that His banished be not expelled from Him.' 2 SAMUEL xiv. 14. David's good-for-nothing son Absalom had brought about the murder of one of his brothers, and had fled the country. His father weakly loved the brilliant blackguard, and would fain have had him back, but was restrained by a sense of kingly duty. Joab, the astute Commander-in- chief, a devoted friend of David, saw how the land lay, and formed a plan to give the king an excuse for doing what he wished to do. So … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Barley Field on Fire The Blessed Privilege of Seeing God Explained The Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs Samuel Links 2 Samuel 14:11 NIV2 Samuel 14:11 NLT 2 Samuel 14:11 ESV 2 Samuel 14:11 NASB 2 Samuel 14:11 KJV 2 Samuel 14:11 Bible Apps 2 Samuel 14:11 Parallel 2 Samuel 14:11 Biblia Paralela 2 Samuel 14:11 Chinese Bible 2 Samuel 14:11 French Bible 2 Samuel 14:11 German Bible 2 Samuel 14:11 Commentaries Bible Hub |